The Stars – and the Cash – Come to the SIIA Executive Summit

(by guest blogger John Blossom, President, Shore Communications Inc.) It wasn’t the Golden Globe Awards, but a great many of the stars of content were at the well-attended SIIA Executive Summit today held at New York City’s Union League Club. The paneled and bookcased “old school” atmosphere of the ULC was an interesting setting for the executives who are trying to shake down new and old business models alike to make headway in a marketplace for premium content that seems to have trouble taking off. Like a plane on the runway in the fog, all of the equipment is there, but many folks aren’t convinced that the weather’s clearing just yet in Contentville. Yet venture financiers that showed up in strong force seem to be ready to fund emerging opportunities enthusiastically and several companies mentioned new hiring initiatives that seem to point towards some hopeful thinking. See Ed Keating’s blog for a great analysis of attendance at this year’s event versus previous years; from my perspective,content executive conferences in general these days are failing to attract many new companies on which the funders could spend money. With SOXA requirements and a weak IPO market dimming the prospect of quick turns, it takes a braver kind of entrepreneur to go out in the rain. But when the rainmakers are ready to deliver, the ideas are sure to follow – somewhere…

This coverage is sponsored by HighBeam Research.

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