Post by Christina Watson

Back from Cannes... and I'm still trying to work out where was hotter... the UK or the Croisette? ☀️🥵 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity really is the ultimate combination of networking event and school reunion for the advertising industry. Every five metres, you're bumping into someone you've worked... or meeting someone new who turns out to be absolutely fabulous. Naturally, that means one thing... cue the selfie! Speaking of which... my camera roll has officially become 95% selfies and 5% screenshots of where I was supposed to be next and I don't want to EVER see a QR code again! Queue the LinkedIn photo dump. 📸 A few stats: - Average steps per day: 29,000 - 15 wrist bands - 7 tote bags - 2 electric fans - Incredible conversations: Too many to mention (but I'll try anyway!). Some of the highlights... ✨ An unforgettable Pintrest dinner in a stunning villa overlooking Cannes hosted by the fabulous Caroline Orange-Northey. ✨ Brilliant conversations with Rory Sutherland (Legend) debating with Karen Nelson-Field PhD, Lex Bradshaw-Zanger (I could talk to you forever), Sergi Calvo Soler (the BEST person to sit next to ever), Bart Van de Vel, Alistair Holt, Matthew Landeman (travelling all the way to the French Riviera only to discover we actually live just around the corner from each other back home) and so many others. ✈️ The adventure started before Cannes even began... meeting Sharon Lloyd Barnes on the flight, followed shortly by nearly getting pickpocketed with Ali Hanan at Nice train station. A strong opening act... 💪 Don't mess with Ali 🌊 Catching up with Patrik Wilkens 🔜 Cannes Lions, Benjamin Brown and Alistair Gosling 🔜The Wavelength Creator Pier - Cannes. ⛵ A fantastic catamaran trip off the Croisette with Alexia Barrier, and the fabulous content creator Cade Alex, Joël Duncan, Carl Kirchhoff and his lovely partner, Daniel Sutcliffe and Craig A. Taylor. 🛥️ Great times aboard the DV Yacht with Anna Sirius, Henry White 🥂 Lunch with Sarah Chu on my first day in Cannes. 🇦🇺 One of my favourite moments was seeing the fabulous Caroline Oates for the first time in almost a decade after she'd flown all the way from Australia. 🙌 Wonderful to catch up with Tracy Yaverbaun and Joanna Hawthorne, meet ADRIEN BOYER, and randomly bump into Ben Gandy, Skye Rugless and Paul Mead FIPA... because that's Cannes in a nutshell! And finally, a huge personal thank you to Jerry Daykin, Chris Dunne, Geoffrey Renton, Sam Goodman, Corin West, Geraint Lloyd-Taylor, Pedro Henrique Laguárdia, Gerhard Louw, Connor McRae and Rebecca Coleman for making the week even more memorable... honestly a night full Teletubbies and inflatable Flamingos and Zara Larson! If I missed anyone... it's not personal, it's just the combination of sleep deprivation, heat exhaustion and approximately 174 networking events and exceeding my mentions on LinkedIn. Until next year, Cannes... I'll start training for the step count now. 😉