Are Our Advertising Awards On the Blink?

Were going to start todays article with a heartfelt request. And an apology. A request to stick with us and an apology if the AADC Awards arent of red hot interest to you. Cause even if you dont enter or attend the AADC Awards, as an ad, design or marketing person, theres likely to be something of interest to you in amongst all the mud slinging - even if it is just the pure, unadulterated enjoyment of witnessing a damn good stoush.  You see, every year we have this thing called the Adelaide Advertising & Design Club Awards. Its kind of like the Logies for Advertising here in Adelaide. Only without any Neighbours stars. And designer Matt Remphrey is sort of like Rove. You know, hes won more gongs than weve had members upgrade their membership. (hint, hint.)

The other thing you can count on every year, is that a whole bunch of people are going to piss and moan about something to do with the awards. Mostly its the same ungrateful so and sos who are too lazy to get off their arses and do anything about it, but complain they do. In fact, if they gave out awards for complaining at next years event, theyd have to make a new bunch of statues and wed be there all god damn night handing them out. Maybe its the food. The venue. The cost. The band. The judges. The whatever. Theyre all easy targets. And yes, we confess, even weve been guilty of joining in that local past time every now and then. As it happens, last year one of our team was invited to be part of a review of the awards system. Lets just say it was a unique and enlightening experience. And while it wouldnt really be cool to reveal what went on in the inner sanctum of reviewing the entire awards process, we reckon itd be highly educational and entertaining to share some of our personal observations about the awards. And to invite you to share some of yours. So here goes...

The truth is, we reckon theres a bunch of stuff thats stuffed about the awards. We put our hands up and suggested some changes, but surprise, surprise, none of them eventuated. Not that any of them were necessarily any good, but hey, we tried. And being the relentless and annoying little terriers and blatant abusers of power we are, were going to use this forum to stir things up a bit. And keep trying. That said, were also going to do something the AADC themselves probably cant do - and thats give you a bit of a reality check. So in the interest of not getting beaten up by Greg or Jay, the clubs presidents, (we reckon we could take Greg, but when his achilles is better that Jay might have a few moves that could be a problem) lets start with that.

Every year, people have a big bloody sook about how much it costs to go to the awards. Were pretty sure the people who complain about this must think the Awards committee all head off to the South of France for a holiday on the proceeds. So heres the reality check. Every year, the committee struggles to break even on the event. The $120ish cost of tickets is actually pretty standard for this sort of bash. Take a look around at other similar events. See anyone else selling tickets to what is essentially a black tie dinner at a venue that can take 100s of people with food, drink and entertainment for less than that? $20 might get you into the local bingo night, but thats about it. If you cant afford $120, we agree its a bit of a pisser, but while the general consensus is we should have a black tie dinner awards presentation thingy, thats the price you can expect to pay. End of story. Now, if you all got off your arses, put your so-called creative heads together, and came up with a format that could be done cheaper to make it more inclusive, then thats another story. And thats where well leave you today. Remember, the AADC Committee are there to serve you. They are there to do what you ask, or without any feedback from you, what they think is best. And every year they bust their arses. So, if you want things to be different, get involved and start suggesting. Start helping. Take some action for crying out loud. Well put up pretty much any sensible feedback on here so this is your chance to get anything to do with the AADC Awards off your chest. Dont be shy. Cause we sure as shit wont be. GO TO PART 2

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