Goafest is very much on

Feb 26, 2009 The Workplace

The global economic meltdown notwithstanding, and after much heartburn, the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and the Ad Club Bombay have confirmed that Goafest, the annual ad industry bash will be held from April 02-04 at Cavelossim Beach, Goa. This three-day event is held each year to award creative and media excellence.

The speakers include head honchos of global agencies Bob Scarpelli (DDB), Sir John Hegarty (BBH) and Jean-Marie Dru (TBWA). In a bid to encourage participation, the fees have also been reduced. Those under 30 yrs need to pay Rs.4,500 and for those over 30 yrs old, the fees are Rs.9,000. The total attendees is limited to 1,000. Agencies will have to shell out Rs.2,000 for each entry and the cost of lodging and boarding, certainly not cheap by any standards.

Several ad agencies were skeptical about participating in this event given the tremendous financial pressure they’re all under, and some have decided to send in entries but not representatives, or limited to a single person, like Piyush Pandey from Ogilvy India for example. Some like McCann were not a part of this last year and haven’t decide about this year either.

Some admen have been wondering about agencies cribbing about attending Goafest when they can afford to send creative personnel to the Cannes Festival.