In an Australian-first, Sydney media agencies will participate in an agency shutdown on 17 October to attend MFA EX: Media For All, an all-day Effectiveness Expo that culminates in the new-look MFA Awards night.

Media agencies, marketers, publishers and tech partners will participate in 20+ sessions at MFA EX, curated to highlight ground-breaking media thinking, innovation, people development and best practice in driving marketing effectiveness.

Content submissions are open to all, with streams for MFA member agencies, media partners and up-and-coming media talent with less than 15 years’ experience; all designed to educate and inspire the industry to continue pushing to greater heights in delivering effectiveness for client partners.

The expo will kick off at 9 am on Thursday 17 October, followed by the MFA Awards gala dinner in the evening.

The revamped MFA Awards return in 2019 with a similar focus on effectiveness; recognising and rewarding work that has delivered tangible brand and business results for clients in the short and long term.

The MFA Awards feature a more focused list of categories, with 19 awards to be handed out on the night – consisting of 17 entered categories and the Grand Prix and Hall of Fame – down from 26 categories in previous years.

Categories will be split into three new pillars: ‘Outcomes’ (4 categories), ‘Execution’ (7) and ‘People and Community’ (6).

Industry verticals have been removed altogether, replaced by categories including Brand Impact, Commercial Impact, Behaviour Change, Bravery, and Long-Term Transformation.

There will be an increased emphasis on effectiveness and transparency in the judging process, including a 50 per cent weighting towards results; greater qualification of the contribution of media specifically; and the opportunity to request additional information and clarification.

Judging panels will be more diverse and announced publicly; judges’ feedback will be provided on all entries, and the final selection of the winner by each panel will be done with a blind vote through a third party.

MFA CEO, Sophie Madden said: “The MFA Awards have a long history of celebrating the most creative, effective media thinking in Australia.

“But after two decades, we felt it was important to reset our objectives and create an entirely new awards program and event that shifted our focus to media effectiveness and business outcomes for clients.

“The revamped MFA Awards incorporate feedback from over 800 individuals across media agencies, media owners and advertisers – making the MFA awards a true industry awards program, designed by the people whose work we are celebrating.”

Omnicom MediaGroup CEO and MFA Chair, Peter Horgan added: “The MFA board is excited to be launching the revamped MFA Awards and the accompanying event, MFA EX: Media For All.

“This initiative will demonstrate media agencies’ contribution to achieving tangible, long-lasting results for clients.

“This is an important event for our industry, which is why we’ve agreed on an agency shutdown to ensure everyone is there to learn from best practice and to celebrate the most creative, effective media thinking in Australia.”

Mindshare chief strategy officer and MFA Awards chair, Joe Lunn said: “By creating and combining these two events, we now have a platform to showcase the work and the value we bring to our client partners.

“We’re giving everyone a voice to educate and inspire our industry to deliver world-class effectiveness, and then celebrating the very best work that has done exactly that.”

The MFA Awards are open for entries until 30 July. Download the entry criteria on the MFA website.