#9 – It’s one more opportunity to be able to write off a whole evening of partying as a business expense.

#8 – Where else can you give a rival agency the “stink-eye” without the risk of a fist fight?

#7 – Drink orders via Tweet.

#6 – Your work will be seen by the entire Rochester Advertising Community, not just the 15 people in the “target audience.”

#5 – You may show up single, but you could leave with a new client.

#4 – Rumor has it that Joe Mayernik is planning an interpretive digital dance routine.

#3 – Side-effects may include a swelling of your network and increased visibility in the Ad community.

#2 – There’s no penalty for excessive celebration.

#1 – We need to show those sissies in Minneapolis (aka judges) just what the Rochester Ad community’s made of.

Submitted by Andrea Zuegel and Matt Smythe

Entering the ADDYs also means exposure. When was the last time a large sampling of your colleagues and creative mentors were all in the same room together? We work hard to make sure event attendees have plenty of time to see the complete gallery of entrants. Think about the amount of time you spend posting, e-mailing, or otherwise promoting your work. Now factor in all of that time plus your resources vs. the expense of an ADDY entry where you can guarantee your work will be seen by those who matter to you. Would you rather just mingle with people or have something to show them while you’re catching up?

Granted, nobody should base their creative goals solely on winning an ADDY, but because you can never handicap your kind of talent or even the judging, you should never NOT try. An event like this should also incite friendly competition and dare we say, inspiration. In a market like ours, when has it ever paid to be divisive?

In addition to the usual ADDY book we publish post ceremony, this year, a microsite will go live after the initial judging showcasing all entrants. This means your entries will live well beyond the night of the show, “win” or “lose.”

We’ve got a simple ADDY mantra of “Don’t just do good work, do extraordinary work.” We all know what it feels like to become attached to an idea, or a sketch, and then a final product. Why not take a final step to see what other professionals think beyond the client and the market itself?

T.C. Pellett, RAF V.P., 1-19-12

I have lived in Rochester for almost ten years. Within that time I have seen many ad agencies sadly close their doors. Saatchi & Saatchi, Buck & Pulleyn, EMA’s strong Rochester presence, and ICE to name a few. Our industry in Rochester cannot sustain losing one advertising agency every two years. For our creative community to thrive, we as an industry, need to work together to stop the bleeding. One way we can accomplish this is to stop the brain drain. The RAF is dedicated to our creative community by developing programs, fostering mentorship and sponsorships that educate, inspire and celebrate great work. Our program, 20 Minutes & a Beer, is a huge success. It’s a program designed to showcase the talented individuals in our market, while drinking a cold one with peers. I have seen over a dozen of these events thus far. Each attended by at least 30 people, and the crowd is always different. It’s a true testament that we are tailoring the content of these events to appeal to all facets of our industry. We are fighting the brain drain.

Our newest program is the RAF Backstage Pass. It’s a series of events tailored specifically to the broadcast community. Last fall was the first annual Cannes Lion Event, where we brought Rochester industry professionals together to give insights on the winners and how it relates to us in our market.

We are ushering in a new age of the Rochester advertising scene. Many new agencies, design shops, and interactive agencies have started to have success. These small 2 to 5 person shops are the future of our industry. They have been forced to adapt to the ever changing rules of our business. Bygone are the days of traditional media. Guerilla marketing, the internet, social media and phone apps are their wheelhouse. 10 years from now they will emerge to be the next Partners + Napier, Martino Flynn, or Jay Advertising. They will be rewriting the rules of how to grow a clients brand.

Since our market has changed so too has the RAF board. We realigned the members, formed new board seats, and cut the outdated. Our board is now comprised of a nice mix of agencies, freelancers, marketing professionals, and key client contacts. We polled our membership, asked tough questions, and got back honest responses. These responses have already been placed into action. Look for some major revisions in the Addy’s this year.

We cut socials from the RAF calendar. Not because we don’t like to drink (trust me, we like to drink). But we realized that social only events do not ladder back to our core mission of inspiration, education, and celebration of great work. Social only events only served to continue the stigma of the RAF being a closed tight knit advertising fraternity. A stigma that we have spent a lot of time tying to break. And for us to grow we needed to adapt, and listen to our membership. We are fighting the brain drain.

We better aligned ourselves with the national organization of the AAF. There are many benefits RAF members receive from this affiliation. Benefits like savings on FedEx shipments, discounted publication subscriptions and savings of supplies for the office. I urge you to take advantage of these benefits. Let your membership work harder for you. Your membership perk is not only discounted tickets to the Addy’s.

We are in the process of creating a new program for the freelance community. Realizing the past Freelance Expo had it’s place but now the dwindling number of advertising agencies and the birth of the information age has forced us to refresh, renew this staple of the event calendar. Big things are in the works and I am happy to say that by the 2011-2012 RAF season, we’ll have a new program and initiatives directed to the freelance community. Think of it as the Freelance Expo 2.0.

We have renewed our commitment to the students of Upstate, New York. Our expanded partnership with RIT has forced us to look out our organization with a fresh perspective. To put in processes that insure the RAF is working as hard and as efficiently as it can, to realize that accountability is our greatest ally in an organization comprised entirely of volunteers. We created a new program, 20 Minutes and a Pizza. In this program the RAF brings agency and marketing professionals to the campus of RIT, to inspire the students, to educate and mentor. We at the RAF want to ensure that after students graduate they stay here in this area. To grow our industry in Rochester, not shrink it. Their talent and creativity is key to the revitalization our creative community. We need them to help us fight the brain drain.

This is a great city. It’s a place where many blue chip clients call home. In fact, the RAF stays strong due to the generosity of corporations like Xerox. I would love for our city to be viewed as the next Minneapolis, or dare I say Miami. There certainly is enough talent here. Each year at the Addy’s we prove that even though Rochester may not be a big city, we do big things, service big clients and think up big ideas. Our addy winners are successful in the District 2 and national level Addy Awards, and this success is just one of the ways Rochester can become a creative powerhouse. This year the Addy’s turns 20. Our theme is the old time revival. We’re getting back to our roots to celebrate what is really important to our profession. The creative idea.

And finally, I urge you to get involved. Help us help the creative community. If you’ve ever wanted to take an expanded role, or maybe even serve as RAF board member, please let us know. Rochester needs bright and eager marketing and advertising professionals to lead the RAF for the next 20 years. The state of the RAF is good, but the involvement of others will make it great. President Obama talked about the past vs the future. He spoke of not fighting over what has been, but look to what we all can do moving forward. I’d say we could do the same.

Thanks and let’s party hard at the Addy’s on March 24th, but the only way to salvation is through submission. Enter you work today, the final call for entries due February 11th. And, like our President after his speech… If you want my autograph… I can oblige.

Prez Joe

Remember to purchase your tickets by March 5th. No tickets will be sold at the door. No matter how much we like you. GYFO!

JOE

Apparently, advertising talent runs in the family. David is the nephew of Rochester ad & marketing veteran Joe Nardone of Eastman Kodak.

With over 60,000 entries annually, the ADDY® Awards are the world’s largest and arguably toughest advertising competition. The ADDY® Awards represent the true spirit of creative excellence by recognizing all forms of advertising from media of all types, creative by all sizes and entrants of all levels from anywhere in the world. The American Advertising Federation, a not-for-profit industry association conducts the ADDY® Awards through its 200 member advertising clubs and 15 districts. It is the only creative awards program administered by the advertising industry for the industry.

Check out all the 2009 winners here.

— Kate Sonnick

MAD-TINI
3 oz cherry vodka
1/2 oz bourbon
Splash of sour mix
Splash of cranberry juice
Shake in a cocktail shaker, strain sexily into martini glass and garnish with maraschino cherry.

Feel free to comment on the photos and share with others.

(And we’re all about privacy here, so if there are any photos of you you’d like us to take down, drop us an email and we’ll see it gets taken care of.)

— Scott Wolf

But here’s some insight into what we, on the Dundee team, knew. Packaging sells beer. No one is buying beer because of a story on the back of the label. Sure, it gives them something to read while they drink…all by themselves. But the cool new look of the Dundee labels and Craft Pack is what stops people in their tracks in the beverage aisle.

And that is the genius work of Paul Hill and Tim Downs, two of the finest I will ever work with.

So I’ll never admit I said this, but save your reading for the cereal box, be shallow, and just choose a Dundee for its good looks.