Always a treat to host AOY

It was such a treat to co-host the 35th Agency of the Year awards last night – as Strategy brought back hosts through the years to share the evening’s hosting duties!

I first hosted the award show in 2010 (!) when Mary Maddever took a chance on me after seeing me emcee the Procter & Gamble Marketing Awards. As a P&G employee, I remember being petrified that all of my "outside looking in" advertising jokes would fall flat in front of Canada’s agency elite. Thankfully, it turns out that advertising people can be really nice! 😉

Since then, I’ve had the honour of hosting or co-hosting 7 times, with highlights including:

🔹 Co-hosting with Christine Kalvenes in 2016 on the night Trump was elected President – which entailed reporting jaw-dropping election results as they unfolded between awards
🔹 Co-hosting with Lyranda Martin-Evans at the Ontario Science Centre and filming vignettes on everything from the climbing wall to the Van de Graaff generator (AKA the ball that makes your hair stand up)
🔹 Hosting the show while 7 months pregnant (and fearing my dress might split on stage)
🔹 Hosting the show while nursing (which meant pumping in the communal bathroom between awards)
🔹 Writing jokes with Lyranda that were a taaad too edgy in 2013 (it was the Ricky Gervais era! 😬)

It’s always my favourite event of the season (and a guaranteed way to catch up with the legendary Rick Chad – who has been to all 35!).

Thank you to Jennifer Horn, Mary, and the entire team at Brunico Communications for all you do to make every year such a fun, seamless and rewarding experience!

A huge congratulations to all the award nominees and winners!

And a warm shoutout to the hilarious and brilliant co-hosting crew: Christina Yu, brooke leland, Steve Mykolyn, Lyranda Martin-Evans and Jason McCann.