Friday 13 May 2011

Oh! So that’s what a cookie is ....


Every once in a while, you attend an event and lay your hands on a presentation that really helps you understand what you thought you already knew. Yesterday was one of those occasions. Robert Bond, the maestro from Speechly Bircham who helped organise the International Chamber of Commerce’s session on the impending Cookie Regulations, had slipped a mighty fine presentation into the goodie pack that awaited the delegates. Not only did we get to hear from someone who was partly responsible for the legislation (as a Member of the European Parliament, and someone from the Department of Media Culture & Sport who had helped write the implementing legislation), we also got to hear from someone who was going to be enforcing the regulations and, just as importantly, from some of those who were trying as hard as they could to ensure that their businesses understood and could meet their new obligations.

Robert had evidently been awfully nice to his friends at Barclays, who had very generously provided him with material for a stunning presentation which, in less than 40 slides, cut to the core of the issue and set it out in terms that even a Board Member could understand. That’s no mean feat. No waffle, no embellishments, just a set of slides which explained in simple language just what all this stuff is really about.

Marvellous.

I just wish I had thought of presenting the issues in those terms. Well, I will, from now on!

I’m not going to steal Robert's thunder and reveal all the information on the slides here. That would be rude. If you want to know what I now know, you’re going to have to awfully nice to him, or alternatively, awfully nice to your friends at Barclays.

But to give you a taster of why its important you should try and get a presentation like this in front of your own Board, here’s the contents slide:
• What are cookies?
• What’s inside a cookie?
• Different types of cookies and their characteristics
• When are cookies sent?
• First and third party cookies
• What is the role of cookies?
• How many cookies can a website give?
• Dispelling some common myths about cookies
• Online behavioural targeting and advertising

It’s just what you need your business leaders to know.

And, let’s be honest, it’s just what we all need to know, too. Sometimes we can be afraid to admit to the extent of our own ignorance in these areas – but after reading this presentation, you’re not going to be ignorant any longer.

Here endeth the advert.

Many thanks to Stephen Pattison (Director of the UK arm of the International Chamber of Commerce) and also to Ian Twinn (from ISBA, the voice of British advertisers) for their interventions. They both helped ensure that it was an extremely successful event. They also helped uncork a bottle or two once the formal session had ended.

I’ll be keeping my eye open for other ICC events – when they attract delegates of the calibre that turned up yesterday, you know you’re in good company.


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