Atlanta's Ad Agencies Big Night Out not so BIG!

Hardly a day goes buy that an Atlanta Advertising Agency executive doesn't think that his or her work is equal to national work, but Atlanta's does not receive recognition because it's not known as an "Ad Town". This feeling of inadequacy has resulted in a schizophrenic creative show that can only be matched in a twilight zone episode called the Addy/Show South/Addy/Show South/Addy/Show South show. You see, back when Atlanta was competing in the world of creativity we had our own show called Show South. This was a product of the Creative Club and held the reputation as the pinnacle of advertising in the South. Judges were ruthless and truly made a Show South award something worth winning. Today, the only show in town is the Atlanta Ad Club's ADDY Awards. An ADDY award is a competition run by local clubs of the American Advertising Federation. Local ADDY winners go to regional competitions then advance to the national competition. A national ADDY one of the industries top awards. From the lack of Gold ADDY's on Saturday night, it's obvious that some people still think they are judging for Show South.

Judging is subjective and it's important for Atlanta Advertising to send a good amount of market superior work. My contention is that superior advertising within it's competitive set should win at the local level and have a chance to compete at the regional level. This didn't happen Saturday night. Competitive categories were without Gold. This show is still a local show and should not be the last stop for a competitive product. Someone needs to understand that shows like this will only hold back Atlanta Advertising.

For those who won gold, congratulations and you should find an easy time in the regional competition. For the rest of us, you should be so proud of your silver and bronze. They would have won in every other local market show.

Note: As ad club president, I was responsible for the merging of the two clubs and the elimination of Show South. It was not decided at the time how to handle the ADDYs and today the jury is still out. So with all the finger pointing, I hold some blame for what has transpired.