Today I didn't make it to all sessions however the most impressive seminar so far would have to be the cinema one.
Even queing up was pretty cool. A South American company has patented a way to show 3D without using the glasses or anything else and they are selling these panels for promotional purposes. It's a little hard on the eyes after a short while but looks awesome and obviously the technology is only going to improve.
Inside the theatre the best global agencies and associations demonstrated how powerful cinema can be as a medium. Dolby presented the first global viewing of a remastered Avatar (like it needed re-mastering?) demonstrating just how good 7.1 surround sound can be. Some innovative Portugese agencies played ads they'd made for a Vodafone campaign that use audio only - they are really powerful examples of how to impact a captive and enthusiastic audience. Really makes you re-think the way we so often put a TV ad on cinema screens and hope it will do well... they really need their own tailoring to make the most of the environment.
Then we covered 3D ion depth and they showcased some of the best moments from recent releases and provided a preview of some of the movies ahead including Tron which looks amazing. It seems that production and conversion costs are coming down very quickly and the output (mostly by telco and alcohol clients) is just mind bogglingly impressive. You can't help but sit there and mouth the word 'wow' as the ad plays in front of you. Yes - as an ad plays. Just goes to show how great creative in the right environment can produce something really special for a brand.
Finally we were left with a taste of things to come. A company has invented sensors to gauge audience reaction and then uses digital cineman creative to tailor the message to the audience. Pioneered in the UK with Unilver's Lynx brand the audience could choose how they wanted the ad to end. Of course being Lynx it was essentially the tale of a dorky guy trying to impress a gorgeous model, and in the end he got her. All it took was an active audience waving their arms in the air like fools, guiding his every move. Awesome stuff and pretty inspiring.