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Seattle
United States
(425) 280-1968
AAF Seattle is the Western Washington chapter of the American Advertising Federation, serving Seattle's creative community through events, education and advocacy.
This is the pulse of AAF Seattle. What we’ve done, what we’re thinking about, what’s coming next. Tune in here for the latest scoop.
Crown Social gets animated
Agencies are well known for their ability to party, and the holidays are a great time to let loose after a year of accomplishments and hard work. Still many take the opportunity to reach out to help others in need, or just to wish everyone well.
We created this Storify compilation of social posts that show how our creative community celebrated the 2013 holidays.
This month we’ve got two events that pretty much reflect how we like to operate: a little bit of smart mixed with a little bit of sassy.
First up, our annual Jingle & Mingle, co-hosted with AIGA Seattle, at Melrose Market Studios on December 11th. We're again featuring our local designer showcase so you can gift creatively while supporting small creative businesses. Of course we've got food, and this year our holiday cocktail is sponsored by Hand Craft Films and poured by sponsor Shake Bartending. Throw in our ugly sweater contest complete with prizes, raffles and holiday photos by David Speranza, and you've got yourself a fun evening that probably tops whatever survived as your corporate holiday party after those budget cuts. That's the sassy part, by the way.
The smart part is our next Speaker Series, co-hosted with PSAMA, December 19th, at Seattle Public Library. TEDx speaker and author David Burkus will talk about "The Myths of Creativity" It's our first morning session, and to sweeten the deal we're giving members in attendance a free copy of the book, while non-members can buy it at a reduced price. Plus pastries and coffee, of course.
We hope to see you out this month!
Update
on 2013-12-15 02:00
Pics from the Jingle & Mingle are now available on Facebook and Flickr. Thanks again to David Speranza!
Update
on 2013-12-21 08:07
Pics from the David Burkus event are now available on Facebook. Thanks to Bianca Jessica!
Our beloved Seattle ADDY Awards are now the American Advertising Awards Seattle. Not to worry—even though there’s a new name, it’s still the premier advertising competition that recognizes the industry’s top creatives. And the awards are still affectionately called “ADDYs,” so there’s no mistaking what you’ll be taking home.
The powers that be at the National ADDY Committee, including the national ADDY chair, our own hometown bigwig, George Riddell, decided to upgrade the profile of the event, and a name change went along with that. Read more about the name change.
Seattle's own Hydrogen provided this year's campaign, which spawned four posters to be used in print and online:
We've been busy planning since October and we're already looking for sponsors. As usual, we're aiming to hold the event in March. Judges should be announced by January. Our Silver Medal Award winner will be chosen by February. Oh, and call for entries is now - deadline January 10th, 2014!
It's shaping up to be our best awards ever.
More info can be found on our awards page.
Update
on 2013-12-04 03:32
The AAF Silver Medal Award is awarded annually to a member of Seattle’s advertising community—a creator, a mentor, a teacher, a leader—whose career grew bigger than the work. Who’s had an impact on the community which far surpasses their job? Who’s pushed the industry standards and set new bars for excellence? Who’s the type of person we should all aspire to be? That’s who we want.
Simply submit your nomination to addys@aafseattle.com. More details here.
Art Bash is always a crowdpleaser. Heck, public vote even semi-crowdsourced this year's theme. The people chose Creativity in Black & White to inspire the agencies, and they did not disappoint!
We received over 20 pieces of art, providing entertainment, competition, and photo opps, and raising nearly $2000 for our scholarship fund in the process.
Guests enjoyed Pom Pom signature cocktails from sponsors Hall & Partners, a festive spread from Herban Feast, and beats by DJ Zapan, appearing in virtual form.
We've been trying a new photo-sharing tool called Everlapse, and got just enough submissions to be worth posting the results:
If you have your own pics to share, add them to our event flipbook. See our event album on Facebook and #ArtBashAAF on Tagboard.
We do a lot of serious, smarty-pants kind of events. Witness last month's Content Is Your Brand Speaker Series panel discussion. Great stuff for sure.
But AAF Seattle is not all work, nor are we dull boys or girls. Witness last night's After Hours at the Seattle Wunderman Network. Libations. Networking Schmoozing. Bonding. That's all. This spins our wheels.
And has anybody noticed SWN's recent high visibility? Seems like great things going on over there with their Fantastic Action Contraption and all…
Tag yourself in our Facebook album, add your own pics to our Everlapse flipbook, and check #AAFterHours on Tagboard.
Digital Kitchen CEO Bill Fritsch addresses the panel
Last night we assembled a panel of local content experts at Makerhaus in Fremont for a discussion about a topic that's on the tips of everyone's tongues and fingers: content. Digital Kitchen CEO Bill Fritsch served as moderator, with Kelby Johnson of Seattle Wunderman Network, Brian Saftler of Internet Explorer, Andrew Grinaker of POSSIBLE, and Lisa Phelps Dawes of Loop providing the wisdom, keeping a full house of attendees engaged and enthused. We're not kidding—the conversation probably could have gone on all night.
We hope to post a Storify entry going into a little more detail about the content of the event. Until then, check out some of the pics from the event on Facebook. Panelist bios on Lanyrd. #AAFContent social stream on Tagboard.
Thanks to sponsors Sparkle Donkey tequila, Postmates, MakerHaus, Local Craft Tours, and Print NW.
Even though we're enmeshed in the professional goings-on in this fine town, we're still quite aware of how creative and interesting and special it truly is. We're surrounded by innovators and creators who work every day to make something worthy and notable that creates real value. Or at least they make stuff people will buy.
At AAF Seattle, we work to connect these people and to give them a voice. If we could sing a song about it we would. And we're not the only ones who care.
Inspired by the same community, We Make Seattle and Commercialize Seattle each seek to trumpet and promote our city's creative offerings. We Make Seattle just finished raising funds through Kickstarter to produce a film about Seattle's vibrant creative and start-up scene. And Commericalize Seattle, a joint effort between the City of Seattle's Office of Film + Music and Washington Filmworks, will let the rest of the country in on what a great place Seattle is to produce film and advertising work, all with our trademark quirky humor, with assists from local agencies Creature and World Famous.
We donated to We Make Seattle's Kickstarter, and we'll be at Spitfire to support Mayor McGinn's launch of Commercialize Seattle with an AAF Posse. This kind of thing is exactly what we're all about. We couldn't be more proud to be part of such great efforts to promote such great people.
Update
on 2013-08-29 21:09
Huge turnout for tonight's launch party. Mayor Mike McGinn kicked things off, followed by Amy Lillard from Washington Filmworks, then Jim Haven and Steve Cullen from Creature described the challenge and the executions, with Steve Madden from World Famous closing.
So how do you get involved? Register to be included in the reel, resource guide, and production incentive program. For more information check out the recap at Washington Filmworks or contact info@commercializeseattle.com.
Update on 2013-11-19 01:16
Wow, the effort continues: Who could ask for better visibility than a writeup in the New York Times about Commercialize Seattle!
Over the course of the year we throw a lot of events, from Speaker Series to After Hours to the ADDY Awards and so on, but it turns out we also love going to events, and this little creative boom town is just full of meetups, parties and panels for every interest, broad and narrow.
We decided it would be fun to coordinate small groups from our own consituency to attend some of these great events held by other local organizations. Kind of a way to get people exposed to cool things, support our friends, and represent AAF Seattle while we're sharing some drinks and participating. And thus the AAF Posse was born.
We started with a small group attending the SeaTech Connect agency crawl on Capitol Hill in July. We've done more than a few outings since then, including the TechCrunch party, an AIGA event at Deloitte Digital, and another agency crawl in Pioneer Square. Attendance is fluid with people coming and going over the course of the evening and we always seem to pick up a few curious onlookers while we're at it.
We coordinate in advance through our LinkedIn group, then during the event through mobile updates via Foursquare, which we share to Twitter, as well as posts on Instagram that also broadcast to our social platforms, all using the #AAFPosse hashtag.
A huge part of what AAF Seattle is all about is connecting our community with creative opportunities, and AAF Posse has been a great way to bring that ideal to life.
Join our LinkedIn group to be part of the action!
Our board year is from July through June. Who knows why for sure but we think it may have had something to do with tricking miners back when the club was founded in 1909, and it's been that way ever since. So yeah, we're a little quirky, but that's part of our charm.
So what better way to start our new year than with a free party on July 25th for 165 of our closest friends to serve as a meet and greet for the board members, committee members and volunteers, all sponsored by corporate members and social advertising wunderkinds Admosis Media?
Another sold-out event had partygoers mingling at Makers Space in Belltown and enjoying savory Bloody Marys from sponsors Bakon Vodka and Local Craft Tours. Callie's Coffee kept others alert and even graciously donated a gift basket for a drawing. We also got a little nuts and sold memberships at unheard-of discounts.
We always love seeing all the new faces and old friends. Thanks for coming out!
You can see all the pics from the event on Flickr or Facebook.
At the end of every board year we reflect on our successes and thank those responsible. We aspire to reach our community and to advance the club farther than it's ever been, and it takes a lot of work by a dedicated crew.
As much fun as we have doing what we do, some board members eventually move on, so we shake their hands for a job well done, smack them on the rear, send them on their way and welcome their oh-so-innocent replacements (muah ha haaaa).
Because of our growth in membership and responsibilities, we're expanding to include roles we haven't had in recent years indicated below in bold, and new board members, indicated below with an asterisk.
Please welcome your 2014 Board of Directors!
Renee Peterson - President
Martin McGee - Treasurer, Vice President
Ashley Ernst* - Secretary
Julia Allen - Membership Director
George Riddell - Public Service Director
Charlotte Boutz* - Programs Director
Luis Antezana - Director of Communications
Kirsten Martin* - Sponsorship Director
Audrey Berglund* - ADDY Awards Director
Ha Na Park* - Diversity & Multiculturalism Director
Eli Martin* - Ad2 Director
And finally, we'd like to thank the following exiting directors for their service:
Heather Simmonsen - Membership Director
Greg Tranum - Sponsorship Director
Victoria Ostrovskaya - Programs Co-Director
Meghan Ragsdale - Programs Co-Director
We'd sign your yearbooks if we had them!
Our board members are all awesomely skilled but even they can't do their jobs alone. If you'd like to be part of a committee or volunteer at an event, please contact info@aafseattle.com. It's a great way to get your foot in the door of a really cool club.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
Panelists Kerry Antezana, Mary Knight, Mary Olson, Laurie Fritts, and MC Hilllary Miller
We had an amazing night Wednesday with a packed house that came not just to hear our panel but to engage with them and with each other.
An event like this generates a lot of interest in the topic, the panelists and the attendees, as well as some great social activity that used our #AAFWomen hashtag. We've assembled all kinds of relevant and hopefully interesting information into our Storify entry.
If you attended, we'd love your feedback in our short survey.
It's a goofy meme that's caught the internet's attention and is already dying a quick death. But as the latest virtual shiny object, the Harlem Shake is momentarily fascinating, especially when local Seattle-area agencies post their own fancy, costumed moves.
We've noticed these agency videos also come with a healthy dose of pride. And agency pride leads to trash-talking. And trash-talking leads to competing agency Shake videos, which leads to VIDEO BATTLES!
So we thought it would be fun to promote a healthy competition via social media under the hashtag #AAFHarlemBattle and compile these videos and the tweets supporting them into a Storify page where everyone can decide for themself which agency has the best moves. We don't know how many entries we'll get before this burns itself out but it should be fun while it lasts.
If your team wants in on the action, just share your video or trash-talk on our Facebook wall, or tweet it with #AAFHarlemBattle, and we'll be sure to add it.
6:00 p.m., Wednesday, February 27th at Hotel 1000.
Women are a huge part of the workforce in the creative services industry yet recent reports indicate that for all their effort and accomplishments women are dramatically underrepresented in power positions, making up just 3-4% of agency creative leaders.
We've assembled some of Seattle's successful creative women who have been there and done that to tell us about their hiccups and accomplishments as they have navigated their careers in the industry.
Join us for an honest discussion about topics including:
Panelists:
Mary Knight - Executive Creative Director, Hydrogen
Kerry Antezana - Creative Director/Copywriter, Freelance
Mary Olson - Brand Director, Seattle University
Laurie Fritts - Creative Director/Copywriter, Freelance
MC:
Hillary Miller - VP, Global Strategic Services Director, Wunderman
Speaker list for AAF Seattle Speaker Series: Women in Creativity on Lanyrd
Prizes!
We'll also be holding a raffle for great prizes from our sponsors, including an acupuncture session from Blissful Healing Arts, a full hair treatment from Savoir Faire, and a dozen custom thank you notes from Farewell Paperie.
Agenda:
6:00-6:30 - Cocktail hour
6:30-7:45 - Host-led panel discussion
8:00-9:00 - Networking and socializing
Cost:
$10 - AAF Seattle Members
$20 - Non-members
$30 - Door
Light food is included in the ticket price. Cash bar available.
Links:
RSVP on Facebook
See related links, videos, tweets and panelist info on Storify
Tweet and Instagram with #AAFWomen to be included in the Storify and social stream
Let your social contacts know your plans to attend on Plancast
Get event info and track panelists, the MC and us with Lanyrd
Sponsors:
Farewell Paperie, Savoir Faire, Tacoma Rainiers, and Blissful Healing Arts.
AAF Seattle and PSAMA co-host our annual Chalk Talk Super Bowl Ad Replay at 5:30 p.m., February 7th, at 415 Westlake.
Chalk Talk is your chance to hear a panel of ad industry pros praise and tear down what we all saw during time outs in the big game, discussing new trends and questioning strategies in an interactive discussion including the audience.
New This Year
Even more pre-panel fun. We're bringing the tailgate experience indoors, with games and activities straight from the parking lot!
New Audible Ale
We'll be pouring Redhook Ale Brewery's brand new Audible Ale all night - included in the ticket price! Be among the first in the nation to enjoy the beer brewed in cooperation with The Dan Patrick Show.
Win a GoPro Camera
Hand Crank Films will be giving away a GoPro HD camera to a lucky winner.
Panel:
Frank Clark, Creative Director - Square Tomato
Paul Huggett, Design Director - Tether
Mike Hayward, Creative Director - Copacino+Fujikado
Chris Elliott, Executive Creative Director - Wunderman
Jeff Hasen, CMO - Hipcricket
MC:
Sponsors:
Hand Crank Films, The Seattle Times, Redhook Ale Brewery, and Shake Bartenders.
To get our event and Super Bowl ad-related news, Like the Chalk Talk Facebook Page and follow us on Twitter.
Update
on 2013-02-15 16:47
If you attended Chalk Talk, please let us know what you thought by filling out this survey.
We've got a huge event planned for Wednesday, January 23rd, at leading local social media agency Banyan Branch.
Come for a discussion about making sense of and opportunities from all that social data you've got piling up. Whether you're a seasoned analytics vet or you're struggling to make sense of it all, there will be plenty of gems to take home and execute.
Panelists include data experts from analytic tool providers Sysomos, Radian6 Marketing Cloud, Traackr, and Simply Measured, all moderated by Banyan CEO Dave Hanley.
Light apps, beer and wine will be provided by catering sponsors Metropolitan Market Catering and Shake Bartenders.
More info and tickets: http://j.mp/AAFAnalytics
Update on 2013-01-25 00:44
Thanks to everyone for their participation in pulling off a great evening! Please help us improve our events by filling out our super short survey (only two required questions) on our Facebook page. (Use this link if you're on a mobile device).
