News about recent TV markets report that attendance has been down, an indication of the TV sales industry suffering because of the unstable worldwide economy. Indeed, the official numbers released yesterday confirm that attendance at DISCOP, the major market for Central and Eastern European television, was down more than 10% from last year. Still, whether it’s the opinion of a sponsor, distributor or buyer, there often seems to be a positive spin put on this seemingly negative effect that the economy has had on the international television business.

The argument is that quality is better than quantity and the executives who have attended recent markets have been there ready to do business. Call it naïve optimism, but this was certainly my experience at DISCOP earlier this month. Economic crisis or not, my schedule was full and my meetings were very productive. I heard much less about the economy than I expected to and Eastern Europe was portrayed by acquisitions people more often as a land of opportunity than a sad victim of economic misfortune… and these were buyers talking.

Some of the veteran salespeople I spoke to even seemed to welcome the slower pace. Because of it, they were able to dedicate more time to individual clients and form more meaningful business connections with the people they were meeting with. Isn’t this what these markets are all about anyway?

So the stack of business cards I brought back wasn’t as large as it would have been had I traveled to Budapest last year. I could have met countless people from home through mass emails and virtual introductions, but nothing beats having an extra 5 minutes between meetings to spend just getting to know people.

No one knows the fate of the economy and how it will ultimately affect the future of international TV markets. What I do know, because of a less hectic pace at DISCOP, is which NBA team is home to the best Lithuanian basketball player, how to make Hungarian Goulash and where the best local spots are in Prague. For now, I’ll take that over 10% more business cards.

Read past entries by Tatiana Figueiredo