GOA: It was raining beers, the sun scorched the land and the beach was calm. The scene was from one big ‘creative’ gathering in Goa. This creative lot has the power of changing the fate of a brand with a 30 second ad or one well crafted hoarding. Yes, we’re talking about the mighty Indian advertising frat, which had assembled for Goafest 2015 this past weekend.

The fest started on 9 April, 2015 and before lighting of the lamp, beer bottles were opened! Regardless of the high spirits, all keynotes saw huge attendance as more than 70 per cent of the ballroom was always occupied over the weekend, which is immense success for the organizers.

The seminars were followed by rain dances and a sailing competition in the afternoon, whereas the evening had everyone on tenterhooks as the Abby Awards were distributed. One after another, a creative piece found recognition as metals were distributed. The award ceremony was followed by an after-hours party.

Highlights of the event:

· Eminent speakers came and shared their thoughts and vision on the platform about various issues.

· Arnab Goswami’s session, on the second day, saw a packed auditorium for the first time, while his speech on stage was as always flamboyant; the counter reaction from a less known individual was a surprise. Whenever Goswami ended a sentence with a question mark, the man unceremoniously shouted from the audience. The banter went to that extent that organizers stopped the session and asked the man to leave the room. However, as soon as the issue was resolved, Goswami continued with his keynote.

· There were more number of females receiving awards as compared to the males. The women representation in Goafest indicated that Indian women were empowered with every skill, no matter the field.

· Prasoon Joshi was felicitated by the organizing committee and that was one of the greatest moments of the entire festival. He shared bits and bytes of his advertising journey and concluded by singing the song he wrote on Nirbhaya.

· The youngest CEO Suhash Gopinath shared his story how he became a CEO at such an early age and ignited the entrepreneurship fever in every youth present in the hall.

· Rejuvenating live performances from Indiva, Rodney and others got everyone dancing, while East India Comedy forced everyone to laugh.

· JWT with 35 metals lead the metals tally where as Linen Lintas won the solo Grand Prix.

Low notes of the event:

· While there were speakers of huge stature, the moderating quality was average as the moderator failed to get much out of the speakers.

· The gold and silver winners were invited on stage to receive metals but the ad or the creative piece they were credited for was abruptly displayed. On a gathering where the entire advertising fraternity was cherishing each other’s work, the entire creative piece should have been displayed uninterruptedly.

· The hosting was sub-standard. There were too many oops moments, where a lady was introduced as Mister and vice versa. During the award ceremony too, flaws were very much visible. For a fest of this magnitude, the standard cannot be compromised with.