It was a mad night last night at the National Advertising Benevolence Society‘s annual black tie fundraiser, where members of the marketing industry gathered to raise money for colleagues in need.
NABS is a non-profit aid organization dedicated to helping members of the communication industries through counselling, professional development and financial aid.
The 26th annual fundraiser, dubbed It’s a Mad Ad World, was part auction and part celebration of the industry’s most charitable members.
The Paul Mulvihill/NABS Humanitarian Award was given to Stefan Danis, CEO and chief talent officer of Mandrake and Nex Career. Danis raised $41,000 by participating in the 250-km Gobi March race last June, finishing 14th overall and first among Canadian competitors. Danis then ran a second race in Chile and brought his fundraising total for the year to $65,000.
Danis co-launched “Skate for NABS” during the 1992 recession, which is now celebrating its 18th anniversary having raised more than $700,000.
“In late 2008, history started to repeat itself with the economic downturn,” said Danis in a statement. “I picked an audacious goal to inspire myself and others who faced a difficult journey. Early 2009 was shaping up to be one of the worst years of my life and amazingly turned out to be one of the best. With NABS at my back, I found out I was able to accomplish something that looked impossible at the outset.”
Danis’ contributions were not the only ones highlighted during the evening. Several individuals were honoured for their contributions to NABS by being named to its Honour Roll.
“The selection committee is pleased to announce that the inductees include individuals from Ontario, Western Canada and Quebec which reflects the true national scope of NABS and our regional chapters,” said Robert White, a consultant who chaired the Honour Roll selection committee, in a statement.
The inductees included:
• Elena Dunn, director of sales, Sun Media
• Dennis LeBlanc, office operations manager, Business in Vancouver Media Group
• Ted Boyd, chief executive officer, 58Ninety
• Bill Hearn, partner, McMillan
• Yvonne McKinnon, former NABS national board member
• George Goulakos, vice-president, sales and marketing, CTV
Several companies were also added to the honour roll in acknowledgement of their involvement with NABS, including Colour Innovations Printing, Eatertainment, Grenier aux nouvelles – Normand Grenier and Family Services Employee Assistance Programs.
Amid all the thank-yous came a few sizeable cheques as well. Zoom Media, a 12-year partner of NABS, presented a cheque for $55,000. Since making NABS its charity of choice back in 1998, Zoom has given more than $600,000 to the cause through the donation of advertising sales from its Agency Network Fund in Ontario, Western Canada and Quebec.
Several large prize packages were also set to be auctioned during the proceedings–Red Bull donated a two-person travel package to attend one of its Air Race events, and West Coast Fishing Club donated a fishing trip and accommodation at one of its lodges in British Columbia.
