At the beginning of May I attended the final conference of the year, The AAF 4th District's Annual Conference, in St. Petersburg. I gave my last report to the District as President of the Greater Ocala Advertising Federation. I skipped the meeting on how to "let go" and let the incoming President handle things. I know our club is good hands with Adriana Rosas, no worries there!
Ocala made a strong showing at District this year. I received the first-ever "Superstar of Government Relations" award, the only special award to be handed out during the conference other than the standards. Ocala Magazine won three GOLD Addys! The video shown at the Gala was ours, too, so Kip Williams and Tymn Armstrong made their on-screen appearance.
I joke that at the annual conferences if everyone is either "incoming" or "outgoing," who's running things? Of course the same crew is still are running things, we're just in our final stretch.
What is happening between now and July 1st when crews change? We have two programs, May's behind-the-scenes tour of the Ocala Star Banner and June's 3rd Annual Brain Bash. We will be swearing-in our new board at the Brain Bash. There is also the National AAF Conference in June in Atlanta which I will be attending (Ocala represents!).
What is beyond all that? Adriana will take over as President, as your new fearless leader. She will lead the club through a very busy year... carrying on my momentum and growing it exponentially. Adriana will be backed by a powerful board, so the 2008-2009 year holds a lot of promise!
We will be offering a 3-month series of programs on the interactive side of advertising: How to Integrate Interactive Into a Full Media Plan, How to Get the Most Bang for Your Buck Online, and Be Found in the Vast Online Sea. We will have a media auction. We will have an outstanding Addy season. We will have fun, drinks, socials, activities, oh my!
What will I be doing when my term ends? I will sit on as Immediate Past President and offer my energy and experience (I'll be around). I also will be moving up and doing some work on the District level. I am the 2008-2009 District Addy Judging Chair. This is exciting for me because participating in the judging portion of our Addys, as well as going to the Treasure Coast and judging their Addys myself, were among the most rewarding experiences I had in AdFed this year. Rewarding good work and respecting the judging process, paying attention to the integrity and the work itself, is something I look forward to doing on the District level.
I also am on the Government Relations Committee at the District Level. This is a big year for the 4th District, when we all go to vote in November there will be an item on the ballot regarding a dramatic lowering of your property taxes. It's a tax-swap, and the money to replace the property taxes will come from an elimination of service sales tax exemptions. Meaning Advertising, Law, Medicine, Education, Lawn, Dry Cleaning... you name the service and it could be taxed – with 1% above what we're paying now. 20 years ago it happened and had disasterous effects before it was overturned 6-months later. Know that you will be hearing from AdFed about this, campaigns are forthcoming!
Okay, I will step down from my soap box now... and from my Presidential position in another 6 weeks. Go Adriana and the 2008-2009 team!!
The Addys are over – locally, anyway. I will send up the Gold wins this week to district for judging at that level. Then that's it, whew! What a flurry of activity that was. I liken it to planning and having a wedding. As I said in my speech, "It takes a village to throw an Addy Gala." Everyone worked so hard and did such great work, the night was a smashing success. I had a blast and the buzz is that everyone else did, too. Willie Green and his band were the highlight for me, the after-show was amazing... intimate, world-class, fun and sexy blues. I wish more people had stayed to enjoy it, it was the best show I've seen in Ocala. Those of us who did will remember it always.
So what now? Quickly on to next month's program. We're having a club mixer with the FPRA and Tom Hayes, AdFed 4th District Government Relations Chairman, is coming to speak with us about the ever-pressing issue of our service sales tax exemption. It's an important topic and I'm pleased to be in the position to bring the news to our community. The mixer will be at MCA on Thursday, March 6th, from 5:30-7:30pm. See our News & Events Blog for more info.Beyond that... you know, I don't know! Haha. Yes I do. Beyond March we will be planning a media auction as a fundraiser for Go-AdFed and our scholarship. We are also starting to think ahead to next year... who will be our 2008-2009 Board of Directors? Secretary? Treasurer? Vice President? Programs Chair? Communications Chair? Membership Chair? President?... yes I do think I can be persuaded to do one more year if that's what the members want – but I need help! If you're reading this and haven't been involved lately or at all, you don't know what you're missing! It's rewarding, we are doing so much. I urge you to contact me or anyone on our board to find out how to get involved. It can be in a big or small way, every little bit helps. If things aren't how you'd like them to be, get involved! If things are great and you want to show your appreciation, get involved! If you really don't know, the best way to find out is to get involved! Did I say get involved? Onwards and upwards.GOooooo-AdFed!Jessi
Happy Addy Year! er, I mean New Year!
As Addy Chair and President, I've got my hands full right now. I've also got boxes full of 110+ great Addy entries. I have the lucky privilege of peeking at the creative work before even the judges see it, and I can definitely say the judges have a fun yet difficult job ahead of them.
I'd like to say thank you and good luck to all of our talented entrants:
Advisors Advertising, Inc.
Appleton Museum of Art of CFCC
Blue Centaur
Blue Sky Graphic Communications, Inc.
Clear Channel Outdoor
Flaxen
Florida's Blood Centers
Jessica Miller (hey, that's me!)
Kevin Christian Music
NetSource Technologies
Special Publications
Strategic Business Forms, Inc.
Tomes Rabold Advertising & Design, Inc.
Tymn Armstrong
Zed+Zed+Eye Creative Communications
Tomorrow our judges come to town (shhh, their identity is still a secret!) and the grueling judging process will take place Saturday. Then comes what might be the hardest part of being on the Addy Committee: the weeks before we can announce the winners!
Rest easy, though, everyone can get a preview of all of the entries on January 23rd at MCA/Brick City Center for the Arts, at 5:30 pm. You can take all the time you want to look them over without feeling rushed as sometimes happens right before the Gala. We'll have drinks and hors d'oeuvres, so join us!
All this while we are busy planning the Creative Blues Addy Gala, which will be surprisingly fun. We're also planning our Club Mixer that we're co-hosting with FPRA in March. Join us as we mingle with our clubs and AdFed District Government Relations Chairman, Tom Hayes, will come down to brief us on the service sales tax situation. If you're not aware about this imminent potential new tax on advertising services, you definitely need to be there. If you can't make it, give me a call or send me an email, I'll be happy to give you information.
Speaking of information... be sure to pick up an Ocala Business Journal when it comes out in February. There will be a story on the service sales tax issue as well as one on The Greater Ocala Advertising Federation (yes, us!).
It's turning out to be a very "happening" new year and I for one am loving it! Happy 2008!
Onward and upward,
Jessi
