Sarah McGregor’s LIA Diary from Las Vegas #1

Sarah McGregor (above), creative director at Cummins&Partners Melbourne is Australia’s representative on the LIA Integration jury where judging is currently taking place in Las Vegas. Here McGregor reports exclusively for CB.

If there was one thing I learned today, it’s that sitting through 8 hours of case studies gets old very fast.

A little like wading through all these LIA diaries must feel to you, this late in the week – so reader, I’ll be brief.

Today was a pertinent reminder of just how brutal award judging can be – not so much for the cossetted and caffeinated judges, but for the work itself.

Sure, consumers have a tiny attention span – but your average jury makes their patience look positively saintly in comparison. If your idea isn’t there, with perfect clarity in the first few moments of your case study, you’re a goner. Your judge-y audience has already moved on to the next street art inspired beer pop-up that champions the feminist cause.

Today was mostly spent electronically weeding out the work that wouldn’t make the cut, but tomorrow we get on to the juicy stuff – the discussion around what will win a coveted LIA statue.

On the jury are literally some of the most impressive creative people in the world (you should see their job titles) so I’m really looking forward to hearing what they have to say.

I’m also looking forward to room service and about a million hours of sleep tonight… because you know what else is brutal? Jetlag.