Is anyone here involved with AdvWk NY this year?

What do you all think of the concept? The events?

Does your agency let you off and encourage debauchery?

Also, below are some thoughts of mine when I felt very jaded one night looking through my mail ... enjoy!

---------------

In honor of New York’s Advertising Week festivities, The One Club is bringing together some of the hottest minds in the business for a panel called “Stars of Madison Avenue.” What a witty name! Let’s look a little deeper into this idea.

HOW does one become a star?

Is it that people you have never met know who you are? Like Noelle Weaver and Marc Lefton and Mr. Slappy are stars on Adholes. Even you and I are stars. Let’s narrow this down, because I aint feeling like a star, saint, or angel.

I often think about Mel Gibson, Jackie Chan, and Michael Jackson in a given day. All are big stars. We know them. But what else do they have in common? They are socially and fiscally revered. Tom Mullen posted on Adholes that he won a pencil. He has been revered by his peers. Anyone seeking validation by posting their creative in Adholes’ “Hot Or Not” would like to be a star, maybe even a raise or a valuable offer.

Stars are also mocked and followed around by photographers. There are people who mock us in the advertising business – especially those working at top finance firms – but no one wants to paint me naked and hang this artwork in a trendy Chelsea loft. Last time I checked, business people weren’t that important to too many people. And few get the volume of fan letters and death threats that a Justin Timberlake may get.

Shocking as it may seem, only a handful of people actually want to sleep with me. This may explain why I’m not a star. I forgot to mention that participants in the “Stars of Madison Avenue” Panel are SVP-level clients. We often joke about AEs who are “taking it” from their client, a creative who was anally raped in a pitch, and so forth. Is sexual desirability a part of stardom? If so, I applaud the One Club for aptly labeling their panelists as stars.

WHO spends their life on Madison Avenue?

Very few people waving rebel flags in the southern United States aspire to work in politics in Richmond Virginia, the former capital of the Confederacy. Yet advertising guys and gals often speak about working on Madison Avenue, the former capital of the American advertising industry. They also mention some mythical folk in gray flannel suits. Madison Avenue birthed a rich history of game-changing work, but now only a handful of shops lay waiting between 300 and 600 Madison Avenue. And little of that work gives people chills.

We have since evolved to a more global and multidisciplinary world. Or maybe it was more intelligent design than an evolution. But either way, let’s move past our “Madison Avenue” druthers. I know it does not sound as sexy as a “Stars of Madison Avenue” slogan, but how about something along the lines of the “Marketing Communications Industry” or the “talk-until-someone-buys-it industry.”

WHO CARES?

These days, most panels seem to be all hype and spin anyways. I have to think about those Arab-Israeli peace accords and wonder, “When was the last time a panel was held and at the end a handshake changed the business forever?” The truth of the matter is that we have these panels chocked full of “stars” all the time and nothing changes. As an Adholer said, attendees are those that have the time to go these things, not those servicing their clients.

Robin Hafitz of Mad Dogs & Englishmen fame hosted a panel at the Account Planning Conference this past August. She was tasked to talk about “New Creativity,” but decided to let people disagree with what they’ve heard at the conference and talk about some current issues they are having in their workplace. The advisory board format is a great start for panels in general. After the Robin-led discussion, we needed to lock the right people in a room and agree on game plans.

In conclusion, stars are everywhere, Madison Avenue is irrelevant, and panels are a waste of time. The “Stars of Madison Avenue” panel is bringing the press together with influential people in the “talk-until-someone-buys-it industry,” and anyone who wants to shell out $200 to possibly schmooze with them. I propose that instead of a few big heads on stage talking about how TV is less important these days or how they approved some cutting edge work, maybe they should make a commitment to preserve the integrity of various mediums. Maybe they will change the way agencies are billed – not for producing work but for produce work that actually works. Maybe they can be the torchbearer and commit to buying smarter and riskier work from us. Or maybe they can just meet advertising hacks ready to spread their legs for a piece of their business.