Our mission is to be an indispensable resource for growing, sharing, and learning to all people at the intersection of the advertising, marketing, and creative communities. 

With that in mind, we are making adjustments to how AAF Columbus will operate during the 2020-21 year. Here are some new ways we intend to serve you:

• Virtual Community – all members will receive an invite to a members-only Slack channel for our organization that can be used to network, collaborate, and learn from each other. If your membership is up to date, please keep an eye out for this invitation to come tomorrow. If you do not receive an invitation to join and believe you should have, please contact our president, Angela Blum, at president@aafcolumbus.org.

• Virtual Programming Events – all events will be planned virtually for the remainder of the year (2020). In late fall, we will reassess to determine if this will continue into 2021. These virtual events will be offered for free to members and to all employees of corporate members. More details on event pricing can be found on this page.

  • Many other AAF chapters are also hosting online events. We will be sharing many of these opportunities with you as well to provide even more opportunities to expand your education and skillsets. Keep an eye on your email and social media to see what’s available!
    

• AAF Columbus Podcast & Blog – We will be launching a podcast and blog to share thought leadership and local stories — stay tuned for more on this!
  

• Local Awards – Typically, we would have hosted a Silver Medal luncheon in May where we would award the lifetime achievement award along with a Rising Star young professional award and Marvin Brown Scholarship. While we did award our high school scholar over the summer, we will be awarding the 2020 Silver Medal and Rising Star Award this November. We’ll be announcing details on how to submit nominations next week.
  

• American Advertising Awards (New Local Categories) – In addition to the Pride of Columbus, we will be launching some new local awards for categories relating to COVID-19 response and diversity and racial awareness. So start thinking about all that great work you’ve been creating and have it at the ready when call for entries opens on November 1st.

• Membership Grants – If your membership is up for renewal and you have been affected by changes (loss of job, furlough, budget cuts) but would like to remain a member, please reach out to president@aafcolumbus.org to learn more about how you can continue to receive the benefits of your AAF Columbus membership.

Thank you for your patience and support as we all work through what this new world looks like. We’re here for you and look forward to connecting with you all very soon. 

Angela Blum
President
president@aafcolumbus.org