Greetings of the Season to all!

I sometimes feel that our monthly Board meetings go by in a blur — there are always members talking about new ideas, refining existing ones, or questioning the value of what we are doing (which, in the end, brings us a positive result). And I’m there to act like a lion tamer, cracking my whip (er, pounding my gavel) and facing them all, trying my best to keep things going smoothly (without breaking our wildly creative spirit).
So maybe it’s time for all of us, at year’s end, to take a breath and look back at what we’ve accomplished this year, and in doing so, find that out of our chaos, we are truly creating something positive.

• We’ve continued Wake-Up Call Breakfast workshops that have featured excellent speakers, taught us something new, brought in many new faces and members to the Ad Club, and made our bimonthly Coffee Hour more rewarding and interesting. (Thanks to Grace DePaola for heading it up and to Daryl Rand for sponsoring these breakfasts in memory of her dad, Harold L. Harrison.)
• We held our 14th Annual Career Day, which attracted students from Montclair State, Kean University, Rutgers University, Felician College, William Paterson University, Stevens Institute, Brookdale College, and others, some as far away as Philadelphia. In addition to the usual festivities, we
  held a Job Fair that resulted in hires and internships. (So much for sitting back idly.) The students even participated in a fashion show sponsored by Annie Sez
  and Men’s Warehouse that taught how to dress for business. Equally exciting was the opportunity for one student (from Rutgers’ New Brunswick campus) to win a two-week internship at The Kaplan Thaler Group in New York City. How’s that for a holiday present! Anna D’Elia and her team of Rick Bonelli, Sarah Olszewski, Karen DeLuca and Sandy Josephson deserve the credit for the coup and the entire day, which in addition to being a rewarding experience, raises money for student scholarships.
• Attendance at our Board meetings has swelled dramatically, with more and more people asking to be a part of our ongoing committees (and bringing more and more ideas to us to enrich our, and your, lives. Call me if you, too, want in on the committee action. We always have room for new thoughts and new friends.
• You may have read some of the press generated by our events this year. If so, it’s through the largess of Rhona Bronson and the North Jersey Media Group — sponsors of the Ad Club’s extended PR efforts.
• We held our first-ever salute to Hispanic Marketing (coinciding with National Hispanic Month), which managed to be both informative and fun at the same time. (Of course, the sangria didn’t hurt the mood or the festivities.) Gary Denburg did a fantastic job of coordinating the event, which included Carey Davis of Spanish Broadcasting System and Manuel Martinez of Telemundo television. Relatives of the attendees might have been able to catch them on the station, which broadcast the event. (Who says the Ad Club isn’t a star maker!)
• We’ve networked more than ever before with a number of other organizations and publications, including The Art Directors Club of New Jersey, PRSA, IABC, BMA, New Jersey Monthly, NJ.com and CIANJ. All of us have grown closer and more informed thanks to the sharing of information.
• This year’s Jersey Awards proved to again be our crowning glory — with a fascinating display of some of the state’s best! Ralph Gonzalez did his usual superb job in putting the evening together.
• And, of course, you’re reading about all this in AdTalk, which continues to win awards under the aegis of Suzanne Poor.
  
  Talk about holiday presents! With a group like this, we are truly blessed. May the holidays bring you health, happiness and peace — and continue to keep us close to one another.

--Pat Tesman

Back to AdTalk December 2004