What’s YOUR DC Ad Club story? Contact us at info@dcadclub.com to share.

My DC Ad Club Experience: Judy Markoe,  Principal, Big Picture Marketing

Why did you join DC Ad Club?
In prehistoric times (!), when one moved to a new city, the absolute best way to connect with people like yourself—was to get involved with other people like yourself! I love advertising and decided to seek out the Ad Club. In addition, I was doing a lot of advertising at my new organization and didn’t know the market. What better place to get the lay of the land than the DC Ad Club?

 How did you get involved? How do you stay involved?
I began going to events and in a short while joined a committee. I then chaired the EyeOpener Seminars and before I knew it, was on the Board of Directors. In my long tenure, I was ADDY Chair, various positions on the Board, President of the Club and President of the Foundation. After all that, I stayed involved for over 10 years in chairing the ADDY judging.

What benefits do you get from being a part of the club?
I have gained much more than I’ve contributed. I’ve continually learned state of the art strategies and technologies; programs have educated me and encouraged me to think out of the box. The work has inspired me and I have honed my leadership skills. Probably the most rewarding benefit is that I have made life-long friends.

What would say to a potential new member?
This is the place where people are as excited as you are about that wonderful campaign, new technology, that other campaign, amazing speaker or even—metrics! And, oh yes, that amazing ad! Whether your goals are to network for business, professional development or inspiration, you cannot find a better place to accomplish them all, than at the DC Ad Club.

What’s YOUR DC Ad Club story? Contact us at info@dcadclub.com to share.

My DC Ad Club Experience: Brad Rizza, Communications Manager, Pappas Group

Why did you join DC Ad Club?
I got involved with the DC Ad Club to meet, socialize and network with others involved in the DC advertising community. Being fresh out of school and fairly new to the advertising world, I felt there was just as much, if not more, to learn from others as I could from those at my own agency.

How did you get involved? How do you stay involved?
I joined DC Ad Club with other employees from Pappas Group and was recently named the Communications Chair for Ad 2 DC, the young professionals branch of the DC Ad Club. I stay involved by sitting on the steering committee, attending events, planning new initiatives, and helping with communications.

What benefits do you get from being a part of the club?
I love having the chance to attend some of the top events in the city, whether it’s a happy hour, a thought-leader presentation or a sponsored event, it’s always a memorable time.

What would say to a potential new member?
There are so many different ways to get something out of being an DC Ad Club member whether it’s attending expert panels, networking events, happy hours, using the amazing discounts on a number of products and services or just using the opportunity to meet interesting people.

What’s YOUR DC Ad Club story? Contact us at info@dcadclub.com to share.

My DC Ad Club Experience: Tiffany Bacon, VP Account Management, RP3 Agency

Why did you join DC Ad Club?
More than 10 years ago I decided to leave the financial services field and try my hand at advertising, an industry that I was always interested in. I knew very little about the business nor did I know anyone in it. Through just a little research I discovered that the DC Ad Club was a wonderful way for me to learn more about the different aspects of advertising as well as to network with influential people in the market who could hopefully offer words or wisdom and suggestions on how to break into the business. If it wasn’t for the DC Ad Club, I would certainly not be where I am today because it was indeed another member who offered me my first job opportunity in account management.

 How did you get involved? How do you stay involved?
From my early membership until know, I have enjoyed participating in the educational programs available through the DC Ad Club. What I appreciate most is that it offers a variety of workshops, seminars and webinars that speak to the needs of wherever you are in your own professional career. The programs that I registered for many years ago are very different from the ones that I now participate in. It’s tremendous that the DC Ad Club offers scalable programs that target and meet the different needs of all of its member constituents. I’m presently on the Programs Committee and this is something that continues to be important to us.

What benefits do you get from being a part of the club?
While I still register for some of the workshops offered by the DC Ad Club, I now largely benefit from the networking opportunities available from being a member. In this business, it’s important to learn from your colleagues, and the Ad Club offers a multitude of forums for people in our industry to share, learn and grow from one another. Through the process, I’ve made several contacts and friends that have helped me along the way, and hopefully, in turn, I have also helped throughout the years.

What would say to a potential new member?
I feel that my personal experience demonstrates that the format works. The DC Ad Club offers access and insight into the advertising community. It also supports your own professional development goals. Leverage the many opportunities that are available to you and I think you’ll learn, as many of us have, that you’ll reap a world of benefit.

What’s YOUR DC Ad Club story? Contact us at info@dcadclub.com to share.

My DC Ad Club Experience: Matthew Rakola

Why did you join DC Ad Club?
I moved to DC in June of 2010 after 9 years of being a professional photographer in Boston. It was then that I realized that I didn’t know anyone in the DC creative/communications community. At a networking event sponsored by another organization I met a DC Ad Club board member who described an active organization that was exactly what I was searching for. I was intrigued by the DC Ad Club because it spanned both the creative and business sides of the industry.

 How did you get involved? How do you stay involved?
The first events that I participated in were a part of ADWKDC. I met a wide range of people from both sides of “the house” and got a sense of the strong community that the DC metro area enjoys. I stay involved by being a member of the social events committee.

What benefits do you get from being a part of the club?
I consider myself a communications professional, not just a photographer, and aside from the obvious networking opportunities, the DC Ad Club provides me the opportunity to learn about related industries from leaders in the field. These connections make me a better photographer by helping me to more fully understand the context in which my images will be used. Connecting with others in the advertising/communications world, both at social events and educational programs, has been instrumental in building a community from which I can seek advice or simply “talk shop.”

What would say to a potential new member?
The DC Ad Club is a place where professionals want to help other professionals. The more energy you put into making the organization better, the more benefits you will see yourself. Whether it’s exposure to potential clients or partners, educational programming, or even just a discount to events, DC Ad Club is there to assist you in navigating the region’s communications landscape.

 Additionally, I’ve also been able to collaborate on projects with other DC Ad Club members to create promotional materials for organization events. This has let me demonstrate my skills directly to the creative leaders who I am trying to reach professionally.

What’s YOUR DC Ad Club story? Contact us at info@dcadclub.com to share.

My DC Ad Club Experience: Louise Salas

Why did you join DC Ad Club?
After being in the advertising industry for over 15 years, I found myself moving into a market where I knew no one and I wasn’t joining an agency—which would have typically been my “in.” Throughout my career, I learned the “who’s who” and made my contacts purely through my employment. But here I was, without a network—without the help of co-workers or the strength of an agency. So joining DC Ad Club just made sense—it was to be my path to learning this market.

How did you get involved?
Shortly after joining the club, I attend ADWKDC, where I met Debbie Kaplan. Boy, I had no idea how important that chance meeting was to be and that she was going to propel me into this market. Not only did she rope me in, get me to join the membership committee and introduce me to more people than I can count, she became my client. After volunteering on the membership committee and attending just about every event hosted by DC Ad Club, my involvement and enthusiasm earned me a nomination to serve on the Board of Directors, which I currently am doing as the co-chair of the social events committee while still serving as committee member on the membership committee.

What benefits do you get from being a part of the club?
DC Ad Club has lived up to my expectations. It has allowed me to learn this market, helped me to get connected to the powers-that-be and also allows me to help others who are working their way through this industry. So not only am I given the help I need, I am also able to help others—which is a great feeling. And of course, as a freelance creative, I am only as good as my resources and through my club involvement, I’ve met countless vendors, from printers to photographers to digital marketers–all which are pivotal to my ability to meet and/or exceed my clients’ needs. Beyond that, I now have two clients in the DC area (both gained through Debbie) that definitely keep me hopping and will surely help me become securely planted in this market. 

One last thing to mention…creative outlets. For the events we host, creative is needed to help promote them. Working on these mini-campaigns allows me to flex my creative muscle while also working with other creatives in the club to create work that will be entered into the ADDYs for free. It’s a win-win.

What would say to a potential new member?
Get involved. Stay involved. Your membership is only as valuable as you let it. Take advantage of your membership discount and attend as many of the events as possible. Also, find a committee that speaks to your strengths and career goals. You honestly have the ability to shape and form the club you want.

 Last but not least, have fun!

What’s YOUR DC Ad Club story? Contact us at info@dcadclub.com to share.

My DC Ad Club Experience: Alex McGregor

What experience got you involved in DC Ad Club?
It would have to be when I attended my first event. I had joined months before, but was a little nervous and thought I was just too busy to make it to events. But after that first one I was hooked.

What do you feel you have gotten out of your membership?
I got a job! I think that is one of the most important things I have gotten. At one of the Ad 2 DC Water Cooler events I met a woman by the name of Jen. We had a lot of fun chatting and shetold me about her company Grubb & Ellis. I checked out the company and found a Marketing position that was perfect for me. I was able to get an interview and actually landed the job because of her and the event. I couldn’t have asked for more. Especially in this bad economy, I feel like it’s all about who you know.

How do you give back to the club?
I am part of the membership committee, but before that I thought it was important to really network and get to know people. Someone told me at a recent event that it is about connecting people not just helping yourself. I have really strived to do that when I go to any event.

Why did you join DC Ad Club?
I joined DC Ad Club because I was looking for work and also wanted to start networking in the advertising world. I joined about a year before I graduated college because I thought it would be the best way to get my name out and meet new people. I was right! My LinkedIn and my network filled up. People were very welcoming and eager to get to know me.

Why do you stay in DC Ad Club?
It is a fun club and rewards are great. I feel that I am able to expand my experience with advertising and get to be around people in my field. I work at an in-house advertising department so the DC Ad Club allows me more exposure to other marketing people.

What would you say to new members?
Do everything! I would not have found a job unless I went out and talked to people but the same goes for everything. I might not have gotten that great idea if I didn’t go and talk to people so I highly suggest going out and meeting people. You never know what will happen.

A full list of winners is available at http://www.dcadclub.com

The DC Ad Club presented its 2011 ADDY® Awards, recognizing advertising creative excellence, on Tuesday, March 15, at the Almas Temple, Washington, DC.  The annual reception and awards presentation was attended by over 350 area advertising and media professionals.

The theme for the evening’s celebration was the Festival of St. Bernardine, the patron saint of Advertising and Public Relations. The awards show kicked off with a witty monologue by host and emissary of St. Bernardine, Father Guido Sarducci.

The DC Ad Club received 675 entries from 93 agencies, design firms, in-house marketing departments, freelancers, interactive firms, production companies, PR firms, and students.

A panel of 10 judges—general market and interactive—was convened to review and score the entries based on creativity, originality and creative strategy.

Winning entries were honored with a total of 86 Gold ADDY® Awards, 93 Silver ADDY® Awards, and 4 Student Gold ADDY® Awards, along with Best of Category and Best of Show Awards.

The evening’s top award, Best of Show, went to AKQA for “Great. For the price of good,” a mixed media campaign done for Volkwagen. Best of Show is determined by a consensus of the judges.

Other top ADDY Awards included four Best of Category awards, which are given to the entries receiving the highest score in each category:

• Best of Category-Print – Adworks, Inc.’s “CC-Brand Print (EKG)” print ad, done for the Cleveland Clinic
• Best of Category-Collateral – Design Army’s “I Do (and Don’ts” publication series, done for Washingtonian Bride & Groom
• Best of Category-Broadcast –SmithGifford’s “2011 Opportunity” a local TV spot done for Melwood
• Best of Category-Interactive – AKQA’s “Force Unleashed 2,” an online campaign for Lucas Arts

Arnold Worldwide took home the most awards, with a total of 27 (14 Gold ADDY® Awards, 13 Silver ADDY® Awards).

Other top awardees included Design Army with 19 ADDY® Awards (1 Best of Category, 15 Gold and 3 Silver); AKQA with 17 ADDY® Awards (1 Best of Show, 1 Best of Category, 12 Gold and 3 Silver); White+Partners with 17 ADDY® Awards (7 Gold and 10 Silver); SmithGifford with 16 ADDY® Awards (1 Best of Category, 3 Gold and 12 Silver); and HZDG with 12 ADDY® Awards (3 Gold and 9 Silver).

The ADDY® Awards Competition is a three-tiered national competition conducted annually by the American Advertising Federation (AAF), its chapters, and districts. With 40,000 entries nationwide, the ADDY® Awards Competition is the advertising industry’s largest and most representative competition for creative excellence. Winners from the DC Ad Club ADDY® Awards will go on to compete against other winning entries from District Two, which includes New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Washington, DC.

After graduating from the Visual Communications Group at the University of Delaware, he headed south to Baltimore for stay at TBC as an art director. A few years later, he trekked deeper into the land of pork Barbeque to Winston-Salem, North Carolina for stays at Long Haymes Carr, then later Mullen. For his last few years in the south, he was a group creative director working on Sealy and Wachovia, along with everything else under the sun.

In 2007, the pull of the north was too great, and he took the gig as “Sr Creative Guy” at STICK and MOVE in Philadelphia. He joined Red Tettemer + Partners in 2010, when STICK and MOVE and Red Tettemer joined forces.

During his time in advertising, he has been lucky enough to work on brands like Thomasville Furniture, Hanes, The Baltimore Orioles, The Salvation Army, The Baltimore Ravens, Leatherman Tools, Yakima, vitaminwater, and Schwinn. His work has been featured in The Addes, The Art Directors Club, Communication Arts, The Type Directors Club, D&AD and Cannes.
Bill lives in South Philly with his wife Heidi, the most understanding wife on the planet, and Thurston Howell the Shih Tzu.

Sadly, Bill is of no relation to Ringo Starr.

Drew Ungvarsky

Drew Ungvarsky is the owner and creative director of Grow Interactive, a company fast building its name as one of the top interactive agencies in the world. With a background in development and a passion for creative excellence, Drew leads his company with a unique perspective on the seamless execution of an idea—from concept to creation.

Under Drew’s leadership, Grow has created award-winning projects for top brands like Google, FedEx, Sprint, HP, Toyota, and JCPenney. His work has been recognized by many of the industry’s top award shows and publications, including the Cannes Lions, the One Show, the Webby’s, the FWA, Communication Arts, HOW, and Creativity.

What’s your favorite non-­chocolate candy?

I’m one of the few people in this world who don’t like chocolate, so all of my favorite candy is non-chocolate.

What was your first job

I worked at a movie theater in high school, working my way up the glorious ladder from concessions to usher to ticket sales.

Which award that you’ve won is the most important to you?

The Cyber Lion is certainly a favorite. It also doubles as being worth its weight in scrap metal, though, if business goes down the tubes.

What’s your biggest vice?

This cartoon comes to mind: http://i.imgur.com/mgf1i.gif

Would you rather fight Chuck Norris or Hulk Hogan?

I would be readily beaten up by both of those men (and many others less formally trained).

Does your agency have a mascot? If it did, what would it be?

Our senior interactive developer, Ricky, would make a good mascot. He’s quirky, lovable, and furry.

What’s your favorite punctuation mark?

I’m currently overusing the em dash, seemingly finding all sorts of appropriate— and inappropriate—places to use it.

Why are you looking at me like that?

I was trying not to make a big deal out of it, but you’ve got this… thing… in your teeth.

Kash Sree

Kash Sree, Executive Creative Director at Pereira Dell, has been fortunate enough to have worked all over the world (Four continents and one sub continent, so far). Born in Singapore, he moved to England when he was just seven months old. It was there that he picked up his East End accent, his penchant for Mr Kipling’s Bakewell tarts and his rather dry brand of sarcasm.

Of course, a Graphic Design education and some horrific skills as an art director were also attained there. After failing fabulously for several years, he did what every art director does. Blame his writers.

Except, he did it with a vengeance. He left Ogilvy, London and moved to Singapore where he began a long journey to becoming one the world’s most-awarded advertising writers himself.

From 1994 to 1996, Kash worked at Batey Ads, Singapore and helped it become Agency of the Year, in Asia. In 1996, he moved to DDB Sydney as Head of Copy. In 1997, DDB Sydney was Campaign Brief’s Australian Agency of the Year. Not satisfied with this regional success, Kash wanted to be challenged and tested at the highest level. He got this opportunity when in mid-1997, he was hired by Wieden and Kennedy, Portland. For five years, he helped create some of Nike’s most memorable recent work. Including the Tiger Wood’s ‘Hackeysack’ spot, which became a global viral hit, before the word viral had even been fully coined as a phrase. Later, he would be one of the four creatives that created the Nike ‘Play’ campaign, which included the ‘Tag’ spot. This timeless film swept the leading shows in the world. Winning numerous Best Of Show honors, including the 2002 Cannes Grand Prix. Not surprisingly, Wieden and Kennedy was the most awarded US agency at Cannes that year.

Kash, was ready for the next big challenge: Graduating from a Writer to Creative Director. He moved to Leo Burnett, Chicago and soon learned to deal with extremely cold weather while putting his inimitable stamp on the agency’s creative output by helping reposition Nintendo with the “Who Are you?” campaign.

In 2005, he joined BBH, New York as Group Creative Director. In the next 18 months he would successfully help globally reposition the ailing Vaseline brand, with the “Keeping Skin Amazing” campaign. While there he also contributed to other brands like Axe, All detergent and British Airways, and helped pitch and win the US Dyson and OMO global business. Following Hegarty’s own credo, good work brought in good results. BBH, New York was named as one of the fastest growing names to watch in the US Advertising industry. And Vaseline won the Global Effie in 2007.

In March 2007 Kash hopped across town to JWT New York, where Ty Montague needed creative leaders to help modernize and raise the creative profile of the world’s oldest agency. As Executive Creative Director, Kash became a magnet for recruiting good talent and he slowly but surely began turning around some very challenging accounts, like Scott Toilet Tissues, Sunsilk Haircare, Kleenex, Visine, Purell and DeBeers. He was responsible for helping DeBeers evolve beyond just traditional media to more integrated non-traditional ways of talking to its audience. This resulted in things like the Grand Central Station “Roses” installation, and the Madison Square Park “Mistletoe Installation” integrated with its “Unbreakable Kiss” films. A piece of advertising, that people stood in line to be a part of.

In 2009 Kash joined Pereira & O’Dell as ECD. In 2010 Pereira O’Dell was Ad Age’s “small agency of the year” and OMMA’s “creative agency of the year”.

Kash believes that most advertising is mental pollution. Unless a piece of work enriches people’s lives (even in the smallest way- with a smile, or a useful piece of information) why would they engage with your brand? Why would they want to strengthen their relationship with you? “When you get it right, people look forward to seeing your Ads, they steal your Ads, they take pictures of them and mail it onto friends, or they stand in li

What’s your favorite non-chocolate candy?

Skittles.

What was your first job?

Petrol pump attendant.

Which award that you’ve won is the most important to you?

Aren’t we supposed to pretend they’re not important?

Who’s your favorite Mad Men character?

I know, it’s too easy: Don Draper

Which can you do better—whistle or do a cartwheel?

Cartwheel, barely.

Do you have any superstitions or good luck charms?

I try not to catch on fire.  It’s considered very unlucky where I’m from.

What’s your biggest vice?

Chocolate.

Name a guilty pleasure song you know all the words to.

I don’t think I know all the words to any song.  I have a terrible memory.  That, aside, I did know all the words to Enter the Dragon — which is not a song.

What’s the homepage on your computer?

Google

Who’s your favorite explorer and why?

Google