Day Three – Today I took the Show on the road. Literally. I’ve left the comforts (and kick-ass broadband) of my Los Angeles home and am reporting to you from Chicago. For whatever reason, my connection here in the Windy City has been a bit spotty. But I made do for a session that was decidedly eclectic.

The first few entries that I reviewed had their Yin and Yang out of whack. Either it was a good idea with poor design and functionality. Or it was a well-developed, functional site with no idea in sight. Frustrating, but certainly good for separating the wheat from chaff. Or in less Midwestern terms, separating the shit from the shinola. 

Some of the genius I saw today were examples of “platform integration.” Just to be clear. There’s “integration” in the sense of “matching luggage.” You know, how the graphics of the site, match the graphics of the t-shirt giveaway, match the graphics of the TV, which all work with the graphics of the inside of the brick-and-mortar store. That should be a given. I’m talking about the integration of platforms. Where the best pieces I experienced today seamlessly and smartly connected a microsite to a YouTube page to a facebook page and more. Two gaming ideas did this kind of “platform integration” extremely well. And yes, these were big ideas. And yes again, they were well-designed and well-executed. (“Ding, ding, ding…we have a winnuh.”)

Now, call it serendipity or coincidence, or just dumb luck, but being in the Midwest today was also where I saw a lot of package goods stuff from lots of Midwest companies. It’s interesting to note that all of the big CPG companies are all over the digital space. And to their credit, they are spending big bucks on well-designed sites. My question is, do I really want to spend a whole lot of time on a site about flakes and raisins? 

Of course, now I’m a little hungry, so maybe those flakes had some effect on me after all. 

Thanks for reading. See you tomorrow.

~Rob

Note: Rob will share his experience judging the One Show Interactive exclusively with the readers of mad-blog.com. Rob is Executive Creative Director of TBWA\Chiat\Day in Los Angeles.

If you have any comments or suggestions please email Rob Schwartz.