James Hurman’s Cannes Diary – day one from the inaugural Creative Effectiveness jury room

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Screen shot 2011-06-25 at 3.53.16 PM.jpgColenso BBDO Auckland planning director James Hurman represented New Zealand on the Creative Effectiveness jury. Here’s a few thoughts on his week, exclusive to CB…

It’s weird being inspired and heartbroken at the same time.

Day one of the inaugural Creative Effectiveness Lions judging. Our president is the formidable and wonderful Jean-Marie Dru. I guess there must be a real art to chairing a jury like this, and he’s got it down.

The day was awesome. The heartbreaking bit was seeing several of my favourite campaigns from around the world get torn to bits by our jury of effectiveness nazis.

I know that many will go without, despite their brilliance. Proving that a campaign is massively effective is actually very difficult, and nobody gets the benefit of the doubt. So although you instinctively know these campaigns must have been hugely effective in one way or other, if the proof isn’t there in intricate detail, it doesn’t cut it.

And as one fellow juror commented to me, ‘this room could pick Darwin apart’.

In other news, I’m staying at the Carlton, two rooms away from the David Lynch Suite. I love David Lynch! But some weird shit must go on in that room.