ALL STAR JURY ARRIVE SUNDAY FEB 24 TO JUDGE INTERNATIONAL ANDY AWARDS

UPDATE: For the first time ever, Sydney has been chosen as the location for final judging of the International ANDY Awards, which will be held in the last week of February, starting Sunday 24th. One of the best international juries ever assembled  – including Dave Droga, Mark Tutssel, Bob Scarpelli, Bob Greenberg, Gerry Graf, Susan Hoffman, Marie-Catherine Dupuy and Andrew Keller – are flying in, selected by Mark Waites, Partner and Creative Director of Mother, London.

Waites (snapped by CB last time he was in Sydney in 2002) told Campaign Brief: “One of the perks of being the Honorary chair of theANDY awards is that I get to pick the venue for the final judging.Nobby should be pleased, when he got to Buenos Aires last year thefirst post on his blog had him moaning that Australia was a long wayfrom everywhere – not this year.

“I can’t wait. They’re a great crowd the ANDY’s judges and who wouldn’t rather be in Sydney than London this time of year?”

With the exception of John Hegarty of BBH in 2002, the choice of Waites as the only Chairman from an agency outside the U.S. signals the increased globalization of the ANDY Show. “While we’ve always had incredible creative leaders in this role, Mark’s presence reflects how much the ANDYs are expanding as an international show,” says Gina Grillo, Executive Director of The ADVERTISING Club. The AD Club has run the ANDYs for the past 43 years. “We’re very proud to have someone of his talent, vision and commitment leading the 2008 ANDYs.”

Waites’ feelings about ANDY engagement of global agencies is the same. “The past few years, we’ve seen greater international interest, entries and winners than ever before,” he observes. “The entire creative global community being part of the Show makes it a very stimulating, inspiring venture, and I’m excited to be contributing to this year’s efforts.”

As Chairman, Waites is the key decision-maker in selecting the jury for the ANDYs, renowned for having one of the most dynamic, high-profile line-ups of all awards shows. This year is no exception. In addition, there is stronger diversity in terms of regional and gender representation among the 21 judges. Agencies from Paris and Tokyo to Sydney and India are on the panel. As well, 20% of the judging panel this year are women.

The final jury list (changed slightly with last minute replacement jurors Andy McKeon, Bulldozer, Sydney and Thirasak Tanapatanakul, Creative Juice GI, Bangkok replacing Ty Montagu, JWT New York and Piyush Pandey, O&M India) is as follows:

Honorary Chairman

David Nobay, Droga5 Australia, Sydney

Mark Tutssel, Leo Burnett Worldwide, Chicago