With American Advertising Awards take-in days fast approaching, we’re all focused on attracting entries, marketing our competitions and trying to raise as much money as we can through our events.

And there are some great ideas out there. Some clubs are starting People’s Choice competitions to create a new award – and attract new sponsors. Others are finding new and better ways to reach out to their members, and community at large, to solicit entries. Please make sure that you’re sharing your ideas and best practices so we can all benefit from the ideas generated here in D3. Our willingness to collaborate is one of the things that make us mighty.

While much of the focus is on the awards, I’d like to bring your attention to a few other things going on around the district and the AAF.

Membership

Membership drive continues. We’re moving in the right directions. Get the latest membership development tip from the AAF Council of Governors. And if you have a membership retention or recruitment strategy that’s working well for your club, please share it with me, so I can share it with the members of the COG.

Programs

There seems to be a lot of program and speaker sharing happening and that is wonderful to see. Programs are what keep members coming back to their local clubs year after year.

Have you polled your membership to measure their satisfaction with the programs you provide? Coming up on mid-year, you may want to consider that to help you plan for the spring, finish the year strong, and set your club up for lots of renewals next year.

AES

Please keep the AES fund in mind as you go through the holiday season. While our fundraising drive will officially launch in January, it’s never too early to start raising donations from your board members and club members. Remember, this fund makes it possible for our District 3 NSAC Competition to be available free to our competing students. While it doesn’t cover all of the expenses related to the NSAC, every dollar we can raise makes an impact.

Mosaic Award

The American Advertising Federation and District Two are now accepting nominations and entries for the 2015 Diversity Achievement & Mosaic Awards (DAMA)—a unique award ceremony that celebrates the successful diversity and inclusion efforts within the advertising industry.

Once again, DAMA will be held in conjunction with ADMERICA, AAF’s National Conference, and will take place on June 11, 2015 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

You and your work could be added to the prestigious list of honorees who have made significant contributions to promoting diversity and inclusion in advertising.

Enter your work in one of the following categories:

Mosaic Award

• Multicultural Advertising Campaign
• Student Multicultural Advertising Campaign
• Multicultural Digital Campaign
• Multicultural Student Programs
• Multicultural Talent In Advertising
• Multicultural Traditional Media Usage
• Supplier Diversity
• Workforce Inclusion

Diversity Achievement

• Corporate Leader
• Educator
• Industry Career Achiever
• Trendsetter
• Industry Influential
• Role Model

Thank you all for the hard work you’re putting in to making your clubs so successful!

-Ace