Once a week, but never weakly
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We make the ears better
By Nick Coston, US sales director, Neuron; Art connoisseur
Basically, I was writing a piece that appeared yesterday. I planned to start it with my mom and I was flying from Chicago to Paris via Montreal. From there we join a tour group with some friends and move to Cannes, south of France. The main point of the story is that it happened in 1973, not a few weeks ago where many of our lucky art colleagues were able to meet and enjoy the French Riviera.
O la la. See what I did there? Oh ???
But I didn’t like the way the story went, because when I was writing it, I kept seeing social media posts, mainly on LinkedIn, how great everyone had at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, some weeks after an ongoing event. Happy ad photos, of course tanned, men wearing shirts that you don’t wear, most people are drinking. But I was there, trying to compare the eighth grade graduation gift of going to Europe with my mother in 1973. Something just didn’t match. Especially my shirt.
It struck me that so far we should remember not seeing each other for two years. We understand, please stop beating that dead horse. It’s nice to be back together, like to have a few drinks, like to talk about our work to hear from people in the famous industry, even if we don’t understand the point they’re trying to make. But after a successful digital signage week last fall in NYC, a very successful and well-attended Geopath / OAA conference in early May, followed by an exciting World Out of Home Conference in Toronto, a very well-attended DPAA Summit in Canada, not to mention everyone. It’s a little unnecessary to continue reading about how great it is to see again. We have understood so far. Chances are good, you only came back to them a week ago, or a week before that, or even in the fall. Holy cow, I deeply know you don’t like each other so much that you have to repeat the same fame.
Do you know what bothered me the most? Since you asked, I’ll tell you what I did. There were a few executives stuck in my crawl, who had documented from the time they boarded the plane in the United States, who they had seen on the connecting flight, who they had met the second time they landed in Nice, the first drink was in the ear. The same guys. Same smile. Each picture. Usually with the same client or coworkers. Did I mention that it was all men, their chests swollen, showing that they don’t need to wear socks with shoes, because they’re Miami Vice great? The same guys, always make sure to “tag” others appropriately so they get their points of contact. These were the CEO, the President and the VP, many of whom were companies I had never really heard of or done business with. It’s like Super Bowl, when you see ads for a brand you’ve never heard of, you’ll never see them again, but it’s a way to catch their eye, a way to say “look at me” on a great stage.
“Look at me”.
Amateur hours came earlier this year.
Can 2022 was like that to me, a great cocktail party, over 5 days. Some of them even took pictures of their return trip as if to say look at me again, I can still walk and talk, now that I am back home, welcome a hero from the party-will. Hujjah!
What I’ve noticed is that there are a few more, well-known to our industry types, who have attended meetings, learned what they did, and even posted some deals. Shocked, they talked about work. They didn’t brag about it with a cheesy selfie. And they did the same thing at the previous conference. Professional, friendly, but sharing what they have learned, who they have met, and what they are taking to their colleagues.
I understand that such festivals can be overwhelming. There’s a lot going on, lots of people out there and lots to attend. But I can’t stop thinking about that line of “have and have nots”. Someone even managed to write in a post “I wonder what the poor people are doing tonight”.
Well, I’ll tell you what we were doing. We were looking at your rather exciting posts and pictures, many of which are still being posted, even after the festival is over. Just rub our face, why not.
By now many of you have read my drive enough to know that I am a fan of inclusion, everyone should feel valued for their uniqueness and sense of kinship. I can’t see that coming out of this last big event.
Remember the word “look at me”. This kind of greatness is not as flattering as you think.
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