Herb Allen’s Sun Valley Conference – 2013
Ugh.
I’m sure the planners of these conferences (not just Herb Allen’s but corporate offsites the world over) always dream great things will happen – that an idea will emerge that changes the world; that partnerships will form to create new and better companies… such wasted optimism.
And at the beginning of the week, most attendees seem to go along with the party line (drinking the Kool-aid and vodka, if you will).
And even though I have been cynical from the beginning (read every Day 1 post I’ve ever had from previous conferences (2009 – 2010 – 2011 – 2012 – and 2013) – deep down there is a slight tinge of hope that this might be worth my time.
But then the week drags on – and we drink at the bar late at night – have a hangover breakfast with lots of greasy meats – go to some mindless panel about how important content, sports and new distribution platforms are in all our lives – play golf – get drunk – eat wedding caliber food – get drunk some more (repeat repeat repeat)…
Maybe it’s because most of the attendees (like me) are so old and set in our ways.
Perhaps the new ideas will come from the Herb Allen III conference in Phoenix next year (because Herb Allen III is younger!) that focuses on new media… younger moguls, newer, fresher ideas (based on older, staler ideas) – a new energy that everyone seems to need.
Or not.
The biggest problem with Herb Allen’s Sun Valley Conference is the new moguls all try to act like old moguls – try to hang with the heavy scotch drinkers and cigar smokers, try to wear the Polo shirts that only an old mogul can look right in… it’s not easy to be an old mogul and actually look like an old mogul.
Out of the millions of stiff, awkward middle managers in media companies around the world only one or at most two will rise to become a true mogul (i.e., Ben Silverman will never be a mogul – try though he may; and the jury is definitely still out on Thomas Tull who is attempting to buy his way into moguldom).
You can’t fake it. It has to be organic.
http://mankabros.com/blogs/onmedea
It was originally titled Day 3 – “China” – because there was a huge focus today on China opportunities and how do media companies (and businesses in general) crack that Chinese nut?
First of all, you can’t (there’s that cynicism again!). But it’s absolutely true.
To get the scale in China that companies need would require being able to grow our businesses into significant businesses. Just making a few bucks here and there and having a movie work every once in a while isn’t going to cut it. We need to have a significant presence in China to make it worth all this effort.
And as soon as a foreign company gets a significant presence in China – the Chinese government will dial you back. They may not kick you out but they may decide not to distribute your movie for “censorship issues,” or not to release your new handset because of “environmental reasons”(ridiculous, right?) or not offer your content in a streaming service due to some other excuse that the government won’t even attempt to make  creative or fair.
I led a panel this morning on “How To Properly Bribe Chinese Officials.” I’ve written on this in the past – and have learned over the years you can actually get a lot more accomplished by offering bottles of Slivovitz and cartons of American cigarettes than by offering cash or personal favors (i.e., helping to get a Chinese government official’s kid get into Harvard, etc.)
We just have to be realistic about China. It’s fine if your expectations are low and you are okay with having a small business and making a little bit of money or using the cheap labor to build your toys and American flags. But for distributing content and for growing a huge, profitable business – China sucks and will always suck.
The only excitement left at this year’s conference (and wasn’t Building-A-Bike and a nauseous river raft ride enough excitement for one person) is tomorrow’s media panel with Rupert Murdoch, John Malone and Barry Diller (the same team from yesterday’s disastrous “Build-A-Bike” exercise).
Watching three guys who really hate each other attempting to be cordial (while offering nothing new) should be truly entertaining.
Or not at all. That’s the problem – just when you think maybe something will come out of the conference, nothing does.
Outside of that, the drunkening continues.
I have now been forced to make my own drinks because Vin Tran has had some sort of breakdown and can barely function (he talks often about bringing shame to his family).
There is a rumor the great Bin Tran will triumphantly return for the final night of the conference since his daughter gave birth yesterday (congratulations, Bin – never go away again).
Khan Manka, Jr. – Chairman & CEO – Manka Bros. Studios – The World’s Largest Media Company
I love this blog. I was a mini-mogul for years and attended similar events. Your descriptions are perfect–and it doesn’t matter what the underlying business might be–they’re all the same.
Just wondering how you survive your cynicism.
Screw you Kahn, my brother can shlep your drinks for now on. I’m staying home, getting wasted, and watching #sharknado. Sayonara Bee Aych!
My partner and I have a been trying to wangle an invite to this event for so many years I lost count. Other than wives, girl friends and Sheryl Sandberg where are the women at this annual Sun Valley bash?
Murdock is just always an ass, Diller and the rest of that gang all think that their shit doesn’t stink.
We run a small but profitable studio in the Palm Springs area, some shows on PBS, some on social media sites and soon all on our mobile app designed to show short films in an elegant way on your mobile device. Our network is about to launch on line with 12 channels.
We are the future and should be at these events even to keep the men guessing and on their toes.
Who lost my invite? Oh well maybe next year.
thanks for the honest up date about this love fest in Idaho glorious country.
Carole .
Look, Carole, I’m home now. Wasted at my own home. Hopefully Terry will wander around looking for me all night. It’s true, you will never be invited to Sun Valley – so just stop hoping. PBS in Palm Springs just ain’t where it’s at, man. Maybe if you were rocking the scene in Needles, maybe you’d have a chance, but Palm Springs? Never.
But I do wish you luck and hope that you will drink enough alcohol to dull the future pain you may feel in your professional life.
Maybe Comic Con is the place for you – that’s next week and I was supposed to go but I have decided to drink turpentine instead. I think that would be more beneficial to my mental health.
I gave a keynote speech there a couple of years ago and that should suffice for the comic book dorks, geeks and morons. Please take a look at the transcript and click on the advertising to help Manka Bros. hit our online targets for new media…
http://mankabros.com/blogs/chairman/2010/07/21/khan-manka-jr-comic-con-2010-keynote-address/
Khan, I took a stroll down the Mall last night because I was trolling for the pack of divorcees looking to sack a mogul. Well, I found them. That was the dumbest thing I’ve ever done. There is an outdoor lounge area near the Inn, and I felt like I’d happened upon the mothers of the “women” who stalk PGA tour pros. Their perfume was the same, “Desperation.” If Calvin Klein bottled it, these women were buying by the barrel. You could have loaded an armored car with the BVLGARI hanging from them, but it was the stretched out, botoxed, Joker-from-Batman movies smiles that really got my attention. Herb’s security team had a watchful eye on the wolf pack and they definitely weren’t getting in. I recognized one of the ex-wifes (I didn’t recognize her chest – it was 3x bigger than last year). She saw me coming, and the next thing I knew all the heads were turning. Let’s face it. If your wallet’s big enough and somebody can get a ride home on a jet, you’re getting laid over here, even if you look like Activision’s Bobby Kotick. This place is making me depressed. I’m glad Bin Tran is coming back (boy or girl?). Please extend my congratulations. I’m just now waking up, and I think I have to start the day with a series of Bloody Mary’s. My mogul headache is kicking the sh*t out of me.
Carole, producing esoteric documentaries for the beg-a-thon channel isn’t going to get you into the media stratosphere like Manka Bros “Cow Jumped Over The Moon.” You see, Herb pays a lot of money for this thing…he rents every bike so they are available to moguls and kids, hands out charge cards for everyone, hires staff at 1:2 for the kids, rents out all the facilities so they are blocked to the public, and the private guides and tours…well, you know the drill. They even move the furniture out of places and move in plants and furnishings more to their taste like they did the other day at Apples in Warm Springs for a kids event. Let’s face it, if Herb isn’t making money off you, a deal you’re doing, or doesn’t know you, then you are never coming. I am off to get drunk and find Khan tonight. I plan to toast old media. People are talking about Tim Westergren…he hasn’t made anyone any money,except himself. New media is a apparently a nice gig if you can get it.