Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL (1888PressRelease)
April 17, 2009 - Ad 2 Tampa Bay was also recognized with First Place honors in the categories of Advertising Education, Membership, Communications and Diversity as well as President of the Year honors for club president Kate Whatley.
Club of the Year honors are awarded by the American Advertising Federation in advance of the 50,000-member organization's annual National Advertising Conference, which takes place each June. The organization awards clubs in 5 divisions, including the "Ad 2" division a designation for the organization's Young Professional chapters, whose members are limited to the age of 32 and below.
The distinction of Ad 2 Club of the Year which Ad 2 Tampa Bay has now received ten times in total is fiercely contested on a national level. Ad 2 Tampa Bay is one of twenty-five Ad 2 chapters in the United States, including clubs in Miami, Minneapolis, San Francisco and San Diego among others. After being crowned as the 2007-2008 Ad 2 Club of the Year, Tampa Bay club leaders were hopeful but anxious leading up to the announcement of this year's results.
"This year, our club's mission was to put Tampa Bay on the map as one of the nation's top advertising communities, and this honor brings us a little bit closer to reaching that goal." said Ad 2 Tampa Bay vice president Carl Vervisch. Vervisch, a copywriter for local advertising agency SPARK, worked closely with president Kate Whatley, an art director for local advertising agency PeakBiety Branding + Advertising, to oversee the club throughout the year. The duo has been piloting a 23-member Board of Directors to produce a number of community and industry outreach programs since last July.
"Ad 2 Tampa Bay's accomplishments this year were countless this award is just icing," said Whatley. "We raised the profile of our local ad community, helped local students find jobs, threw amazing events all year long, and developed a campaign to raise future leaders in American while helping underprivileged children in Africa. I'm extremely proud of all of our members for making this such an excellent year."
Ad 2 Tampa Bay also received Second Place honors in the category of Government Relations and Third Place honors in Programs. The club is currently seeking media donations for their campaign for public service client One Here One There.
Ad 2 Tampa Bay is the unified voice of Tampa Bay's emerging advertising professionals. By combining the Tampa Bay area's brightest developing talent while working in conjunction with the AAF's national network of over 50,000 members, Ad 2 Tampa Bay seeks to raise the profile and prestige of the local advertising industry through education, legislation, and public service.
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