Three-day fest to kick off on April 3; speaker list declared
February 26, 2008
exchange4media News Service

The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) has announced the opening of registration for Goafest 2008. This year, with the coming together of AAAI and Ad Club, the media awards will be presented on April 4, while Abby at Goafest will be presented on April 5, 2008.

Garrick Hamm, Creative Partner, Williams Murray Hamm, Donald Gunn of Gunn Report, Kevin Swanepoel, President, One Club, John Harlow, Founder, Naked, Craig Davis, Worldwide Creative Chief, JWT, Scott Goodson, Founder & CEO, Strawberryfrog, and Stephen Gatfield, CEO, Lowe Worldwide, are some of the top names that feature in the list of Goafest 2008 speakers.

Madhukar Kamath, President, AAAI, said, "Goafest is the national platform for the celebration of creativity in advertising. It gets bigger and better every year. Last year nearly 2,300 delegates attended, of which over 800 were under 30. This year we expect this number to increase substantially.”

Kamath added, “Goafest 2008 will feature Abby, the premier award from Ad Club Bombay. The coming together of AAAI and Ad Club is a landmark event made possible by the desire of the entire industry to have one award and one glorious festival."

Bhaskar Das, President, Ad Club Bombay, commented, "The industry is witnessing challenging times for which we need to focus our priorities on doing things in a collaborative manner and not dissipate energy through frictional losses. The efforts of the joint committee are paying off already, with an impressive list of guest speakers.”

Jagdip Bakshi, Chairman, Goafest 2008, said, "The objective is to present young professionals the opportunity to interact not just with Indian gurus but also meet international personalities well known in their respective fields.”

"We are very close to confirming some more big names in advertising globally, and will share their details as soon as possible," Bakshi added

Like last year, Goafest will be at Cavelossim Beach, Goa, in a specially created 'Advillage'. The festival kicks off on April 3rd with an 'Industry Conclave' where the who's who of advertising and media will reflect and debate issues and challenges facing the industry.