MECCA keynote: Sprint's Paul Reddick

Sprint’s VP of business development/planning & strategy Paul Reddick kicked things off here at MECCA with a keynote presentation that could not be ignored—and those that did were likely to be hit with a jumbo-sized sack of Wonder Bread. Reddick donned the racing track suit that, supposedly, Will Ferrell wore in his role as Ricky Bobby in the recent flick Talladega Nights, a tip of the hat toward the original, made-for-mobile shorts that Ferrell did in character for Sprint’s video services. As Reddick read off the top myths about mobile content, he asked the audience to yell “Bust it” and those who participated were rewarded with a far-flung jumbo bag of Wonder bread to the face, delivered from the stage by Reddick. I feared that I might leave the keynote with my orange juice in my lap, but fellow editor-in-the-field Nathan Eddy told me to take courage and to continue the live blogging we had set out to do. Reddick’s top myths are as follows: - Carriers are strictly content distributors - Mobile entertainment is just portable entertainment. Choice quote: “It’s not about content, it’s about contact… a great example of that is something we did with AirPlay recently [an interactive TV game for the Emmys].” - Mobile TV is just tiny TV. Choice quote: “Since we launched with mSpot and our full movie service, we have seen 30 percent quarter-over-quarter growth for the video service.” - Repurposed content alone will do. Choice quote: “User-generated content was made for the mobile platform and the mobile platform was made for user-generated content.” - Mobile entertainment has to be commercial free. Choice quote: “I can tell you this now, we’ve decided to team with mPocket as a technology provider for placing ads on our services and those will be placed in early October. The new revenue will be used to make new content.” - Customers won’t pay a premium for “now” availability - Mobile entertainment markets itself - Mobile carriers are inhibiting market growth and they don’t care. Choice quote: “It hurts us [to hear this]”. A metaphor for off-deck: “You don’t just take your new cookie recipe to Nordstroms and tell them to sell it and, oh yeah, give me a cut of the profit.” -Brian