Monika Ellis,

Tricia McWilliams,

Advertising Excellence

Advertising Hall of Fame —
The American Advertising Federation (AAF) proudly announces the election of four advertising legends to the industry's highest honor:

• Robert L. Johnson, founder, BET, for originating the nation's most recognized and successful African-American cable television company;
• Donald R. Keough, retired president & COO, the Coca-Cola Company, for shaping the advertising image of one of the world's most iconic companies during his extraordinary tenure at its helm;
• Henry R. Luce, founder, Time Inc., receiving the award posthumously for creating many of the country's most enduring and respected publishing titles;
• Al Neuharth, founder, USA TODAY & the Freedom Forum, for conceiving of a nationwide newspaper and building the nation's preeminent institution celebrating free speech.

The recipients will be officially inducted into the prestigious Advertising Hall of Fame at an awards luncheon Tuesday, March 14, at New York's Waldorf=Astoria hotel. To purchase a table or reserve an advertisement in the commemorative program, please contact Dee Dee Swartz at (800) 999-2231 or dswartz@aaf.org. Advertisements must be reserved by February 17, 2006. Materials are due to the AAF by February 21, 2006. For more information on the Advertising Hall of Fame, please visit http://www.advertisinghalloffame.org.

Professional Development

AAF National Conference — The AAF National Conference 2006 will address dynamic changes in the marketing landscape and offer creative solutions to advertisers, media and agency professionals. The conference will be held June 11–13 at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco in Embarcadero Center. With the theme Pixel Shift: Take Charge of Change, this year's conference will provide unprecedented access to the industry's most successful change agents. As home to a number of the world's leading high-tech corporations, San Francisco offers the perfect environment for showcasing the dynamically shifting advertising environment.

In keeping with its consistent program of high-powered speakers and valuable professional development, the AAF National Conference 2006 will feature the prestigious ADDY^® Awards on June 11 and the National Student Advertising Competition June 11–12, sponsored this year by Postal Vault. The Club Achievement Awards presentation will take place the evening of June 13 at the President's Gala, celebrating AAF ad clubs and federations that have displayed exceptional skill in club management.

The AAF National Conference is also home to Ad Expo 2006, the advertising industry's premier trade show. Held June 12–13, Ad Expo 2006 is the event to showcase your products and services to a national audience of advertising industry decision makers. For additional information about the Ad Expo or to reserve your space please visit http://www.aaf.org/adexpo or contact Meara Ranadive at (800) 999-2231 or mranadive@aaf.org.

Visit http://www.aaf.org/conference often for continual updates and additional details, and for sponsorship opportunities, contact Lori Kugman at (800) 999-2231 or lkugman@aaf.org.

Multiculturalism

AAF Most Promising Minority Students Program — AAF's 10th anniversary Most Promising Minority Students Program will recognize 51 student finalists, which is a 25 percent increase from 2005 and a 100 percent increase from the initiation of the program in 1997. The event will be held on February 7-9, 2006, at the New York Athletic Club in New York City.

This year's presiding luncheon chair is Frank Cooper, vice president, marketing, Pepsi-Cola Company and Most Promising principal underwriter. The co-chairs are Sheena Payne, manager of advertising and promotions, American Airlines and Most Promising official airlinem and Jill Manee, vice president/publisher, the Ad Age Group and Most Promising trade media partner. Other sponsors (to date) are Verizon Communications, USA TODAY, the Walt Disney Company, Saatchi & Saatchi, Ogilvy & Mather, Nielsen Media Research, Leo Burnett, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc., Knight Ridder, J. Walter Thompson, Foote, Cone & Belding, ESPN, Cleveland Advertising Association Education Foundation, Campbell-Ewald, Burrell Communications, BET, BBDO Worldwide and Arnold.

Judges for this prestigious event include:
Joy Denise Allen, account management, Ogilvy & Mather
David Brown, president/principal, Brown Partners Multicultural Marketing
Anne Elliot, VP marketing, communications, Nielsen Media Research
Karla Flannery, VP account director, Leo Burnett Worldwide
Gladys Nortey, marketing manager, Yahoo! Inc.
Cynthia Patterson, associate HR manager, Carol H. Williams Advertising
Carol Spann, director, global human resources, Valassis
Tiffany Warren, director multicultural programs & communications outreach, Arnold Worldwide

For more information please visit http://www.aaf.org/multi/mpms.html or contact the Education Services department at (800) 999-2231.

Government Affairs

Pennsylvania Ad Tax — In Pennsylvania, a proposed tax on advertising and other services has united six AAF ad clubs. Clubs in central Pennsylvania, northeast Pennsylvania, Erie, Greater Lehigh Valley, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh co-wrote a letter to state senators urging them to eliminate the proposed tax in the bill. In the letter, they wrote:

"A tax on advertising will put Pennsylvania businesses at a competitive disadvantage with those from other state. Pennsylvania advertising agencies are among the best in the world and compete with agencies from across the country. An advertising tax will serve as a de facto surcharge on work by in-state agencies and would force many clients to take their accounts to agencies outside Pennsylvania."

The AAF continues to monitor for all threats to advertising and will work with our local clubs and federations to fight ad taxes and other local issues, in addition to issues we face at the federal level.

For more information on how the AAF Government Affairs department can help you and your club or federation, please contact Clark Rector at (800) 999-2231 or crector@aaf.org.

AAF Member Benefits

FedEx — Through your membership with the AAF, you and your business can enjoy FedEx reliability and special savings on a variety of FedEx services. All you have to do is sign up. Opening an account is free, and there is no shipping requirement. If you already have a FedEx account, your AAF discount can be set up using that existing account.

To take advantage of this benefit call the FedEx Association Enrollment specialists toll free at (877) 269-0605. After completing the enrollment process on the phone, you will receive your shipping information in just a few days.

For more information on FedEx and other AAF programs, please visit http://www.aaf.org/resources/discounts.html.

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The club services department of the American Advertising Federation is here to assist you with leadership and club management questions, securing resources and information on AAF programs. Please call (800) 999-2231 or e-mail the following individuals:

Joanne Schecter, EVP – club services, jschecter@aaf.org
Jeremy Hoders, director – club services, jhoders@aaf.org
John Vincent, manager – club services, jvincent@aaf.org
Lucille Hill, database coordinator, lhill@aaf.org