OMD and Ronald McDonald House big winners at CODACAN's Adlympics

May 20, 2011 by Dave Haynes

CODACAN managed to squeeze in its second annual Adlympics this week without getting waterlogged, a victory given how damp it’s been in the Great Lakes and eastern seaboard the last, well, forever.

The event – which has teams of ad agency people competing in fun mental and physical games – was run at the old SteamWhistle Roundhouse in downtown Toronto. They managed to get 16 teams – and 210 competitors – in the middle of a week when TV upfronts were going on all over the place.

Coming out on top after an evening of  Twister, relay races, and touch-screen memory and trivia games (that educated the competitors on Digital OOH media), was the team from OMD that manages the Rogers (huge telecommunications budget) account.

Each member of the team took home a 32” LCD donated by LG Electronics, as well as a credit for $100,000 in Digital Out Of Home bucks from CODACAN’s member networks. OMD plans to allocate the screen time to its charity of choice: Ronald McDonald House.

“ The Adlympics is a really great event bringing media agencies together with a fun yet competitive spirit. The best part is the generosity of the CODACAN in donating over $100k in inventory towards to a charity,” says OMD team captain Mike Cortiula. “OMD chose to support RMHC, which is such a great organization that really supports families and children at times when they need it most. Can’t wait to defend next year.”

A sister event is planned in Montreal for June.

The photo shows Onestop’s Mike Girgis, Zoom’s Patrick Galante and Bruno Pupo from LG on stage, above the OMD mob.

Nice event, but fighting my way into downtown Toronto, at rush hour, in a monsoon, was not on for me. Glad it came together so well. One year I’ll go.