Matt Dickson’s Cannes Diary #2

Matt Dickson, national head of creativity, Southern Cross Austereo, Perth is representing Australia on the Cannes Radio Lions jury. Dickson, along with most of the other Australian and NZ jurors, reports exclusively to CB.

Day 2 judging Lions radio was inspiring.

Yesterday I walked back to the hotel feeling frustrated – having heard many good ideas that missed in execution, or some great executions that were missing an idea.

Today though was the opposite. Most of the day was spent on judging the Best Use of Radio category, and from very early on the standard was high. Quite a few entries relied on new technology to make the most of the medium, which just shows how adaptable radio & audio is as a category. Most impressive though, were a handful of ideas that could have been created any time in the last 40 years or more, had anyone thought of them.

It was also impressive to see many radio broadcast companies around the world willing to adapt their environments in new and brave ways to accommodate a great idea. Thanks probably to Podcasting, radio and audio is experiencing a resurgence of enthusiasm from audiences and creatives around the world. Today the work definitely showed that.

If tomorrow builds on today’s success, and my kids don’t wake me up at 4am again, it’ll be a great day.