‘Goafest and Abbys have their own status and position in the world ad calendar’: Srinivasan K Swamy

Srinivasan K Swamy, CMD, RK Swamy Hansa Group, and president – IAA India chapter, has been handed the mandate of chairing the Goafest 2014 organising committee. The festival will now be hosted over three days in the second half of May 2014. Specific dates and the venue are to be announced at a conference in Mumbai on 18 February.

Speaking with Campaign India, he said, “The festival has been pushed to May given the general elections likely to be held in April this year. As someone who started the festival, I have been very vocal about Goafest happening this year and happening well. So when Nakul Chopra (chairman, Goafest organising committee) expressed his inability given other professional commitments around revised dates, and Arvind Sharma (president, AAAI) asked me to take charge, I said yes.”

On elements of the festival getting pruned as per media reports, he said, “We are going to try and ensure that we have all the charms of the festival - and more. On sessions, we will not just have creative and media, but also multiple speakers from interactive and non-advertising disciplines.”

The festival will also see three different awards, including the Creative and Media Abbys jointly presented by The Advertising Club. Each of the awards will be hosted on a different day.

On those who might abstain, Swamy said, “Goafest and Abbys have their own status and position in the world ad calendar - the awards are not just our national awards but also a part of the Gunn Report. We will certainly reach out to all stakeholders and I hope agencies realise the importance this festival has and the need for us to be part of it.”