exchange4media News Service

The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and The Advertising Club Bombay have announced the commencement of GoaFest 2009. Currently in its fourth year, Goafest 2009 will kick off on April 2 and will go on till April 4 at the Cavelossim beach in Goa. As is known, Colvyn Harris, CEO, JWT India, is the GoaFest 2009 Chairman, while the committee is co-chaired by Shashi Sinha, CEO, Lodestar Universal, and Suman Srivastava, CEO, EuroRSCG. The other key members of the GoaFest committee include Madhukar Kamath, President, AAAI, and MD & CEO, Mudra Group; Bhaskar Das, President, The Advertising Club Bombay, and Executive President, Bennett & Coleman Co Ltd; Ajay Chandwani, Director, PerceptH; and Subhash Kamath, Managing Partner, BBH India.

Speaking on the occasion, Harris said, “GoaFest provides an unparalleled platform for the Indian advertising industry to celebrate our work and people. The scale of arrangements, celebrations and list of international speakers is only getting better with each passing year. This year, the focus will be on the Knowledge and Learning seminars and we have some internationally famous legends from the global advertising world speaking at the three-day festival.”

The Industry Leadership Conclave and Knowledge & Learning seminars

GoaFest 2009 will see the coming together of the advertising fraternity discussing the issues that are most important and relevant in today’s day and age. The Industry Leadership Conclave will be held on April 2. The theme for this year is ‘This is too Good a recession to waste’.

The Knowledge & Learning seminars will be held on April 3-4. Keynote speakers include BBH’s Sir John Hegarty, DDB’s Bob Scarpelli, and TBWA’s Jean-Marie Dru, among others. Additionally, GoaFest 2009 also expects participation from other leading national and international speakers, which will be announced shortly.

Registration

The registration for participation opens on March 1 and will close on March 25. The registration for entries can be done by logging on to www.goafest.com.

Participation fees

The participation fees for GoaFest 2009 this year have been reduced. The Festival endeavours to motivate young members in the fraternity, and keeping this in mind, this year too, the under-30’s participation is being encouraged by offering a special price. The delegates in the under-30 category limited to 1,000 will pay Rs 4,500, while fees for over-30 category will be Rs 9,000.

The ABBY Awards

Media Abby Awards will be held on April 3 and will have the best brands from across India fighting for top honours. The entries will be judged by a jury of India’s best and brightest.

Creative Abby Awards, which recognise creative excellence, will be judged by a jury of the best from the advertising and communications industry. The categories will be in the field of print, film, radio, out-of home and integrated advertising. The Creative Abby Awards will be held on April 4.