Although still to be announced, the awards will be held mid-October over a weekend, officially, "at a venue to be announced". Those in the know say the decision to move the awards from Sun City to another venue has been made and the new venue will be announced shortly.
So it could be barefoot on a beach or head in the clouds on a mountaintop, come October!
After all the snot and trane and drama of the past couple of years, it was with a huge sigh of relief in the industry when the Creative Directors Circle stepped in to wrest the awards back into the hands of the creatives last year. The Section 21 committee announced just over a month ago has been hard at work deciding on format, judging, venue and dates.
Loeries have always been held at Sun City, and whether one is for or against the venue, the fact remains that a single venue away from the humdrum demands of the city is a great place to celebrate, network and have a good ol' time with mates in the industry, without having to rush off or organise lifts to return to homes and hotels.
Bizcommunity.com was one of several industry media which called for the event to be moved from Sun City last year after the expensive and boring Loerie awards in 2004.
There are many who feel Sun City should remain as a venue, and just as many who believe it has had its time. The elitist tag has stuck and if The Loerie Awards committee wanted to present an entirely new-look awards with a new attitude, then a break with the old venue was needed - that was pretty much a given. The dilemma was where else?
Interviewed by Bizcommunity.com last week, The Loerie Awards CEO, Andrew Human, said when the venue issue was reviewed, the issue of wanting to make Loeries more "inclusive" by opening them up to a broader audience, to foster interest in the industry, was a prime consideration.
"We also want it to be more than just an event. It must be a celebration of creativity and of the people in this industry."
The map on Human's wall is covered in towns highlighted in pink along major national routes and regional centres, including coastal towns. The existing venue, Sun City and all the major cities were considered as alternative venues and The Loerie Awards committee were offered everything from an NG Kerksaal in Cullinan by some sweet old lady (they've probably never heard of Marilyn Manson either!), to an Equestrian Centre in Parys and the Town Hall in Harrismith.
"The idea was put forward to brand a smaller town as a festival venue for The Loerie Awards - and take over for a weekend. The issue with the big cities, is that there is too much fracturing... it becomes just an event, and Loeries is much more than just an event...!"
The aim is to reward and showcase creative excellence in a fun, networking, festival environment where the focus is on the agencies and their creative teams - not seminars and conferencing.
Human said it was great to start with a "blank slate" and take it from there!
One hopes the town finally chosen is prepared for the onslaught of the creative fraternity in full flight in October...
All the relevant stakeholders, ie, sponsors and agency heads, including the regional offices, have been canvassed and by all accounts, people are surprised, but thrilled at the choice of venue in the end.
The big announcement will be made at an upcoming press conference, where the new Loerie awards corporate brand will also be launched. It has been conceptualised by King James.
Human, who assumed the hot seat from 1 March 2005, has just returned from New York. His industry-related experience includes working in New York with The One Show and the Art Directors Club, as well as on Adweek's Icon Awards. His job entails overseeing the entire ambit of show management - from calling for and managing the entries; selecting and briefing judging panels; preparing budgets and tracking finances; conceptualising and organising the awards function; and overseeing the publicity that is so necessary to make it a success. On the management front, Human, who has a PhD in the engineering field, is an entrepreneur who started several companies and grew them into successful entities.
Human says The Loerie Awards are well on track to meet their stated objectives announced at the end of last year to celebrate the creativity in the industry.
The exact dates for entry and judging will be announced shortly, but the entry period is expected to run as close to the judging as possible to allow for most recent work.
The new judging system will also allow for online entry.
The thinking behind a new awards incorporates the following:
Headed by WingWing Mdlulwa, The Loerie Award committee was formed in January 2005 after several years of dissatisfaction with the Loerie Awards which were run by the MFSA. After last year's event, it was agreed by all industry participants, that it should be restructured, taking cognisance of the broader issues facing the industry locally and abroad, instead of perpetuating the failures of the past.
The committee comprises representatives from all spheres of the marketing communications industry - from service suppliers, such as advertising agencies and specialist communication companies; to the brand owners and marketers. The six stakeholders are the Creative Circle (CC), the Association for Communication and Advertising (ACA), the Marketing Federation of South Africa (MFSA), the Commercial Producers Association (CPA), the Communication & Advertising Forum for Empowerment (Café), and THINK (SA Graphic Design Council).
Recounting progress made at the time, Mdlulwa said the prime aim of the Loerie Awards going forward remained rewarding creativity in advertising and marketing. However, additional objectives include using any profits generated from the event to position the South African industry on the global marketing communication stage; and, importantly, to fund programmes and initiatives that will bring young black South Africans into the industry.
Remaining issues like the format of the awards - returning to a two-night awards-style party over a weekend, but with significant changes to increase the fun element, have also been decided. The awards statuette, the Loerie bird itself, will probably remain unchanged as it's the issue there was the least "bitching" about!
The point of it all is to reward the most prestigious creative work - effectiveness will be left up to the Apex Awards which use business measures.
"The Loerie Awards will be back to being inspirational awards," Human asserts.
All will be revealed soon, so watch this space...!
