It's two years, nearly to the day that I posted my first entry on this blog. It was titled 'Putting the RADical into the RAD's'. Two years ago!....where has the time gone?
My post wasn't pithy, in fact it could have given War and Peace a run for its money, but I certainly got a lot off my chest and you know, I found it quite cathartic. (good to know blogging is good for my state of mind then).
I had some beef with our industrys' awards ceremonies/judging criteria and my view was that the judging of the RAD awards and CIPD's was based solely on creativity and little notice or importance was given to the media/channels used to engage with the target audience or the actual effectiveness of the ad/campaign.
As such, this limited focus on creative wasn't a reflection on the best solutions and work our industry had to offer, especially in our current communications and media landscape.
Fast forward two years on and again I'll be donning my frock to attend the RAD's this Thursday, but will I be moved to write another post outlining my concerns or has our industry or the RAD's evolved and moved on?
In the wake of my post, I got a call from Richard Andrews, who runs the awards and we had a good discussion. I was subsequently asked to be a judge for last years event,(really interesting and enjoyable) a clear sign that the RADs and Richard were open to feedback, change and that they recognised that digital, media selection and tracking were key elements of recruitment solutions.
There were a few of us 'digi' types involved, such as John Buffey from Barkers and after the event we both met with Richard to work on honing the judging criteria for this years event.
This year Matt Alder and Drew Spencer are part of the judging panel so again there will be focus on the importance of all elements in the mix and with these guys, great representation.
Perhaps another key sign that the RAD's has evolved and wants to be the awards ceremony that recognises the best work in the industry, was its openness to accepting entries from multiple parties who have worked together to 'develop and deliver the recruitment solution collectively'.
What this means is that for the first time, a media communications agency like MediaCom will be recognised along with our creative agency partners in the awards ceremony. Yay!! (in the past even though an agency may have provided the research, media planning and channel innovation along with the tracking and data on effectiveness it was the creative agency who got the nomination and award on the night).
Now, I know that I'm not 100% objective on this development, ;) but this can only be a good thing and it genuinely demonstrates that our industry is moving in the right direction. All aspects of the recruitment solution including the results of our most innovative and creative solutions are being reviewed in the selection process.
Now, any awards aren't perfect (in fact I'm gutted one of our submissions didn't make it through to the second round in the innovationcategory - it was blooming marvellous!! :) and although there are improvements that can and will be made, I'll definitely be a bit more confident on Thursday night that the nomination and winners on the night are a good reflection of what our industry has to offer.
Oh, and give us a cheer when you hear our name and wish us luck...
p.s. think my posts are still too long...
Well done Sinead, your original post and subsequent work on last year judges panel really made this year's judging an interesting affair. I was surprised at just how much hard work it is (four solid days!) but really encouraged that finally winners were being judged on the results they delivered and that best practice in digital was getting a proper voice. It's just a shame that, with a few very notable exceptions, the overall quality of the digital entries was not as high as I would have hoped
Nevertheless tomorrow should be a very interesting night. I'm wondering just how many tables they've sold in the current climate and I'm also wondering whether Alex is going to live tweet the whole thing again!
Posted by: Matt | 14/01/2009 at 04:47 PM
Did think about tweeting it - but no wifi access or mobile signal in the room I'm afraid (or indeed was relieved) to report
Good night though :D
Posted by: Alex Hens | 19/01/2009 at 07:44 PM