Skip to content

Category: Blog

Meet Your 2019-20 Board of Directors

We’re the names you read in your inbox and on the AAFCM social channels. We’re the voices you hear introducing speakers and moderating panels at our events. We’re the faces you see at the registration tables and mingling with attendees. We’re the passionate, dedicated individuals committed to bringing our community of creatives together to inspire one another and learn together. 

We are your 2019-20 Board of Directors and we’re so excited to meet you!

 

Amyjo

Amy Jo Paul, Campus Relations 

Amy Jo is a Talent Director for DAYTA Marketing. When she is not at the office she often spends her time with friends, family, her fiancé Chris, and son Owen. You can usually find them working on a GNTC theatre production, dreaming up their next DIY project, or traveling any chance they get.

Favorite AAFCM Event: I’m excited for Hustle Hour!

 

BridgetBridget Deutz, President 

Bridget owns a Digital Marketing company, Greenline Marketing. When she’s not working or having fun at AdFed events, she likes spending time with her family + friends, playing games, enjoying music, digging in antique stores, sipping iced coffee or red wine, and hanging out with her labradoodle, Dolly.

Favorite AAFCM Event: Do I have to pick? CMYK, ADDYs, Beauty & The Bias … I love them all.

 

BrittanyBrittany Kapsner, Graphic Design 

Brittany is the Graphic Designer & Prepress Specialist at Sunray Printing. She loves listening to music, watching movies, and a good mystery.

Favorite AAFCM Event: The American Advertising Awards (ADDYs)

 

 

Bryce Jacobson, Website Design & Development 

Bryce is a web designer and developer at Meta 13. He enjoys spending his free time with his wife and three busy kids. If he gets the chance he also loves the outdoors, especially fishing.

Favorite AAFCM Event: CMYK and The American Advertising Awards (ADDYs)

 

Dan Maciej, TreasurerDan

Dan is a Marketing Specialist at Automotive Parts Headquarters, Inc. When he’s not at work, he enjoys spending time outdoors with his wife and three kids, working on his hobby farm, or messing around in his shop with old cars and tractors.

Favorite AAFCM Event: I really enjoy the monthly luncheons!

 

HannahHannah Bous, Digital Marketing

Hannah is currently a Marketing and Design student at St. Cloud Technical and Community College. There she is a CEO of The Northway Group, an in-house ad agency at the college. She spends her free time oil painting or drawing people and plants.

Favorite AAFCM Event: I really love the CMYK Poster Show!

 

JaymeJayme Donovan, Content Creation

Jayme works at WhiteBox Marketing as a marketing coordinator and social media manager. Her creative passion is fueled by coffee and carbs. When she’s not working she’s looking for the best places to eat and explore or snuggling with her two dogs, Presley and Ripley.

Favorite AAFCM Event: ADDYs! Or the monthly speakers, they’re always so interesting and inspiring.

 

Leah RadoLeah Rado, Secretary

Leah translated her love of sports into a career and is in her sixth year as the Athletic Media Relations Director at the College of Saint Benedict. When she’s not courtside keeping stats, taking photos, or writing, she enjoys playing volleyball, running, spending time with friends and family, and hanging out with George and Rudy – her rescue wiener dogs.

Favorite AAFCM Event: I’m new to AdFed, but really looking forward to CMYK!

 

MylesMyles Bous, Marketing Management

Myles is a Digital Project Manager at DAYTA Marketing in St. Cloud. In his free time, Myles enjoys spending time with family, golfing, fantasy sports, and co-hosting a podcast with his cousin.

Favorite AAFCM Event: Love Hustle Hour!

 

 

SarahSarah Forystek, Immediate Past President

Sarah Forystek is an account manager at Meta 13 where she works with clients to achieve the vision for their website. She recently became a new mom and enjoys spending time with her baby girl Rhea, husband Brian, and spirited doggo Luna. On a Sunday afternoon, you can find the four of them out for a walk or at the dog park.

Favorite AAFCM Event: My favorite event is Beauty & The Bias, for its celebration of local, badass women.

 

TaylorTaylor Sellnow, Vice President

Taylor works at Horizon Roofing, Inc. as the Director of Experiences. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her boyfriend, Tyler, and dalmatian, Floyd, long weekends at the lake with family and friends, checking out local breweries, going to concerts, and summer nights on the patio.

Favorite AAFCM Event: My favorite is the CMYK Poster Show. To me, there is nothing better than being able to witness first hand the wealth of creative ability we have in the Central Minnesota Community.

 

TiffanyTiffany Schultz, Community Connector

Tiffany is the Director of Content Strategy and Promotion at Lake One.  She also does freelance content creation and project management. When she’s not working, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, cooking, consuming too much coffee, traveling, and reading.

Favorite AAFCM Event: Beauty & the Bias!

Red Carpet Fashions Abound: What to Wear to the 2019 American Advertising Awards

With just under two weeks until the 2019 American Advertising Awards, many of you are probably starting your fittings with Dior, Chanel, and McQueen. Or more realistically, you are planning to head to the mall soon to pick out your outfit for the big night. Either way, you may be wondering what one wears to the premiere award show of the year.

This year is all about glitz and glamour. As this is an awards show, we want to bring the Oscars, Grammy’s and Tony’s to Central Minnesota. For one night only, you can live out your red carpet fantasy and dress to impress. Think floor length gowns, nicely tailored suites, opera gloves, and and as much sparkle as you can bare to look at.

Ladies! If you are still searching for the perfect gown, Rent the Runway is a great resource! They have an array of designer gowns straight from the runway for you to rent at a very affordable fraction of the price. Imagine arriving in this Badgley Mischka gown, aptly named the “Award Winner Gown.”

Gentleman! Don’t think we forgot about you. If you are looking for a nice tux or suit, try The Black Tux. They have a wide variety of menswear for every style and body type. The best part? Your suit or tux will be delivered right to your door, ready to wear.

Men Runway

Red carpet entrances begin at 6:30 pm. Just remember, you never know when the paparazzi will snap your next photo!

A student’s perspective on entering the American Advertising Awards

I’m all too familiar with the whirlwind that is the American Advertising Awards. You know the process: choose your best work to submit, putting them in the proper categories, printing out your copies, then checking all your entries and information until you practically have it memorized before finally delivering your entries. Oh, and this all has to be done within a few days. But allow me to let you in on a little secret: it’s all worth it.

How did I hear about AAF Central Minnesota?

I was a student at Alexandria Technical and Community College when I was first introduced to AAF Central Minnesota. My instructors at the time, Paul Johnson and Craig Bjerke, told us all about what AAF stood for and the kinds of opportunities they offered to designers both amateur and professional.

How did my school participate in AAF?

At the end of each fall semester, we choose our best work (with no limit placed on the amount) and present them to our instructors to possibly be chosen for submission through the school. We were also encouraged to submit work on our own if we felt it was an example of some of our best work but hadn’t been chosen by our instructors. Once the American Advertising Awards Event rolled around, those who received awards for their work, our instructors, and any supporting friends or family were welcomed to the local region’s awards ceremony. If any of us were lucky to receive something at the district or national level, we would attend those ceremonies as well.

At other times of the year, our instructors also encouraged us to take part in various AAF events like speaker series, the CMYK Poster show, or 24-hour design challenges.

How did I personally decide what work I wanted to enter?

If I told you it was easy, I’d be lying. I treasure each piece I create, and I know I can’t submit every piece I want to. In the end, the pieces I choose are the ones that I find the most eye-catching or beautiful, the ones that most closely follow design principles, and/or the ones on which I used a unique design technique. What stands out from the rest?

I’ve included a few pieces of the work I’ve submitted in the past that took home awards.

Lancôme Magazine Scrap Illustration – Original and Magazine Ad
Gold Award and a Best of Show Award

Efik Girl with a Coral Earring Watercolor Illustration
Gold Award and Judge’s Choice Award

Avani Tea Package Design
Gold Award

Dominican Domestic
Gold Award
Silver Award at the District Level

What have I learned about the show and entering process?

First of all, don’t procrastinate or underestimate what submitting a piece entails. My first year, I thought it was going to be a breeze and quickly learned that each entry required a lot of time, patience, and attention to detail to make sure you’re not only making the piece look good but also that you have all your paperwork correct and in the correct places. I’ve always gotten all my entries done as soon as possible – in school, I had seen too many other students rushing to meet our school’s deadline to get them in on time, and I didn’t want to find myself in the same situation and risk messing up a small detail that could jeopardize my chances of being awarded an award.

Anything notable about the show itself?

It’s an excellent opportunity to see other people’s work, both professional and student, as well as to network with others in the local design community. I’ve met some extraordinary people just because I participated in AAF. Don’t pass up this kind of opportunity! Plus, the hors d’oeuvres are always amazing. #munch

Any final thoughts?

If you still aren’t sure if you want to take part, let me tell you how AAF has helped me along my career path. I’ve included the awards I’ve received on my résumé, and it’s helped me land interviews, portfolio reviews with experienced design professionals, and two internships with the Walt Disney Company in Orlando, Florida (where I’m writing this today).

So is participating in AAF worth it, you ask? Yes. Without a doubt!

Haley Anderson

What are the American Advertising Awards?

Simply put, they are an opportunity to showcase your amazing work, celebrate the incredible advertising campaigns produced by the talented Central Minnesota community, and possibly win some nice hardware! The American Advertising Awards (formerly the ADDYs) represents the true spirit of creative excellence.  With over 50,000 entries nationally, they are the advertising industry’s largest and most representative competition. And by advertising industry, we mean far more than just advertising agencies. Businesses and organizations across all sectors and industries partake in advertising and create some incredible work. This three-tier competition is open to agencies, in-house marketing teams, freelance designers, and college students.

 

Presented by the American Advertising Federation of Central Minnesota (AAFCM), our annual competition and event recognizes all forms of advertising from media of all types, creative of all sizes, and entrants of all levels from the entire Central Minnesota region. We spend our days coming up with effective creative solutions and strategies. This is the time to admire, reward, and high-five your team’s excellence. More than ever before, we are striving to have a wide variety of entries from an even wider variety of companies. Whether you have entered in the past, have never entered before, or are a seasoned pro, this is your year to shine.

This local competition phase is the first of a three-tier, national competition. Local entrants are judged by highly accredited industry professionals that fly in to review and score the work.  Gold and silver ADDY awards are given for those of the highest level of creative excellence.  At the second-tier, local winners compete against winners from other local clubs in one of 15 district competitions.  District winners are then forwarded to the third and final tier, the national stage of the American Advertising Awards.  Entering in our local competition is the first step to win nationally.

This year’s awards presentation is being held on Saturday, February 23rd, 2019 at the Gorecki Center at the College of Saint Benedict, St. Joseph and we’ve just opened up the call for entries. The deadline to submit your entries for the AAF Central Minnesota American Advertising Awards is January 18th, 2019. But you can enter work at any time between now and the deadline. The entry software is insanely easy to use and we provide a step-by-step process. All entries must be entered through this new software before the physical work is submitted. The cost per entry is $35 – $155 depending on the type of entry and your AdFed member status. A complete list of detailed entry categories can be found on the 2019 AAFCM ADDY website.

Entries are due Friday, January 18th. We can’t wait to see what you’ve been creating this year.

2018 American Advertising Awards Recap + Thank you

Well Central Minnesota,

Now that we’ve taken (I’ve taken…) a couple weeks since the American Advertising Awards to get our final ducks in a row I wanted to write a special thank you, to YOU!

We did it! Another year of working hard. Another year of booked calendars and caffeine. Another year of “Make the logo bigger” and “Can you combine all three options.” What a spectacular evening celebrating the most important guest: the work.

We had over 250 entries. We awarded 38 Gold ADDY Awards and 62 Silver ADDY Awards between professionals and students.

All entries that won Gold have been forwarded to the District Level. Those of you that chose to forward your Silver entries have also been forwarded. Check and check!

Hopefully, you were able to watch the special Judge’s videos. If you haven’t, check those out on our Facebook Page, give us a like, invite your friends.

Finally, one last thank you to all of the people that made this show happen: Thank you to Adventure Creative, DMR, Guytano Magno, Meta13, Screen Time Indoor Billboards, FastSigns, Image Builders, Rengel Printing and Signmax.

Looking forward to seeing what you’ve got for next year’s show!

Now, enjoy some fun photos from one of our top 12 favorite people, Guytano Magno.

Andrea Engelmeyer
AAFCM President

American Advertising Awards 2018 – The Judging Process & Meet The Judges

We know that submitting work to the American Advertising Awards can be a daunting task. And it probably feels like one of the most satisfying checks you make on your list at the end of the week when entries are do. Have you ever wondering where they go from there? Who judges them? What’s that processes look like? Where does it all happen? When does it all happen? Wonder no more! We’ll show you the journey your entry goes on from the moment you drop it off to the moment winners are selected.

The very day entries are due, they are gathered from the various drop off locations and loaded to make there way to what we call “logging and screening”. Logging and screening starts bright and early at 8am that Saturday morning. This is where our fierce team of volunteers unload and double check all directions were followed preparing the entries…you know, all those daunting tasks and instructions we give you!

AAFCM American Advertising Awards Logging & Screening
AAFCM American Advertising Awards Logging & Screening
AAFCM American Advertising Awards Logging & Screening
AAFCM American Advertising Awards Logging & Screening

Shout out to Auto Part Headquarters for donating their space to us for this process!

Once we know every entry has everything it needs, we sort them by category. Then, because we want to make the judging process as smooth as possible, we double and triple check they are all in order and every entry is properly entered into the software system. This is pretty well oiled machine; from the preprinted category signs on bright orange paper, to the navigation of software ensuring all entries are logged for judging, to verifying all pieces are in place.

And of course we take a few breaks along the way for coffee and bagels and to ooo and awe over the amazing work submitted.

ONE WEEK LATER
We welcome our guest judges from warmer states to our often chilly and snow Minnesota weather.

Once again, we unload all the entries! This time they are all in order…that is if we were all on our A game during logging and screening. Each entry is laid out on a table. Categories are clearly marked and they follow the order of the judging forms each judge has in their binder. The judges make there way through the entries, one by one examining them and considering all creative dimensions of every entry.

Judges

From there, the scores are entered into the American Advertising Awards software. This is the same software use from local level all the way through nationals. The scores are calculated and the verdict is printed.

A GOLD ADDY is recognition of the highest level of creative excellence and is judged to be superior to all other entries in the category. Entries that are also considered outstanding and worthy of recognition receive a SILVER ADDY. The winners are of course all kept top secret until the unveiling at the awards show!

We do this first for the student awards then for the professional awards. As you can see it involves a keen eye for detail, an organized leader, a sprinkle of hurry up and wait, and lots of loading, unloading, sorting, resorting, and double and triple checking. It’s a big undertaking and takes a dedicated team to get it all done, but it’s so worth it!

MEET OUR 2018 AAFCM AMERICAN ADVERTISING AWARDS JUDGES
Please note, judges are always from out of state so their opinion is completely unbiased.

Dan Cooper

Dan Cooper

Teresa Treadway

Teresa Treadway

A.J. Buse

A.J. Buse

American Advertising Awards 2018 – Make Way For the Work!

Another year has come and gone and here we are again smack dab in the middle of awards season. Golden Globes, Oscars, and my personal favorite – the American Advertising Awards. It’s the advertising and marketing industry’s showing of top-of-the-line work. We’re only a few weeks away from the first stop on the way to national glory – the American Advertising Award show for our Central Minnesota chapter.

Our club has been putting in the hours to make the show an incredible night for all attendees. You may have noticed something a little bit different about the way we’ve been marketing this year’s show. You may have asked yourself, “What happened to the theme!?” Well, let me tell you a little bit about how we got here.

Back in June when we kicked off our 2017-2018 AAFCM programming season and began planning the American Advertising Awards show (yes, it does take that long to plan) we took a step back and a hard look at what the show was all about. We came to realize that there’s really one and one thing only that we all come together to celebrate each year – THE WORK! Fast forward through a bunch of hard work from our committee and this year’s Agency of Record, Adventure Creative, has done and he we are. We’ve introduced the first official non-theme for American Advertising Awards of Central Minnesota.

So there you have it, it’s time to survey all the great work you’ve done in 2017 and put it to the ultimate test. What served your clients best? What was the most interesting, creative stuff you got to work on this year? What pushed your the boundaries of the industry? It’s time to submit. It’s time to make way for the work.

Submit your entries here by this Friday and see you on February 17th @ the Kelly Inn’s Grand Ballroom.

Palmer Printing: Why We Enter The American Advertising Awards

Submitting work to the American Advertising Awards can seem like a daunting task — from identifying the worthy projects, figuring out which categories they fit into; filling out the form on the website; ensuring coworkers are credited accordingly; printing out the entries; checking and double checking, then triple-checking that everything is in the proper order; and finally delivering the entries. And of course, all of this happens within the last week of the entry period — in between doing actual client work.

So, why does Palmer enter the American Advertising Awards?

First of all, we believe in our work. We’re proud of it. We worked hard to create it for our clients.

It’s part of our currency. Ultimately, a finished piece helps promote brands, grow businesses and for our non-profit clients, raise money for a worthy cause.

It’s also a way to celebrate success. We love what we do, but it’s a tough job at times…working long hours to meet a deadline, dealing with creative block, logistics issues and computer crashes. When you overcome these challenges and deliver a piece that has form and function, it provides real results and a happy client. That’s when our job is most rewarding.

Why do we attend the Awards?

Each time we attend the American Advertising Awards, we’re inspired by the work from both students and professionals. The experience of viewing all of those clever, beautifully executed projects motivates us to grow both personally and professionally.

It’s also pretty awesome to mingle with other creatives; whether it’s former instructors, classmates, co-workers or other industry professionals. It fuels our own creativity and pushes us to work that much harder for our clients.

So yes, entering the American Advertising Awards might seem like a daunting task…but it’s so worth it.

Amy Hanfler is the creative director at Palmer Printing in St. Cloud, Minn.