The rest of the industry could be forgiven for thinking that nothing else happens at this time of the year as those lazy sods in the ad industry and at Bizcommunity pack their bags for the beach to attend the annual Loerie Awards. Personally I think it would be great if all the media and marketing awards in the industry were also at the beach, we'd probably have a lot more fun, but since Loeries is a celebration of all the marketers' brand advertising produced by the ad industry and positioned in various media, we hope that the rest of our dear readers not in Margate this weekend will grant us the indulgence of our elongated focus on Loeries. Because it is not just about the party and the awards, it's actually the crowning achievement of much of the work we do on a daily basis in the industry - whether it's writing about it, selling ads, making ads, directing ads, launching new products, doing the research, staging events to promote our brands - we're all in this business in one way or the other and it's really great to have the opportunity to celebrate that. Bizcommunity will be there in full force, dressed in the red of our brand, to report, blog, vlog, take pix and convey all the excitement from the festival awards weekend. South African social media site Zoopy.com and mobile service provider Mobilety are our partners on the ground this weekend at Loeries (27 - 30 July 2007) - as well as everyone going to Loeries who has a cellphone! In addition to our insider blogs from people on the ground this weekend - anyone can be part of our team at Loeries by SMSing "Biz" and your comments from Loeries to 31779. Email your pics and video clips to blog@bizcommunity.co. The first instalment of our blog from industry insider "The Unhappy Slapper" starts today (see below); she will be providing regular updates from Margate throughout the weekend and dishing all the dirt!
Party hearty! Louise Marsland, editor@bizcommunity.co. Marketing news: marketingnews@bizcommunity.co. Responses to this column welcomed on our blog.