ADDY Never Sleeps

“You look tired.” – said everyone I talk to.

It’s probably the bags under the eyes but at least I came by them honestly. Because for our organization (like most volunteer based groups), strategizing, mobilizing, and awards show prep never stops. Luckily, neither does the energy or commitment to good ideas from the incredible event committee we’ve assembled. And being President of an organization like the RAF is the best and most influential “stress” I have ever known. It’s such an exciting time for us.

Over the past few months, I’ve talked to so many people in the creative community that I never have before. All with questions about what the ADDY awards could and should mean to them. Mostly, they wonder if they have a chance to win. My answer is always the same. Absolutely, everyone has a chance to win. Of course, your chance goes up exponentially if you do actually enter your work (deadline is Feb. 8th). There are also several benefits to participating besides the aspect of winning something. We’re poised to have the most diverse amount of entries we’ve ever had so don’t miss your chance to be a part of something.

So where else are we? Well, times change and so have the needs/scope of the RAF
membership.Today we represent an incredible amount of professionals from all aspects of the advertising and marketing world as our responsibility to everyone from agencies to freelancers to clients has grown. And we are certainly better for the diversity we have decided to embrace. Realistically, our time could be spent solely on something like the ADDY Awards show, but we always want to do more and we hope you’ve been the recipient of some good interaction on our part whether it’s an RAF event, our growing network, or something like this blog post.

So let’s recap some quick things you should know:

The ADDY Awards – The one event you have 364 days to prepare for:

+ The Facebook inspiration board and call for entry portals have been very active. We can’t wait to see what you can offer both.

+ The theme, venue, and overall experience will ask; what inspires our diverse creative community?

+ The show will be shorter, we promise, in an effort to make sure you have more time celebrating your work and with your colleagues. It will also remain as interactive as ever, with a few extra ways to contribute, stay tuned.

+ The call for nominations for the Silver Achievement Award is out. This is a chance for you to nominate someone you believe has been a healthy influence on Rochester’s creative professionals and the community at large.

+ Remember that our show is THE local awards platform that promises both professionals and students alike the opportunity to be recognized regionally and nationally. Local gold and silver ADDY award winning entries are automatically eligible entries for the District 2 ADDY awards, winners in that competition can then forward their entries to the National ADDY Awards for consideration. For years, our community has had several agencies, freelancers, and students alike all achieve National ADDY recognition.

+ We have space available in the upcoming bound edition of the official ADDY Showbook as well. This is a unique reference and record of what this incredible creative community is capable of and there are plenty of opportunities for your work and services to be a part of that record. Join in our creative community’s biggest night and every day after that by advertising in the Official 2013 RAF ADDY Awards Showbook. To reserve your space today or if you have any questions, contact us at showbook@rafconnect.org

Like I said, it’s easy to focus on something as big and important as the ADDY Awards but we have more “20 Minutes & A Beer” dates coming up, as well as more “20 Minutes & A Pizza” events for students. We’re working on bringing in more speakers, holding more networking events just for freelancers, a possible film series, and even plans for an “inspired” RAF exhibit.

Thank you for the support over the last few months and we have some good ideas for the ones ahead. FYI – probably going to grab some of this stuff for the bags under the eyes, I’ll let you know how it works out.

See you all the night of March 14th, if not before!

Sincerely,
Pres. T.C.

Shoot me a message and say hello why don’t ya? = president@rafconnect.org
Everything ADDY = https://aafgreaterrochester.org/events/addys/