• by Kelly Samardak , November 20, 2008

Brian Williams scared the crap out of me last night. No, he didn't leap out from my juicy slab of steak or throw a potato croquette at me. He wrapped the frightening reality of America's economic slip 'n' slide in a whole wheat tortilla of humor. His delivery was smooth and honest and his words honored the Ad Council and the honorees and contributors whose Public Service Announcements (PSAs) bring attention to those in need, the people who can't help themselves, and the people who need to look in the mirror and identify where they need to change. The scary part is , you and I could very well be the target market for some of these PSAs in the near or still slightly blurred future. Yeah, and while I thought of this harsh reality, I was sawing away at a juicy steak, gulping delicious red wine, and inhaling bread pudding. Exactly.

Oh, the Waldorf Astoria, you confusing maze of old New York money. You of the sparkling jewelry displays that I will never afford. You were the gold-leafed and Winnebago -sized chandeliered host of the evening and the backdrop for my surreal dream. When I realized the affair was black tie, I didn't take it too seriously. I've been to events before where the black tie was very loosely interpreted. However, the Ad Council meant it and their guests went all out. The opening reception (thanks, Yahoo) was a sea of penguins and dazzling floor-length gowns.

Joe Czarkowski, VP, National Sales Manager, Ad Sales was enjoying cocktails with the Discovery crew and glittering nearby was Anthony P Martinex, Manager Global Media, American Express and a bunch of AMEXers. The Ad Council vibe must be goodness because every single person I approached was warmly receptive to my lens. Then again, when you're dressed to the nines, don't you want evidence? Let's get to the ceremony, shall we. My table was up in the rafters, making the stage and the more esteemed guests ant-like and blurry. To my left was James Alston, Senior Vice President, Northern Field Operations, United Negro College Fund, Inc. He helped dissect my future career aspirations to positively affect my environment with the sentiment, "So, you want to do good in your hood" -- which is dead-on.

The Brooklyn Youth Choir opened the ceremony with tear-duct-jerking pieces of Americana. They were eventually joined by former American Idol, Fantasia, who wore a floor-sweeping emerald gown sparkling with clean, brief beading. "I'm a country girl, so I'm not wearing shoes," she proclaimed. I'm an Ohio girl, but I didn't wear my overalls, know what I mean? Brian Williams whose day job is "bumming out 10 million viewers a night," took the stage and well, bummed me out. He announced that Ford and GM just revealed low single-digit stock prices to a ballroom full of skin-puckering gasps. "But when the news is this bleak, we forget the potential of America," he said.

Williams suggested that maybe now is the time to return home (war reference?), to return to our roots (domestic product purchases? Stop outsourcing jobs?), and return to consuming messages in the way we've always been comfortable, through "old media." Break my heart with that anti-digital statement, why don't you? He began to mend it by rallying the troops around our world of hurt and asserting that while everything seems to be disappearing, what won't disappear is childhood disease, bigotry, and racial hatred -- and it's the good people behind PSAs who keep these issues visible. Counteracting Williams' edict to consume messages the old school way, was Publicis' Susan Gianinno the Ad Council's Chairman, who said that "digital has exploded for the Ad Council" as they began showing the digital work being honored on plasma screens around the grand ballroom. It was just like eating dinner in front of the tube at home!

Also eating their feelings in this down economy were Bloomberg's Lee Albertson III and the entire Bloomberg table, Scott Feinstein and Daniel Sanchez of PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Lisa Gilbert, Director, WW IMC Center of Excellence - Global Mid-market & Business Partner programs and the IBM Corp table, and a fun gaggle willing to make the craziest face possible.  I saw the Advertising Age table with Alison Arden and crew by Jonah Bloom was missing!  Maybe he was grounded.

Forks stopped clanking as PSA Honoree, Jeffery Immelt, Chairman and CEO of GE, took the stage to accept the honor and admit that every time he comes to the Waldorf, he leaves with hardware. But seriously folks, he hoped to inspire with proclamations that "there is a vacuum of guidance now that has created paralysis" and "everyone in America owns a piece" in where we are today. I don't know that everyone does. I'm pretty sure my homeless guy on 23rd and Park isn't contributing with insider trading and billion dollar bonuses.

The after-party revealed the wine-soaked underbelly of the night and turned the volume to 11 with the rowdy Initiative crew of Dave Rosner and Tom Siebert. Peggy Conlon, President and CEO of The Advertising Council, celebrated along with the guests as did Kimberly-Clark Global Media Director, Mark Kaline. Also seen near the chocolate covered strawberries was Marc Goldstein, President and CEO of Group M, David Thuma, Senior Manager at Deloitte, O. Andrew Jung... of the Jungs, Susan Siemietkowski, Director Communications and Government Affairs, US Department of Agriculture, and Debra Ashley, Account Manager, Media Sales, BET Networks.

The evening was flawless, beautiful, meaningful, and surreal.  Americans are losing their homes, their savings, their retirement, their lives and there I sat, surrounded by expensive gowns and black ties in the Waldorf Astoria eating steak.

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