Cross posted from the WOMMA Blog. The standard live-blogging caveats apply....excuse any initial typos.

After a day focussed on research and too much math at the WOMMA Research Symposium, the WOMMA Summit kicked off this morning with an opening keynote by Ted Leonsis, Vice Chairman of AOL. Notice that link on Ted's name...yep he's a blogger.

Things are always in a state of change. When Ted first got online there were less than a million, now there are over a billion.

Ted opened by saying that we're dealing with a new breed of consumer. The needs of consumers are shifting. In his own life he spends more time IM'ing with his son than talking with him in person.

How they consume things is also changing. Consumers expect things to be:
- Free
- On Demand
- Mashed Up
- Shared
- Raw and Authentic

What we're seeing is new companies looking to build business/marketing models around things that people want for free. That's a challenge.

Years ago there used to be event TV, everybody would make a date to watch a specific show. Today, people buy DVDs of TV shows, allowing them to watch what they want, when they want. If you would have told a TV exec a decade ago that DVDs would become a major delivery channel for them they would have laughed at you.

Ted then talked about a project his son developed that mashed-up a number of sources surrounding NHL teams. This was something that a group of high school students dreamed and developed. He thinks it rivals some of the major media sources from a content standpoint.

Another common thread is segmentation. There are four categories of growth that are astounding:
- Latinos
- African Americans
- Greying of America
- Youth

The adoption rate of technology by Latinos is astounding. AOL launched a series of Latino-specific tools/portals to tap into this growth.

No big news here....most people live abroad. Within the US market there are around 100 million unique households connected, this is nothing compared to other markets around the globe. Back to the US though, so many properties are fighting over those 100 million households, looking to pull out an additional 3-4 million impressions. The growth markets are overseas.

Ted thinks that many US firms are sub-optimized to deal with the overseas markets. If his kids were young in school again hey would make sure they were spending plenty of time studying Mandarin and math.

The Internet can make people happy, let's look at a few key elements: - Relationships
- Community
- Self-Expression
- Giving Back
- Pursuing a Higher Calling

The Internet enhances all of these. Think about your buddy list, Ted often tells people that the number of 'friends' they have in their buddy list is directly related to their happiness.

Self-expression can easily be seen in blogs. The estimated 55 million blogs show that people want to express themselves. Then via their blogrolls and links they're building communities.

Now let's talk about how WOM and this next generation of consumer are changing marketing. The media business is shifting, it's broken. Businesses that have existed for 200+ years and losing customers. When Ted first came to the DC area the Washington Post had 800,000 subscribers, today they have 600,000. In that same time the advertising rates are increasing. Traditional media is offering less and less and is charging more and more.

The network effect is also very powerful. A single voice can suddenly have a tremendous impact. When was the last time you saw Newsweek comment on a Time news article? They don't. The new consumer has no problems interconnecting in perhaps non-traditional ways.

Consumers now see 28% of their media online, however advertisers have only moved 6% of their budgets towards online. There are some industries that see this shift and are adapting well. The Internet is a major force for the auto manufacturers. In Detroit when the big 3 develop their marketing plans it starts with the Internet and then builds out elsewhere. It's not 'new media' it's becoming 'the media'.

Marketing isn't just to people any more - you have to market to algorithms:
- Google
- Blog Search
- Car Diagnostic System
- Amazon Recommendation Engines

Ted told the story of how his car's diagnostic system told him he needed new tires. He called the dealership and went that afternoon to get new tires. After he left he realized that he's watched over a million hours of TV in his life and seen thousands of tire commercials but they never made him lift a finger. But suddenly his car tells him he needs new tires and he can't get to the dealership fast enough.

The new tools are harnessing the wisdom of crowds. Google doesn't tell you what a good result is, it's all the people out there that link to a resource that determine that it's the best result.

At any point in time there will be between 8-10 million users online via AIM.

Companies are learning, and must embrace the consumer:
- Listen - be open
- Create good products with virtue
- Make sharing easy
- Mirror the community
- Be authentic
- Be humble

The seven (Web 2.0) virtues:
- Generosity
- Sharing
- Politeness
- Openness
- Communication
- Respect for individuals
- Diligence