The event was created as an opportunity for information exchange and to share in the best of best practice. There are common challenges that unite IABs from all markets and our objective was to explore the information resources available from within the group and to harness the potential that exists within the IAB network.

This briefing covers off a few of the key points, but for more information contact your national IAB directors who attended or email back in the areas indicated in red to so we can subscribe you to those mailing lists.

Market reports
What's each market worth? How many people are there in the IAB? What's the growth trajectory that the industry is heading on? What are the characteristics of each market?

The morning sessions of the conference examined the nature of each of the markets. There were 5-10 minute debriefs from all countries present and these are being combined into a presentation for IAB Europe members. 16 countries took part and additional data from other markets will be available from the IAB Europe team.

Several key themes emerged in the discussion:
• Interactive ad revenues are growing at rates generally between 20% and 110% year on year.
Need more? Online advertising spend is already discussed as part of a taskforce headed by IAB Europe director Zoran Savin.

• The market share of online: Online is accounting for 10% of total adspend in the more mature markets and 1-3% in the younger markets.

• Access speeds change: Low-speed dial-up access is suddenly being replaced by high-speed broadband access as the price of broadband plummets in each market and consumers switch channels.

• Demographics: In less developed countries access is already with the majority of high income consumers, both at home and at work. In North America and Europe the total access figures in excess of 60% are not uncommon. In the Far East the connections are typically very high speed as access reaches near to the total population.

• Market positioning: The access and demographics have a direct effect on online's positioning. In Central and South America it is typically the communication tool for an upmarket audience, while in Canada and the US it has become a truly mass market media channel.
Need more? Look out for briefings from IAB Europe that highlight the key issues in each market. If you're a paid up member of IAB Europe then these will come to you automatically.

How the US IAB works
In a series of presentations over lunch, the IAB US managers walked through the different approaches they take to handling the programmes of standards, research, events, government affairs and marketing. They also have strands of the IAB focussed on industry initiatives and business development that help earn the IAB additional income.

• Commercialising your IAB: Most European IAB members noted how commercial the US IAB was and its success in securing funds above and beyond membership dues.

• Association Management: IAB US staff presented their goals, objectives and strategies as it relates to each of the following major departments. Greg Stuart talked through the Organization and gave an Overview of how he changed it when he took over from Robin and Barbara. He provided a brief history of the IAB and examined its membership structure & dues.
Need more? Look out for briefings from IAB Europe that highlight the key issues in each market. If you're a paid up member of IAB Europe then these will come to you automatically.

• Membership & Committees: The team talked through the structures of the Taskforces, Councils and Committees and the role of each. The model is similar to IAB Europe's and we may try and merge the two to give greater consistency in 2007.

• Who are our members? The committee structure drives member engagement at the US IAB and all of the IABs agreed that engaging their members remained both a critical task and one that is critical to the success of the group.

• Marketing strategy for the internet: IAB General Manager Sheryl Draizen talked through the plans IAB US had for their next advertising campaign. Following the 'Active Ingredient', the IAB US team had developed a 'Superheroes' campaign that championed individual marketers who had achieved results by switching spend into online. The new positioning campaign is grounded in strategic research that tested different statements and views about the power of online.
Need more? Market positioning presentation will soon be available as a PDF for you.

• Audience research: The team talked through the goals and structure of the research work they'd begun undertaking. In Europe the established model of Joint Industry Committees has enabled several IABs to take a leadership role in the development of new measurement metrics and approaches. The JICs draw together stakeholders from across the market - agencies, advertisers, technologists, media owners and support services - and allow a structured debate to take place. The climate in the US is different, but it's clear that trade associations can work to fill in the gaps left in a young market.
Need more? Audience research is a major topic for most IABs.

• Advertising effectiveness studies: Many times during the summit we referred back to the cross media optimisation (XMOS) studies and their findings. These had been started by the US IAB in 2001 and more than a dozen are now publicly available. Additional studies in Canada using a similar methodology echoed the points about the media mix, and further industry studies in France and a few other markets were starting to prove that the principles were also true outside North America. If IAB Europe members are interested in taking part in a call to share some of those findings and discuss the implications then they should email us back at this address.
Need more? XMOS research will be posted onto the IAB Europe Knowledge Bank later this year.

Standards & Guidelines
With the IAB Europe coordinating the standards and best practice initiatives for all 18 European IABs, the guidelines materials should be fresh in everyone's mind. The new guidelines being developed at the moment include:
• formats for broadband and video advertising
• bandwidth detection processes
• fileweights and processes for polite downloading of large files
• behavioural targeting transparency and definitions

All the new consultations will soon be posted on the Standards section of IABEurope.ws and mailed to members of the Standards Taskforce. They are also being debated in the IAB Europe Standards sessions at the AdMonsters congress in Germany next week.

Getting your IAB on the fast-track
The afternoon sessions of the global summit included a structured information exchange from IABs around the theme: "What works". This is a session I lead regularly with digital trade associations and the aim is to spread ideas to help young trade bodies develop quickly. As the co-founder of not just the IAB in the UK and Europe, but more than 20 other digital trade associations and IABs around the world, I look for the techniques that are quickly transferable.

• Creating Powerful Research: Developing research and promoting its results are key for all IABs. Online advertising spend is the starting point, but demonstrating the brand and then the sales effect are also key. There's never a shortage of demands for research, but what about the process? What are the processes that have worked in your country?

• Fast Decision-Making and Strong Organizational Structures: Balancing the democracy, participation and involvement with the need to get things done quickly is a specific challenge IABs face. While most trade associations tend to follow their industries, we need to be the leading voices in ours and when decisions and projects are needed in days or weeks rather than months or years, what are the techniques that have worked well?

• Convincing Advertisers: IABs exist to help advertisers spend more. Different markets have different techniques for delivering their messages and what advertisers need to hear will vary with the degree of digital sophistication of the market. Conferences, roadshows, email news services and seminars all can form part of the programme. What are the processes that have worked well in your country?

• Need more? I'm working on a training seminar of workshop notes that came out of this session. If you are registered with us as being on the Council of National IABs then you will automatically receive this.