⚓️ TRANSATLANTIC at London International Awards

Last day of the Ocean's series. The captain of the plane holds a latte macchiato, while the runway flickers with thoughts of returning to normalcy. Yet, before the gate announces itself like a lottery number, Laura Rapela (ECD at GUT Buenos Aires), jonathan isaacs (Global CCO at TBWA\Health Collective) and Susan Perlbachs (CCO at EVERSANA INTOUCH) grab the anchor and come aboard. We talked about two Italians who floated cars across the Atlantic, Homer’s Odysseus and the Sirens' song, fluid dynamics, sea monsters, and how the term “feeling blue” originated from ships flying blue flags when they lost their captains. This is Ocean's 18. This is the London International Awards. ⚓️ TRANSATLANTIC at London International Awards LIA - London International Awards #liaawards #vegas #interviewseries #creativity #career #oceans18

You bring water to Vegas, and they give you a microphone, a recording and editing studio, a Tom Petty-esque charismatic videographer, four cameras, close-ups like raindrops, beach club vibes, and tables floating in a blue electric pool. Not to mention, you sit right in front of 18 oceans, unlocking combinations and robbing tales. A huge thanks to the LIA - London International Awards, from Barbara Levy to Laurissa Levy, from Patricia Censoprano, to Christina Shaw, then Joey Grillo from Wall of Sound Studios, the social media crew, the official photographer, and the caravan of awesomeness that strolled through the carpeted avenues of The Encore. Grazie 1000! ⚓️ TRANSATLANTIC at London International Awards #interviewseries #oceans18 #creativity #liaawards #vegas

The end of day 6 blended into day 7 here at the LIA Awards, with aquatic currents of aces, kings, queens, and jacks traveling through the sybaritic corridors of the Encore Casino. Susan Credle (Global Chair FCB Global and Interpublic Group (IPG) Creative Advisor), Luiz Sanches (Partner/Chairman and CCO at AlmapBBDO), Emma Daines (CEO of Fin Design Effects) and Tom Richards (Co-Global CCO at 21GRAMS) laid down their stories on the concrete of my soul, like a cerebral garage sale behind closed doors. We talked about dropping microphones to the bottom of the ocean, the "Just Room Enough Island" off the NY coast, José Alvarenga, the first person in recorded history to survive in a small boat, Patti Smith and Sam Shepard's night calls, and Leonard Cohen's quote: "If you don't become the ocean, you'll be seasick every day." This is Ocean's 18. This is the London International Awards in Vegas. ⚓️ TRANSATLANTIC at London International Awards LIA - London International Awards #liaawards #vegas #interviewseries #oceans18 #career

On the 6th day of Ocean's 18, the rarefied air of the Encore Casino thickened with the presence of the LIA legend, Piyush Pandey (Former Chief Creative Officer Ogilvy Worldwide and Executive Chairman Ogilvy India). The 8th of nine children, with seven sisters before him, raised by women, he writes in an embryonic pose, inward, sitting at a tiny first-grade school desk. If there ever was a jackpot hit by the Ocean series, this is it. A man who played professional cricket until the age of 26, and by chance bumped into advertising like a hard, solid ball rolling his way. They say legends are invisible. This one has a thick, lascivious mustache and a diamond-bright smile. Ogilvy ⚓️ TRANSATLANTIC at London International Awards LIA - London International Awards #halloffamer #liaawards #lialegend #interviewseries #career

5th day of Ocean's 18, leaking from the money faucets of the casinos. The Las Vegas Strip is on a skew, the sun roasting it, while Malcolm Poynton (Global CCO at Cheil Worldwide), Oskar Lübeck (Founder and CCO Bold Scandinavia / NoA), and Juan Woodbury (Grammy Awards Winning Producer) launched their answers like hot air balloons over my eyes. We talked about David Foster Wallace’s fish tale, a song by Crowded House, “Better Be Home Soon,” the Republic of Rose Island in the middle of the Adriatic Sea, the world’s first cruise vessel, Stevie Nicks, and Maya Angelou. This is Ocean's 18. This is the London International Awards, live from Vegas. #liaawards #vegas #interviewseries #creativity #oceans18

The curtain of sun opens on the fourth day of Ocean's 18. AC vents begin to split the heated particles in the air while Yasuharu Sasaki (Global CCO at dentsu), Dr. Stephan Vogel (CCO Ogilvy EMEA), and Marco Venturelli (CEO/CCO at Publicis Conseil) let me steal a few personal stories and watch me escape with a Walgreens bag from the Las Vegas Strip. We talked about The Tin Drum by Günter Grass, black holes at the bottom of the ocean, the most isolated small rock in the world, 82 billion billion gallons of water, and the 1984 movie The Bounty. This is Ocean's 18. This is the London International Awards. ⚓️ TRANSATLANTIC at London International Awards LIA - London International Awards #liaawards #lasvegas #live #interviewseries #creativity #oceans18

The third day at LIA Awards shone a spotlight on Carol Dunn, Managing Director at Barking Owl, who began her career as a switchboard operator at Capitol Records, working on the label side. We talked about the "Zone of Proximal Development," then soared over the words, "As the ocean is never full of water, so is the heart never full of love," and landed in the valley of knowledge where the earth's winds blow. Meanwhile, millions were wasted at the slot machines, and not a single smile rose from the blackjack tables. This is Ocean's 18. This is the London International Awards. ⚓️ TRANSATLANTIC at London International Awards LIA - London International Awards #liaawards #interviewseries #career #live #vegas #oceans18

Second day in Vegas, sun setting at 105 degrees, AC vents roaring like dragons from Cirque du Soleil, and here we are with Suzanne Powers, Founder and CEO of Powers Creativity and Till Diestel, CCO at Serviceplan Group. We talked about Moby Dick-sized ideas, Dennis Hopper, Emma Thompson's monologue in Birdman, a shipwreck off Coronado Shores Beach, coral reefs, and Paul Auster. This is Ocean's 18, live in Las Vegas. This is the London International Awards. ⚓️ TRANSATLANTIC at London International Awards LIA - London International Awards #liaawards #jury #presidents #live #vegas #awards #oceans18

Ocean's 18 kicked off last night with the first heist into the mind of the Global CCO of Weber Shandwick, Tom Beckman. The Vegas blood-orange sky hovered over the Encore’s rooftop, while the blood-red psychedelic carpet kept us grounded in our words. We talked about JT LeRoy, River Phoenix and Flea, the lowest and highest points on Earth, Ocean Vuong, Jeanne Baret, and Jerry Seinfeld’s metallic advice to leave something in the tank. This is Ocean's 18. This is LIA Awards judging week. LIA - London International Awards ⚓️ TRANSATLANTIC at London International Awards #interviewseries #vegas #live

I am about to cross 18 oceans in the middle of the desert. LIA - London International Awards ⚓️ TRANSATLANTIC at London International Awards #liaawards #lasvegas #oceans18