Goafest 2014 to be held on May 29-31

The festival will now be a three-day event with the Advertising Conclave now open to all delegates. New categories introduced are: Promo-Activation, PR, Broadcaster and Publisher Abbys

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Mumbai | February 18, 2014

(L-R) Arvind Sharma, Srinivasan Swamy and Pratap Bose

The Goafest Committee today announced the dates for Goafest 2014 as well as new features for India's only advertising festival. Goafest 2014 will be held from May 29-31, at The Grand Hyatt, Bambolim, North Goa.

Srinivasan Swamy, Chairman of Goafest 2014, said at a press conference in Mumbai, “This year we aim to dial up the excitement by expanding the festival. We will strengthen the initiatives undertaken in previous years, and this year will be about a bigger and better Goafest. It will be a three-day event with the Knowledge Seminars being held on all the three days.”

Swamy further said, “The Advertising Conclave, which was 'Only by Invitation' so far and was held on the day before Goafest, will now be held on day 2 and will be open to all delegates. The Conclave aims to create more engagement between advertisers, agencies and the rest of the media industry. We will continue to have leading advertisers talk on issues that have a strong bearing on the industry. And as for the three days at Goafest, none of the fun elements will be missing for which Goafest is known! It will only get enhanced.”

With the festival now turning into a three-day event, there will be two options of delegate passes. A two-day delegate pass priced at Rs 14,000 will allow delegates to attend any two consecutive days of their choice. A three-day pass priced at Rs 18,000 will allow delegates to attend the festival on all the three days. Under-30 delegates will continue to enjoy a special discount of 50 per cent on these rates.

This is the 7th year that AAAI and The Advertising Club will come together to deliver Abbys, India's definitive awards that celebrate creativity.

Pratap Bose, President of The Advertising Club & Chairman of The Awards Governing Council (AGC), said, “Abbys will be augmented with new categories this year. It will include Promo-Activation and PR. The Branded Content category, which was added last year, will be expanded. And, most excitingly, we are adding Broadcaster and Publisher Abbys at Goafest. These will recognise outstanding advertising and communication ideas for promoting broadcast and print properties. Broadcaster and publishers will be entitled to send in entries for these categories.”

Bose added, “These changes are being made with the aim of honouring the great work that is being done by all media professionals.”

Continuing with the changes that were inducted in 2012, there will be a Grand Prix for Film, Print, Radio, Outdoor, Design, Interactive Digital, Direct, Media and Integrated.

Award shows for various verticals will be held on the following evenings:

May 29: Publisher Abbys & Media Abbys

May 30: Design Abbys; Direct Abbys; Promo-Activation Abbys; PR Abbys; Outdoor Abbys; Print Craft Abbys; Branded Content Abbys; & Broadcaster Abbys

May 31: Interactive Digital Abbys; Radio Abbys; Print Abbys; TV Abbys; Integrated Abbys

There will also be significant changes in the judging process. There will be a window of clear ten days before the final judging round. During this window, shortlisted entries will be available for the entire industry to review. However, Abbys once awarded will stay awarded. Participation in Abbys will continue to be open to all who want to participate. Membership of AAAI or The Advertising Club is not required. In terms of award entry fees, there is a modest change. The fee will be Rs 6,500 per entry for general entries and Rs 9,500 for integrated entries.

Goafest has been seeing growing participation from clients with over 100 client organisations represented at Goafest last year. Marketing Wizards, the initiative under which young client delegates can avail of the special under-30 delegate fees as well free accommodation, will continue this year. So will the special 'Rest of South Asia' awards.

“Goafest is recognised as a platform for celebration of communication excellence and as a platform for exchange of ideas across the advertising, marketing and media fraternity,” said Arvind Sharma, founding Chairman of Goafest and current President of the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI). “Last year's Conclave where leading advertisers shared their candid points of view with the industry was seen as a super success. This year's changes in the festival format – including a client-led Conclave open to all and introduction of Broadcaster and Publisher Abbys – make it a true industry-wide platform. We look forward to celebrating excellence in communication and exchanging perspectives with all segments of industry.”

There will be Knowledge Seminars, which will be of interest to professionals from media, interactive and creative fraternities over four half-day sessions. Announcements regarding the speakers for the Conclave as well as the Knowledge Seminars will be made soon. “We plan to add to the mix of speakers including a few Indian innovators from allied fields. We hope to make Goafest a continuing platform for learning, celebrating, fellowship and fun,” concluded Swamy.

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