I didn't start volunteering with the American Advertising Federation because I had a grand plan. I got involved because I believe in what it stands for at the local level — bringing the advertising and marketing community together, investing in the next generation of talent and keeping our industry honest about the quality of its work.
What I didn't expect was how much it would change my career.
The people I met through AAF volunteering eventually connected me to leaders at various agencies and in-house teams. This led to lunches, informational interviews and mentorships that were key to my professional growth. Without those introductions, this chapter of my career doesn’t exist. Community and showing up built that. And that kind of community is getting harder to find.
The problem no one's talking about loudly enough.
We've gained a lot in the shift to hybrid and remote work. Flexibility, focus, access to talent regardless of geography. These things have made our industry better.
But what’s harder now is the cross-industry connection. . The kind that happens when you're in a room with someone who's wrestling with the same problems you are. The candid conversation with a colleague you don't directly work with. The moment of commiseration or inspiration that doesn't have a meeting invite attached to it..
That gap has consequences. For individuals who miss out on mentors they'd never find otherwise. For agencies that lose the ambient intelligence that comes from a more connected broader professional community. And ultimately for partners who benefit most when their agency isn’t operating in a silo.
AAF is one of the places filling that gap. It's why I give so many of my 5-to-9's to it, and why I work just as hard to pull others in.
What being Board President actually looks like.
As President of AAF Sacramento, I lead our volunteer board of directors. That means our local events, our outreach efforts and our annual programming all flow through me and the team we've built. I do a lot of direct outreach to agency owners and leaders to keep them and their staff engaged. I make sure we have enough board members and volunteers to actually execute on what we plan. And I represent Sacramento at district and national conferences and meetings.
The centerpiece of our year is the American Advertising Awards (or ADDYs), the AAF's longest-running and most recognized competition for creative work. Making sure that process runs well is something I take seriously, and it matters for more than just logistics.
The part that's good for our clients.
When you're running the American Advertising Awards process, you're in close proximity to the best creative and strategic work being done by agencies across the region and the country. You're not reading a trend report about what's resonating. You're looking directly at it, and so are the colleagues and competitors sitting next to you.
That kind of access is real competitive intelligence. It tells you what the industry is willing to celebrate, where creative ambition is being rewarded and where the floor of expectations is rising. We bring that perspective back into how we think about the work we create for our partners.
On top of that, my involvement gives us direct lines into AAF's student chapters. That's the emerging workforce. The designers, content creators, writers and strategists who are entering the industry right now, shaped by a completely different set of tools, platforms and cultural references than the generation before them. Getting to know those people before the market does matters for the work we can eventually put in front of you.
And at the district and national level, the education opportunities — the panels, the peer conversations, the informal exchanges with agency leaders from other markets — keep me more current than I would be otherwise. Not on any one thing, but on the general shape of where our industry is headed. No newsletter gets you there.
Why it matters that your agency is in the room.
I don't stay so deeply involved with AAF after 7 years (and countless late nights, long flights, and extracurricular Zoom calls) because it makes me or Noble West look good. I do it because I believe agencies that are disconnected from their professional community eventually become less useful to the people who trust them with their brands.
The relationships, the exposure to great work and the investment in the next generation of our industry are not soft benefits. They show up in how we think, who we hire and what we bring to every strategy conversation.
Our seat at the table is your competitive advantage, and it compounds every time we choose to show up.
