Low turnout of creatives at Noosa Caxtons
This year, for the first time, less than half the delegates attending the Caxton Awards and Seminar in Noosa this weekend are creatives, with many of Australia’s top creatives choosing not to attend. That’s in spite of the Caxtons offering arguably the strongest speaker line-ups in its 36 year history.
Of the 104 delegates attending (in itself disappointing – the Caxtons have had up to 140 in a good year), only 45 are creatives. The rest include newspaper execs (18), Caxton organisers (10), Caxton speakers (10), headhunters (4) trade press (3) and media buyers (2).
Agencies attending this year include Sydney based Three Drunk Monkeys (8 delegates), Droga5 (4), BWM (4), DDB (2), Saatchi & Saatchi (2) M&C Saatchi (2), McCann (2), BMF (1), Leo Burnett (1), The Campaign Palace (1) and In Our Time (1); Melbourne based GPY&R (2) and Fenton Stephens (1); Adelaide based KWP! (3); Perth based Ad Impact (3) and The Brand Agency (1); Brisbane based Sapient Nitro (2) and True Creative (1); and NZ based DDB New Zealand (2) and Special Group, Auckland (2).
There are a total of 30 women at the Caxtons this year (including 8 Caxton organisers), of which 12 are agency creatives.
26 Comments
well i mean they’re newspaper awards
Maybe it’s because even passionate creatives are now realising this industry can’t continue to disappear further and further up its own arse like some never-ending colonoscopy into a dark rectal chamber filled with distorting mirrors and arbitrary award shows.
How many are women, Lynchy? The last time I went to the Caxtons it was a total sausage fest. And generally grey and wrinkly sausages at that.
1. Press constitutes about 5% of the work we’d do now, max.
2. The whole multiple-day junket pissup thing is incredibly 80’s. Who the fuck has time in their life for that?
3. The opinions supplied by the speakers are rarely so insightful as to make the effort worthwhile. Thanks to the www, points of view from the world’s leading thinkers and authorities on every topic imaginable are available to you 24/7, free of charge.
david marr is so masculine – he is king sausage. not to mention, so 1980s…
“strongest speaker lineup” that’s funny
John Polson…
Yes, the Caxtons were great in the late 70’s and 80’s, yes times have changed, yes wisdom is available from a variety of sources but isn’t it reassuring that the bright young things in today’s agencies know it all and are too cool to need any experience outside their own bubble. Sure it’s newspaper focussed, but it’s mostly advertising.
Could be a Caxstrophe?
Jesus fossil,
If you think that any but a handful of agencies are going to pay for young creatives to go on a weekend pissup to Noosa, you’re on another planet. If anyone thought their agency would send them, they’d certainly put their hands up. But this is 2010.
Times HAVE changed. It may not always be for the better, but the days when you could justify things like the caxtons – or spending all day at lunch with your creative mates broadening your horizons or whatever – are long, long gone.
Headhunters at caxtons? No wonder agencies aren’t sending their best creatives this year!
the Caxtons should be re-named the WOFTAMS
The broader base of delegates is reflective of any award seminar anywhere in the world. 20 years ago only writers and art directors were allowed to attend then reluctantly planners, account directors and clients were allowed to attend and now anyone interested in creativity can and should attend, even and especially HR and finance. To exclude anyone seems discriminatory and somewhat anachronistic. The Caxton Awards are about newspapers… including their digital titles. The integrated campaign category was introduced this year to acknowledge a broader spectrum of work as per every other award in the world. Nick Law is leading the world on digital thinking for agencies…Polson has shot with Russel Crowe and Robert Deniro and is currently directing The Mentalist…
I think what has happened is that creatives just don’t want to hang out with other creatives. This blog certainly highlights just how many frienemies we all have as . It used to be nice but once the blog really got going I gave up. I love the work but hate the smiling assassins. (That and I actually like fucking my girlfriend.)
Times have changed…agencies aren’t fun anymore because management by and large report to accountants.
But don’t think for one moment the Caxtons wasn’t a great way to meet some great people, chat to a headhunter, talk about some good work, listen to some good speakers and have a couple of drinks.
The Caxtons come from a time when it was FUN to work in advertising, when the second you finished a pitch the whole team went for a big lunch to celebrate and when creatives spent less time searching YouTube for ‘inspiration’ or to shoot down another ad on this blog.
If you roll up all the time you spend on YouTube and Facebook at the office it would make a couple of days at Noosa enjoying the industry seem inconsequential.
PS Don’t believe me….have IT block YouTube and Facebook for a month…use that time for a bit of fun with your team…
3:33, there are a total of 30 women at the Caxtons this year, of which 12 are agency creatives.
So do I, 4:40.
They’re all going to to the BAD Awards.
@9:27
By BAD, you mean that rigged, nepotistic, inconsequential, underfunded, disorganised, amateurish excuse for an industry awards night?
Hey 4.40 i don’t like fucking your girlfriend, much but 8.16 does.
@ 9:45
No, sorry you’re thinking of something different. But don’t worry, one day you’ll do a job that will be worth entering to an awards show. Maybe your old kindy teacher could give you another gold star.
No I’m pretty sure that’s the one. (Description a little close to the bone, yeah?)
Hey 9:45. It’s a shame you feel that way. Maybe you should come along next year and see how things have changed over the past few years.
But could the two of you please not start a public arguement hidden behind an anonymous title. Especially involving the BAD Club. Way to much effort goes in to these things, i’d prefer it not to be torn down but some unnecessary bitterness.
Thanks.
Actually 4:40, you raise a really interesting point. Chances are, at the Caxtons – or any other creative gathering – you’ll in all likelihood be sharing the room with, and actually having a backslapping beer with some anonymous arsehole who’s been slagging you off on the Blog.
It’s obviously the for the old ‘ad generation’. Times have changed and it’s not longer relevant.
1.28
You think time’s have changed so much that ideas (in whatever form) are no longer relevant?
Then you’re not just a little twat, but also a stupid little twat.
We’re too fucking busy, that’s why.