http://metalpotential.posterous.com/

I found this little portrait of Napoleon on the pendulum of a grandfather clock just outside the main judging room. It became the perfect visual representation of the final day of judging: we began by butchering the student work, battling over the merits and medals of the professional work, and proclaiming a king for the show — our GRANDY.
    First the student work: There were three levels of student work. The Inspired, the Brilliant Copy Cat, and the Lame. Like any show, the lame came in large numbers. No worries here. Students, some will get it soon enough. The Copy Cat work was strong. Indeed, there were a few pieces that brilliantly mimicked where we are as an industry right now. (Bronzes all around.) But what the judges were looking for was work that pushed us. Work that truly inspired. This kind of stuff was few and far between and the three pieces we highlighted truly pushed communication forward.
    The bulk of the day was then spent awarding prizes to the top 35-odd pieces in all media. The mid-morning created heated debate on the print and OOH. There were pieces in the final round here that were simply gutted and tossed out. There were other pieces that were severely scrutinized and debated as to their worth — silver? Better? Or did we over-award something and should we demote it to a bronze?
    The remainder of the day was devoted to all other media, and the scrutiny, butchery and debate really heated up. Indeed some entries really divided this most diverse room of creative directors, digital strategists, and artist Shepard Fairy, who had some very strong opinions on what made for brilliant advertising communication.
    Into the evening hours battle lines were drawn — most notably around the GRANDY, the Best of Show. Again, there was a real schism about what was best — was it an idea that was craft at its finest, an idea that was a major, relevant business idea, or was it something that ultimately combined business, craft and pushed the boundaries of what advertising could be?
    In the end, the cream rose to the top.
    More importantly, I witnessed some of the best minds in our business in passionate debate over what work should be honored. In fact, the most impressive thing I saw was just how much we all care about the work.
    Yep, five days in New Orleans gave me the juice to hit it again to try to do great things in the coming the year. And when the ANDY awards are revealed, I think you’ll be really inspired, too.

When you die in New Orleans, and perhaps you’re a person of some note, your funeral party will be lead by a band through the streets of the French Quarter on the way to your final resting place. It’s what makes this place, this place. A place where you celebrate life...and death. Well, that was one of the big themes of Day Four — DEATH. Saints alive! I couldn’t believe all the work that died. The truth is, we began the morning session with the shortest of shortlists. 25 pieces. That’s it. And maybe 10 pieces of print. And maybe 5 of all those pieces are going to see any gold. I was happy to see that so many of my “must-be” in the show were there. I was also very surprised that almost none of my “nice-to-have” in the show even showed up. Brutal. We did spend most of the morning debating what should come back in...and we spent some time kicking a few pieces out. This morning, we’ll debate a bit more. And while this year’s ANDYs may not have a lot of work, I can assure you, it will only feature the very best work. Amen.

It was a big day. ANDYs, as you may well know, is judged in categories. It’s kind of like an endless Las Vegas buffet of advertising. On the menu for Day Three was Transportation, Music, Industrial Building Products and Services, Retail Food, Beverages Alcoholic and Non-Alcoholic, Reset (ANDY’s innovation category), print, OOH and of course, radio. (Throw in some web stuff and branded apps, too.) Ironically out of this communications smorgasbord, one of the few pieces the judges were almost unanimously chatting about was the Johnnie Walker film. Forget all the fancy, 3-minute, “first-ever,” here’s our press-clippings, and obligatory CNN feature story films...no, the buzz was about a 6-minute cinema ad. That said, the work is getting better. There’s a brilliant feminine hygiene idea, a terrific beer film, a smart European burger stunt and some other good B-to-B case studies. (Oh, did I mention, we also judged a ton of Business Servers ideas.) More today. So keep reading.

See the film here: http://metalpotential.posterous.com/johnnie-walker-the-man-who-walked-around-...

We spent the day viewing student print, watching TV and case studies, and judging industry print. The student print (and several app ideas) were quite good. There were still a few big visual ideas with tiny-client-logo-in-right-hand corner layouts, but overall, some fresh thinking was there. The TV and case studies were again, uneven, although the really hot stuff was obvious. Some great case studies in the beverage category. Entertainment ideas were ok, not entertaining enough in my opinion. Print...some good moments, but nothing OMG-great. Judges' spirit remains high. Internet service remains, what's the word? Sucky. Onto Day Three. (Oh and by the way, this photo above is from a tschoke store on Canal Street -- more stuff like this on Twitter.)

For the first round of work, the ANDYs crew split all the judges up into groups of three. I had the good fortune to spend my day with ANDY co-chairman, Michael Leobowitz (@bigspaceship) and Apple Creative Director (and ex-Chiat/Day-er) Mimi Cook. We judged pro-bono, celebrities, pet products, animation and print and OOH. Our job was to put the work “In” for a discussion with the wider group. “Out” meaning it’s not even in contention. And “Abstain” for work that came from your own shop. (It was hard not voting for Grammys and Pedigree.) The great work really stood out. The pro-bono category had a few things I hadn’t seen, plus some stuff featured on metalpotenital.posterous.com. There were a couple of surprises in the animation category. I also saw some great newspaper ads for a big a retailer and a a European newspaper/magazine. The only real drawback here is the web connection. It’s about as slow as a 56k modem in a tub of molasses. More today.

Ok, your part of the bargain was voting me into the judging of the ANDYs. My part of the bargain is letting you be a fly on the wall. Today, I did my first round of online judging. I guess due to the overwhelming number of entries, the ANDY team has asked the judges to do an “in or out” session for print and OOH online. I’ve completed most of my portion. No surprise on the best ideas with ANDY/Metal Potential; they had fresh insights, they were well-told, with terrific and appropriate craft. And here’s to the crafts people. The hours and hours spent perfecting will surely pay off. I fly to New Orleans this afternoon. Stay tuned. And again, thank your for your support. This is a real honor to be part of the world’s first crowd-sourced jury.

http://metalpotential.posterous.com/integrity-skills-challenge

http://metalpotential.posterous.com/blu-dot-real-good-experiment-the-chair

http://metalpotential.posterous.com/bud-light-clothing-drive-2