This session razed the Richter Scale of Awkward for too many reasons.
To start with, I don’t think reps from Facebook and MySpace were supposed to speak together. They were placed on the same panel in the interest of saving time.
Everyone was anxious for lunch — which, it turns out, was more of an appetite-whetter than a satisfier; moderator Fred Cavazza spent most of the panel talking about other stuff; Damien Vincent of FB expressed a Freudian allegiance for the other team; and — oh yeah! — Cavazza conducted makeshift photo ops during the presentation.
MySpace’s Olivier Hascoat was cool though, except for that moment where he reluctantly poses for an iPhone shot while Vincent’s talking. Way to be a sport, man.
In the event that you didn’t catch all that, take an audio/visual tour:
Fred Cavazza hijacks Facebook/MySpace talk.
Cavazza monopolized at least the first 20 minutes of the program. He’s smart and I like him, but he’s no presenter — though he did cover a lot of ground: social media metrics (granted, in an uncomfortably abstract way), and even skittles.com at some point.
We were all there for Facebook and MySpace though. And you could see the reps at left, getting progressively antsier. (See vid: Hascoat HELLA shook his head, all contemptuously and whatnot.)
Meanwhile, in the audience, my stomach eats itself. Wanna know the best part? This was what lunch was like (photo credit: 13stock). It was gone in 8 minutes, give or take. And no, there weren’t any plates, which effectively ensured we all remained equally hungry.
Damien Vincent’s Facebook faux-pas.
Vincent, top brass of sales for Facebook France, gets so excited about wrastling the mic away from Cavazza that he forgets where he’s working.
“Hi, everybody. I’m Damien. Um, so I joined MySpace — I’m sorry, Facebook…”
Vincent plugs the filter factor.
He could’ve done more with this topic — like exploring Facebook’s potential as an internet-wide entertainment curator and aggregator. No such luck.
Vincent on various Facebook ad formats.
Jump to 1:26 real quick: Cavazza’s got his own agenda.
Olivier Hascoat wraps up by saying brands are just consumer perception.
Food for thought, pun only slightly intended.
