The Central Arkansas advertising industry has been blessed for many decades with a vibrant community of talented, energized and active partners—featuring a healthy number of agencies serving clients on the local, regional, national and even international stage. For over one hundred years, the Little Rock chapter of the American Advertising Federation has served this community by providing opportunities for networking, career development, legislative support, and industry promotion. Sadly, over the last few years, this organization had lost momentum—with only a few remaining active members doing what it takes to keep the club going and put on the annual ADDY awards—once considered the industry’s very own Oscar night.
Now, the Little Rock advertising community is rising once again. This past December, nearly a dozen professionals representing many of the various agencies in Little Rock met with a regional American Advertising Federation representative from Dallas to get the club back up and put on the ADDYs this year, with innovative and exciting programs going on throughout the year. “As everyone knows in the age of computers, usually the best thing to do when something stops working is to turn it off and turn it back on again,” said Ross Cranford, the club’s new President. “This is the advertising reboot of 2017. AAF-Little Rock will now be known as AdClub LR.”
Officers for AdClub LR are:
President and Government Relations: Ross Cranford, Cranford Co.
Vice President: Sandra McGrew, Vines Media
Treasurer: Ramanda Cody, UAMS
Membership: Sam Cooper, Lamar
Communications and Programming: Arlton Lowry, Few
American Advertising Awards: Jason Rogers, Mass Enthusiasm; Jon Hodges, Sells Agency
AD 2 President: Meaghan Ferneau, Mangan Holcomb
Programs: Wade McCune, CJRW; Bill Fitzgerald, Thoma Thoma
Past President: Bill Brookshire, Stone Ward
“We invite all members of the Central Arkansas communications community to join us and once again make this a thriving capital of creativity” said Sandra McGrew, Vice President and head of membership. Individuals and agencies will soon be able join or renew memberships to the AdClub online at AdClubLR.org.
Entries are now being accepted for the American Advertising Awards (ADDYs), the nation’s largest and most representative competition attracting over 40,000 entries every year. ADDY Chairman Jason Rogers said, “Together, we hope to see work from Central Arkansas compete against the very best at the local, regional and national stages in the American Advertising Awards, taking on agencies from coast-to-coast, and showing our clients that the work they get can pass the global test for creativity, innovation and effectiveness.” You can enter online here. Entry deadline is February 20th.
“Moving forward, we look to host regular get-togethers to further education and build community relationships—making the industry better as a whole,” said Arlton Lowry, chief of Communications and Programming. “Generally we aim to have a good time with fellow creatively-minded individuals doing the work that we love and helping our work get better at making things happen for our clients.”