Stephen Leps: June 2009 Archives

The buzz is building. Email and phone messages have come in today advising us that a fairly sizable crowd is expected to show up tonight at Lizzie McNeil's Pub, 400 N. McClurg Ct., by the Chicago River, for the first happy hour aimed at generating interest in the upcoming Creative Club Awards "No Show" at the Riviera Theatre on Sept. 10.

Tonight's fun begins at 5:30 p.m. The "No Show" organizers -- Matt Brennock, Lizz Ross and Katie Juras -- have told us repeatedly that they want this upcoming CCC show to be just as much about reviving some sense of community within Chicago's ravaged ad industry as it is about handing out awards to deserving creative. To that goal, we say "here, here."

Stephen Leps and Zig/Chicago are sponsoring tonight's get-together -- their way of saying they support the goals of the evening and the CCC show organizers. Leps, as many may know, is new to Chicago. He's still learning his way around, and perhaps because he's relatively new to the scene, he believes we can be a great and close and creative community once again. He may have much still to learn about what history has done to the Chicago ad business. But for now Leps remains a dreamer. And that's good thing. So party on everyone.

Rejoice, ad folk. That sorely-missing sense of community within the Chicago ad biz appears to be in the early stages of finally making itself manifest. We stress, of course, that word "appears," because as we all know in the Chicago ad world, appearances can sometimes be deceiving.

In a previous blog posting we tried to calm concerns that the organizers of the upcoming Chicago Creative Club Awards show on Sept. 10 might do away with a judged ad competition. They have told us that is not what they intend to do.

But what they are intent on doing, in addition to organizing the September event, is helping to foster a real feeling of camaraderie that has been too-long absent in the local ad business, which has suffered mightily in recent years. Towards that end Matt Brennock, Liz Ross and Katie Juras -- the chief organizers of the upcoming CCC show --have also organized what they hope will be the first of quarterly happy hours to bring together all who toil in the local ad biz.

This first get-together is slated for June 25th at Lizzie McNeill's pub at 400 N. McClurg Court, beginning at 6 p.m. And we're happy to say that Stephen Leps and his crew at Zig/Chicago have stepped up to sponsor this first gathering for all who call themselves Chicago ad folk.

So mark your calendars. And let the camaraderie begin.

He's back. One of Chicago's most gifted advertising creatives very soon will be back in business. And -- we're happy to reveal -- he'll be back in business at Energy BBDO/Chicago, where starting Monday, he will be on board as creative lead at Promixity/Chicago, the agency's digital unit. Energy BBDO clients include chewing gum behemoth the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. and the Illinois Lottery. Lynch will report to Andrew Kaspryzycki, managing director of the Proximity division at Energy BBDO.

Lynch exited Zig/Chicago last February after sources said he and Zig co-founding partner Steve Carli clashed -- a dust-up that Lynch at the time emphatically denied took place. For a while, Lynch was hanging on the west coast while he mulled what he wanted to do next in his career and where he wanted to do it. But with his long ties to the Chicago ad community, Lynch apparently decided he wanted to maintain those ties, and Energy BBDO was apparently happy to help him do that.

Energy BBDO Chief Creative Officer Dan Fietsam said Lynch has "a unique blend of outstanding creative taste, a macro and integrated approach, entrepreneurial savvy and leadership." Sources who know Lynch said his new agency and job should be a good fit for him. "Kevin will be with a lot of like-minded people at Energy BBDO," said one source. Lynch was known for doing work at Zig that was both quirky and smart -- and often wickedly funny.

Meanwhile, Zig/Chicago's new creative leader Stephen Leps arrived from Zig's headquarters office in Toronto in February to pick up where Lynch left off. Leps has said he intends to work hard to take the small shop to the next level.