Phoenix Santamaria and Rory Moore’s Creative LIAisons Diary #1: Delays, inspiration and the call of the felt
DDB Melbourne creative team Phoenix Santamaria (left) and Rory Moore (right) is representing Australia at the 2025 Creative LIAisons program in Las Vegas, featuring some of the world’s most respected creative directors as speakers. Here, Santamaria and Moore report exclusively for Campaign Brief.
It’s 10:43am. We find ourselves walking down the real-life GTA simulator that is Venice Beach promenade, weaving between the cocktail of performative joggers, boombox-wielding bike riders, street vendors, and the (quite sobering) semi-permanent residents of the LA sidewalk. We were supposed to have landed in Vegas an hour ago, but a delayed arrival meant we missed our connecting flight, and the next wasn’t until 4pm. And so as we tried to make the best of this unexpected layover, little did we know that a storm cell was about to roll over Vegas – delaying all planes for a further four hours. Welp.
Fast forward to the following morning as we take our seats alongside 130 other young creatives from every corner of the world. Slightly bleary eyed. But buzzing at the prospect of what the next six days would have in store. And as an all-star cast of CCOs assembled in front of us for the aptly named, “Everything you ever wanted to ask a CCO, but were afraid to”, our 36-hour journey quickly became a distant memory. Some notable takeaways from the session included Gabriel Schmitt’s insight that the ability to build strong relationships will take you just as far as great creative will. Chaka Sobhani spoke to the importance of finding your voice, values and standing up for them. Perry Fair told us that you’re only as good as the worst idea you choose to put in your book. Craft, taste and storytelling are key. And when it comes to making work, Peter Khoury’s wise words were that “if you feel nothing, there’s a problem”. It was truly an awesome start to the sessions – and it set the tone for the rest of the day.
Suzanne Powers and Andrea Diquez gave us a crash course in unlocking creative with the power of business and strategy, Michael Ritchie and Dan Lucey gave some fascinating insights on how craft has never been more important – and that it falls on us to be the ones who drive it. We heard from media gurus, social-first experts and even the legendary German creative Doerte Spengler-Ahrens. By the end of the day, our heads (along with 130 others) were spinning, but certainly full of inspiration.
And so as we head out for a drink with a very worldly crew of fellow LIAisons, we’ve come to the conclusion that after the bad luck that mired our journey to Vegas – its green felt tables owe us a little.
Watch this space.
