Award-winning international judges for the Eagles

Atila Francucci

Judging will commence on Saturday 14 October in Johannesburg, after which the judges will go on a road-show to interact with creative and other advertising industry executives at The Eagles breakfasts to be held in Cape Town and Johannesburg. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on Tuesday 17 October.

"We are very excited to have these two internationally recognized professionals as our judges, who between them have 35 years experience in advertising. The choice of judges confirms our aim to continually benchmark the standard of the Eagles competition at global levels," said The Inc general manager Andrew Cuthbertson.

Awards

Átila Francucci is a partner/creative at Famiglia Agency. After honing his skills at some of the top creative agencies in Brazil such as DPZ, Almap/BBDO and Young & Rubicam, he was appointed, co-president and vice-presidência de criação for J Walter Thompson (JWT) in May 2004.

Forty-two-year-old Francucci has devoted 15 years of his life to advertising. He's won eight lions in Cannes, prizes in the Festival of London, the Festival of New York, Art Directors NY, The One Show, and other diverse local and Latin American awards. Francucci was elected Advertising Professional of the Year (Colunistas Awards in 2004), Creative Professional (Caboré Awards in 2005) and Creative Professional (About Magazine in 2005).

Fellow judge Tham Khai Meng started his advertising career in London, and has been in the business for two decades. Khai Meng joined Ogilvy & Mather in 1999 and was elected to the Ogilvy & Mather worldwide board in 2005. Under Khai Meng's leadership; Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific was awarded most creative agency network in the region for four consecutive years.

He became the first Asian to Chair the Jury at the prestigious Clio awards in New York. Khai Meng has been invited this year to judge the Australian AWARD Awards, the International Young Gun Awards - both held in Sydney, Australia. Last year his work for the Anglican Welfare Council was the second most awarded print campaign in the world, according to the Gunn Report, the world's only independent creative ranking. He has won over 500 awards at an international level.

"We are looking forward to learning and sharing experiences with two of the world's leaders in the field of advertising," said Cuthbertson.

The breakfast sessions with the judges will give the industry an opportunity to hear the judges share their experiences. The presentations are followed by question and answer sessions and the One Show presentations.

The Cape Town breakfast presentation takes place at The Vineyard Hotel on Monday 16 October, while the Joburg breakfast will be held at the Johannesburg Country Club on Tuesday 17 October. The breakfast sessions are fully attended so early registration on the web site is recommended to avoid disappointment. The Eagles website address is www.eagleawards.co.za.

The awards will be celebrated at a function on Tuesday 17 October where the winners will be announced and the cream of the crop in the Creative Industry will gather to celebrate South Africa's massive talent.