PADC Awards inaugural President, John Ilian, joins in the discussion on The Brand Agency’s decision to not support the local awards show
John Ilian, life-member and long-serving past president of the PADC has joined the discussion on The Brand Agency’s decision to not enter the local award show. Ilian sent Campaign Brief this Letter to the Editor:
Dear Campaign Brief
I have been out of the country for a couple of weeks and just learnt of the Brand decision not to support the PADC awards any longer.
I share the views of John Driscoll, Alan Taylor and Adam Barker. For my sins, I was President of the PADC when the PADC awards were first conceived and inaugurated in 1989. Unless the rules have changed, it is my view that no-one at Brand is prevented from entering the Awards. In fact, no agency can enter the awards. Entry is restricted to members only. Agencies are not – and have never been members of the PADC. I know this because I wrote the original rules for award entry and was responsible for the original PADC Articles of Association when the Club was incorporated.
As I wrote more than 20 years ago, “The purpose of the PADC Awards is to set a standard, not necessarily slap a back. For this reason, they honour the work above all else. While the doer is applauded, it is the deed which is honoured.” I also wrote that the “PADC is unapologetically dedicated to setting and raising the standard of (locally produced – sic) advertising and design work.”
It is my view that the PADC has – and continues to play a significant role in achieving this objective – a perspective which Harris no longer shares, apparently.
Many past and present members have helped raise local, national, and in some cases, international standards. They include Matt Eastwood, Reed Collins, Steve Back, Simon McQuoid, Pat Lennox, Ben Green, Brendan Guthrie, Matt Garbut, Subu Naidoo, Gary Tranter, Matt Cullen, Scott Dungate and Levi Slaven amongst others.
However, returning to the Harris edict, I think it remains open to any member at the Brand to enter their work into the PADC Awards – whether their managing director supports them or not. It would an affront to any member’s right if Harris actually prevented any member from entering work and paying the appropriate entry fee, themselves.
Because the PADC is a legally incorporated body, I believe (perhaps mistakenly) that any individual member’s entry fee (and for that matter, their membership fee) is likely a legitimate tax deduction.
John Ilian.
4 Comments
YES! Thank you for shedding that glorious light, John Ilian!
However the sad thing is, Brand employees are probably too scared to enter with Harris looming over them… Depends how much they want to keep their jobs.
Beautiful loophole. But do you really want that face from the painting glaring at you while it serves your marching orders for treason?
Cool story bro
A small anecdote; many years ago, my frustrated creative partner and I were working in a Perth agency. The head of this company did not see the point of awards or really, creative work for that matter, so our small offerings never garnered any industry attention. However my partner and I had just produced some work that we thought actually had a chance at winning something. We approached the head about entering it. He sneered, said we’d never stand a chance and it wasn’t worth spending good money on trying and point blank refused.
We replied (as we were both Club members) that in respectful deference to the agency not wanting to be associated with the work, we would take the company name off the award entry, pay for it ourselves and enter it under our names alone. He gave in begrudgingly and ponied up a whole sixty or 80 bucks, grumbling all the way. We entered. We won – and not just once either.
That guy never really did come around to the idea of the PADCs. But here’s the thing. That company doesn’t exist anymore. My partner and I have both gone on to much bigger and better things and I don’t really know what became of him, you don’t hear from him these days. My point being, I can trace much of the beginnings of our success to entering those awards. It was a launchpad for what was to come.
To those juniors at the Brand, you need to look after yourself and manage your career – your agency is telling you they are not invested in it. Be very aware of where you stand in their priorities. And if you get laid off as a result – take it from me, it could be the best thing that ever happens to you.