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RECAP: ADWEEK

October 15, 2023February 16, 2024Chelsea Carney

ADWEEK always holds a special place in our hearts and is a week we always look forward to from the planning and preparation all the way to the night of and the stories and connections made that we get to hear about after. With a variety of events, all in one week, you’re bound to attend one (if not all!). This years ADWEEK, sponsored by Basis Technologies, included a returning fan favorite of course and a few new ones that are sure to make an appearance in 2024. Dig into the details below!

ADWEEK Day 1: Headshots & Hops
Fresh off a massive Bills win against the Dolphins, AAF set up shop in the lobby of Seneca One to celebrate Victory Monday with Buffalo Advertising’s best game faces.

The Headshots & Hops event is one of the year’s favorites; a chance to network and drink and update our LinkedIn profile pics with something way better than your onboarding photo from seven years ago.

While we chatted and clinked our pint glasses, Stephen Gabrus was on tap with some impressive glass of his own. This dude came prepared with multiple setups and gave everyone two different badass photos; one super professional neat & clean pic with traditional 3-point lighting (this is the one you show your parents and CEOs) and one rad multi-colored statement piece for the creative in all of us (this is the one you show everyone else).

Headshots & Hops was an awesome time and AAF Buffalo brought a whole new meaning to mugging for the camera. If you missed this event, you missed a good one – don’t sleep on it next year.

ADWEEK Day 2: Internship Skillshop
We spent AdWeek Day 2 at Riveter listening to a rockin’ panel share advice on landing internships. We heard from a variety of professionals including:

Jordan Hegyi, Partner + Creative Director at Riveter Design
Natalie Ryan, Account Manager at The Martin Group
Makenzie Fintak, Buffalo State Class of 2020 Grad + Fellowship Participant at White Bike
Dora Jones, Talent Acquisition Sourcing Specialist at Univera Healthcare
Moderator Noah Herman, AAF Buffalo Education Chair, Adjunct Professor of Graphic Design at Daemen, and freelance UX Designer

Our panel spoke to an audience of nearly 30 students and ad professionals, giving everyone insight into finding—and succeeding at—internships in the marketing and advertising world. After an evening of great questions and conversation, attendees left with some important advice in their back pockets:

Know who you’re talking to—research the company and their work, along with the person who’s interviewing you.
Paid or unpaid isn’t everything—weigh the benefits of each including the experience you’ll get and the connections you’ll make.
Google yourself—because employers will too!
Keep your LinkedIn profile up to date—this is the first place employers will reference.
Have someone you’re comfortable going to with concerns—this doesn’t have to be your direct boss, but open communication with a colleague makes a big difference.

Here’s to our attendees landing some awesome internships in the future!

ADWEEK Day 3: Spelling B-e-e

“Kerning”…“Procrastinate”…“Lithography”

The first documented spelling bee in the United States took place in 1825, in a small town in Kentucky, organized by teachers as a way to promote literacy and education.

The first-ever AAF Buffalo Spelling Bee took place in 2023, pitting five contestants from the Western New York advertising community under the spotlight at Cole’s on Elmwood Avenue.

Ryan Weatherbee, content developer at Crowley Webb, came in as a highly touted speller and led off the order of participants. Scott Bartels, past AAF Buffalo President and senior digital product manager at KeyBank, returned to the club to join the festivities of AdWeek. AAF Buffalo VP of Communications Chelsea Carney joined the Spelling Bee along with her White Bicycle Colleague, brand strategist Jillian McGarry. Rounding out the competitors was Renee Helda, Senior Art Director at Mr. Smith Agency.

“Liaison”…“Minuscule”…“Advisable”

A challenging slate of opening words led to Weatherbee bowing out of the competition first, shortly followed out by Bartels.

“Optimization”…“Geotargeted”…“Analytics”

A few words for the competition drew inspiration from our 2023 AdWeek sponsor, Basis Technologies, a digital media automation and intelligence company.

“Celebration”…“Restaurant”…“Receipt”

Some more familiar words led to a fast back-and-forth as McGarry, Carney, and Helda took their turns in swift succession.

“Chautauqua”…“Scajaquada”

An interjection of some of the hardest-to-spell words from across the Buffalo region caught the contestants off guard, leading to McGarry’s elimination and leaving Carney and Helda in a one-on-one for the championship.

“Luxurious…“Lucrative”…“Succinct”

The hard-fought battle lasted longer than 60 words, but in the end, Renee Helda took home the title of Spelling Bee Champion when Chelsea Carney spelled “transformative” wrong in sudden death. Let’s just say that the stage has been set for the ultimate redemption in 2024.

ADWEEK Day 4: American Advertising Awards Q & A
On Thursday, October 5th, AAF Buffalo closed out AdWeek with an American Advertising Awards Q & A over at dPost.

Eager pros looking to shine this award season showed up and our seriously insightful panelists answered the community’s burning questions about the submission process, show night, and more.

Here’s who sat on the panel:

Caroline Buchas (past AAF Buffalo President, Digital Operations Manager at Catholic Health)
Chelsea Carney (2x past Awards Chair, Senior Designer at White Bicycle)
Lindsay Neilson (current and past Awards Chair, Art Director at Mr. Smith Agency)
Adina Delmar (past Awards Chair, Senior Account Manager at Crowley Webb)

Emcee, Evan Pease (board member, Director of Post Production at dPost) kept the questions flowing for about an hour – sharing FAQs and taking live questions from the crowd.

The night ended with a bit of post-panel conversation, and attendees left with much more confidence leading up to the awards.

If you couldn’t make the event or have more questions as you start getting your entries in line, please send your questions to addyhelp@aafbuffalo.com. We’d love to help!

Submissions are now open and our biggest piece of advice to those entering is to start early! The platform automatically saves your work and won’t be entered for judging until you click “submit” so you can do a little here and there!

And no, the theme for the beloved AAF Buffalo American Advertising Awards was not revealed at this event. Our lips are sealed ’til Jingle Bowl on that one.

Special thanks to our sponsors, @basistechnologies and @dpost.studio for this event and a huge thank you to everyone who came out for AdWeek. It wouldn’t have been the same without you!

Make sure to plan for 2024 ADWEEK in early October!

AdWeek Events Social Media Speaker Speaker Series

ADWEEK 2020 RECAP: NIKKI SUNSTRUM, SPOTLIGHT SPEAKER

October 28, 2020December 11, 2020Ad Club Of Buffalo

The prominence of social media has not only altered the way in which we communicate personally, it has reshaped the information we consume, distorted emotional responses, and manipulated the visual identities of its users. In an ever-connected world, everyone struggles to balance competing priorities, remain engaged, and retain authenticity.

For this year’s AdWeek 2020 Spotlight Speaker, we invited Nikki Sunstrum, University of Michigan Director of Social Media and Public Engagement, to discuss methods for addressing the ever-increasing demands of pandemic communications, and how to deal with online negativity, competing interests, and mental fatigue. Although virtual, we were all able to carve out an evening and hear from Nikki on what this past year has taught her.

insert “This is Fine” meme

Throughout her hour-long talk, Nikki covered a range of topics, but first, she addressed the giant non-elephant in the room: the pandemic. While it’s no secret that the pandemic quickly impacted the way we live, learn, work, and interact with each other, Nikki focused her presentation on the impact the pandemic has had on marketers and communicators. Namely, how we speak to our audiences and communities. The way we approach our content was starkly changed, instead of encouraging users to participate with brands, and engage with us, strategies quickly became more about advocating for them to stay away, and thus stay safe. The emotions and reactions we were trying to evoke from our communities were now incredibly different than what we had been planning for, and we were left with no instructions on how to forge ahead.

Reality Check

Nikki described the pandemic as a reality check for us all, it was important to address the reality of the situation and address these alterations both internally and externally. She reminded us that social media is likely the first-place people connect, the first people complain, and the first-place people celebrate. Nikki suggested that as professional communicators we stop treating social as a solution, but rather a tool to navigate the uncertain days ahead. It was important to ask ourselves “what are we trying to accomplish by communicating outside of our organization?”. The answer? To strengthen our communities.

Another few key takeaways she shared were:

• Social media requires wit, wisdom, and wherewithal
• Social media demands proactive, preventative, and passionate messaging
• Social media necessities continuous connectivity, customer service and societal awareness
• Social media is strategic communication, and not a last resort

Although we couldn’t host her in our city and show her that city of good neighbors’ spirit, we’d like to send a big thank you to Nikki for taking the time to chat with us virtually. And thank you for everyone who attended or participated in any of this year’s AdWeek events! For more info on all of our programming for the club year, check out AAFBuffalo.com/events.

AdWeek Events

Ad Week 2013 – From Reverse Mentoring to Questioning It All…

September 29, 2013October 28, 2016Ad Club Of Buffalo

Whoa! What a whirlwind week we had to close out September! Another Ad Week – generously sponsored by The Buffalo News – is officially in the books. And this year, we did not disappoint.

Hopefully you got as much out of it as we did. The panels and speakers were engaging and informative. And the crowds (thanks to you) were large and lively. If you ask us, that’s a great recipe for success.

In case you didn’t make it to all of the events, here’s a quick synopsis in short-bit Twitter form.

Tuesday: AdLab – Leadership at Every Level – In partnership with Performance Management Partners and Leadership Buffalo

We had a great crowd to kick off the Ad Week festivities and re-open another season of our popular AdLab series. All in attendance were very eager for a great discussion on reverse mentoring and how can generations work together.

As our AdLab offerings evolve, you’ll see more topics like this, which break from the typical marketing/communications topics and additionally explore leadership and best practices.

Throughout the year it should make for a nice mix of shop talk, but also bolster skills that will help us become more well rounded leaders in our field.

What we learned: Since anyone at any age or stage of their career can lead, there’s no reason to let generation gaps get in the way of good work. Leaders can emerge at any age or any level.

Wednesday: Social Media Coffee Talk with Craig Kanalley of the Buffalo Sabres

This Ad Week event was bright and early and had another great turnout. In conjunction with the Buffalo Niagara Partnership and the Social Media Club of Buffalo, the Ad Club hosted Buffalo Sabres Social Media Manager Craig Kanalley. Craig shared his story of being successful so quickly in the social media world, taking his talents from Buffalo, to Chicago, to New York City and now back to Buffalo.

What we learned: No matter how far you go or how successful you become, there’s always that chance to land your dream job back home. Craig did just that.

Thursday: The Golden Age of B.S. Bob Hoffman, author of The Ad Contrarian

%#$@ this was a great presentation! Pardon our French but some of Bob Hoffman’s passion rubbed off on us. He certainly didn’t disappoint the crowd by making us think about present-day advertising and shooting holes in commonly held beliefs.

What we learned: Bob believes it’s all B.S. The DVR hasn’t killed television advertising. Social media isn’t the be-all, end-all. Good creative still wins out in the end.

Friday: Ad Club After Hours

We raised a glass to a successful Ad Week at Lobby Bar at Statler City! Fun was had by all after what we believe was an invigorating and educational week.

What we learned: Every week should end with a Happy Hour!

We’ll see you at the next Ad Club event!

AdWeek Events

Great Mentoring Goes Both Ways

September 6, 2013October 28, 2016Ad Club Of Buffalo

AdLab: Leadership at Every Level (Because Great Mentoring Goes Both Ways)
Tuesday, September 24th
Templeton Landing, 2 Templeton Terrace, Buffalo
Cash Bar & Hors D’oeuvres @ 5:15 p.m. | Presentation @ 6 p.m.
Student Members: $5 | Members: $10 | Non-Members $25

RSVP Now >>

The wait is finally over. AdLab is back in action and this event is one that you won’t want to miss. We’ve teamed up with Leadership Buffalo and Performance Partners to explore how leadership happens at every level. We’ll hear from local Millennial Gen X/Yers, on the importance of letting the young guns in an organization champion new ideas or initiatives.

Let us explain a bit more. While the majority of us look up to the well-seasoned vets for their knowledge and expertise, a new trend called “Reverse Mentoring” is sweeping the industry. These vets have begun to look to the younger generation of advertisers for advice on key business objectives such as enhancing brand awareness through social media and digital spaces.

We’re certainly not discrediting the senior decision makers, but is 20+ years of experience required to take ownership of a project or come up with a great idea? We’re not convinced.

If all of this makes you a little uneasy, you’re not alone. That’s why we’ve called in some of the best in the biz to share their experiences, best practices and provide some insight on this important topic. RSVP today and join us Tuesday, Sept. 24th. We’re fairly certain it’ll be an enjoyable evening. Hey, you may even learn a thing or two!

AdWeek Events

The Golden Age of BS

September 5, 2013October 28, 2016Ad Club Of Buffalo

Thursday, September 26
Ad Contrarian
“The Golden Age of BS” – presentation by Bob Hoffman
Karpeles Manuscript Library | 453 Porter Ave, Buffalo, NY
Discussion: 7 p.m.
Members: $25 | Non-Members: $45

Author and advertising veteran Bob Hoffman will question some of the “truths” about advertising and marketing that you may currently hold to be self-evident. He’ll nudge you toward a state of skepticism about what you hear from advertising experts and pundits.

Bob will discuss the myth of advertising interactivity; the language of brand babble; frauds in display advertising; the fantasy of social media marketing; and the rise and fall of some advertising prophets.

If you’re in the industry – or even if you’re not – this lecture is sure to leave you asking yourself about the truth behind the advertising you consume. Prepare to be challenged, but also entertained.

RSVP NOW!

Bob Hoffman is a partner in the Type A Group, a consultancy that helps businesses understand and influence consumers over 50. He is the author of “101 Contrarian Ideas About Advertising” and “The Ad Contrarian” as well as “The Ad Contrarian” blog, which was named one of the world’s most influential advertising and marketing blogs by Business Insider.

Bob has created advertising for McDonald’s, Toyota, Shell, Nestle, Blue Cross, Chevrolet, Pepsico, Bank of America, AT&T, and more companies than he cares to remember.

AdWeek Events

Get Ready! Ad Week 2013 is Coming in Hot

September 5, 2013October 28, 2016Ad Club Of Buffalo

Now that The Big Tip-Off is behind us, it’s time to gear up for one of the biggest weeks on the Advertising Club calendar – Ad Week. Cheers to those that filled the tip jars at Soho; it was our best year yet with over $4,000 raised for education programming.

Ad Week comes right at the start of the Ad Club membership year, which makes joining, if you haven’t already, even more essential. Get the most bang for your buck on Ad Week events and many more throughout the year by joining today.

The lineup for the 2013 session is pretty exciting, if we do say so ourselves. Much like you’ve experienced from past Ad Weeks, expect to be engaged, educated and have a little fun.

Thursday of Ad Week, in particular, is a day we’re really anticipating. It’s our Ad Contrarian presentation called “The Golden Age of BS.” Bob Hoffman will discuss the myth of advertising interactivity; the appalling language of brand babble; the massive fraud of display advertising; the fantasy of social media marketing; and the rise and fall of false advertising prophets.

It will definitely pique your interest.

Whether you decide to attend one event, or come for the whole week, we’re confident you’ll walk away with some inspiration and some industry insight that’s sure to impress your colleagues back at the office.

So here’s the rundown for the week:

Tuesday, September 24
Ad Lab with Leadership Buffalo & Performance Partners
Leadership at Every Level (Because Great Mentoring Goes Both Ways)
Templeton Landing | 2 Templeton Terrace, Buffalo
Cash Bar & Hors D’oeuvres @ 5:15 p.m. | Presentation @ 6 p.m.
Student Members* $5 | Members: $10 | Non-Members: $25

RSVP NOW

Explore how leadership happens at every level. Having 20 years of experience under your belt is no longer required to take ownership of a project, but with painstakingly visible differences between Millennials, Generation X and Y, a trend has become more apparent. The industry-wide trend we’re talking about is sweeping the marketing world and it’s called “Reverse Mentoring.”

It can lead to professional development and overall better leadership skills for promoting key business objectives such as building community and public relations, increasing lead generation and sales, and enhancing brand awareness, especially in the ever-evolving social media and digital spaces.

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Wednesday, September 25
Coffee Talk with Craig Kanalley
Real-time advice from Buffalo’s social media superstar
The Knox Room at the Buffalo Niagara Partnership
665 Main Street – Suite 200, Buffalo
Donuts & Hot Drinks: 8 a.m.
Discussion: 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
Pre-Order: FREE | At The Door: $5

RSVP NOW

If you’re on Twitter and don’t know of Craig Kanalley – you’re not really on Twitter. After three years at The Huffington Post – yes that Huffington Post – and brief stint as a social media editor at NBC News – yep, NBC news –Craig, a Tonawanda native, has returned home to work full-time as the social media manager for our beloved Sabres. Craig will spend his morning with us, fielding questions from audience members like you and chatting about all things social media. #GetYourHashtagsReady

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Thursday, September 26
Ad Contrarian
“The Golden Age of BS” – presentation by Bob Hoffman
Karpeles Manuscript Library | 453 Porter Ave, Buffalo, NY
Discussion: 7 p.m.
Members: $25 | Non-Members: $45

RSVP NOW

Bob Hoffman will question some of the “truths” about advertising and marketing that you may currently hold to be self-evident. He’ll nudge you toward a state of skepticism about what you hear from advertising experts and pundits.

If you’re in the industry – or even if you’re not – this lecture is sure to leave you asking yourself about the truth behind the advertising you consume. Prepare to be challenged, but also entertained.

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Friday, September 27
Ad Week Social
Ad Club After Hours
Lobby Bar at Statler City, 107 Delaware Ave, Buffalo
2 for 1 Drink Special from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. | Price: FREE

Cap off a great week of events with a cocktail among friends. There’s no need to RSVP, just mark your calendar and prepare to have a good time. Hope you can join us for a drink!

*insert “This is Fine” meme*

Reality Check

Another few key takeaways she shared were:

insert “This is Fine” meme