The 4As 2011 Transformation Conference certainly lived up to its name—at least in regards to diversity. That is, the trade soiree successfully transformed the issue into, well, a non-issue.
Only in advertising could there be so many conversations surrounding talent management with virtually zero mentions of the biggest talent-related problem in Madison Avenue’s history. Oh, sure, IPG CEO Michael Roth coughed up the obligatory “Our industry has to do a better job…” line before quickly turning the discussion focus back to the dearth of White talent. And Coltrane Curtis of Team Epiphany reportedly stressed “the importance of diversity as it relates to being able to influence pop culture,” as minority agency representatives are wont to do. But that pretty much covered the public display of affection for inclusion.
Arnold Worldwide Global CEO Andrew Benett drew a small audience to his speech on talent, prompting the executive to quip, “This is about right. About 1/3 of the industry cares.” Hey, that figure significantly beats the number of adpeople who give a shit about integrating colored folks into the fold. MDC CEO Miles Nadel shared his tactic of hosting “four kosher dinners” in an attempt to persuade a Jewish creative to return to CP+B. However, Nadel made no references to “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner.” Draftfcb Chairman Howard Draft announced that if he launched a new agency today, it would be a digital shop whose roster never exceeded 50 employees. Gee, wonder how diverse Draft’s dream enterprise might be.
Perhaps conference attendees held high-level powwows on diversity behind closed doors. In fact, teams of the best and brightest were probably brainstorming breakthrough concepts for The MultiCultClassics Cultural Competence Contest that was presented at the inaugural Transformation shindig.
Look forward to a fresh batch of inner-city internship programs in the weeks ahead.
No comments:
Post a Comment