Sunday, 9 August 2009 | Levent OZLER

Art Directors Club Forms International Rep Network

Original ADC Enhances Global Presence in 24 Countries to Promote Programs, Benefits and Virtual Assets to Creatives Around the World

For the first time in its 88-year history, the Art Directors Club, the premiere organization for integrated media and the original global creative collective of its kind, has established an international network of representatives to promote the club's many benefits and virtual assets to the global creative community.

In its initial phase, the network consists of 14 reps covering 26 countries, with more to follow in the coming year. The reps will serve as the club's local point person in each market, help grow membership, coordinate local events and encourage participation in the global ADC programs such as the ADC Annual Awards, ADC Young Guns and the prestigious, newly created ADC CUBE club, which is open to all current and past winners of an iconic ADC Cube award.

The new global ADC rep network is as follows:

Argentina: Guillermo Tragant, president, creative, FURIA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Bulgaria: Nikolay Neykov, coordinator, ADC Bulgaria, Sofia, Bulgaria
Bosnia, Croatia, Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia: Eduard Cehovin, creative and managing director, Design Center and professor, Ljubljana University, Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Brazil, Germany, Spain: Pippa Seichrist, president, Miami Ad School, Miami, FL, US
Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay: Pancho González, executive creative director, Unitas/RNL, Santiago, Chile
China: Baohua Ren, chairman, CCII798 International Design Center, Beijing, China
France: Anne Saint-Dreux, founder, managing director, La Maison de la Pub, Paris, France
Hong Kong: Angela Ng, executive director, HK4As, Hong Kong
Italy: Claudia Neri, creative director, TeiknaDesign, Milan, Italy
Japan: Minoru Morita, graphic designer, president, Minoru Morita Graphic Design, retired graphic designer, Atami, Shiuoka, Japan
Lithuania: Tautvydas Kaltenis, chairman, Lithuanian Designers Society (LDiS), Vilnius, Lithuania
Romania: Alina Alexandrescu, coordinator, Art Directors Club Romania (ADC*RO), project manager, Millennium Communications, Bucharest, Romania
Taiwan: Ken-Tsai Lee, visiting professor, Taiwan Art University, creative director, Harvest Ads Co., Ltd, Taipei, Taiwan
United Kingdom: Meera Chandra, managing director, Syzygy UK, London, UK

"ADC has historically had an international membership and substantial non-US participation in our global awards programs," said Ami Brophy, CEO, Art Directors Club, based in New York. "We now offer more benefits to international members than ever before, and wanted to have a global network in place to facilitate even greater participation from creatives from around the world."

She added that these 14 individuals are ideally suited to be reps because they are well known and actively involved in their local creative communities. "They will support ADC global programs in their markets, promote membership, and help communicate the current relevance, history and virtual assets available to members," said Brophy.

Among the most valuable member benefits is the ability to post portfolios and personal URL on the ADC website. All members also receive complimentary copies of the ADC Annual and ADC Young Guns Annual, discounts on ADC publications and merchandise, reduced subscription rates from ADC media partners, special offers from partner brands such Adobe and Fresh Books, advisory opinion letters for work visa/visa approval, reduced rate for job postings on the ADC Job Board, health insurance and more. A number of other virtual assets, such as social media initiatives and additional online resources, are in development.

In countries where there is a local ADC, the two organizations will work harmoniously alongside one another, each with their distinct programs and agenda. Reps for the global ADC will focus their efforts on promoting the club's international ADC Annual Awards, ADC Young Guns and ADC CUBE programs, as well as other special offers and virtual assets not otherwise available to international creatives in their local markets.