The Conference / Barcelona / July 7.
What is it about European design and advertising that makes people stand up and say wow?
The 3rd edition of the ADC*E Conference kicks off the 20th Annual Best of European Design and Advertising Awards weekend. This year, the conference is dedicated to the “European Wow Factor” emerging across European design and advertising.
At 17h on July 7th 2011, top creatives from Portugal to Russia will arrive at the Biblioteca/Auditori of the Faculty of Communication Blanquerna, Universitat Ramon Llull in Barcelona, Spain to hear three acclaimed professionals discuss various aspects of European design from the personal to the global.
Headlining speaker, Amir Kassaei, Chief Creative Officer, DDB Worldwide (Germany) will present “The Brand Outernet: Marketing and Advertising in the Twenty-First Century”. Graphic Designer The Emperor of Antarctica (Denmark), will present “Space at the Heart”, the story of how his personal obsessions drive his work. And Russell Effio, Creative Director/Partner, Psycle (Spain) will present the inner workings and processes of an international Digital Production Company.
This 3rd edition of the ADC*E Conference is organized in partnership with the Master of Art Direction in Advertising Programme at Faculty of Communication Blanquerna, Universitat Ramon Llull.
Entrance is free to the public but places are limited. Register now at  www.adceurope.org/conferences

Amir Kassaei was born in Iran, grew up in Austria, studied in France, lived in Germany, and works globally. Known for his visionary ideas, he quickly climbed the ranks at DDB to become Chief Creative Officer of DDB Worldwide this February. The Big Won Report named him Top Chief Creative Officer in 2009, and he has ranked among their top three Chief Creative Officers from 2007-2009. DDB was voted the Global Agency Network of the Year by Ad Age in 2008 and according to the Gunn Report is one of most creative networks in the world. He is one of the youngest and most successful creative directors in the world and one of the most awarded creatives in Europe. He and his team have amassed over 2000 national and international awards, including 40 Cannes Lions in the past five years.
http://twitter.com/#!/amirkassaei

The Emperor of Antarctica
Christian Zander (a.k.a. Emperor of Antarctica) was born in Denmark and grew up in Hans Christian Andersen’s hometown, Odense. In 1998, he dropped out of high school accepting a job offer from a local ad agency. After that, he worked in Copenhagen on Nike, work which resulted in the first Cannes D’Or Grand Prix given to Denmark since 1961. He then went on to work on the Lego brand at PR firm ‘Sigma’ before co-founding ‘Bottega Areté, an experimental design group and artist collective, in 2002. Bottega Areté were pioneers in the digitally driven VJ scene in Scandinavia in the early 00s. In 2006, he relocated to Bucharest and worked between Denmark and Romania until 2008, when he returned to Denmark to start his solo practice as ‘the Emperor of Antarctica’ – working on graphics for music, the design of Copenhagen luxury hotel apartments ‘Stay Copenhagen’, and on the Danish headphone brand AIAIAI, a job which he now handles ‘at large’; Last month he moved back to Bucharest to pursue personal projects in addition to his client roster.
http://emperorofantarctica.com/

Russell Effio began as a graphic designer and art director in 1994 before setting up EFFIO/COM, which merged with PSYCLE Interactive (UK) in 2009. He designs and manages in the areas of Motion Graphics, Brand Design, Web Applications, Interface Design, Video & Web TV.  He’s played a significant role in developing concepts that merge motion graphics and rich media with video and interactive content.
http://www.psycle.com/

The Awards / Barcelona / July 8-9.
For the 20th annual awards, new categories and subcategories have been added that reflect innovations in digital (mobile, apps, Internet), film, audio, environmental design and events.
During the two days following the conference, jurors chosen by their national clubs across Europe will gather to pour over more than 900 entries of winning work submitted from 25 European countries in order to find the best of the best of European design and advertising 2011 across all categories.
In the end, they will award one creative team the coveted Grand Prix award and announce the Gold prize and all award nominees.
This year’s jury is led by Amir Kassaei, Chief Creative Officer of DDB Worldwide. The complete list of jurors can be found by going here and then going to: Awards>CFE 2011.

The Party / Barcelona / July 9.
The weekend will end with an invitation-only dinner and after party where the winners are announced and the advertising and design community celebrate. This year the party will be held at Dhub (Design Hub) Barcelona – Palau Marquès de Llió, c/Montcada, 12 (in front of the Picasso Museum)