Creativity just published their annual 'top 50' list of the people who made a mark on the cultural consciousness in the preceding year. Our man Wieden made the list again.

Here's what they say:

It's no doubt difficult to be burdened with a creative legacy stocked
with the likes of "Just Do It," ESPN and the more recent revitalization
of the Coca-Cola brand, but Wieden Kennedy continued to live up to its
reputation with a creatively stellar 2008. Last year, the agency turned
out more standout work, from the David Fincher-directed "Fate" for Nike and Coke's charming "It's mine" balloon fight, to Old Spice's "Swagger" and the voyeuristic "Somebody Else's Phone" web effort for Nokia.

The agency saw new creative management shifts with the promotion of
Mark Fitzloff and Susan Hoffman to ECDs in Portland, roles previously
held by Jelly Helm and Steve Luker, and with the hiring of new creative
blood, like former TBWA Skittles duo Craig Allen and Eric Kallman,
who were behind award winners like "Touch," "Beard" and "Pinata." The
shop continued to develop its extracurricular side, launching W K Radio
online and producing more musical releases out of the W K Tokyo Lab
record label/workshop run by ECD John Jay. Co-founder Wieden says he
also plans to expand into South America in the near future, yet no
matter how big the agency grows, he has no intentions of changing its
intimate and fluid creative environment. "It's a homegrown network," he
says. "We hire in-country and we move folks around quite a bit from
office to office, so all our fights are family fights. It really
enriches our culture and creates the ability to communicate a lot
easier because we're coming from the same bias."

Wieden, on his outlook for 2009: "We are full-steam
ahead on digital and we're thinking of some ancillary surprises. If you
can't redefine what an advertising agency is in the next couple of
years, I think you've got some big problems. It's turned upside down,
but for us, it's the most exciting of times."

Attended a meeting this evening of the mentors' council of the Ideas Foundation. This is an educational charity founded by Robin Wight of WCRS. The Ideas Foundation ams to help creative young people connect with the creative industries and to broker partnerships and projects between industry and education.

Here's how they describe what they do:

We spot & develop young people’s creativity.

We pilot creative education projects and champion transferable skills within the creative industries and beyond.

We
provide effective work experience, internship and apprenticeship
opportunities. We signpost further & higher education routes to
creative employment and enterprise.

Seems to be a very worthy cause so, having had my arm twisted a little by Robin, we have signed up to the Mentors' Council, along with many of the UK's larger agencies.

It was an interesting evening and the representatives from the students presented very persuasively in front of a tough crowd of agency top bananas. And me.

BBH kindly hosted the evening and laid on the refreshments. There was no wine from Sir John's vineyard but I was intrigued to see that own-brand BBH water was provided. Blimey. It's hard enough for us at W+K to organise beverages for meetings in pots that will pour without spilling. If we need to have our own brand of tea to compete we're going to have to raise our game to the next level.
Mind you, the only flavour of crisps provided by BBH was ready salted. And at W+K you may well be offered smoky bacon. Or even prawn cocktail.

But now that the gauntlet has been thrown down I'm resolved to make plans for our own brand of beverages and snacks.