IAA Romania’s Excellence Awards – a personal experience

Last night’s gala (IAA Romania’s Excellence Awards) was beautiful, relaxing, but entertaining at the same time. And the place chosen for the event is the perfect one to award and celebrate excellence.

Once you step on Romanian Atheneum’s stairs and look around, the only thing you can think is “Perfection”, something we all desire and hope to achieve in our professional life.

 

Despite the fact that, in my opinion, not all the winners were the best choice – Smiley & Bartos are one example – , most of the accolades awarded last night made me really proud of being a part of this industry’s history and knowing the awarded personalities first hand.

I never expected to laugh and have so much fun at an awards gala. And I say this in a very good way. The speeches were, most of the cases, really good, with a great sense of humor and irony, proving we do live in a creative environment. I saw emotion and courage, surprised winners and honesty. Some qualities that we tend to lack nowadays.

It was the night of Sorin Psatta from Graffiti BBDO who won 2 awards of excellence – one for Education in Marketing and Communication and The Personality of the Year – a prize awarded by the public (everyone present at the event was able to choose a winner via SMS from a total of 20 nominated people). He didn’t disappoint and was a jovial presence as usual, keeping me with a smile on my face and making me wonder what secret he has uncovered that makes him the same person, with always a joke in hand, after all this years. I believe he can be a true inspiration for many new advertising beginners.

Other sources of inspiration were, for me, Mihai Gongu – awarded for excellence in creativity, and Monica Jitariuc – excellence in PR. They are both young and really passionate by their profession and have a great future ahead in this business.

There were also some special awards. IAA Young Professional organization awarded Ioana Filip (Group Creative Director McCann Erickson), while Afrodita Blasius (Bridge Communication) was given the special prize for excellence in marketing and communication.

The highlight of the gala were the big three awards celebrating 20 years of advertising in Romania, given by IAA Romania and BCR and consisting of 3 gold coins. I can definitely say the winners were wisely and perfectly chosen. The client (the P&G team) is a symbol on the Romanian market and one of the biggest advertiser every year, contributing at market’s growth both through investments and expertise. The winner in the agency category was Adrian Botan (VP Creative Excellence at McCann Worldgroup Central East Europe ), the creative leader that succeeded in winning the first Gold Lion in Cannes for Romania and, consequently, really put our country on international advertising market’s map.

Also, Adrian Sarbu – winner in the media category – is by far the most notorious Romanian media figure since the revolution. He created the biggest Romanian media brand (Pro TV) and press network, one that is successfully still No.1 after all these years.

Looking back now, I know how proud I am to be working in this industry and how many wonderful moments I have collected through the years. If we could all say we love our work and it’s more than just a job for us, then I believe we would be on the right path. I am fortune enough to be able to think that. What about you?