• by Tobi Elkin , Staff Writer @tobielkin, August 19, 2016

More than 230 ad-tech and ad-agency professionals participated in the  “Battle of the Paddle” ping pong competition last night at SPiN NYC.  

It was the second year for the competition, which pits ad-tech firms and ad agencies against each other to raise awareness for a charitable cause—and the second time the winner was The Media Kitchen/KBS. The victorious team members were Derek Lu, Brian Stern, Rohit Bagalkot, Josh Katten, and Sam Chotiner.

The agency will donate $1,000 to The Bowery Mission, an organization that provides meals, clothing, and shelter to the homeless in New York. The team also won six tickets to the U.S Open tennis tournament.

In singles competition, Lokesh Gyanchandani of PlaceIQ grabbed the top honors and received a $100 American Express gift card.

Ad-tech firm Neustar was the tournament host.

Bravo to Neustar for organizing the event and raising awareness among the the ad community about the plight of society’s less fortunate population. And kudos to Neustar for bringing the ad tech and ad agency worlds together for a social activity. 

Neustar also gave out awards for best team sign, most spirited fan, best dressed/costume, most creative team name, biggest hustle/best effort, king of swing, biggest smack-talker, and best game face selfie. Category winners each received a $25 American Express gift card.  

A veritable who’s who in the ad community participated: Verve Mobile, NinthDecimal, KBS, The Media Kitchen, Zenith, MediaMath, 360i, Accordant Media, Adelphic, Adobe, Amobee, AppNexus, Edge Technology Services, Eyeview, Foursquare, Grey, Horizon Media, Huron, IgnitionOne, Kantar Shopcom, LiveIntent, Mediacom, Modi, Nativo, Nielsen, Optimedia, Qualia, Reachable, TripleLift, Universal McCann, WideOrbit, Xaxis, The Trade Desk, Mediavest, Amnet Group, Carat, Dentsu Aegis, Empower NYC, Interprise B2B, Accuen, Annalect, Hearts & Science, Omnicom, Tapad, Cadreon, IPG, Tremor Video, Innovid, Spongecell, and Universal McCann – J3.

This is a good start. How about more charitable giving? With good jobs and career paths, there’s no reason we shouldn’t see more team spirit like this from people at these industry-leading companies. Of course, some of these companies have New York Cares days and participate in other volunteer activities—those make a difference, too.