Bits and bites

As mentioned earlier, I attended the Ad Club's Magazine Day (and did not even get nominated as Reptile of the Year!!!!!). Very well attended. Tons of free magazines. Yellow Lou Lou shopping bags (a bit girly for all the male reptiles) with an embarrassing lack of decent swag. Four Seasons class. A commanding Jane Bradley at the helm. A well staffed panel. A bit too long. A bit too predictable. A bit too polite.

Highlights:

• Ken Whyte provided the zinger of the day: five minutes after what's-his-name from Readers Digest plugged his magazine (yet again) with a comment about how much time they spend reading it, Whyte used his first opportunity to congratulate him and his slow readers
• In a fit of illogic, Steve Meraska of Leo Burnett (now VP of Holistic Bullshit) suggested to the industry that "if it ain't broke, break it!"
• Ceri Marsh of Fashion took the fifth when asked if she ever purposely ran editorial to support an advertiser (like we didn't know)
• Tim Hughes of Mindshare accused an unnamed "major" magazine of blackmailing him with the threat of no positive coverage if the ad campaign does not run. If this is true, it is the new low point in Canadian magazine publishing history. But then, since when do whores give freebies?
• Geoffrey Dawe was awarded "Man of the Millennium" or something like that and for the first time in his career, was a man of few words. Was this award a surprise? Or is there a new Humble Geoffrey.