Steve Elrick at The One Show: It’s nice to be nice

By Steve Elrick

And so The One Show has finished judging and we all had to head off to places less sunny (well, most did, with delayed flights to the storm struck USA and Europe) whilst others headed to a very long flight, say, back to the endlessly similarly sunny climes of Singapore.

But all seemed to leave with the unanimous opinion that The One Show crew won Best Show Ever for generally being such a lovely bunch of people. People who were nice, warm, gracious, and effortlessly efficient and in being so, were generally setting the tone for how perhaps we should behave?

I think we were a very nice bunch.

And why is ‘nice’ important?

Well, I think when you are locked up in various rooms with 25 of your peers, and then breakfasting, lunching and dining with them for 7 days, everyone then tends to look for the positive. Much better to have conversations about the work that was amazing, surprising and inspiring rather than try to tear a strip off work that wouldn’t make the cut. If you can’t say anything nice… etc

There was spirited discussion- usually over meals – about the work that people really loved.

And with such a stellar cast of talent (let’s count me as an observer) who have authored everything from – I’m the man your man could smell like, to tea partay, to the original, funniest, taste the rainbow spots, and write the future, work so famous I don’t even need to mention the brand names – you get super inspired when these chaps are applauding some of the ‘smaller’ yet-to-be-famous work from around the world.

Imagine an award show without the national bloc voting, the internecine agency politics, the embarrassing mutual blind-eye to obvious scam and an awards night that celebrates the quality and content of the work rather than spurious agency award points rankings… and you have something approaching The One Show.

And the work? Well with the secret voting system even we the judges can’t be sure what will be grabbing metal.

Though we do know that the top fifteen brilliant pieces we did see that are eligible for Best Of Show – gave us a very tough choice.

Steve Elrick is the former regional executive creative director at BBH Asia Pacific. He has just finished judging The One Show in the Dominican Republic.