Why I Love Kansas City Advertising

As you may know, I am bat-**** crazy about the Kansas City advertising industry.

I’m a big believer in our community and will go on and on about it any chance I get. I even flew to Cleveland in the middle of a brutal winter just for the chance to spend 90 minutes telling people about Kansas City advertising.

We have a strong, vibrant community. And I believe there are many reasons for that.

We do killer work. Check out VML and Barkley’s recent wins at Cannes. And you can’t flip though a Communication Arts (or here) or other industry pub without running across work coming from our great city.

We like to have fun. Together. Go to any AAF-KC event and you’ll see that’s true. The hardest job I have as president is trying to move event attendees from the “networking” area to the actual event.

We cheer each others’ successes. Sometimes I forget we are competitors. Usually I hear about an agency’s win or award from someone who doesn’t work there. (Fortunately, we’re also smart enough to realize we all benefit from the strength of our community.)

We help each other. I’ve had several people who are new to Kansas City tell me they were amazed at how welcoming and helpful everyone is.

We take care of our city. Agencies like Meers and Trozzolo Communications Group were recently recognized for their impact on downtown. And how many other agencies have been a big part of growing their neighborhoods (the Crossroads, for example)?

We give back. Almost every agency in town has a pro bono client they donate tons of hours to helping. That goes for the AAF-KC as well. This year, Ad 2’s Virtual Agency did great work for Sleepyhead Beds.

We can always count on someone to step up. Look at the great people who step up to run for the boards of the AAF-KC, Art+Copy Club and Ad 2. When one great board member leaves, another takes their place.

Just a few of the many reasons I’m proud to be part of the advertising industry here in Kansas City. I can’t think of anywhere else I would rather be.

This is my last week as AAF-KC president. It has been my true honor to serve you as president these past two years. I look forward to serving with your new president, John Kreicbergs, as your immediate past president. I know he and the rest of the Board will continue to do an incredible job.

Something John said recently has really stuck with me: “leave things better than how you found them.”

I sincerely hope I’ve done that.

Kevin Fullerton of Springboard Creative is president of the AAF-KC and is bat-**** crazy about the Kansas City advertising community. In fact, we can’t get him to shut up about it. But we’re okay with that.