Friday, November 9, 2007

Where the agencies at???

I got an email from Ron Brumbarger last week and he was kind enough to invite me to the Techpoint 10th Annual Tech Summit.

I graciously accepted his invitation and attended this event this morning. I listened to Ron and David Becker give a presentation and then the Governor of Indiana, Mitch Daniels took the stage to speak to those interested in the growth and proliferation of the Tech sector in Indiana.

I met some folks, saw some old friends and walked through the exhibitor section of the summit. Lots of interesting companies and some not so interesting companies. I did notice one glaring thing though...

Where are the ad agencies???

Here is a room full of business owners, entrepreneurs, potential clients and potential contacts,and as far as I could tell not one single Indianapolis ad agency was there, nor were there any staffers from any agencies. Maybe I missed someone, surely I do not know every ad agency pro in town, however I know or can recognize a lot of them and I saw none. Why not? I do not know. We at The Basement Design + Motion work with agencies and they could be chatting with prospective contacts, networking and growing their business at these events. They could be growing their tech client base so why are they absent? I cannot answer that question. What I do know is that we at The Basement offer services that are highly valuable to companies such as those that were at the Summit today and we sell to agencies. So it is obvious why I want agencies at these events. However, if they refuse to serve these folks, a large void is left open. A void someone needs to fill.

After all, start ups are in desperate need for good, solid marketing advice. They, more than many, need solid recommendations and execution to getting the word out about their organizations. I read a piece written specifically for new business owners and entrepreneurs in last week's IBJ by Mark Hill, local Indy entrepreneur and very successful business professional, about seeking good counsel. One should seek out, per Mark, a good ad agency. Agencies - go introduce yourselves to those who need your services, at the events where they appear in abundance!!

A good friend and highly qualified public relations and marketing pro Mike Snyder was at the Summit representing his company The MEK Group. To Mike's credit he gets what this sector means to not only his business but also the State of Indiana. However, I do not consider his company an ad agency, and neither does he, so he is exempt from this post. Lucky you Mike. ;)

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