MINIVEGAS at Cannes Lions 2012
MINIVEGAS at Cannes Lions 2012
Party snaps: http://on.fb.me/LFF8dk
Daytime can fly by in Cannes; this was a lesson Minivegas was learning as they raced to the Palais on Wednesday night to pick up the Gold Lion for Online Digital Design. It’s quite amazing how fast the hours of sunlight can pass, but in those two hours leading up to the award show, a quiet bottle of champagne by the pool seemed to be the best way to spend the time and celebrate the win. In a business that can move so fast, you rarely take a minute to watch what’s happening around you. Having finished an extremely complex interactive project for Adidas and Heimat-Berlin (the ad agency behind the Lion-winning CNN-‘Ecosphere’), recently moving offices in Amsterdam, and polishing up version 2.0 of the CNN-Ecosphere for RIO20, the folks at Minivegas had been moving just as fast as the hours of sunlight in the south of France.
Before leaving for Cannes, it was clear that the CNN-Ecosphere project was going to do well at the Cannes Lions 2012. The website which visually represented the subject matter and volume of tweets during the climate Conference of the Parties (COP17) in Durbin during late November 2011, had already been a big hit during the conference. The Ecosphere pulled in two Bronze Lions on Tuesday morning and another Silver by Tuesday night, but Minivegas was hoping for gold. That Wednesday morning, the Minivegas crew of Luc, Maarten, Ellen, and Dominic had met for the first time in nearly two weeks; two of us had been on holiday and one (Dan) was still en route from London. The standard Cannes fair was materialising around as Minivegas went to pick up tickets for the evening’s parties and dropped in on a few beach gatherings, until the announcement was made. Ahh… Gold! Finally - and in the category Minivegas cared about most… design.
As the Minivegas car zipped through the tight French streets on the way to the Palais, Dan finally rang the group; after a long and difficult trip from London he’d made it to the Palais and was patiently waiting for us all on the steps. It was a push to the finish, but like after week of programming on the most recent and updated version of the CNN-Ecosphere, Dan had finally made it to Cannes for a little celebrating and relaxation, but first things first… time to pick up our award. After what was a rather long award ceremony, especially if you’re the one sitting with luggage on your lap, the gold was in hand and it was time for a little nightlife. Minivegas’ Dutch friends, Massive Music, were having a giant party on the beach and it was the perfect place to celebrate the fruits of our labours.
The rest of the week found Minivegas celebrating a total of four Lions that the CNN-Ecosphere landed, in a variety of categories. With a few celebrations with friends, a pool party (check out the photos here: http://on.fb.me/LFF8dk) at the villa that Minivegas shared with Greendot Films, and a number of amazing after parties it was the perfect end to a great week. A minute’s time to enjoy some acclaim and congratulations for the innovative interactive work Minivegas has become known for was all that was needed. That rush to the finish was exactly what Minivegas thrives on, finding ways to break new ground and have a little fun in-between before running back to the office.
