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 With just under two-and-a-half months to go before the ceremony, Dubai Lynx is rolling out some big names as its jury presidents, for us all to coo at and be impressed by.
The big man in the jury rooms will be Amir Kassaei, chief creative officer at DDB Group Germany (looking in the pic to the left like a cross between a Bond villain and a bald (and, presumably, tall) version of veteran actor Deep Roy
– this is a good thing).
Kassaei will be taking on the “traditional” juries, and, we imagine, is both proud and honoured to be heading up these creative powerhouses.
“I am honoured and proud to be this year’s TV/Cinema, Print, Outdoor and Radio Jury President. On the one hand because the Middle East will be the emerging region concerning communication, on the other hand it is like a journey home as I was born in Iran,” said Kassaei, in a press release.
See? Told you.
One of the big changes at this year’s Lynx is of course that while the traditional categories remain hugely important, all (non-media) disciplines now count towards the big, bad Agency Of The Year competition.
This being the case, all those piffling little categories – direct, activation, interactive (pffft! Who’s ever heard of the internet?) – will now take on rather more importance. Or at least, they should, if the agencies have any sense at all (we’ll get back to you on that one...).
Heading up the Direct & Sales Promotion and Interactive juries is David Nobay, creative chairman of Droga5 Australia, and, according to Campaign Brief magazine, Australia’s most-awarded creative director, as of 2008.
“Of course, I'm honoured to be leading the Direct & Sales Promotion and Interactive juries, but even more so, I’m genuinely intrigued: the categories are, in my opinion, where the most ambitious creativity is happening and geographically this is a region I've never worked in so I'm fascinated to see what will be revealed,” said Nobay in the release.
Finally, we have Media. Big whoop for media, ladies and gents. Yeah!
This year the Media jury gets Barry Cupples, no less than CEO of Omnicom Media Group in Asia-Pacific. True to form, he’s also honoured to get stuck in with Lynx.
“I am very honoured [See!? – Ed] to have been asked to take part in such a prestigious event and I take the responsibility seriously to ensure that the best work gets the recognition it will surely deserve. Great work is no respecter of borders and I am really excited at the prospect of seeing this year’s entries and the solutions to business challenges that they will represent,” said Cupples in the release.
Three serious guys, for what the Lynx organisers will hope is a serious show.
In case anyone needs reminding, there’s a lot riding on the 2010 Lynx, after last year’s debacle. The organisers seem to be doing their level best (although some would dispute this) to make sure everything passes off smoothly.
But a lot rests on the agencies, a) putting their weight behind a slightly dented Lynx, and putting forward plenty of top-notch work, and b) not playing silly buggers – specifically in making sure the top-notch work they’re entering actually ran somewhere, and was approved by an actual, real-life client.
Hopefully the new Lynx rules should make this crucial element much harder to skip – and we look forward to a killer show in March.
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