Rubbing shoulders with the who's who in marketing

I always tell people, and mean it, that working in news reporting gives writers the world's biggest free pass to busy people's time. I mean, how many people can honestly get a full hour with worldwide CEOs and marketing directors and have them willingly share the tricks of their trades?

For sure not every interviewee reveals everything they know, in fact, it could all just be fluff but coupled with measured questions and a good attitude, the things writers learn from those sixty minutes or so are what others would pay thousands of dollars to hear.

While it's not always easy to schedule meetings with such movers and shakers because they are constantly... well, on the move... April was a particularly hot month for interviews.

For instance, I am always hesitant to discuss CRM technology topics because face it, it is not exactly fun stuff. But I was brought into the world of marketing tools-on-demand by Salesforce.com's VP marketing for Asia Pacific & Japan Jeremy Cooper. He and I discussed how the company rallies its current and potential customers together at events because peer recommendations when it comes to business products are always the best. You'd be awed by how these guys use blogs to their advantage - a rarity in a world still stupidly trying to control the medium. Read page 28 for more but I now have a new found respect for CRM companies.

Fast forward four days and I found myself on a couch in the RMG Connect Singapore office enraptured by worldwide CEO Philip Greenfield hammering home how the slow uptake of digital resources for marketers is not so much a communications problem, but a true-blue business issue. The fast-talking Belgian with salt-and-pepper hair gave me my longest yet easiest recorded interview ever - lasting just over an hour and he didn't make me work to ask questions at all. More on page 30.

Then the meeting that almost didn't happen happened. This long overdue meet and greet with new MindShare Singapore CEO Jeffrey Seah saw the multi-faceted him miss two meetings and me turn up one hour late for the photoshoot for this month's cover. From his days as a young Singapore football player while directing stage plays at the same time, to leading the start up of Starcom to now heading one of the biggest media agencies in Singapore, MindShare (which is a rather small fit for a man of his talents, some may tell you), Seah is definitely a rare find. Give him time and he'll tell you how media agencies operate like the FBI and how it is time to give back to Singapore.

I could keep going on talking about the Interwoven, Audit Bureau of Circulations, The Leading Edge and other meetings I had this month but we have space constraints.

But you know what the greatest thing of all this is? That the conversations and learnings writers pick up are not wasted, but distilled and presented in manageable capsules for our readers. Sharing industry knowledge and insights and helping marketers do their job just that little bit better? That to me is cool.

Till next month...

Debbie Cai

editor