PHILIPPINES, JANUARY 19, 2011 – The Advertising Board of the Philippines (AdBoard) has opened bidding among local government units for the venue of the 2011 Advertising Congress (Ad Congress) . The AdBoard organizes the biennial Ad Congress, the biggest event in the local advertising industry.
The last Ad Congress, held in November 2009, was moved to Subic Bay Freeport from Baguio City after a typhoon limited access to the summer capital.
F “We would like to aspire to have a congress that spurs movement and change; a congress that will move the industry towards introspection and hopefully create the power to break barriers to growth. We can start challenging the current state of affairs raise some issues, and ask the industry the hard question of Why? Or Why not?,” said Sandy Prieto-Romualdez, president of the Inquirer and chairman of this year’s Ad Congress.
Supervising this year’s congress with with Sandy are Andre Kahn and Jose Sy for the Oversight committee, Blen Fernando for Administrative, Margot Torres for Programs, Merlee Jayme for Creatives, Nonna Nanagas for Finance, Joanna Mojica for Ways and Means, Miguel Belmonte for PR, Emil Yap III for External Affairs, and Connie Kalagayan for Internal Affairs.
Criteria for budding host cities includes accessibility to location, infrastructure (a conference center, plenary hall) to support 2,500-4,000 delegates, availability of local suppliers, security, local government support, and the location’s value-added attractions for attendees to unwind between talks.
Alaska Milk Corporation Vice-President Blen Fernando, who heads the Ad Congress organizing committee, says that all localities are welcome to submit bids, but cities with a lot of conference centers and hotels have the biggest advantage.
The winning location will be decided on by February, before they open bidding for the events company that will handle logistics, set-up, and staging of the congress. It will be the first time the congress is outsourced for the organizers and logistics.
“In the past, we’ve always had volunteers from the industry. And while we appreciate that, we believe outsourcing the logistics to more experienced people would best serve the interests of everyone,” Fernando said.
For bid inquiries, e-mail adcongress2011@aol.com or call Jennifer Enriquez at 0917-5042716. All bid letters should be addressed to: The Admin Committee Chairperson c/o ADBOARD, 5th Floor, Dao Condominium, Legaspi Street, Makati City.
