In the photo, Phil Thomas, CEO of Cannes welcomes representatives from more than 50 countries to the show.
This Monday, the annual meeting of Cannes representatives began early in London, and because of this, I took flights again and came to participate for ASCAP and Costa Rica, with the intention of opening spaces and looking for options, precisely when the Ojo de Iberoamérica begins in Buenos Aires, between the Pregonero and the Volcano.
This year in this annual meeting we will be looking to confirm the categories for Costa Rica in the next Young Lions, because in 2009 we will repeat the competition and we will send a pair of young creatives to Cannes. It will also be a meeting to try to get the first space for Costa Rica among the jurors of the Festival, an option that opened up for us with greater potential since the 4 JWT lions, although nothing is certain for now. (I add this note on Tuesday, to indicate that we did not have enough numbers for a jury. We need more delegates at Cannes next year). Still, it will be two days to take note and learn from what they are doing in the big markets to adopt, adapt and also create.
Meanwhile today was very cold, it rained cold and the mist has also been cold on this autumn London Sunday. As I have done in recent years, I arrived in the early hours of the morning, then put on my Mizunos and went for a run through Green Park and Hyde Park, this time, past water. Then I took the tube to the Tate Modern to discover its novelties, surprises and stimuli. On the way back, early dinner, lots of liquids to ease the jet lag and be rested for tomorrow. It’s about 10 p.m. and for this, I’m going in minutes to the envelope for a good few hours of rest.
I hope Costa Rica does great in the Ojo de Iberoamérica. While we at Tribu are happy to have a couple of finalists in radio, in our opinion, with a hard chance of advancing beyond there, I see a good chance for Ogilvy Costa Rica to win more awards for the country. Once again this year, it has been a precious experience to serve as a jury in the Ojo, and there we found quite a few finalists from our country, while from the rest of Central America, BBDO and Leo Burnett from Guatemala stand out.
At the Ojo in Buenos Aires there will be an important delegation of Costa Ricans, more and more numerous, with Josué, Diego, Paula and Pablo from Tribu. From a few years to date, the number of Costa Ricans from the advertising industry in festivals is growing rapidly, a clear sign that the challenge has been accepted at a national level. For a moment, it seemed that creative leadership was slipping out of our hands in our small region, however, united work and collective effort is paying off handsomely.
On all fronts and in any trench, wherever it is necessary in the world, we must continue in the direction of building a winning Creative Costa Rica, because we have much to gain if we all do it.
