Malcolm Poynton, Global CCO / President Creative, Cheil Worldwide
“What sets LIA apart is that there’s no pre-judging. We all judged every piece of work together, giving us an opportunity to discuss the work while it’s still fresh, as opposed to judging in isolation, only to come into the jury room a few weeks later wondering, ‘What’s that piece of work again?’ One would expect glitzy Las Vegas to be too distracting a place for jury duty. Yet, this was probably one of the most focused, yet relaxed juries I’ve ever been on.”
Chaka Sobhani, President / Global CCO, DDB Worldwide
“The thing that makes LIA so special is the amount of heart that there is in putting back into the industry and what I mean by that, is it’s about the young talent that is coming through and emerging and the program is insane. It’s literally like a university course, just condensed and I know for all of our teams who have been lucky enough to come here it’s been a genuinely life-changing experience for them and one that really helps shape them and their career. They come back to their agencies and their buzzing and they share those experiences and it sort of has a ripple effect of their peers learning from them.”
Guan Hin Tay, Creative Chairman, BBDO Singapore
“What I love about judging at LIA is that everything is judged in person. There was no online judging, so we saw everything together. I made sure that each judge had a voice in the room, creating a fair system. The judges were very meticulous and critical. I must say, if you got even a finalist, you've done a great job.”
Bianca Guimaraes, ECD, Mischief @ No Fixed Address, Brooklyn
"Being a part of the jury, after having participated in the Creative LIAisons program several years ago, was the biggest proof of how programs like this can help creatives thrive and jump into leadership positions. I'm super grateful and also inspired by the crazy smart people from the Non-Traditional jury. It was good to be in-person. The energy in the room, seeing people react to the work, the live discussions, it changes everything. I learned a lot and came out of it energized."
Jimmy Smith, Chairman / CEO / Chief Creative Director, Amusement Park Entertainment
“In some jury rooms, people have their boxing gloves on. But we agreed at the beginning: we're not here for our agencies or for ourselves. In fact, even if you disliked somebody, that doesn't mean you cannot vote for their work.”
Joel Simon, CEO / Chief Creative Officer, JSM Music
“Our jury was very strong. LIA puts in a lot of effort to ensure that the jury is well-represented to ensure a diversity of perspectives: we had jurors from different regions, and who were masters of different disciplines.”