In stark contrast to last week's IAB broadcast panel, I was at a session about online video put on by Akamai this morning, where the panel was super.

There were three people, one from CanWest, one from CHUM and one from the Sympatico side of the Sympatico-msn tie up (I will add their names when I'm online next) and they actually seemed to understand this stuff. Thoughtful, smart commentary, with real live experiences and a pretty dialled-in view on the subject matter.

Maybe this is the difference between having the people actually *doing* the stuff talking vs. their leadership? Hard to say, and it is hard for senior business leaders to go as deep on a specific topic as these people did.

But, it bodes well for future innovation and development once these types of people get more of a say.

The rest of the morning was good, too, with a Forrester guy sharing video numbers and trends. It would have been nice to have some (any) Canadian stats, but in any event the direction is clear.

Nice work and thanks Akamai for the invite.

PS: mesh meetup tonight at the Irish Embassy, 6pm. Hope to see you there.

(Posted via blackberry)