Discuss kids advertising with an adult-centered ad maven, and you get a statement like, "Selling to kids is like taking candy from a baby." Surely, the argument goes, the little tykes are so open, so trusting, so wanting to believe, that those little minds are wide open to the wiles and ruses of any self-respecting snake oil salesman. Everyone tells you it's easy, and then you try it. And then you try it again. And again. And then you begin to understand just how hard it is to take candy from a baby.

Because kids advertising has always been a minor portion of the ad game (just like animation - which needs kids advertising for life support - is a minor portion of Hollywood), there have been very few serious attempts to explore it within the overall advertising industry. There have been "think tank" retreats (at great expense) to help those already in the industry stay abreast of the latest in the tricks of the trade; there's usually a panel or two at most of the major ad conventions; and recently, there have been a few books on the subject. (See AWM, "The Entertainment/Marketing/Exploitation Relationship: Two Takes," May 1998 issue.) But for the most part, kids advertising has been overlooked, misunderstood, and generally ignored - except when it impinges on the political consciousness (e.g., Joe Camel). So, when the Advertising to Kids Conference was announced for early September in New York, my ears perked up. Was someone really trying to bring an intelligent examination onto Madison Avenue -- into the very Belly of the Beast?

On a bright, crisp, spring-like late Summer morning, I strolled across Manhattan to Chelsea Piers, over where the City drops off into the turgid waters of the North River. The long-deserted piers, once the busiest in the world, bustling with trade and excited passengers, have been reborn as the largest indoor health club in Gotham, perhaps the largest in the world. Spread across the old structures along the river from 17th to 24th Street are facilities for every form of athleticism known to urban life - gyms, rinks, fields, cages, alleys, rings, courts, walls, pools, and ranges - each with its own set of joyfully sweating adherents.

In the midst of this paean to hard bodies, snuggled down on the end of a pier, right under the ice hockey rink, and several hundred feet out into the River towards the Jersey shore, the developers carved out space for one of the nicest meeting venues I've ever seen. Capable of handling meetings of up to 500 or so, Pier 60 is a delight, with three large well-appointed rooms, two of which face right on to the River. The combination of the setting, light, weather, and mass of avian life swirling around outside combined to lift my spirits and perk up my interest in the two days to come.