Mid-May marks the arrival of awards hoopla to Miami with the annual Clio Awards. Once again Boards was there to not only take part with a presentation of our 2008 Directors in Demand (featured in our May issue) but to also take in the rest of the three-day event (and maybe sip a few poolside mojitos in the process).

On the awards front, Master Chief continued his siege of ad awards shows as The Clios recognized McCann Worldgroup and T.A.G., San Francisco's TV campaign for the Halo 3 launch with a Grand Clio in Television/Cinema/Digital. Fifteen gold Clios were awarded in that category, while MJZ, the prodco behind gold winners "Diorama", Skittles "Touch" and Guinness "Tipping Point" (which grabbed its Gold in the Technique category for cinematography) grabbed Production Company of the Year honors. BBDO New York, named the Agency of the Year, led individual agency offices with three gold Clios. A notable Canadian win in TV came for Taxi, Toronto, who grabbed silver for Viagra "BBQ", part of its "International Language of Viagra" campaign.

On the Interactive side, Tokyo's Projector, Inc grabbed the Grand Clio for Uniqlo "Uniqlock", while five golds were awarded, with Goodby, Silverstein & Partners' "Get The Glass" and BBDO New York/ Big Spaceship's HBOVoyeur project among the gold winners.

Also among the Grand Clio winners was Ogilvy & Mather, Toronto, with its "New Diamond Shreddies" campaign nabbing the best in show honors for the Integrated Campaign category. Duval Guillaume, Brussels won the Grand Clio in Innovative Media for its "A Blind Call" campaign for Brailleliga, while Colenso BBDO grabbed best in show in the Billboard category for Deadline Couriers' "Self Destruct" (featuring a billboard which, yes, self-destructed). Ogilvy, New York scored the Design Grand Clio in environmental design for BP-Auto, Fuel, Eco-messaging. There were no Grand Clios given in the Content & Contact category, but five gold Clios were doled out, going to 180 Amsterdam for the "Impossible is Nothing - Where Sports Meets Art" work for adidas; BBDO New York for its HBO Voyeur project; Leo Burnett, Sydney for the inaugural "Earth Hour" campaign for the WWF; Tokyo's Projector Inc for its "Uniqlock" for Uniqlo, and Shalmor Avnon Amichay/Y&R, Tel Aviv for its "Missing Soldiers" public service project. In the Integrated category, O&M, Toronto also received a gold for the Diamond Shreddies work, while BBDO, New York got gold for the HBO Voyeur campaign and Crispin Porter + Bogusky scored gold with "Whopper Freakout".

On the radio front, TBWA, New York nabbed the Grand Clio for its hilarious "Man Mom" campaign for Combos, while DDB Canada scored one of the three golds awarded, with the rather risqué "Gardening Tips" for Philips.

Highlights of the three-day event included Saatchi & Saatchi's second annual Hero Show, this time featuring a free-wheeling presentation from artist Ralph Steadman, perhaps best known for his artistic collaborations with gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson (most notably, "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"). Roundtables from the Contact & Content jury (led by Anomaly's Johnny Vulkan) and the Television/Cinema/Digital jury (led by Y&R's Tony Granger) shed light on the choices behind the winning work. Also this year, Marcello Serpa, partner and general creative director for Almap BBDO, São Paolo, was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Clio and fêted with a lovely dinner that featured tributes from BBDO Worldwide CEO Andrew Roberston and BBDO New York chairman/CCO David Lubars among others.

For a full list of Clio winners, click here:

http://www.clioawards.com