The Broadcast Designers Association, an international association of designers in all aspects of broadcast, is holding its 22nd annual design award show during the annual promax and bda conference and exposition, being held in New Orleans, June 14-17.

This year’s competition attracted 4,100 entries from 40 countries. Canadian entries, at 260, are down slightly from last year’s 300-plus submissions. However, of the 1,200 finalists, 63 are Canadian.

Jill Masters, bda director of member services, has an explanation for the drop in Canadian entrants: ‘Two years ago, we had our conference in Toronto. And that kind of geared Canadians into participating. That is waning as we kind of move away from Toronto.’

Among the 111 Canadian design firms that are bda members (membership is not a prerequisite for submitting), many have made excellent contacts and found new opportunities through the yearly event.

Pat Smith, bda awards chair and vp and creative director at Turner South in Atlanta, is currently working on a project with Toronto’s Soho and says, ‘I’ll probably work with Cuppa Coffee in the near future.

‘I just know some great work comes out of there [Canada]. And that’s why I gravitate to that. I haven’t used [Canadian companies] exclusively, but certainly, they’re always in my considerations. There is some real original thinking coming out of there.’

Smith also noted the trend to in-house broadcast design does not really apply in the u.s. ‘As far as the u.s., for the networks, it’s better to be able to go out [of house]. Then, you can shop for what you need.’