Inaugural Dubai Advertising Festival appoints director

by Iain Akerman, Brand Republic 20-Jul-07, 10:50

DUBAI - Steve Lane has been named festival director of the inaugural Dubai International Advertising Festival, which is due to take place in March next year.

Lane, who is currently sponsorship manager of Cannes Lions, will be based in Dubai and takes up his new position on August 1.

The three-day festival will be co-managed and staged by the Emap-owned Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival and its partner Motivate Publishing, and will feature an array of seminars and initiatives for communications professionals working in the region. The festival will culminate in the Dubai Lynx Awards, which were first held in March this year to critical acclaim.

Philip Thomas, the festival's CEO, said of the appointment: "Steve's Cannes Lions knowledge will stand him in good stead as he develops the Dubai event from this year's highly successful Lynx Awards into a full-blown festival, modelled on Cannes and rivalling any regional festival in the world."

The Dubai Lynx Awards, which were held in association with the UAE chapter of the IAA, received 1,700 entries and dished out 111 trophies.