Neil Gaiman. Winning a car during lunch. A wedding proposal (she said yes, by the way). Open bars. Minimal awards night frills. Oh, and the countless international speakers that you could shake your goodie bag at. Certainly, the recent Subic AdCon was one of the best to date!
But like Edison who didn’t rest on his laurels after inventing the light bulb, the next AdCon Committee has their work cut out for them if they want to do improve on the recent Congress.
Or they could just take a gander at the following list of what could’ve, would’ve and should’ve been done better. Saves a lot of finger pointing and head shaking before 2009 hits, yes?
1. Parking
vis-à-vis shuttling
Thanks to the official Advertising Congress stickers, parking at Subic wasn’t disastrous at all. Still, there was the small matter of walking from the not-so-nearby side road to convention center each and every time. But count yourself blessed as that at least meant you had your own means of going about. Lucky you, especially since most of the official Subic shuttles seemed to disappear right after dinner. Speaking of dinner…
2. Talking
while eating
Pity the French guy who spoke at the first dinner—it’s never easy to hold anyone’s attention when stomachs are a-grumbling. While his message may have been substantial, the din from the mess hall was more so. The open bar at the other end quite certainly didn’t help matters at all. At the very least, Monsieur gave away some iPhones, so the dinner wasn’t a total loss.
3. Sound snafu
Michelle Kristula-Green’s Earth Hour mpeg was one of the highlights of her talks. A pity that no one could hear a thing. The only real blight on an otherwise perfect three-day production.
4. Saturday
mornin kart-oons
Nobody goes to the AdCon just to play sports, even if they were recreationally inclined. But a little friendly competition/team bonding never hurt anybody. But what were the organizers thinking when they set a Saturday call time at 6:30 AM? Who in their right minds would wake up that early to drive a go-kart, run a race or play beach volleyball ball? Taking into consideration that all the killer parties happened the night before, the reasonable answer is…not a lot. Unless the sport you signed up for involved hitting a small, white multi-dimpled ball into 18 pre-determined holes in the ground. In which case you’re probably the early bird(ie) type anyway, Tiger.
5. Time.
And time again.
John Gokongwei’s speech started late. So did Neil Gaiman’s. Ditto for most, too. Probably not their fault, but still, when the organizers declare the talks will begin by, say, 9 AM, it should be the rule and not a suggestion.
Perhaps next time the show can start on the dot, as advertised. Or, barring that, find a way to ensure that speakers stay within their allotted onstage time (*cough, cough, Terry Savage, cough*) to avoid delaying the ones that follow.
6. Dress to impress
How about a minimal dress code for next outing, dear organizers?
Crocs are damn comfy shoes, people. That said, it really wouldn’t hurt for delegates to show up wearing something a little more…appropriate. You’re attending the Advertising Congress, the Philippines’ premier, biennial ad biz event, after all, and not cruising the mall on a weekend. A little flair for fashion certainly won’t kill you. Please dress up befitting the event and save the shorts for weekend shopping. But if you really don’t you want to be taken seriously, you may as well go the whole hog and wear socks with them Crocs. GQ Man of The Year, you ain’t.
7. Gabba-gabba-hey
No matter now many times you tell the crowd to switch off their mobile phones (or at least, to silent mode), there’ll always be a handful who won’t. Worse, the offenders take calls inside the hall. People, please stop! Cupping your hands over thy mobile still rates an 8.7 on the Irritating Scale.
8. Go green
It’s all about the environment these days. Maybe the next AdCon could integrate recycling, solar power and BioFuel in their upcoming plans. Al Gore would approve.
9. Star power
Who’ll be the next Graham, Guan Hin, Gaiman or Big Name to grace the upcoming 2009 AdCon? Jureeporn? Serpa? Bodusky? Oprah?? Here’s a thought starter: with the ever-increasing number of RP expats in the ad biz, why not one of the Philippines’ own to headline?
10. Life’s a parade
No other awards show the planet involves advertising and production people making a memorable spectacle of themselves in the parade prior to awards night. It was almost as anticipated as the award ceremonies! Sadly, the hall was half full when the lads and lassies came a-marching in. Perhaps a little more hype during the congress would’ve ensured less empty seats?
There’s more, of course. But, for now, these ten would be the obvious areas of improvement. Take a cue from Edison and treat them as ideas for future inspiration—the one-percent kind. All that’s needed now is the 99 percent perspiration.
