TheBuzz Erika Engle

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Ad 2 Honolulu wins its third 'Club of the Year' in a row

AD 2 HONOLULU has won "Club of the Year" honors. Again. It's the third consecutive club of the year honor for Honolulu's organization of advertising professionals age 32 or younger, awarded by the American Advertising Federation in Washington, D.C.

Ad 2 Honolulu President Celeste Chikamori describes the win as "a real honor."

"I also want to thank our members who have worked hard this past year. To be recognized for our efforts at the national level is a real compliment."

In the club achievement competition, Ad 2 Honolulu competed against other Ad 2 clubs across the country in eight categories.

"We do a write-up and provide collateral to support all the things we did ... this year," Chikamori said. Chikamori is an account executive atMilici Valenti Ng Pack Advertising.

A panel of American Advertising Federation judges awarded first-place honors to Ad 2 Honolulu for club management, public service, government relations and programs. The club won second-place in the education, communications, memberships and diversity categories.

The public service and education category wins come with a total of $1,700 in cash prizes, which will be used to defray expenses for this year's pro-bono public service campaign, Chikamori said. Any extra funds will be put into the club treasury, but the prizes are primarily viewed by the club as funding for the annual campaign. The winner of this year's effort, historically worth more than $1 million in publicity, is the Boys and Girls Club of Hawaii.

It was a big deal when the club won a three-peat for best Ad 2 pro-bono public service campaign in the nation, an honor Ad 2 Honolulu won again last year - for the fourth time.

The pressure of being the president of Ad 2 Honolulu must be nearly unbearable, given the club's increasing track record of grandiose achievements.

And you know what they say about "what goes up."

In its current lofty position, though, even the more seasoned Hawaii Advertising Federation, to which Ad 2 members graduate, looks up to the younger group, Chikamori was told.

One also has a great view of all those hoping to unseat one.

Next month, members of Ad 2 Honolulu will fly to San Francisco for this year's AAF annual conference to receive its already-announced awards - and to compete in the National Ad 2 Public Service competition. The judges will scrutinize the club's public service campaign book and its formal presentation.

"We've won it for four years and hopefully, this year will be lucky No. 5," Chikamori said.