While yours truly languishes in the humidity shrouding NYC as of now, we’ll be receiving daily Cannes reports from one Chris Zander, managing director/partner at Venice, CA-based prodco, Backyard. As he awaits his flight to the French Riviera, Zander, who will be be going rogue in a sense for the duration of this year’s Cannes Lions, tells us in his first submission, why go in the first place? Consider this an introduction post more than anything if you will. Stay tuned and you can follow Zander at @realchriszander.

Tonight, I’ll be on Delta 82 to Nice with half of the advertising world.  The next five days will be a whirlwind of dinners, drinks, villa parties, networking, late night dancing and late morning jogs.  This year my travel partner will be Kris Mathur, my good friend, Backyard’s esteemed executive producer, and the real Most Interesting Man in the World.

If you want the Cannes Ad Festival updates, you are in the wrong place.  I won’t be buying a delegate pass.  I tried going “official”  one year, and went to multiple sanctioned events.  It wasn’t for me.  I discovered that short list screenings were a perfect opportunity to catch up on sleep.

My guess is that at least half of the annual attendees are in Cannes as unofficial delegates.  Walk around the Gutter Bar before the sun comes up next Sunday morning, and you may see one or two happy people carrying around Gold Lions…maybe.  Trust me: if the crowd was limited to the award winners and delegates, the festival wouldn’t be nearly as fun, crowded, and colorful, and almost everybody would be asleep by midnight.  There would be nobody in the street to pose for pictures with the Leopard Ladies.  The energy level would be severely reduced, and the opportunity to be taken on day trips to Saint Tropez would we greatly diminished.

Read more

-McCann’s two-year-old B2B unit Enterprise, which is led by managing director Stephen Meade and creative director Will Shepherd, has now expanded globally with offices in Singapore and Munich. Expect more Enterprise branches to open next year.

-Let’s watch Apple’s SVP of industrial design Jonathan Ive talk iPhone 5, shall we? link

-Director Noah Conopask signed to the global roster of The Sweet Shop.

-One-year-old, New York-based VFX boutique Light of Day welcomed Nice Shoes alum James Collins as director of 3D.

-MEA Digital, which has offices in NYC, San Diego and Chicago, has changed its name and branding to Piston. link

-The Effie Worldwide crew has announced the call for entries for the 2013 North American Effies, which will feature new categories including Multi-Demographic, Olympics Marketing and Health. link

-The heartbeats of children in Malawi and Guatemala inspire a new OneRepublic song as part of a new, pro bono campaign from BBDO New York (above). link

-Commercial production vet Chris Zander has joined bi-coastal prodco Backyard as a partner. link

-Hollywood commercial production studio Picrow added British director Peter Lydon to its roster.