Portfolio Night 2012: Dishing out new talent!

The 10th edition of the Portfolio Night was held all over the world in cities like Amsterdam, London, New York etc. In India, Portfolio Night was held at Four Seasons Hotel, Worli on 23rd May 2012. Portfolio Night simply put is a platform for students and creative aspirants to showcase their work to the big names in the advertising industry and receive their feedback on the same.

 

Portfolio Night ushered into its third year in India. In 2010 and 2011, Ogilvy was the host. Lowe Lintas was the host agency this year.Talking about the third round of Portfolio Night, Joseph George-CEO, Lintas said, “With every progressive year, the quality of portfolios just gets better. The talent pool is quite different. I wish we had an opportunity like this, when we started out in the industry. There are a great amount of dicussions and interactions which can even kickstart careers.All-in all, the participants are the winners.”

 

Started in 2002 by ihaveanidea, Portfolio Night is an event where top honchos of the Indian advertising industry review the portfolios or the works of creative talents. It is not only a great learning experience for the participants but also the reviewers who are on the lookout for fresh talent and are eager to hire them.

 

Some of the creative directors who scrutinized the portfolios were R Balki-chairman and Chief Creative officer, Lowe Lintas & Partners; Arun Iyer- National Creative Director, Lowe Lintas & Partners, Sagar Mahabaleshwarkar- National Creative Director, Bates India; Ramki D Ramkrishna-Owner, Cartwheel Creative Consultancy; Sajan Raj Kurup,-Founder and Creative Chairman, Creativeland Asia.

 

This year, the event received 84 entries from 18 cities, including cities such as Agra, Kanpur and Bhubaneswar. The participants were asked to select a tag for their portfolio, before they actually presented  it before the judges.

 

On hosting the Portfolio Night; Arun Iyer- National Creative Director, Lowe Lintas & Partners said, “We always believed that this was a fabulous idea. Even the first two years, when we went in as creative directors, I thought it was a fabulous initiative. So, when we got the opportunity to take it forward; we ceased it. It is also a good way to encourage people  to feel good about the business because some of the creative directors are the best in the business.”

 

Elaborating on the procedure, Arun Iyer said, “ There is a specific pattern to be followed and we have  to work within those guidelines. We  did send out invites to colleges.Somehow, people already knew about the event and so the registrations were full in a jiffy.” 

 

Sharing his experience of the Portfolio Night, Raghu Bhat- founder-director, Scarecrow Communications, said, “Last year we saw more Pan-India participation. This year there were many participants  from MICA. The turnout was a little less this year. Also, we saw more of art people than copywriters. The participants were more inclined towards the designing aspect.” He also added that   although the portfolios of participants need not be great but they should be passionate about their work. “We look forward to hiring people across various disciplines,” exclaimed Raghu.

 

Also present at the event was famous lyricist, screenwriter and advertising copywriter Prasoon Joshi. Commenting on the talent pool available at Portfolio Night, Prasoon Joshi said ,“Most of the participants are putting a lot of energy in finishing their ideas.They should believe in their ideas. The industry is looking for fresher people today. I also met people who are ready to learn and listen and who do not shy away from hardwork.”

 

Sagar Mahableshwarkar, National Creative Director of Bates said, “The participants are oozing with passion. They are also well-informed. I definitely would want to give a chance to some of the people.”

 

Sharing insights  into his experience of Portfolio Night 2012, Sajan  Raj Kurup,-founder and creative chairman, Creativeland Asia, said, “The portfolios are interesting. Hiring people is not the primary focus but looking at the work and showing  budding talent the way is what is important.In the process, I did meet some interesting people and we could take that forward.”He did not fail to add that every year there is fresh talent that comes in.

 

R  Balki, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer with Lowe Lintas & Partners said, “Portfolio Night is a great opportunity for the industry to spot talent. Portfolio Night is evolving. Also, there has been  a definite kind of improvement in the portfolios. I see a lot more mature thinking.”

 

All the participants at Portfolio Night were extremely happy and claimed that the event was a reality check. They gained a lot from the whole experience and some even discovered their calling.

 

Gitanjali, a participant said that the judges were extremely supportive and provided constructive criticism.

 

Portfolio Night thus helped participants to put perspectives in place and the creative directors to spot fresh talent. | By Aditi Popat [aditi(at)adgully.com]