MM&M Award Winners Announced at Gala NY Event!

I just got back from the 2007 MM&M Awards dinner in NYC. Here's what it looked like from my table:


Here's what it cost me -- in case you are interested in attending this event next year:

• Tuxedo rental: $90.09 (Mens Wearhouse)
• Hotel (1 night; Marriott Residence Inn, Times Square): $225.00 (I used my Marriott rewards and paid for additional points; otherwise one night at this hotel would have cost at least $550!)
• Train fare: $21.50 (NJ Tansit)
• Parking at Train Station: $18.00 (would have cost a mint in NYC)
  
• Town car to get me from hotel to tavern on the Green: $25.00 (impossible to get a taxi that time of night!)
• Taxi back to hotel: $15.00 (including tip)
• Tips: $3.00
• Fun and good people: Priceless!
  

TOTAL: $397.59

NOTE: I did not have to pay the $350 or so admission fee since I was a guest of MM&M.

For those poor saps paying full price, of which I met maybe one, the total cost would have been more than $1,000.00 if you stayed overnight at a hotel! What do you get for that?

Smashed, that's what!

I am sure James Chase, Editor-in-Chief at MM&M, was one of those who were smashed by the time the after party rolled around!

That's him posing with me on the left.

I liked James right off the bat because he impressed me by being intimately familiar with my writings here at Pharma Marketing Blog. He especially liked the post "Awards. What Are They Good For?".

As I said, awards are good for parties and the MM&M party is right up there with the best. It was very much like a very expensive wedding party!

Thanks James for having me as a guest.

The Winners
As I predicted (see "AbelsonTaylor and I are off to the 2007 MM&M Awards Gala Event!"), AbelsonTaylor walked away with several awards including a Gold for "Best Total Integration Program for Small Companies" (Gender Knee). That's a medical device, so not of much interest to me. Sorry.

Of more interest to me were the multiple SILVER awards AT won for its Rozerem work, including:

• Rozerem.com got a SILVER for "Best Promotional Web Site": see Abe Lincoln rap; "Rozerem Ads Dis Lincoln, Show Beaver"


• Rozerem Attic Print Ad got a SILVER for "Best Individual Product Advertisement in Consumer Press"; Gets acclaim despite the fact that at least one expert claimed -- in an article in a publication that competes with MM&M -- "that fewer than 3 percent [of test subjects] read the key copy"; see here.


• Rozerem Print Ad Campaign got a SILVER for "Best Overall Advertising Campaign in Consumer Press".
  

Overall, AT won 6 awards (2 GOLD and 4 SILVER)! I'm not saying the MM&M Awards are "fixed," but when one product wins three awards (albeit 2nd place awards), you got to wonder what's going on. I'll leave it at that. [You can see ALL the winners here.]

Back to the party!

I met several friends at the party and had a good time. While I didn't sit at a table next to the kitchen, it was somewhat towards the back of the room. Fortunately, Joanna Breitstein, Executive Editor at Pharmaceutical Executive Magazine, decided to sit with me instead of at her assigned table!

Also with me were friends from Custom Promotions, Inc., Including Joe Blewitt and Shari Hargrove (she's on the left -- Joes' right -- and Joanna is on the right in the photo).

The other people sitting at the table were from Neilsen and Excerpta Medica. They were too smashed to sit still for a photo! (just kidding!)

Every so often, someone would come up to me and tell me how great my blog was and that they read it every day. Thank you all very much for the kind words and encouragement.

What If Borat Were There?
Some people even suggested I was a celebrity! I think, however, most people would say I was notorious. At one point, I was tempted to increase my notoriety 100-fold by performing a daring Borat-like act of protest.

Let me explain.

After every award was announced, a group of people from the winning agency would come up to the stage and pose for a photo with the host and a sponsor (sponsors had the opportunity to open the winning envelope and read the winning name).

No one checked who was on the stage and I could easily have walked up there and posed with the group. I am sure the agency people would be too smashed to realize that there was a poser in the group! Besides, I could have been the son of the boss for all they knew!

Despite all of Joe's attempts to egg me on and do the deed, I chickened out! Maybe next year I'll drink a little more and just do it!

When I told James Chase of my idea, he just laughed nervously.