Stories and Spectacles: A slideshow

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PSFK Conference: Mike Byrne On The Future Of Brands

Can you believe we got this guy to judge the Denver 50? Me neither.

Denver 50 books, photos and film are online

Didn't make it to the Denver 50? Buy the book for just $10. See the photos on NewDenverAdClub.com. Join the creative pod's Facebook group to discuss future activities. And check out some extremely bad video of us setting up the work and enjoying the show.

Stories from Regis

Regis students participate in something called service learning. They perform surgeries in Africa, work with startups in urban areas, raise awareness for burn victims, build houses in New Orleans, and generally make the world a better place. The students return to campus with astonishing photos, stories and videos.

As Regis' agency, we wanted to give potential students a window into these experiences.

Our work debuted last week with a series of posters, barricade signs and banners at Cherry Creek Mall. But the print is only the door to a richer experience. As the stories evolve, people can read posts at regis.edu/service and follow future trips at twitter.com/regisservice. Over time, we'll help build a narrative around student blogs, YouTube pages and photo streams.

Regis students are doing inspiring things. Helping them tell their stories is an honor.

UPDATE: Dave Schneider of Karsh\Hagan was the art director.

Me and Lisa Simpson and the NDAC

Yesterday morning, someone asked me how much recognition I wanted during the Denver 50 show. And I remembered a scene from "The Summer of 4 ft. 2." Lisa Simpson is attempting to hand out yearbooks when Nelson explains how the world works:

Nelson: Who died and made you boss?

Lisa: Mr. Estes, the publications advisor. I edited the whole thing.

Nelson: If you hadn't done it, some other loser would have. So quit milking it!

Quit milking it. Good advice. I will, in a minute.

There are three things I wish everyone knew about The Denver 50:

1. It wasn't a big moneymaker. At least, not compared to what the ADDYs would've been. We got 170 entries, which included more than 600 executions. Under an ADDY format, each of those executions could have been entered again individually. We left money on the table so we explore a media-neutral format that more accurately reflected the realities agencies face today.

2. It was a huge risk (as ad club risks go). It took courage for the board to let us buck the national awards format. It took optimism for our jaw-dropping judges to spend their time on a local show. And it took faith for agencies to buy into the show concept. People can argue about whether the Denver 50 was a huge success or a giant flop. But I hope people appreciate the fact that we were swinging for the fences.

3. The names of our sponsors. There is an exhaustive list in the book. A little extra love from me to my friends at:

• texturemedia, who built the judging site.
• Amatucci, who shot the book cover.
• Pure Brand, who produced the book.
• Integer, who planned the event.
• Fueld Films, who shot our video and game.
• Thought Equity, who assembled the reel.

Today we're all back at work, trying to do the best job we can. That's the nature of this business. What you did yesterday doesn't matter half as much as what you'll do tomorow. Onward.

Monday night isn't ugly, it's beautiful

• MySpace pages make my eyes hurt. But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe they're beautiful.

• Jennifer Love Hewitt gets grief for being curvy. But she thinks she's beautiful. She's right.

• The concept seems tired. But the video for "Apartment Story" is beautiful. Almost as beautiful as the song.

The Denver 50 short film

Fueld Films let me put their film on my YouTube page so people can get all bloggy with it.



UPDATE: If you need a good laugh, play the TD50 game. Maybe it'll inspire you to get your tickets.