LIA flies in 60 young creatives from around the world to participate in the very first, and hugely successful, Creative Conversations series

London International Awards has flown in 60 young creatives from around the world to participate in the very first Creative Conversations series, a three-day program of talks, held in Las Vegas, aimed at giving “Young Guns” the opportunity to interact with industry leaders, in the midst of judging for awards.

The program includes lectures from Bob Garfield, and jury members Sonal Dabral and Doerte Spengler-Ahrens (left) as well as intimate seminar-style Q&A sessions with other industry greats such as Neil French, Faris Yakob, Scott Elias, and Jonathan Ker. After two days of this intimate program it’s clearly a huge success and is set to be an important initiative that sets LIA apart from other award international shows.

Says Spengler-Ahrens: “Creative Conversations is a great way to stimulate exchange between the younger and older generations. When I was starting in my career, I was really interested in how the more experienced people do it. What’s their recipe, what’s their success story? Is there a rule, are there any rules at all?”

Day one speakers Ralph Van Dijk of Eardrum, Doerte Spengler-Ahrens of Jung von Matt/Fleet, and Bob Garfield of MediaPost captivated the new creatives on the first day of The program.

For its very first lecture series, LIA flew in 60 young creatives from around the world. The program was designed to give rising creative already working in agencies a rare chance for candid exchange with industry leaders in a stimulating environment against the backdrop of judging.

Johnathan Hotts of DraftFCB Toronto described the experience as inspiring: “We work with top creatives like these at our agencies, but there are always some things we can’t quite ask in an office environment – so I learned a lot today.”

Opening speaker Ralph van Dijk, founding creative director of Eardrum, gave an impassioned presentation about challenging the medium of radio. “I think we’ll see more and more awards shows moving in this direction of having talks like these. It’s a great idea, and outrageously generous, but that’s LIA for you.”

The young creatives were divided into smaller discussion groups of around 10 people with Scott Elias, Neil French, Jonathon Ker, and Faris Yakob.

Photos: Babette Rittmeyer.