Oh Shit. A President’s Message.  

When ACE hosted the Breakfast Brief on February 11th, we had a very limited understanding of how world events were to shape this year and our community. We were in the middle of a cold winter and, the board and volunteers were working with our illustrious judges to review the work submitted for the 41st annual ACE awards. The #OhShit theme was an opportunity for our marketing community to share some of their epic industry stories – the great ideas, the unbelievable moments and the sideways pivots that make this business what it is. We had no idea how the effects of a global pandemic would have wide ranging effects on our members and our industry or the Oh Shit moments that we were in for.

It’s been almost 60 days and like our community, ACE has needed to pivot in order to find ways to help. Even though the experiences are wide ranging – from layoffs and cutbacks to being swamped at work while trying to teach young families or being totally isolated –  ACE members can understand the ups and downs and what we are going through – even if our parents never will.  Providing opportunities to share, moan, celebrate and support each other until we can come together again is ACE’s mandate.  Your board has been working to adapt how we bring our members together and these are some of the upcoming events we have in the works.

AGM – MAY 28 

The Annual General Meeting is set for Thursday May 28th at 4pm.  Our yearly coverage of the board members portfolios and election of new officers will be handled online.  We will be using an official election platform for voting purposes and using an online environment that will allow for both pre-recorded elements and live pieces.  All current members are welcome.  Final details will be provided in the next two weeks.

Anyone interested in running for the ACE board can reach out to our vice president, Jill Scheyk at [email protected].  

TRIVIA NIGHT – COMING SOON (MEMBER EXCLUSIVE)

One month to the ACE Awards and its time to get your competitive nature out for our first online ACE Trivia night.  Teams of 3 – 4 will compete in a variety of categories for bragging rights and food prizes.  

PD SERIES – DATES VARIOUS (MEMBER EXCLUSIVE)

The board has been percolating on ideas for a cocktail and learn series throughout this term.  Beyond our Professional Development Day, we were looking for a platform to share talks with our members on a regular basis, in a short evening format.  The new reality provides us an opportunity to run a series of professional development events over the next few months.  We will be reaching out to local and national speakers to bring a range of topics of interest.  We will be sending out a survey next week for input as to the types of topics that would interest you and your teams.  

ACE AWARDS – JULY 18

Most importantly, the judges have spoken and on July 18th it will finally be time to reveal the winners of the 41st Annual ACE Awards.  Back in March, ECC and ACE shifted the awards date to July 18th, in hopes that we would all be able to gather and celebrate.  Since AHS has ruled that no longer an option, Hazel and Hoopla, our amazing creative sponsors, are working with the board to provide a live stream interactive event night. Details are being hammered out, but we are determined to provide a share worthy event to our members.  #OhShit will be an awards show to remember – for all the reasons.  

JOB BOARD

The ACE listings including the Job board, Freelancer and Intern listings are still very active. New positions are posted weekly.  The ability to post jobs is a free service to all ACE industry members.  

FALL AND ONWARDS

Heading into the Fall, our new board will be working to adapt our existing programming for social distancing and even look at revising some old events based on the new learnings.

Overall, providing our members a safe way to come together and again celebrate our community and the fantastic work that the Edmonton advertising, marketing and communications industry builds every day.

Stay safe, stay sane, 

Tania Nease

ACE President

2019-20