Dear members and friends of the Austin Advertising Federation,   Well… we're about to sign off on another season for the Austin Ad Fed. It's truly been a memorable year. We celebrated our 75th anniversary, took on a major public service campaign with the Hill Country Ride for AIDS, and put on one killer ADDY® show! We'll be wrapping up the season with our annual Big Wig Awards on May 25th and we hope that you will join us for our final shin-dig.   Our newsletter will be taking a hiatus over the summer months. We'll be taking some time to see how we can keep things interesting for you, the astute advertising professional. As always, your feedback is vital to helping us improve our communication efforts. If you've got any bright ideas e-mail them to news@austinadfed.com   Sincerely,   Mark Good President Austin Advertising Federation   CULTURAL DIVERSITY   This spring, as a part the Austin Ad Fed's Cultural Diversity program, 15 Austin ISD students spent a day job shadowing at several Austin-area advertising and media agencies. These students, who have been identified by teachers as having an aptitude for advertising-related skills, exchanged interviews with their on-site mentors and participated in actual work-related activities such as research, brainstorming, and organization. The feedback from students, teachers, parents, and their mentors was overwhelmingly positive and we look forward to doing more activities in the future. Special thanks go to Tamala Barksdale and Cassandra Thomas of Enviromedia for coordinating the job shadow days. Participating agencies included Enviromedia, Olive Design, Liaison Resources, National Country Market, Austin Business Journal, Texas Co-op Power, & Tocquigny Advertising, Interactive + Marketing.       PUBLIC SERVICE   Donations Spike for Hill Country Ride The 2004 Hill Country Ride for AIDS triumphed over spring storms by raising a record $393,000 in a one-day trek held April 26 - well surpassing last year's $300,000 in donations. Considered the Austin Ad Fed's premiere public service cause for 2003-04, the Hill Country Ride also enjoyed a 40 percent spike in registered riders this year.   "More riders recruited means more dollars raised for Central Texans with HIV and AIDS," said Scott Van Osdol, who helped spearhead the Ad Fed's marketing efforts for the Hill Country Ride. "Thanks to the talent donated by Ad Fed members, the Hill Country Ride for AIDS benefited from top-notch marketing materials that we know helped lead to these significant increases."   Because of the ominous weather, the ride was delayed and condensed from a 110-mile two-day weekend event to a 49-mile Sunday journey with 260 riders whose spirits were not damped by the soggy weather. Special thanks to the Ad Fed members who donated $9,400 to the Ad Fed Veloci-Peddler team. Be sure to check out the "What Moves You?" creative and other ride results at www.hillcountryride.org.     MEMBER LOUNGE   The Austin Advertising Federation, an organization of advertising professionals, is proud to announce that two of its members have received special honors from the Tenth District of the American Advertising Federation during the 2004 AAF Tenth District Annual Conference, April 22-25 in Oklahoma City.   Liam Kernell (2004 ADDY® chair and past president) was selected at the AAF Tenth District's "Member of the Year". Liam has been active in the Austin Ad Fed since 1998 and has served in several leadership roles including ADDY® chair, programs chair, two consecutive terms as president, and a variety of committees within the Tenth District.   Also, Carolyn Barkley was honored by the Tenth District with the distinguished Sterling Service Award. Carolyn has been active in the Austin Ad Fed for 28 years, including serving as the club's Executive Director for 26 years. She recently compiled an extensive district-wide (Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma) internship database for college students within the AAF Tenth District. Carolyn is the first Austinite to win this award.     Do you want to see your name in the Austin Ad Fed "Member Lounge"? If you are a member and have exciting news at your company, email Heather Ladage at hladage@bizjournals.com.				May 2004 • Events • Legislation • Cultural Diversity • Public Service • Member Lounge • District News • National News • Member Benefits   EVENTS   On May 25, 2004 the Austin Advertising Federation will present the Ninth Annual Big Wig Awards. The Big Wig Awards honor the best and brightest suppliers and vendors in Austin's advertising industry. We'll honor our Ad Woman and Ad Man of the Year, as well as our Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, Dr. Isabella Cunningham of the University of Texas. For more information…     LEGISLATION   The Texas Legislature is currently debating legislation to overhaul public school financing. One of the ideas being discussed was an extension of the sales tax to cover all advertising services and media time. The Austin Ad Fed joined ranks with other Texas ad clubs and the National AAF to hire a lobbyist and to mobilize our membership to contact their legislators to oppose this bad idea.   The legislation currently being discussed does not extend the sales tax to ad services or media time, but it does extend the sales tax to newspaper inserts and outdoor/billboard advertising. We're working actively behind the scenes to get these provisions removed from the final legislation.   Special thanks to everyone who has helped with the fight, but stay alert - there may be another special session called and anything can happen!     DISTRICT NEWS   Advertising students at Texas State University's NSAC (National Student Advertising Competition) took home 2nd place during the Tenth District Annual Conference in Oklahoma City. This year's client-sponsor is Visit Florida. The students worked on a $7 million proposal for the campaign. They were also recently notified that they secured a wild-card spot to compete at the National competition in June! Texas State placed 3rd nationally in the 2003 competition sponsored by Toyota.     NATIONAL NEWS   The American Advertising Federation's national conference will be held in Dallas June 12-15 at the Fairmont Hotel. AAF has made a special offer to members of the Tenth District (which includes Austin). The regular registration rate is $655, but if you're a member of AAF, you can register for the full conference, including tickets for the national ADDY® Awards Show for only $525! And when you add in the fact that it's just a short drive to D-town… this makes for one inexpensive trip. For more information, go to www.aaf.org.     MEMBER BENEFITS   Don't forget, it pays to be a member. Lots of free stuff, good info, networking opportunities. Click here to join, or renew.   Current discounts and promotions.     You received this email because you are on our mailing list or a friend has forwarded this email to you. Join our mailing list.   If you are saying, "Take me off this #*+%$# list," reply to this email and type "remove" in the subject line, or you may unsubscribe here.   Email this message to a friend. Newsletter design and development by Olive Design.   Newsletter powered by Ecursor.net.