The Kansas City Addys – A Celebration of All Things Creative

Maybe we were all a little battered and bruised from a brutal year, but the KC Advertising community came out in full force last night for the 2009 Addy Awards Celebration, the largest regional advertising awards show. It turned out to be a broader mix of winners than usual — speaking volumes about a changing industry. But most notable to me was the palpable feeling of pride we all shared in one other’s successes.

Bernstein, Barkley and VML clearly dominated in the sheer number of awards they each received. And it was great that not just one of them dominated — but that they all fared well. I was happy for each of them for different reasons. Clearly, BR has had its challenges this past year, so I was particularly happy to see them win Best of Show this year. And it was heartwarming to see Matt Anthony at VML win Advertising Professional of the Year – and, though health challenges prevented him from accepting, Jon Cook’s report on his improving condition brought the entire room to their feet.

And, though it may be a bit self serving, I loved it that SHS won Best of Broadcast for a public service spot created for an on-line campaign for Water.org. The L’Desh Fresh campaign was created and written by SHS — and then directed and edited by T2_Back Alley artist,  Pete Meyer. Pete is the absolute epitome of the commitment we have at T2 and Back Alley of joining forces by bringing together a broad spectrum of creative talent –and merging the production and post production processes.

Also exciting was the fact that there were many non-agency winners for what might have been the first time ever this year. Lots of photography, design, animation and music houses made the evening, garnering some terrific awards. Talented folks like rw/2, Berg, Willoughby and Bazillion. And we were thrilled to join those ranks and win some awards that don’t traditionally go to non-agencies as well. It’s most notable that all these small shops were not only winning awards, but many of the awards typified a new trend of companies working and collaborating together on projects.

rw/2 took home an amazing number of Addys for House of Fly 53 and MADD — both integrated campaigns that spanned print, motion for broadcast and online platforms. House of Fly 53 included an interactive short film that they produced with Back Alley Films, edited with T2, and produced the music/sound mix through Bazillion.

MADD included both a broadcast and online spot produced by Back Alley, edited by T2 and scored by Bazillion. As internationally acclaimed still photographers, the Wade Bros. have crossed over to “motion” and joined the other multi-talented artists on the Back Alley roster. It’s a roster of directors, designers, photographers, writers, editors, documentary film makers and viral content pros — all who speak to a new age of advertising that includes integrated and viral campaigns on multiple platforms.

This year’s Addys might well speak loudest of all to changing roles, changing structures and a tighter connection between talent and technology — in an industry that is clearly changing. And, speaking of talent, I looked across the T2-Back Alley tables last night — at Carson and Cody and Michael and Garrett and Claudia — and Pete and Tyler and Nicole and Nick and all the rest of the team — and I realized that I felt hopeful again. And it’s certainly a welcome feeling.

I was certainly proud of the 7 Addy cubes we carried out last night – and the 6 more that were entered by other agency and non-agency partners . . . but what really made me most proud was this group of amazingly talented, diverse and passionate people. And though these people no doubt gathered last night to celebrate their work, they also gathered to celebrate each other and revel in notion that we all are motivated — on a daily basis — by our innate desire to create. Maybe that was what everyone else in the room was feeling too.