Robin Heisey knows the winners, but good luck getting them out of him.

As the judging chair for this year’s Bessies, Heisey, executive VP and creative director at Harrod & Mirlin FCB, Toronto, is tight-lipped as to which spots have been selected as the best this country had to offer last year.

Regarded as emotionally draining by some and the catalyst for more therapy by others, Heisey sees the chairing job as more fun than any one person has a right to.

‘I’ve heard some judges call this grueling or emotional or a very arduous experience,’ says Heisey. ‘But this is so much fun. You get to sit in a room and watch 500 TV commercials over two days. Maybe I’m a warped puppy, but that is my idea of a good time.’

Heisey handpicked this year’s panel. As co-chair last year, it was his rite of passage to be judging chair this year. Next year, the job goes to J. Walter Thompson’s senior VP and creative director Rick Kemp, this year’s co-chair. The panel (which can be viewed in full in the article What’s new Bessie Cat, p. 13) represents both the agency and production sides of the ad industry.

‘I was looking for talented people whose work I admire,’ says Heisey, on choosing the panel. ‘I was looking for a variety of points of view and a variety of voices. I was looking for people who I thought would have credibility in the business, who I would be honored to work with, and I [found them].’

Heisey says he wanted people with little to no prior Bessie judging experience.

‘I wanted new people and not the ‘same old gang,’ ‘ he says. ‘That is no reflection on the same old gang, but we are getting some new faces in the business and it is time we recognized some of those new faces. People like David Chiavegato [Palmer Jarvis DDB, Toronto], who has won a lot of awards but had never been on a major show before, and Ian Grais [Rethink Communications], who had been on a lot of major shows but had never done the Bessies. I think with the exception of Rick Kemp, they are all first to the show.’

Even with a panel of professionals, the discussion during judging can be heated, which Heisey says is normal given the competitive nature of the show.

‘In some ways [the Bessies] is the toughest of any of the ad shows in the country because it probably gives out the fewest number of total awards,’ says Heisey. ‘A while ago the show was reformed and they took out the golds, silvers and bronzes and made fewer awards. I think that has made it a tougher show, a more credible show, and a much more valued show. Bessie is one of the toughest awards in the country to win.’

The judging was done some time ago, so Heisey and the other judges have had to sit on the secret for a while now. Heisey is pleased no information has leaked, given the gossipy nature of the industry.

‘There are some terrible mouths in our business, but I think we’ve been really successful at keeping it a secret,’ he says. ‘We’re very excited about it. There was some really good work this year.’

He goes on to say this year’s crop of spots (approximately 500 in total) was ‘just as strong as last year. I would say they are about equal in strength. I probably saw a few spots this year that I like better than last year, and there were few spots last year that I like better than this year. Remember, it’s not my point of view that picks these spots, it’s the judges’, and I would say that 99% of the [winning] spots had 99% of the judges loving them. We didn’t have any that were real splits.’

Heisey says he expected nothing less than stellar work from his Canadian peers, so it was not surprising to him to see so many quality spots not make the cut this year.

‘At the end of the day it is all just personal opinion,’ he says. ‘There is lots of great work that didn’t get in the show, but based on the judges’ opinions this is the very, very best. It doesn’t mean there wasn’t other good work because there was. There was a lot of good stuff.’

As his tenure as judging chair comes to a close, Heisey hopes at some point in the future to sit on the Bessies judging panel once again.

‘If someone would have me, I’d be delighted to do it,’ he says. ‘I love the viewing and I love the debating. I am an optimist by nature and I am an unabashed cheerleader of this country’s work. I think Canada does fantastic work by world standards; I think we have a lot of great talent here.’

The judging for Heisey doesn’t end at the Bessies, however. He will also sit on the film and television judging panel at this year’s Cannes Advertising Awards (June 18-23). *