The John Caples International Awards has elected David J. Moore as its general chair for 2000. Moore is president and CEO of 24/7 Media Inc., a New York-based interactive advertising and marketing firm.
As part of the upcoming year's strategy for the Caples, Moore told DIRECT Newsline, the organization will add a new category to the awards, asking entrants to design the creative efforts for the following year's contest. Entries in all categories, he noted, are submitted "blind," eliminating the possibility that judges might be give more weight to entrants in other categories.
Moore will also focus on increasing the number of sponsors, whose financial donations will allow the organization to broaden its outreach activities.
The awards Web site (http://www.caples.org) recently posted entry forms, and entrants can sign up for e-minders, which notify participating agencies via e-mail of impending deadlines. The site has also started to host links to suppliers that have donated resources to the all-volunteer awards organization.
While the overall quantity of submissions to the Caples has remained constant (jumping a total of 10% over the past five years) Moore anticipates that posting the entry forms on the Web, combined with other outreach efforts, will provide a boost to the number of entrants. In particular he would like to see more entrants from the online side of direct marketing.
The awards will take place during February 2001 in New York City.
