Seattle Represents at ADmerica 2013

The American Advertising Federation's national conference, also known as ADmerica!, was held June 5-8 at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix. AAF Seattle board members Renee Peterson, George Riddell, Martin McGee, Luis Antezana, and Audrey Berglund represented our club, which won a Club Achievement Award for winning the Division III ADDY Challenge. Our own George Riddell impressed while performing his duties as National ADDY Chair. And Eric Weaver of Spring Creek Group led a panel of experts in the social media panel. All in all a tremendous few days of learning and interacting with our AAF brethren from District 11, Western Region, and around the nation.

The National ADDY Awards were held June 8th, with Keith Rivers and Eli Martin of Workhouse Creative, Keith Goldberg of Rally, and GreenRubino in the house to pick up their National ADDY Awards. Creature, Wong, Doody, Crandall, Weiner and Cole & Weber United also won National ADDYs for their work. Full list of winners here.

A few words from George Riddell, Secretary and National ADDY Chair, about his experience:

ADmerica was especially gratifying for me this year because of the large AAF Seattle contingent that attended the conference. Having such strong Ad Club representation meant that more club leaders are gaining the benefit of networking with clubs from other markets, and participating in professional development programs offered by the AAF. The group also spent time together looking ahead to the coming year for AAF Seattle. The experience should provide great momentum for an exciting year of Ad Club activities in Seattle.

Martin McGee, Treasurer and Vice-President:

One of the sessions I attended at the AAF National Conference focused on one of the key benefits AAF provides to our members and the advertising industry in general -- Government Affairs.  AAF champions causes at the local, state and federal level that impact advertising including the critical issue of allowing advertising services to remain tax deductible as a business expense.  Various clubs around the country presented ideas they implemented to work with elected officials both during their campaign and while in office.  AAF Seattle will be exploring ways to apply some of these ideas to our region in the future.

From Luis Antezana, Director of Communications:

This being my first AAF national conference, I was impressed by the breadth of the community of creative professionals that care so much about the health of our industry and work to ensure its viability and high standards. This organization works more in the background than they probably realize, as I had no idea all that was involved in what they do. As would be expected, along with a lot of work came a decent bit of fun after hours, sealing new and old relationships. I was proud to represent our city and our club, to have our board make a great showing, and to have so many agency people along with us. The members of AAF Seattle should know we stack up well against any other city!

Check out AAF National's ADmerica photo set for more pics from the big event.

Business Up Front: We're On LinkedIn

Facebook has served us well for social posts like photo sharing, but it's not the ideal place for thinky work mode posts. That’s more of a job for LinkedIn. And given its recent enhancements, including a familiar-feeling news feed, as well as a decent, targeted ad system and improved company pages, it’s become more enjoyable to spend time there.

So we'll be utilizing LinkedIn on two fronts. First, through our company page, we'll be sharing notable links related to work and news about local agencies and vendors along with AAF Seattle club news. Second, through the AAF Seattle group, we'll provide a forum to converse about Seattle-specific topics, to continue discussions and networking begun during our events, featuring participation from our speakers and panelists, and for club-related chatter. There may even be gossip.

So follow our company page and join our group, and we'll do our best to make it worth your while.

After Hours

On April 18th we're hosting After Hours: Copacino+Fujikado, and it's coming at just the right time. For one thing, it's their 15th anniversary, and that's a lot to crow about for them. So they may have more than a few fun things cooked up. But for us, we're coming off ADDY season and a blistering pace of four major events in less than two months.

After Hours is an informal social mixer hosted by an agency member. No program, no speakers, just drinks, noms, and a random mix of creative types. It's a great way to get to know your industry peers with a bit more time than you get before one of our bigger programs. Plus it's just $5 (free for AAF Seattle members) with food+drinks (Redhook's new Audible Ale and 14 Hands wines) included.

So what's with the weird pics? Copacino+Fujikado—Italian+Japanese—is a surprising combination. We're featuring other surprising combinations on our Pinterest board. Tag your own surprising combinations with #AAFfterHours to join in.

Update

on 2013-04-21 02:06 by administrator

What a night! At almost 50% larger than our last 50% larger After Hours event, we can't appreciate our community's interest enough. We very much hope everyone enjoyed themselves.

You can see pics from the event using #AAFterHours on Twitter and Instagram, or see our tiny album on Facebook. We'd love to see any pics you may care to share on our wall.

If you attended the event, we'd love your feedback to make the next After Hours even better. It's your chance to tell us what you thought of our second try at this concept. Click here to take our short and easy survey.

Now on Instagram: @AAFSeattle

We thought the Seattle ADDY Awards would be a perfect opportunity to launch our presence on Instagram. No food or kitten pics for us, just some behind-the-scenes and in-progress shots from AAF functions, some teasers, and a few choice glamour shots. It's also a great way to keep up with official event #hashtags to see what others are posting.

Check us out at @AAFSeattle and give us a follow.

2013 Seattle ADDY Awards: Wrap-Up

What an amazing evening! The culmination of five months of planning, tons of entries from agencies old and new in categories old and new, a long weekend of very tough judging, and lots of legwork by committee members and volunteers.

Bell Harbor International Conference Center was packed with Seattle's creative elite (due to massive demand this year's event was over 60% larger than 2012). Booze flowed freely. The crowd were enthusiastic. Mayor Mike McGinn presented the vaunted AAF Silver Medal Award to Bob Peterson after a great intro from Creature's Matt Peterson and Wexley School for Girls's Cal McAllister. Even Sir Mix-a-Lot got in on the action.

Bling

A special shout-out to these outstanding winners:

Judge’s Choice Award: Digital Kitchen - Stanley Piano - self-promotion.

Best-of-Show – Non-Traditional Advertising: Copacino+Fujikado - Edwin The Otter e-Book - Seattle Aquarium.

Best-of-Show – Digital/Interactive Advertising: Cole & Weber United - Group Play Facebook App - Washington’s Lottery.

Best-of-Show – Integrated Campaign: Wexley School for Girls - Restore The R - Rainier.

All silver and gold ADDY winners advanced to district ADDY judging in Portland with those winners to advance to nationals in Phoenix. We'll be announcing the district winners next week, so stay tuned.

ADDY-quake!

#SeattleADDYs trended all night! Catch up on all the social posts from event attendees at our Storify.

THANK YOU

Thanks for entering, attending, volunteering, planning and sponsoring. We hope you had a great night! We'd love to hear what you thought in our short survey.

Update

on 2013-04-23 20:19

Thanks for the support in answering our survey - most responses we've ever received!

We now have updated 2013 Winners Books available for download in PDF form. Enjoy the ADDYs on your iPad!

The District XI winners have been announced. There are too many to list so we've posted a PDF list here, but we're so proud of so many Seattle area winners advancing on to nationals in Phoenix in June. We'll be there cheering you on!