Gabby's WORD 27 March 2012

‘Hola’ from Barcelona. I’m here attending the 2012 PromaxBDA Europe Conference. It opened Monday 26 March and stretches over two days and is the largest gathering of marketing, promotion, and design professionals in European TV and entertainment media. I’ve been kindly invited to the event by the organisers to enjoy the jam-packed schedule of sessions and to have some fantastic interviews with some of the very interesting people that are attending.

 

Yesterday I spent time with Jakob Trollbäck, President and ECD of Trollbäck + Company, who, when asked, said that ’Copy Chops: Unleashing your writing genius' with Linda Button, ECD of Tooth+ Nail had been one of his favourite sessions. For me, the ‘Design Companies you need to know’ hosted by Roberto Bagatti of MTV Design Studios and PromaxBDA’s very own Editorial Director, Shanna Green was really enjoyable and very inspiring. I particularly liked the short film by the Paris creative house ‘Mega Force’ that focuses on children and the subjection to violence from the media.

 

Later that afternoon I was able to interview Roberto and hear from him about how he came to be in his role, what he loves about what he does and how he sources great creative content. One of the great things about my job, as I mentioned last week, is the incredible people that I get to meet and interview. Yesterday I had the opportunity to meet one of my graphic design heroes, Tony Brook of Spin who spent time with me to discuss his work, what makes him tick and supporting young talent. He was just as inspiring as his work and I had to stop myself from gushing.  I am looking forward to seeing him and others discussing ‘Leaders in design’, moderated by Creative Review’s Editor, Patrick Burgyone.

 

Today promises to be another action packed day, full of great discussions and insightful presentations. This evening we will all be attending the awards gala where this year’s winners shall be announced. Over the next few weeks I shall share with you the interviews that I’ve managed to rustle together and bring you more news from the interesting people that I have been able to meet. For now, I’ll be popping onto Cindy Gallop’s ‘The Business of fun: Making entertainment make money in the new world order’ and will report back on today’s activities in Thursday’s newsletter. Until then…

 

Gabby