Bonsai Exhibit Slated For Sayonoris

The terrible devastation in Japan, coming on the heels of Ad Club's announcement of "Sayonori" for the theme of the final NORI Awards event, caused a dilemma.

NORI themes have traditionally taken a campy spin and this is not a time for levity with regard to the Japanese. The board discussed abandoning the theme, but this just felt wrong. Instead, we decided to celebrate this ancient culture with a respectful execution, including a fundraising effort.

A lot of plans are still in discussion, but with the beautiful Key Hall and accommodating GE Theatre at Proctors as our setting, we're excited about the night.

This much I will reveal: during our cocktail hour in Key Hall we will be honored to have on display some fine examples of bonsai trees, courtesy of the Mohawk Hudson Bonsai Society.

These good folks have joined with the Albany Ad Club to help raise funds for Japan relief, specifically the bonsai community, by contributing raffle proceeds and other donations to The National Bonsai Foundation's Tohoku Disaster Relief Fund. This fund will help families within the bonsai culture that were devastated and in many cases left homeless following the earthquake. All contributions to the 501(c)(3) fund are tax deductible and we plan to have a beautiful bonsai tree, provided by the MHBS, to raffle off.

Stay tuned for more developments, and don't miss the reservation deadline for our June 10th event when we say sayonara to the NORIs and konnichiwa to next year's ADDY Awards.

More Channels Means More Ad Opportunities

- by Warren Garling

I couldn’t help but notice in the April 18 post to this blog, the difference between the two charts comparing the digital platforms of 2001 and 2011. Notice how in just one decade, we’ve gone from 7 choices to 13 different means of electronic communication. And most of us use all 13 of those conduits on a daily basis. In an effort to sound as old as possible here, when I first got into broadcasting as a Top 40 DJ in Schenectady in 1969, there were four TV signals (if you included that “educational” channel on that separate UHF dial on your TV) and less than 20 radio signals (if you included those “FM” stations on that other dial on your radio). Today my cable channel selections are in the hundreds and there are more than 45 radio signals serving Tech Valley. And you’re asking me why I don’t use a cell phone?

If you had told me ten years ago that I’d have a regular listening audience for a weekly five minute podcast about Voice Acting, I would have looked at you real funny. And while only 25% of those responding to the survey quoted in that April 18 post say they listen to podcasts regularly, it’s probably because they just don’t have the time to listen. What with listening to the radio in their car on the way to work (while talking on their cell), watching their favorite TV show on their iPad at lunch (while talking on their cell), and programming one of their two DVRs to make sure they don’t miss a rerun of Friends, who has time to listen to a five minute podcast?

The good news in all of this proliferation of product delivery is where we can now take our advertising message. If we’re already putting up with watching 20 minutes of commercials before the feature film starts at the mall, why can’t I have a sponsor for my podcast? Or click on a specifically targeted spot on my Facebook page? The opportunities to be creative and then find just the right audience for that creativity expand almost exponentially by the hour. What a great time to be in a creative industry like ours. When we're not talking on our cells.

Would you believe?

*sigh* another one of those credibility surveys. Who'd a thought my first career goal of lawyer would be replaced with an even less trusted profession.

Radio Still Owns Drive Time

A new 2011 Arbitron Inc./Edison Research study finds that Americans spend more time with the radio (2.1 hours) than with the Internet (1.9 hours) or newspapers (half an hour)—yet radio’s cost-per-thousand is less than half that of TV ($5.35 versus $12).

I know, consider the source and the flexibility of statistics. But there's no doubt in my mind that traditional radio has been too overlooked in the rush of online media.