One of the memories I cherish most from Cannes is sailing with our clients from Circle Productions located in Vancouver and Toronto. I’m always impressed by their teamwork and laid-back vibe. I was lucky enough to venture out to sea with them again this year, and was joined by a great group of girls! The best part was that the men prepared lunch for us - bread, cheese, fruit and of course plenty of rose. Afterward, a little boat came by with ice cream and we all enjoyed some yummy American Ben & Jerry’s. Followed by a swim and a nap on the way back, it was a perfect day.

I had a blast this year and have a few people I’d like to thank for that:
Meghan Mackintosh from ‘boards Magazine and the ladies from Stillking (Romana, Pavla and Pavlina) - Thanks for all the time and hard work you put into producing the Cannes Kickoff Party. It was a pleasure working with such a great group of women!

Sila Soyer from Outside Editorial - Thanks so much for your friendship and for always looking out for me. I had a great time with your whole crew and was glad I finally got to meet the famous Neil Gust. You guys do outstanding work and are all fantastic people!

Last, but certainly not least, I’d like to thank my team: Bill, Ramy, Yunilda and Claire for all your help preparing for Cannes and for hustling so hard while you were there. I’m proud and honored to work with such great people.

Check out some of my favorite photos from Cannes!

Sincerely,
Erika

>Watch the Le Scoot Video

Le Scoot, was simply “fantastique”.

The day before Le Scoot, Claire and I went location scouting and found three routes to Moulin Des Mougins. We mapped and drove all three routes to ensure that we would chose the best way to travel on our Le Scoot Day. Each one of the routes had its own charm with spectacular views but we found our final decision to be the best route.

We began our journey from EuropCar, the scooter rental place in Cannes. This is where we prepped, geared up and revved up for our travels. Wiredrive provided goggles and scarves for all participants and rented 13 scooters for 16 riders. Claire and I led the way to Moulin Des Mougins and did our best to control the group’s speed and to avoid getting lost. I think that one of the most nerve racking experiences for us was to have to lead 12 Scooters from the small streets of Cannes and up through the hills to the tiny village of Moulin Des Mougins. Bill and Erika rode at the very back of the group to ensure that no one was left behind. The ride took about 45 min and we made it to our destination safely.

Moulin Des Mougins is a small hotel with only a dozen rooms and is most famous for its restaurant. The food was excellent and the deserts were phenomenal. The group had good conversation over a round table and got to know each other more intimately. After a tour of Moulin, we geared up once again and headed back for Cannes. The riders were more comfortable with the scooters by this time and requested to pick up the pace for our journey back. We took a different route on our way back to Cannes. This time though the hills where the views of Cannes and the Mediterranean were breath-taking. I believe the best part of the ride was the quick cruising, sharp turning descent back into Cannes.

When we arrived back in Cannes, we cruised the Croissette and stopped at the Carlton Hotel for a quick break before returning to EuropCar. At EuropCar, Bill, Erika, Claire, Michael (Mother), Vic (Fallon) and I decided to keep our scooters and go back through the hills once more. I wasn’t the only one who enjoyed the descent from the hills into Cannes.

Click Here to see The “Action”

Le Scoot was a very successful event and proved to be a highlight of Cannes 08. Everyone truly enjoyed the outing and many were discussing a much larger outing with us again next year. Many of us enjoyed the scooters so much that we kept them for the remaining days of our trip. Le Scoot was simply “fantastique”. Everyday should be a Le Scoot Day!

Wiredrive + Cannes + Scooters = Le Scoot
More Pictures

It’s three in the morning and the mayhem of accents in front of the Martinez gets diluted with the ocean breeze in Cannes. Here, at the meeting place for the Hispanics after the events of the day, the conversations are animated about the Palais, the winners are celebrating, the rest meeting each other, finding each other.

Although from different latitudes, we understand each other as an exiled Hispanic community in this international convergency where, for a few days, the only thing that matters is the value of creative process, where the sophistication of Hispanic production and creativity keeps gaining traction.

In Mougin, with the Wiredrivers and others on scooters, I was captivated by the superstitious shyness of my friends from VegaOlmosPonce. They refused to talk about their work for Axe, a Chocolate Man, who in two short days would be taking the gold home to Argentina.

At the Palais Bulle de Pierre Cardin I found a euphoric Pablo Buffagni. Morcheeba played life, their sound a very fitting one to his excitement for taking in his luggage the first Lion for Conill. And of course, Landia, who sailed through all of the events with their charming rebellion, proved again that they are one of the best production houses in the world.

With this refreshing appeal, when everything and everyone is gone from Cannes, I walk down La Croisette absorbed by the mediterranean blue with the sensation that indeed, the world is very, very small.

Cannes- Historias encontradas

Son las tres de la mañana y el barullo de acentos frente el Martinez se diluye en la brisa marina de Cannes. Acá, donde se reunen los hispanos después de las festividades del día, la conversación es animada sobre los eventos en el Palais, los ganadores están celebrando, y el resto encontrándose, conociéndose.

Aunque de diferentes latitudes, nos entendemos en la dimensión de comunidad hispana expatriada en esta convergencia extranjera donde, por unos cuantos días, lo que impera es el valor del proceso creativo, en el que la sofisticación de la producción y creatividad latina sigue ganando fuerza.

Escapada en Mougin, con los wiredrivers y unos cuantos amigos en motocicletas, me entretuve con la timidez supersticiosa de los chicos de VegaOlmosPonce, cuando se negaron rotundamente a conversar sobre su Chocolate Man de Axe a tan solo dos días de llevarse su oro a Argentina.

Por el Palais Bulle de Pierre Cardin me encontré un eufórico Pablo Buffagni, Morcheeba tocando en vivo era el perfecto telón para la emosión del triunfo que no se le pasaba pues se llevó en la maleta el primer León para Conill. Y por supuesto Landia, que navegando todos los eventos con su encantadora rebeldía a las etiquetas, demostró de nuevo porqué es una de las mejoras casas productoras del mundo.

Con este sabor tan fresco, ya cuando todo y todos se han ido de Cannes, camino por La Croisette perdida en el bellísimo azul mediterráneo, con la sensación que, efectivamente, el mundo es muy, pero muy pequeño.

Saludos,

Yunilda

The first day of the Cannes Lions Advertising festival is filled with the eager anticipation for the week to come. Before the long hours and jam-packed social calendars take their toll, the first night brings together a crowd fresh from a day of rest and that initial realization of being in one of the most beautiful places on earth. Smiles are exuberant. Friends and colleagues separated by oceans come together to kick off another zany celebration of this thing we call advertising.

We set the tone for this yearly migration to the Côte D’Azur by teaming up with ‘boards Magazine to host the second annual Wiredrive + ‘boards Cannes Kick-Off Party. The evening was definitely one to remember. Eager to jump start the week, most people arrived before the sun went down. The crowd was what you would expect to find: a compelling mix of people from all corners of the world: Sweden, India, Japan, Argentina, South Africa, England, Amsterdam, Iceland, Dubai, Venice Beach and the list goes on. As introductions are made and conversations transpire, I become increasingly aware that in some weird way, we all speak the same language. Literally, we actually do. Just about everyone I met spoke perfect English. Beyond that, professionally, we share something. Standing talking with guests from New York, Johannesburg, Prague and Los Angeles, respectively, it was amazing to realize that this industry truly bridges cultures. Soaking up the beauty of the French Riviera and the pleasure of good company, it was quite obvious that a good time was had by all.

The setting was, thanks to Stillking, stunning [a country villa set high above Cannes in Vallauris]. The crowd was fun, fashionable and fabulous. The music was chill [thank you Static Revenger.] The rosé was divine. And the sunglassess…

The neon pseudo sunglasses or Kanye West sunglasses took on a life of their own in a way that this industry knows all too well. By the end of the week, everyone and their brother was sporting a brand new pair of electric green, orange, pink or white lens-less glasses. They were everywhere. Massive Music’s La La Land Extravaganza, Shots party on the beach, the exclusive Terra affair, the Gutter bar, Eden Roc, the guy selling croque-monsieur on the Croisette etc. etc. etc. I think the word is viral?

More
Soundtrack created by Static Revenger for Machinehead. His new down tempo Album ‘LOVE SONG SURPRISE’ released May 7, available worldwide on iTunes. See the amazing new video here!

‘boards Shout Out

Party Pics

-Claire

We are all back and mostly recovered from Cannes and of course I just have to cover the technological side of the trip (you’ll read more about the people there this week :). This was my second trip ever traveling with an international cell phone and the first time expecting to have a working Internet connection. The first part worked out well; the second part, not so much.

PHONES
All five of us modified our iPhones to accept international SIM Cards, which allowed both calling and data. This was an improvement over last year, as the temporary cards I found in 2007 could only make calls. We could have used the AT&T international plan, but their prices were simply not competitive for the amount of usage we were expecting. Even with the french Sim cards, the international data rates are still outrageously expensive at $40/megabyte. I thought it would make sense to turn off automatic e-mail downloading, but in reality if you needed to get any e-mail it ended up pulling it all down anyways.

Google maps were useful in Cannes, especially for the Villa parties that were up in the hillsides. Texting was also great as we would often walk back from late-night parties typing in our locations to each other and managing to make it back to the room at around the same time.

One of the best parts of our phone experience was the most low-tech. Erika made each of us laminated cards with our phone numbers on one side and our schedules on the back. Whenever people asked for my number, I could pull out the card and read it to them.

INTERNET
Our Internet connection was a totally different story. We were planning on doing Internet demos in our room on Tuesday and Thursday and made our entire lodging decisions based on which apartment had a solid Internet connection. We found after many calls to the front office that our Internet connection in our apartment was not going to work. Apparently, the landlord forgot to pay the Internet bill and had the connection terminated, which would take 4 to 5 days to reinstate. Plus, Ramy installed software that came with the DSL modem to troubleshoot and the plugin managed to take down his laptop for the entire trip. No fun. We heard that many other people had unreliable connections, even at high-end hotels like the Carlton.

On one hand, it would be nice to be able to be away from an Internet connection for more than a few days without going into withdrawal. Unfortunately, we expected to do demos, coordinate events and post blog entries that required our connection being up. For me, the expectation to have excellent cell and Internet connections was the biggest change for me this year, definitely a far cry from wandering into an Internet Cafe to check email every few days. And with these changes, the world continues to shrink.

Regards,

Bill

Wiredrive + You: Cannes Sessions

When:
Tuesday, June 17th: 2-5pm
Thursday, June 19th: 11am-2pm

Where:
12 Rue du Commandént Andre
Cannes, France View Map

It is difficult to stay current in the digital era. With new technology and workflows emerging at a frenzied rate, it is almost impossible to keep up. We are here to help.

Please visit us in Cannes to catch up on today’s hottest topics:

Digital Workflows
Online Presentations
Encoding
Podcasting / RSS
Tagging
Public Relations in the Digital Era
Efficiency and Productivity

We will be serving chilled wine and hors d’œuvre, so get out of the sun and join us for an hour or more.

To reserve a space today, please contact:

plusyou@wiredrive.com