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Photo: CCP0005046 L. Clarke

G’day from Sydney.

Not sure where to start.

Let’s start with Sydney. It is gorgeous. Smart. The right amount of civilized Britishness mixed with a laid back beach vibe. It’s basically perfect. And it’s the end of summer here. So blue skies, green trees and sparkling seas ... blah blah blah. You get the point. We’re not here by accident.

And the ANDY’s ... The ANDY’s are a weighty thing to be a part of. I’ve been fortunate to participate a few times now and rub shoulders with some of our industry’s finest while musing at our industry’s best work from the year. Droga, Tarty, Tuttsel, Nobay, Waites, Hoffman, Credle. That’s like half of them. It’s a humbling experience. The finest minds dissecting our work. It makes you want to work harder. Or at least wish you had.

If you remember my journal from last year, you may be aware that we partook in some karaoke. This year, it’s officially been added to the list of activities. Now, there’s no way Mr. Waites — our gracious and talented host — decided to do karaoke because he likes it. I’m not buying that. The facts are that David “Nobby” Nobay made this an issue. He’s thrown down the proverbial gauntlet and is rumored to have pre-filtered the songlist to work in his favor, in preparation for what he deems a re-match. He’s also lobbied for an encore performance from Thirasak Tanapatanakul (heretofore referred to as Guy) while bringing in an additional ringer from Thailand — Jureeporn Thaidumrong (heretofore referred to as Judy) — who apparently knocked it out of the park at another agency award competition karaoke showdown. For my part, all I can say is that the event will be reported fairly and accurately.

The work has been great so far. I’m fascinated by print. It is almost impossible to nail down what makes a great print ad. There are rules and there are goals and there are philosophies, but there are no guarantees. The right answer just is the right answer. I wish I could say more. Keep it simple, keep it branded, stay tight to the product and its benefits. Have a powerful strategy. Surprise and engage. Make it relevant. OK, so what is relevant and what is funny? What amount do you leave out so that the reader can feel smart for understanding or have you left out so much as to alienate them? It’s a delicate balance. When you see it you know it. (Hmmmm ... sounds like a cop-out.) I’ve got a week to figure it all out.

Andrew Keller
Executive Creative Director, Crispin, Porter & Bogusky

Okay, so the trip from London to Sydney is pretty brutal - 23 hours. Unbelievable. I must say though, arriving in the middle of summer makes it well worth the trip. The temperature was about 77 degrees. Oh wait, this is the UK I am talking to - I mean 25 degrees. We had most of the day off so I headed straight to Bondi Beach to catch up with some friends.

In the evening Yahoo sponsored cocktails for all the judges and the Advertising Club members at The Summit Restaurant in Australia Square. It is actually a perfect intro to Sydney because you get a stunning 360 degrees panoramic view of the city’s skyline and the harbour from the 47th floor. It is a great attraction mainly because the room revolves. It takes roughly 105 minutes to do a complete circle around the city. The best part for me was watching the reaction of people who are unaware the room is actually turning. I don?t want to mention any names, but Nobby (David Nobay) and I were cracking up at Marie-Catherine Dupuy wondering if something went wrong with her cocktail.

The first day of was pretty impressive. The Advertising Club has a pretty organized system for reviewing the work and it is also very fair. Not only are judges not allowed to vote on work from their respective offices, they are also not allowed to vote any work from their network. That didn’t work out too well for Susan Credle because that meant she could barely vote on anything. Andrew Keller found a loophole by voting on his own work he had nothing to do with.

Anyway, it is almost needless to say that Mark Waites has done a fantastic job of putting together a great group of people and I think we are going to see some pretty amazing work in this show. Talk to you tomorrow. Bye.

Feh Tarty
Wieden & Kennedy, London

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