The Honor of Addys

We were honored last night to receive an ADDY award for the work we have done with VirtualPBX‘s website. Many in the marketing/advertising industry decry the value of awards, saying that they are just the equivalent of the industry basking in it’s own self-perceived glory.

A quick, static, shot of the VirtualPBX home page

And, maybe that’s true. And, maybe until last night, I thought so too.

But, when I saw the competition we were up against, my whole perception changed. The sites and other creative teams we were pitted against to win this award were great! The judges were all senior ad execs and creatives–all from out of town (I suspect to diminish the influence of having a local favorite)–and the honor of winning one of the awards against such a great group of competitors was exciting, thrilling, and quite an honor.

Some of the most well-known and respected people in the top local agencies were represented, and being amongst them was exciting, in and of itself. Then to be honored among such a crowd, even a greater honor.

All of us left the event truly inspired–to keep improving our work, delivering more creative and effective advertising, and to provide our clients with ever-increasing value. Because, at the end of the day, awards or no, that’s really what it’s all about.

And, I have to admit, getting the award is really, really, great.

Maybe I’m just not yet a jaded, cynical, advertising executive…but I think that even those guys, at their heart, win awards and their inner-five-year-old is jumping up and down, screaming at the top of their lungs.

My deep thanks go to the local chapter of the AAF, our entire team for the incredible effort, and to the marketers at VirtualPBX who were willing to take a daring approach to their website, in an industry where daring approaches are far from the norm.