Coulson appointed Caxton chairman of judges; speaker line-up includes Nobay and Keogh; Awards+Seminar set for Hunter Valley in October

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Screen shot 2011-08-15 at 5.32.26 PM.jpgGeorge Patterson Y&R, Melbourne chief creative officer and ECD, Ben Coulson will chair the panel of judges at the 2011 Caxton Awards to be held in October at a yet-to-be announced venue, which CB hears is in NSW’s Hunter Valley.

The Caxton Committee also confirmed the members of this year’s panel of judges as: Dave Bowman – Whybin\TBWA\Tequila, Nancy Hartley – SapientNitro, Mark Harricks – JWT, Noah Regan – The Monkeys, Shaun Branagan – BWM, Duncan Marshall – Droga5, Luke Crethar – Glue Society and Dejan Rasic – Colman Rasic.

The speaker line-up is yet to be finalised but at this stage CB hears it includes Coulson along with David ‘Nobby’ Nobay, creative chairman of Droga5, Sydney and Ant Keogh, executive creative director at Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne.

Coulson will oversee and guide the judging panel as it decides on the Caxton Awards finalists and winners. As chairman, he will also choose which entry will win the coveted Quinlivan Black Award.

Rob Belgiovane-NEW-web.jpgCaxton Committee chairman Rob Belgiovane (left) said: “We’re delighted to welcome Ben as chair of judges this year. His creative credentials are outstanding and his experience of judging other major national and international awards will be invaluable for the Caxton Awards jury.”

Most recently, GPY&R dominated the Melbourne Art Directors Awards with a 28 medal haul, the highest ever tally for a single agency. GPY&R was also the most awarded agency at the Caxtons last year.

Individually, Coulson has won every major international award, including D&AD, the One Show, the Clios, ANDY and Cannes. He also sits on the Y&R Global Creative Board.

“Press has always been a medium close to creative people’s hearts. It provides a level playing field where super senior, and first year juniors, all get to flex their brain in newspapers,” says Coulson.

“Caxton is where stunning mega-produced campaigns are judged alongside simple small space ads. Caxton is the benchmark for great press advertising in our market and winning a Caxton Award can light up a creative career.

Referring to the addition of four new digital categories in the Caxton Awards this year, Coulson said: “Like all the judges I’m really interested to see how the industry is applying creativity to the new tech mediums that now exist in newspapers. If you’ve made something exciting for iPad, mobile app or whatever, make sure you enter it. The industry will be watching.”

Entries for the 2011 Caxton Awards are open now, and will be open until Friday, August 19.

An entry kit can be obtained by visiting the 2011 Caxton Awards Facebook page.