Addy Awards

Since the 1950's, the creative industry has gathered for the Spokane Advertising Federation Advertising Awards. Formerly the "MAX" Awards and now known as the "Inland Northwest ADDY® Awards," these awards salute this year's best creative work in a variety of categories.

The Spokane Advertising Federation ADDY® Award winners are honored during an awards ceremony each year.

The goal of the annual ADDY® Awards is to recognize and reward creative excellence in the art of advertising. Our ADDY® Awards Competition is the local or first level of a three-tiered national competition conducted annually by the American Advertising Federation (AAF). You'll see the awards proudly displayed on the walls and desks of industry offices throughout Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho. The Inland Northwest ADDY® Awards Competition is administered by the Spokane Advertising Federation.

The ADDY® Awards Competition is the industry’s largest and most representative competition for creative excellence. Entry into the ADDY® Awards supports our entire industry, because AAF and its local and district membership use the proceeds to enhance advertising through programs such as internships, advocacy groups and advertising education.

The Inland Northwest ADDY® Awards Competition is open to any individual, company or organization engaged in the creation of advertising. There is no limit to the number of entries a person or organization can enter. Entries in the Inland Northwest ADDY® Awards Competition may not be entered in any other ADDY® Awards Competition and must have been created/produced within the Inland Northwest and must have appeared, aired or been published for the first time in the media between January 1 and December 31, 2006.

You must submit entries at the Local level to move on to the District and/or National Competition.

The expressed intent of the ADDY® Awards Competition is to recognize and reward creative excellence in the legitimate everyday workplace of advertising – "real" advertising, for "real" clients, with "real" marketing objectives, in or on "real" media. Occasionally, an entry is submitted that appears to have been created outside the conventional agency-to-client-to-media marketing structure. The appearance given by such an entry – to other entrants and to the judges – is that the entry was created solely for the purpose of winning an award, rather than satisfying a legitimate paying client’s needs. The AAF and the ADDY® Awards Competition will not accept any such "unreal" entries.

All entries submitted in the competition, with the exceptions of Public Service Advertising, Advertising for the Arts and Industry (Advertising) Self Promotion, must have paid for the creative services and media placement in the normal course of business. Entries that meet the criteria of Public Service Advertising, Advertising for the Arts or Industry Self Promotion can only be entered in those categories. Should a question arise relative to the eligibility or legitimacy of any entry, the entrant agrees by his/her signature on the entry form to furnish the necessary documentation for review by the ADDY® Awards committee. Failure to provide documentation of eligibility or legitimacy can be grounds for disqualification.

Gold and Silver ADDY® awards may be given in each category of the competition at the discretion of the judges. All winners will be forwarded to the District XI ADDY® Awards Competition in April. The District XI winners are then eligible for the ultimate competition, the National ADDY® Awards, presented in June every year by the American Advertising Federation.

To miss the ADDY® Awards is to miss the year's best regional creative.