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Letter from the Chair Well, we have got through the biggest ever set of shortlisting for the APG Creative Planning Awards (and as you read this we will probably have done the final judging - but not as I write it). A huge thank you is due to the shortlisting panel, who did an incredible amount of work reading 130 papers, chaired by Christine Asbury with her vice-chair Vanella Jackson. I know there will be a great deal of disappointment for those of you who weren't shortlisted, but it is certainly true that it was harder than ever to get on that list, partly because of sheer numbers of entries overall, but also because of extremely high numbers and fierce competition in certain categories. This year we divided the main ongoing campaigns into two - campaigns for established product brands and campaigns for established service brands - in order to acknowledge the difference in approach, but also to try and deal with the high numbers of entries. In the end we had higher numbers than ever, particularly in the established product brands category. This will be an obvious topic for discussion going forward. The fact that we had so many entries, and the fact that it is getting harder to win an award reflects the highly competitive nature of our business, particularly in lean times. The data isn't there yet to examine but my guess would be that the percentage of planners to either account handlers or creative is under more pressure than usual. It becomes more important in these times for us to be able to prove our worth and the combination of the APG and IPA awards, and the correlation between the two need as much publicity as they can get. The planning word continues to gain momentum around the world and the merits of having an Account Planning Group are clearly appreciated. We are currently helping both the Asia Pacific Region and South America to set up their own groups and to kick off training courses. In fact we get regular enquiries from countries around the world to help them set up their own APG. Our problem is that we could spend so much time doing this that we wouldn't serve our own members. We are planning next year at the moment and one hot topic of conversation is training budgets - will they be cut, will there be any at all? We are trying to put together a "recession sensitive" programme, but all views are welcome on this subject. Our attractive but rather unresponsive web-site is undergoing an overhaul so that we can update it regularly and give everyone a more interactive experience. We plan to have it available to announce and showcase the Awards winners, so make sure you log on the morning after the awards. Looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible on the 21st November, and to seeing those presentations of course. (c) Account Planning Group 1995-2002
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