When I heard this morning that Cannes Lions would be canceled and not, as organizers had previously hoped, merely moved to October, I felt a wave of disappointment.
Not because it meant I'd miss a week on the Riviera or the joys of a rosé hangover, but because it meant the industry would lose out on its best opportunity for truly international conversations. The connections made at Cannes, whether over a drink or through snarky asides while watching a bloviated exec speak on stage, can last years and truly change your life.
“Cannes has a magic happening throughout the week that goes beyond the awards and parties," Gut ecd Ricardo Casal told me today. "It’s about the friendships built in this industry throughout the years.”
In addition to meeting new friends from around the world (shout-out to my Estonian and Dutch crews), you also get the widest possible range of insights on your work and the industry's output overall. Without those conversations, it's easy for marketers to stay locked in the same echo chamber for years.
But as I thought about (and reported on) the cancellation, I realized that perhaps we're not losing as much as I initially thought.
That's because we don't need to travel to France to have a global shared experience.
We're living in one. Right now.
For the first time since World War II, the world is united in living through one historic moment. And blessedly, because it's not a war, we're all on the same side. We're fighting to get through it. To protect each other. To keep our spirits up when the walls begin to feel especially tight.
I hope you'll look back on this moment someday as a time when you expanded your connection to the world and the peers you share it with. I hope, like Cannes, this time leaves you with new or enhanced friendships.
We may not get a week to drink, learn and celebrate together. But maybe we'll end up with something even more transformative, memorable and unifying.
David Griner
Creative and Innovation Editor, Adweek
David.Griner@Adweek.com
