It’s the cheapest form of therapy available.  For just $75 you can enter a national advertising competition, possibly win a gold statue and in turn garner the respect, admiration and validation you’ve always craved.

Sponsored by the American Advertising Federation, the ADDY® Awards are the world’s largest advertising competition.  The contest offers art directors, graphic designers, web designers, photographers, illustrators, and printers a singular opportunity to compete for recognition and excellence among peers all over the United States and Canada.

Each AAF chapter administers a local awards program and the winners advance to one of 14 regional competitions.  Regional winners move on to the national/international finals.  Advertising Professionals of North Los Angeles County (AdPros), the local AAF chapter serving the Santa Clarita and Antelope Valleys, as well as the San Fernando Valley, is seeking entries for its local ADDY® Awards competition.

With more than 70 categories in which work can be entered, the contest honors all forms of advertising across the broad spectrum of print, broadcast and digital media. Entries are accepted from AdPros members and non-members alike. To be eligible for consideration of an ADDY®, all work must have been published or aired between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2006. 

Entry forms are available at www.adprosla.com.

The deadline to enter is 5 p.m. February 16.  For an additional $10 per entry, late entries will be accepted until Feb. 23.  Winners will be announced at the group’s annual awards gala, scheduled for 5 p.m. March 25 at the Odyssey Restaurant in Granada Hills.

“The awards are not just a way for our industry to garner kudos from our design peers, but they also alert the business community about advertising and design firms who can help them grow their businesses,” said Will Sherwood, Chief Creative Officer of The Sherwood Group, and AdPros’ awards committee chairman.  “When a company wants results, whether the project is a corporate identity, literature system, annual report, advertising,brochure, or website, they need look no further than the winners in this competition.  Each winner is clearly capable of convincingly communicating the benefits of a company's products or services by combining striking visual images with compelling copy that captures attention, inspires imagination, sustains customer loyalty, and sells.”

AdPros meets at noon on the third Friday of every month at Salt Creek Grille in Valencia, and visitors are always welcome.

“We’re the premier professional organization for anyone involved with creating, buying or selling advertising,” said AdPros President Gary Jacobs, who serves as Creative Director of Jacobs Creative Design.  “That includes graphic designers, photographers, printers, ad reps, agency staffers, in-house creative teams, media buyers, copywriters, direct mail companies or any other job that’s connected to the industry.”

As the “Unifying Voice for Advertising,” the American Advertising Federation (AAF), headquartered in Washington, D.C., is the trade association that represents 50,000 professionals in the advertising industry.