Last week, the ADC team left the friendly confines of its New York gallery and headed westward with the Advertising and Digital juries of the ADC 95th Annual Awards. While most award shows prefer to conduct their judging in tropical climes, this year we went against the grain, taking our esteemed and diverse group of judges more than 8,000 feet above sea level, to the frosty peaks of Beaver Creek, Colorado. Snow and skies replaced sea and sand, as ADC went all in on “après-ski”. The result was still the same: incredible minds got together to debate and decide the most Cube-worthy advertising and design work of the past year.

We asked a few of our Jury Members to share their experiences of the past week, as soon as they came down from their Rocky Mountain highs.

NATHAN LAVERTUE
Creative Director
VaynerMedia
New York, NY
Digital Jury

Follow @MuteMuse

Now, to be completely transparent I intended to create a more traditional diary but sometimes you realize your initial thought isn’t going to be terribly interesting and I realized this after 3 days of taking notes.

But, as it turned out, I was already covering the week via Snapchat for the agency I work with, VaynerMedia. I’ll share some of the more interesting snaps but you’ll just have to use your imagination for the after hour snaps you missed!

Day 1 – Judging begins!

Day 1 – ADC makes you feel VIP

Day 1 – Not sure who this is named for…

Day 1 (and really every day) – Epic lunches

Day 1 – Judges bond. I had anticipated being able to have cellular service when we had an adventure into the mountains but it didn’t happen. Meanwhile, I was teasing it on Snapchat and never was able to share the experience!

Day 1 – High elevations make cellular service better! We snowmobiled to the top of a mountain where I was able to take a quick selfie snap. (Just so we’re clear, the view was “so pretty” and not my selfie!)

Day 1 – Snapchat tutorials on the bus.

Day 2 – We start early!

Day 2 – Breakfasts were also very good.

Day 2 – We say goodbye to Shirin. Unfortunately, Shirin injured herself and had to return home for surgery! We all hope you recover soon!

Day 2 – I loved my group – so happy to have met them all.

Day 2 – More time in the Brown room.

Day 3 – Early start and cool temperatures.

Day 3 – Getting down the final few selections. Not sure if Lars or Jouke knew I took this photo but I wanted to capture some of the seriousness of which we had when reviewing work.

Day 3 – The hours in a closed room start to take their toll but you learn to keep finding the joy.

Day 3 – Round 3!

As for the rest, well, it starts to get a little crazy as the judges celebrated completing the process and I was staying focused on enjoying the fabulous people I met and get to know rather than snapping it. Being a juror was an amazing experience, ALL of the ADC team were so amazing. I can’t thank them enough for bringing all these people and experiences together.

Meanwhile, keep on snapping!

The ADC 95th Annual Awards Celebration takes place Thursday, June 9, 2016 in New York City.