Ordinarily, I don't speak in the first person in our iMedia news coverage, but I'm very pleased to announce that Upstream Group  President and longtime iMedia advisor Doug Weaver has taken on the additional role of iMedia Sr. Analyst, which brings with it a more prominent onstage role at the iMedia Summits.
 
I have wonderful things to say about Doug, as do many others. Here's what our iMedia CEO Rick Parkhill has to say about Doug's new role:
 
"When we launched iMedia in 2001, we called upon Doug Weaver for guidance on all agenda topics and editorial direction. We felt then, and now, that Doug represents more experience, knowledge and insight to the future of our industry than any one individual we could find. Anyone who has spent time with Doug has a keen appreciation of his passion for this business, his ability to see 'above the trees' and his comprehensive understanding of what it takes for agencies, brands and the interactive media industry to work together. We are delighted that Doug continues to be devoted to his work at iMedia and that he is stepping up to assume the role of Senior Analyst."
 
Of course, the real person to ask about how Doug's new role is different is Doug, and we traded emails on just this topic.
 
Berens: You have a longstanding relationship with iMedia... how do you see your new role as Sr. Analyst? How is it different?
 
Doug Weaver: I'd call it a natural evolution. Austin will be my 23rd Summit, and the 25th that I've been involved in planning to some degree. In that time, I've been a programmer, host, moderator and sometime backchannel consultant: whatever is needed. The creation of this Senior Analyst role reflects a subtle change in iMedia's approach to the Summits and I'm honored that they've asked me to help fill it.
 
In creating programming for these events, iMedia's position has traditionally been simply to reflect and channel what's being said in the industry. They'd hold up a mirror to the digital marketing world every couple of months. This move is about iMedia forming and demonstrating a point-of-view at these events. So, instead of a mirror, they'll be more of a magnifying glass. At the summits, I get to be the guy who says, "Hey...take a closer look at this." Over the next few summits I'll deliver some POV-driven remarks that will hopefully spark a lot of conversation, debate and consideration during the summit and beyond.
 
Berens: What does this say about the future of your company, Upstream Group?
 
Weaver: The training and strategy work I do for customers through Upstream will continue unabated. As you can imagine, there's a huge demand right now, and I'm busier than I've ever been. Being named Senior Analyst for iMedia is a wonderful honor and recognition.  But I'm still the president of Upstream Group, and I'm hoping that's going to continue for a long, long time.
 
Berens: What can you tell us about your upcoming talk at the iMedia Agency Summit: "The Oreo Doctrine"?
 
Weaver: The Oreo Doctrine is about the future of marketing and advertising in the digital age. Like the two sides of an Oreo Cookie, I believe our world is going to split into two distinct elements. On the one hand, you'll have transaction: buying, selling, pricing, placement, optimization, evaluation and reinvestment of standardized media units with standardized ROI measures.
 
The other business that's going to present itself is something I'm calling "Marketecture." These businesses and people will be the ones who craft non-standard solutions to much larger business issues for clients. Because I see so much of digital marketing being "permanently dynamic" and non-standard, we're going to need creative problem solvers who can act as connectors and contractors for these initiatives. The rub is that these two approaches and skill sets won't often live in the same company or the same RFP. They're THAT different.
 
Berens: The theme of the summit is all about collaboration... How pressing an issue is this for the agency world and for interactive marketing in general?
 
Weaver: Collaboration is a model that I'm going to explore as part of "The Oreo Doctrine." One of the fatal flaws in the transactional approach is that it's by nature very exclusive and controlled. Everybody tries to own the customer, the problem and the solution. I think that notion is anachronistic. As we begin to really solve the big problems for marketers, you'll see collaboration creating some very strange bedfellows.
 
No company or agency owns all the necessary talent or tools. So you might see Yahoo!, Facebook, NBC Universal, Digitas and Brand New World all joining forces on a major brand initiative someday. It's not going to be about what people or capabilities you own, but rather about the talent network that you can activate through your vision and relationships.
 
Today, when people hear the term "collaboration" they may think it's about getting the agencies on a given account to work together better or to collaborate with media vendors.  We need to explore levels of open collaboration that we haven't yet imagined.