Why young adland should be heading for Goa

Inspiration: noun

1. an inspiring or animating action or influence: I cannot write poetry without inspiration.

2. something inspired, as an idea.

3. a result of inspired activity.

4. a thing or person that inspires.

5. Theology. a. a divine influence directly and immediately exerted upon the mind or soul. b. the divine quality of the writings or words of a person so influenced.

6. the drawing of air into the lungs; inhalation.

7. the act of inspiring; quality or state of being inspired.

Above all it’s about inspiration. And all of the above are why young people should attend this year’s Goafest. I should know, I had the honor of attending and speaking at last year’s event. Speakers will provide presentations that take you through great ideas and famous work as well as cases that solve problems in new and unconventional ways. This will help young talent in agencies grow and create better work and better solutions for their clients. This alone is worth the trip.

But there are more selfish reasons for why young talent should attend Goafest and why agencies and the industry as a whole should help finance their trip.

On a macro level, someone has to support young people and subsidize their education and accessibility to the inspiration at Goafest. Otherwise the industry will go extinct once people of my generation retire. And before that, salaries will just keep rising and rising because we don’t revitalize the talent pool. And moreover, the industry will simply continue to award and celebrate the status quo, instead of cheering on the new young rebels who think in new and unorthodox ways.

Our industry needs experience but we also need young blood that’s fully inspired. Our industry needs more pirates who dare to blow the dust and cobwebs out of the attic of advertising. We need talent that is very good but also who have access to the kind of experience Goafest offers. This year, young adlanders will have the opportunity to hear industry leaders but also some of India’s most inspiring business minds, such as Dr. Pawan Goenka, the CEO of Mahindra Automotive.

But there are even more reasons why young adlanders should go to Goafest. On a micro level, these kids bring so much energy and enthusiasm that they put everyone else on the top of their game. They inspire us! They don’t think this is just another industry event, they think this is AMAZING! Go look at the award building in Goa, look at the award winning work, and be sure to watch the throngs of people who make their way through the building. I did. They are all young people. Over the years, some of StrawberryFrog’s most important work came from these kind of kids.

Funnily enough, once you start supporting the cause and investing in young people, inspiring them upwards, dedicating some time to it, you become known as a good place for them, and as an industry and as an agency, you can choose only the rockstars – and it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.

As an example, two years ago, we hired a young woman right out of school: Aneela Idnani, she is today a Rockstar. I asked what she thinks of her job today, and listen to the energy and inspiration: “You saw my dedication and hardwork and gave me an opportunity. It was important to shape this young talent in front of you, not just because I could be an asset to the Frogs, but also because you saw that I have the potential to do more. You gave me an opportunity to enter the world of advertising at an entry level. And now its up to me to make something more of that as I gain the experience and knowledge to work my way up the ladder!”

There you have it—the best punctuation for this story.

To sum it up, young adlanders should go to Goafest to learn a lot. To network with all levels of talent that make up the Indian advertising industry and some of the best clients. And, for purely selfish reasons, agencies and the industry as a whole, should do what it can to make it easy for young adlanders to go go go to Goafest.

Scott Goodson, founder & CEO, Strawberryfrog