Crystal Hay’s Creative LIAisons Diary #2: Workshop ’til you drop… and the sans-pool pool party
Crystal Hay, Copywriter, TBWA Auckland is representing Aotearoa at the 2025 Creative LIAisons program in Las Vegas featuring some of the world’s most respected creative directors as speakers. Here, Hay reports exclusively for Campaign Brief.
Before I felt ready for it, Day #2 arrived – the workshop competition. A point of acute anxiety for me leading up to my big jump across the pond from Auckland to Vegas.
In teams of 10 (!!!) creatives, we were tasked with delivering some Disney magic to Australian and New Zealand Westfield malls, with a specific emphasis on engaging a society that is perma-locked-in on their screens. After being given some context and some fun new ways to ideate, we set to work on the most mad-dash deck-build ever, managing to turnaround a 10-page deck in 1.5 hours.
As an armchair sociologist, it was interesting to see the division of labour spark almost immediately. Teams segmenting by roles, switching seats to create mini art/strat/copy departments. Delegation. Sharing strengths and weaknesses. “Big-dogging” … i.e. the process by which people identify and prove themselves as leaders. The anxiety I had quickly melted as I got stuck in.
Oddly, the anxiety melted so much that I ended up being one of our team’s presenters. This is a patterned behaviour, manifesting in the following steps:
Step One: FREAK TF OUT before starting.
Step Two: Start.
Step Three: Be a happy freak.
At the end of the day, my team and fellow Kiwi Rhiana Merota’s teams received a special mention from the judges which I’m very proud to reveal to my dear readers.
Following Workshop Day was our Shadow Jury Day and I was in the room responsible for determining the Ambient/Activations LIA Awards. It was my first time ever being privy to an award jury’s discussions. I gained a new appreciation for the judging process after seeing the conviction with which the judges promoted the work that they loved most, often resulting in a better result for the work.
After judging, us weary mentees waddled back to the Treasure Island (the hotel which has housed all 130 of us) in ant trails for a wee disco nap before the party.
Which was crazy by the way.
The common thread throughout this program thus far is everyone is open to friendship. There’s no “cool kids club” of people standing in corner, sniggering at others. It feels like you can walk up to anyone with any silly old line, and they’ll chit-chat back in a way that doesn’t feel superficial. Side note: having an early 2000s point-and-flash is also a great way to make new friends.
Did you know that swimming in Las Vegas is practically illegal after 6pm? Some of my new friends and I found out pretty quickly. The rest of the evening is another story, for another time, for another platform.
‘Til next time, tata.