Looking back - Portfolio Night 6

Probably the most important annual advertising event for aspiring junior creatives would be this one. The Portfolio Night, the 6th year of its running and the brainchild of ihaveanidea. It was only the second time being held in NZ but what a night it was! Free drinks, free pizza and most importantly the chance to meet some of the best Creative Directors in the country.

It was held on the 8th of May at DDB Auckland, barely two months ago and back then Anna & I were still with our ex-creative-partners respectively. But every time we've spoken about the event we both agreed on how much it helped us to progress creatively and got us to network with like-minded young people.

Toby Talbot (ECD, DDB NZ) doing the kick-off speech.

Portfolio Night 6 was particularly helpful for Anna since she had only just moved from Wellington, so it gave her to chance to meet with some top notch creative directors for the very first time. As each creative team would get assigned to three different CDs for the night, Anna took home some valuable advice from Nigel Corbett (ECD, Sugar), Paul Catmur (creative managing partner, Barnes Catmur & Friends) and Josh Lancaster (senior creative, Colenso BBDO).

Nigel Corbett & Josh Lancaster

As for me, I was lucky to have Jamie Hitchcock (Josh's creative partner), Nigel Corbett as well plus Darryl Parsons (CD, Consortium) as judges. While it obviously felt great to learn that they liked the work, they've also gave some really good advice on how could the ideas be pushed further (including a few handy gardening tips from Darryl~!).

Right through the night, I caught up with some old schoolmates (Carlos & Damien from DDB, David Bell my mentor back in AXIS Adschool), made some new friends (Dev from AUT 2006, Ray, Madeleine, Titan - a designer, and a few students from this year's AXIS) and chatted to some DDB creatives about the work they were working on.

In the break-out room (a place you visit during your break in between meeting CDs), I met Karen Maurice-O'Leary of DDB Auckland. Karen & her co-creative Verity Butt are currently the 2nd hottest creatives in Australasia (acc. to Campaign Brief). For someone so high up in creative rankings, Karen was incredibly down-to-earth. It was really fun chatting with her about their VW print ads and other creative stuff.

Anna sitting on the left with other PN6ers & DDB creatives in the break-out room.

To top off the night, I've even squeezed in 15 minutes with Paul Nagy, recently crowned CD of Clemenger BBDO, Wellington. I've been in e-contact with Paul since a job hunting trip to Wellington three months ago, but just didn't get to meet him personally until then. So I was really glad to pin down a tired, hungry Paul at the fag end of the night - when everyone incl. even the chairs were leaving. Thanks Paul, for those precious 15. Much appreciated.

Apparently, I was the only one clicking (apart from PN6's pro-photographer that is!)

I'd attended PN5 last year as a solo, but to be able to go with a partner this time was really much better. It was also great to catch-up with some ex-AXIS Adschool creatives e.g. Carlos & Karen plus new AXIS students & David Bell. I've always felt the warmth of that creative family. All in all, Anna & I had a good night and even though we went there separately, we sure hope it helps us creatively and get our first gig soon. Many thanks to all the Creative Directors for their time.

A big shout out to Toby Talbot (and the entire team starting with the wonderful DDB PR Manager, Claire McKay) for bringing Portfolio Night 6 free of cost to the creatives - a good idea indeed!