Like most people, I have an early morning routine that removes any need for actual thought until the juices start flowing.  On most days, I’ll get out of bed, throw on gym shorts and a t-shirt and drag my butt downstairs and onto to my treasured Octane elliptical machine.  The TV will be tuned to ESPN Sportscenter, a strategic choice that allows me to focus on the exercise during the ads and NASCAR stories that break up the actual sports news. I’ll towel off, drink some water, and brew a cup of coffee.  I’ll walk to my desk and bring the venerable iMac to life. The browser home page, the Boston Globe Sports page, will pop up and allow me to channel my inner Bostonian and dig deeper on teams I grew up with. The coffee and exercise have by now combined to announce that the day is on.  With a click of the mouse, I engage my brain with the industry I work in, clicking on the bookmark for The DailyDOOH.  They’ve been at work over in Henley on Thames for hours while I slept, and I am ready for the mix of news, analysis, opinion and rumor that characterizes the daily brew of the DailyDOOH.

The DailyDOOH turns three on July 26th, and whether or not you appreciate the style of bandleader and Editor-In-Chief Adrian Cotterill, as I do, you must acknowledge and appreciate the contribution he and his team have made to the visibility and credibility of our industry.  They dig, they push, they bait, they research, they opine, they listen to music and they write.  Is it relevant if it hasn’t made the DailyDOOH?  It might be, just not judged as such by the team.  Sorry, chap. If you don’t like it, or if you take issue with Adrian’s opinions, I believe the proper British expression is “sod off”.  You see, it is a blog, not a newspaper. The editorial mix, story choices and opinions are what make it unique and oddly attractive. Some subset of the team is at virtually every industry trade show and conference worldwide, logging enough flight hours to make anyone wonder how they know what day it is. I think they spent more time in Las Vegas this year than Carrot Top. Their observations of who is there, and what is relevant, as well as their headslaps for those who don’t show up (or worse, who freeload on the floor) are always enjoyable. Adrian and the team drink their own KoolAid. Ardent defenders and promoters of the industry, they will offer literary bouquets to those who support the trade, and will snipe away at folks who don’t spend the money and effort to elevate the industry.

Adrian’s obsession with the global nature of our industry provides a valuable perspective. He correctly takes delight in reporting developments from all over the world. I know that no matter what my company accomplishes, we’ll never make the coveted DailyDOOH “Top Ten” until we have presence and significant deployments outside of North America. The rules are the rules. The fact that I still care is an indicator of the level of influence that the annual assessment carries.

We’ve been treated well by the DailyDOOH, certainly more to the MicroTiles side of the DailyDOOH love spectrum than the Wireless Ronin side. But that is not why I am taking this opportunity to write a short appreciation. It is because in our digital industry, not many trees give their lives to provide news, opinion and insight to a growing and information-hungry community. Nearly all of the information that flows in this industry is appropriately digital. There are good portals, lousy portals, blogs, newsletters and thousands of Tweeps. But there is only one DailyDOOH. In a world where some enterprises measure their value on their Google search page ranks, DailyDOOH has deservedly earned thousands of bookmarks. Delightfully dauntless and intentionally idiosyncratic, it reflects the pulse of our industry. Ignore it at your own peril.  Oh, and don’t even try to call it digital place-based or some other self-serving alternative.  It is DOOH, every day.

Happy birthday, DailyDOOH.