Current Position

The Club is in a very healthy position.
Membership, sponsorship, funds and interest in the Club are increasing significantly.

We are delighted to announce a new Executive Committee of 11:
James Rickard, Marty Pepper, Taylor Martin, Amy Lambert, Justin Pounsett, Paul Sobolewski, Jamie Scott, Tom Ootes, Tracy Davidson, Ella Wood and Amy Hourigan.

We have additional people committed to subcommittees and members continue to contact the Club offering help and ongoing participation.

The name change

It and the reasons why have been spoken about at length and well documented.
The vote was no.
The name won’t change in the foreseeable future.

Initiatives and Events

There are several initiatives the Club has undertaken and more in the pipeline. They are as follows:

FREE Student Memberships

The student membership fee has been scrapped and students can now join the Club free of charge. Join up here.

Government Engagement

In a period of just over 12 months this has consisted of 2 press releases, 3 phone calls and representing the Club at 3 meetings between industry heads and the
Industry Advocate.

The result has been:

A commitment from the Treasurer to consult with or at least inform the Club of potential changes to SA Government spending that may impact our industry
46 local companies now listed on the SA Product Register to raise the profile of local businesses with the planners of various government marketing and advertising projects
The review of the government tendering and procurement process to guarantee local companies are not disadvantaged, ensuring a level playing field and more opportunities for local businesses.

Business SA Membership

This is yet to be finalised or committed to, but the intention is for the AADC to become a member at an annual cost of $450. This will then enable many members and sponsors to also join the Chamber of Commerce for heavily discounted rates of between 50% and 75% off.

Those AADC members and sponsors can then:

Access free networking functions and put their business in front of hundreds of potential clients
Access a range of free and paid programs covering topics such as Taxation, Law, Finance and Strategic Management; Training in areas like Health & Wellbeing, Compliance, Work Place Relations and Leadership; Entrepreneur programs and International Trade

The Club, those members and sponsors will also be able to promote themselves via regular Business SA communications to its database of nearly 30,000 member businesses.

Similar discussions have commenced with Brand SA and are soon to get underway with Creative Industries, a division within the Department of Industry & Skills.

The purpose of these endeavours is to add value to AADC membership and sponsorship, but more importantly, provide a platform for local businesses to showcase their work and talents to a broader business community.

Events

We still maintain our commitment to creative standards and our Awards gala event.
About 250 people got frocked up for the big night last year. The majority had a ball.

The structure of the awards is under constant review because the world and our industry is constantly changing.

We still have social events like the Pool Night and Lawn Bowls, which this year was a combined event with the Adelaide Media Club. For the 60 or so people who went along, it was a lot of fun.

We are committed to hosting several events each year where members can come together to be inspired by the latest and greatest:

Pause Fest Download was the most recent event bringing the latest marketing trends, technologies and entrepreneurial thinking to Adelaide via a panel discussion emceed by Matt Minear who the AADC sent to the Melbourne event.

It was a great event that generated plenty of discussion during and after.
We’ll cut a highlight’s reel in the coming days to give those who didn’t attend a taste of the types of events we are trying to get up and running.

Sound the New Screen is a presentation by Ralph van Dijk that has met with rave reviews around the world and will hit Adelaide later this year.

There are other such events from local and interstate presenters being planned. A much larger event involving Spikes Asia is in the early stages of negotiation as is the reintroduction of Cannes Download.

We are also considering bringing industry relevant documentaries to cinema events.
Films such as Art & Copy, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, Objectified, Helvetica and Milton Glaser: To Inform & Delight.

These events are designed to be educational, inspirational and a catalyst for discussion as well as an opportunity for people to get together and have fun.

The Club is trying to get the right mix of activities with the broadest appeal. We’d like to think, along with events like AdMental on April 17, within the activities listed above, there is something of interest to everyone.