DDB Worldwide Takes Portfolio Night Around the World

NEW YORK and TORONTO, April 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Thousands of aspiring young people around the world trying to begin careers in creative advertising now have an exciting way of gaining career advice and being discovered.

DDB Worldwide, a leading agency network within Omnicom Group Inc. , is partnering with ihaveanidea, advertising's intellectual archive, to bring Portfolio Night to students, juniors and creative hopefuls in more cities than ever before. Fifteen DDB offices in 10 countries will be hosting simultaneous Portfolio Night events on Thursday, May 3, 2007, as part of largest portfolio review and recruitment event in the history of advertising.

The agreement between DDB Worldwide and ihaveanidea makes the agency network a Gold sponsor of Portfolio Night and the event's first global partner. The 15 participating DDB offices are New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Miami, Toronto, Vancouver, Sao Paulo, Mexico City, London, Paris, Berlin, Sydney, Melbourne, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Together these cities represent over half of the 23 cities where Portfolio Night is being held in 2007. Additionally, creative directors from DDB offices in Montreal, Barcelona, Amsterdam, and Buenos Aires will be taking part in Portfolio Night events.

Bob Scarpelli, chairman and chief creative officer of DDB Worldwide, said "I'm very proud of our extensive involvement with Portfolio Night this year. This unique event is now truly international in scope, and what it represents perfectly reflects DDB's philosophy of giving back to the community we work in, as well as our vision of being the most creative agency network in the world. By championing Portfolio Night DDB is able to assist young people and the industry, while at the same time finding and recruiting the best new creative talent."

Portfolio Night is an annual industry event organized by ihaveanidea, based in Toronto. Styled on "speed dating," the event in each city gives students the opportunity to meet with award-winning creative directors from DDB and top creative directors from other leading advertising agencies. Additional information about Portfolio Night, as well as registration details for the events around the world, can be found at http://www.portfolionight.com/.

"Our continuing relationship with DDB, one of the world's most historic and creative agencies, has allowed us to rapidly expand Portfolio Night into other markets and help even more people with careers in advertising," said Ignacio Oreamuno, president of ihaveanidea. "DDB's support and involvement have been a milestone in the development of Portfolio Night."

"I see a great future for Portfolio Night, building on this year's successes and expanding the number of cities and DDB offices participating in 2008," added Oreamuno.

DDB Worldwide first became involved with ihaveanidea and Portfolio Night in 2006. At that time, Frank Palmer, chairman and CEO of DDB Canada, saw potential and value in Portfolio Night, which had until then been localized in Canadian cities. Palmer backed the event in Toronto and Vancouver, making DDB the first-ever agency Gold Sponsor of Portfolio Night. By doing so, Palmer introduced Portfolio Night to DDB Worldwide, which helped generate participation in 2006 and interest within the DDB network leading to this year's initiative.

About Portfolio Night

Started in 2002, Portfolio Night (http://www.portfolionight.com/) is ihaveanidea's annual event, where advertising's top creative talents come together to review the portfolios of students, juniors and creative hopefuls in an exciting and engaging environment. For eager up-and-comers, Portfolio Night is an incredible opportunity to meet with the industry's most acclaimed creative directors and have their work critiqued, gain advice -- and possibly land a job. For agency creative directors, Portfolio Night represents a chance to give back to the advertising community, and to meet or recruit the most talented young people trying to enter the business. Since its inception, Portfolio Night has always been held on one evening, simultaneously in all cities. This year, Portfolio Night will be held Thursday, May 3rd, 2007, in 23 cities and 15 countries around the world.

About ihaveanidea

ihaveanidea (http://www.ihaveanidea.org/) is "Advertising's Intellectual Archive." Created by Ignacio Oreamuno, a former art director, and operating virtually from Toronto, Canada, its mission is to serve the international advertising industry as a center of self-analysis and intellectual growth. Based on the concept that disseminating and sharing creative knowledge will benefit everyone in advertising, http://www.ihaveanidea.org/ is visited by thousands of creatives from around the world each month.

About DDB Worldwide

DDB Worldwide (http://www.ddb.com/), twice named The Gunn Report's Most Awarded Agency Network, named the World's Top Network in Europe by The Gunn Report in 2006, which also named DDB London the Most Awarded Agency in the World. Three-time winner of Adweek and Advertising Age Global Network of the Year. Number one in Creativity magazine's 2006 ranking of agencies. Four-time winner, Clio Agency of the Year. Winner of more awards than any other network in the history of the Cannes International Advertising Festival. Tribal DDB awarded Digital Campaign of the Year by Advertising Age in October 2006.