The American Advertising Awards, or ADDYS, took place Feb. 22 in Des Moines. Students and professionals submit work to this event and their pieces are scored and presented at the awards ceremony, where the agency or student is given a trophy to honor their success.

To receive an award, you must first submit your work into the competition.

Next, the judges will take over, scoring the piece on a scale from 1 to 100, with 100 being the highest score. 

Because the pieces are all scored on the same scale, it is not guaranteed that an individual is able to win the category it is placed in simply if it is the only one. 

The individual earns more points based on the quality, creativity and execution of his/her piece.

The director of the awards event, Shelana Laing, describes this as being similar to the grading system. She says if you reach a certain number, you receive a certain reward.

Similarly, if you reach a certain percentage, she says, you reach an “A” or “B,” et cetera.

The judges perform the grunt work a month ahead of time, which takes about two days. 

They may watch your video over and over again to score it based on how they see fit.

Judges submit their scores back to prepare for the event.

At the event, names are called and the winners join the master of ceremony for a quick snapshot with their now-claimed trophy.