Hasta La Creative!

It’s a somber day in London, where the city’s Mayor Sadiq Khan is dealing with the aftermath of yesterday’s terror attack and had to cancel his eagerly-awaited talk at Advertising Week Europe today.

Earlier in the morning, the event’s organizers who today conducted bag searches of delegates for the first time — had still expected him to appear. But later Advertising Week’s executive director, Matt Scheckner, encountered in a hallway at the venue at about noon, said Mr. Khan had been called into a British government cabinet meeting. Mr. Scheckner said Mr. Khan’s theme, in a Q&A session with a London newspaper editor, was going to be that London is open for business. (Actually, that usually is Mr. Khan’s favorite topic, particularly post-Brexit).

In his introduction to Advertising Week Europe’s 2017 program distributed at the venue, Mr. Khan, who was elected mayor last year and is the first Muslim to hold that post, wrote, “London is one of the most diverse cities on the planet. This event is a chance for the best international creative minds and global brands to talk about the future of this industry I hope you make the most of your time in London and all that our city has to offer.”

Continue reading at AdAge.com