Rob Gordon’s Creative LIAisons Diary #1

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Rob Gordon’s Creative LIAisons Diary #1

Rob Gordon, art director at BWM Dentsu Sydney is representing Australia at the 2019 LIA Creative LIAisons program in Las Vegas, featuring some of the world’s most respected creative directors as speakers. Here Gordon reports exclusively for CB.

 

Hello Campaign Brief.

I’m writing this from my Treasure Island hotel room with a Cran-ber-Rita in hand. If you don’t know what that is then clearly you haven’t been to Vegas.

But seriously. LIAisons. Las Vegas. 2019. In one word… INSANE.

Writing a diary is almost impossible because there is so much to tell. There is so much to take in, I don’t even know where to begin. It’s an absolute overload of the senses. The line up that LIA have put together is just back to back to back legends. Even when chatting around to all of the other young creatives I like to ask what their favourite part so far has been, and they all have a different answer, which is just a credit to the quality of the speakers and the schedule.

From the outset I wasn’t sure why London International Awards was being held in Las Vegas, but now I know.

It all became clear in one of our workshops; LIA stories in 6 secs. That saw us team up with other young creatives and in half a day create a 6 sec video that answered a brief. 10 young creatives that have never met, working together, ideating, filming and editing in a few hours. It was fast and it was fun (Our team tied first btw).

One of the biggest themes of this workshop was around attention and time. That time is a commodity, people don’t have time to sit and watch your ad. So draw them in, tell a message quickly and be entertaining. Far from the traditional 30 or 60 sec TV ads the industry is used to. How does this tie back to Vegas you ask? Well its the city of attention. It’s the city of neon lights. Everywhere you look, bright in your face messages, ads, posters, billboards. You don’t have long to tell people something, so everything is in your face and as bold as it can be.

Rob Gordon’s Creative LIAisons Diary #1

It has been no joke though. From leaving Sydney on Thursday morning, right up until now has been non-stop. Speaker after speaker, note after note, drink after drink, and don’t get me started about the networking. I’ve talked to more people in 3 days than I have in 8 years in the industry. It has been truly amazing! But I think by the time I get home I will have aged considerably.

Some of the highlights so far in no particular order have been:
– Honing our presentation skills with Matt MacDonald – Group ECD BBDO NYC
– Filming naughty toothbrushes for our 6 sec video
– The riveting panel discussion about what constitutes as branded content
– Hearing from who I can only explain as the happiest and nicest creative in the world – Piyush Pandey
– ALL of the speakers from RARE with Google, led by my good friend Stefanie DiGianvincenzo
– And of course who can forget hearing Diederik Van Middelkoop from AMP Amsterdam say the word ‘balls’ 500 times

Rob Gordon’s Creative LIAisons Diary #1

Here’s my LIAisons tips for any future attendee:
– Don’t expect to get any sleep
– Talk to as many people as you can
– Drink as much water as humanly possible
– Buy drinks from the CVS (grocery store) not from the casino (it’s way cheaper)
– Pack bandaids because walking leads to blisters

And here’s some random Vegas observations:
– Even though it looks close, everything is further away than you think
– Escalators will always be under maintenance when you need them
– People watching is next level (being sober and walking passed all of the drunk people at the Encore day club will never get old)

LIAisons you’ve been amazing! All of this. And we’re only half way through. Can’t wait for the next few days!

Bring it on!

Rob Gordon’s Creative LIAisons Diary #1