And the ADDY goes to...

The American Advertising Federation (AAF) program of ADDY Awards to recognize the very best advertising crafted and presented to its respective audiences in the last year. In St. Louis the awards for the best work, were presented last night at PLUSH, on Locust Street downtown, at a lively event with energy, enthusiasm and a little chaos.

AdClub’s Nan Hartly was the second person you saw as you arrived. The first was a sort imposing bouncer who was working the wristbands. (Once you were identified “of age” you were entitled to a Bud or Bud Lite compliments of our neighborhood brewery the relationship with which our local advertising community still enjoys some business.) Nan was working admission and performs this task like she’s been doing stuff like this for more than four decades. (Really, she has!) Once admitted, the crowded bar was buzzing with agency artists, writers, strategists and managers. Also in the crowd were video production people, freelancers, recruitment specialists, teachers and client-side marketing types.

The winners were determined last month by an all-star panel of judges from out-of-town. Results were kept secret until this night. AdClub was determined to make some changes this year. In an effort to better recognize the individuals behind the work deemed the best, winners were listed on video monitor screens stage right and stage left. The master of ceremonies keep the program moving and a capable Vanna White assist handed awards to people who stepped up to collect the trophies. Winners were then guided to a photo opportunity against a backdrop where they could capture that career highlight in an image that would, no doubt, make its way to web and digital conversations.

The ADDY awards are a great way to get a sense of where we are. This year we saw the return of the printed show book. Thanks to Bender Inc. we were reminded that there is still value in a tangible print execution. Manifest was a gold sponsor. (In case you haven’t been paying attention this digital agency is the new entity formed from the former 4ORCE and a Chicago enterprise, the local clients include Post Cereals and Scottrade). Rodgers Townsend collected a lot of awards for work ranging from Nawgan energy drink to Eckert’s. TOKY, Switch, Atomicdust, Brown Shoe, Kuhl/Swain, Hoffman Lewis and Cannonball were among those who were recognized as winners. But the Best of Show went to HLK (Hughes Leahy Karlovic) for the campaign that agency did for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Good Job AAF AdClub! It’s great to know that our town still has some great agencies, talented creative people and support for the advertising community. Thanks also to those agencies, individuals and creative people who participated by entering their work.