Fallon creative director Bobby Pearce, creator of the current Citibank TV spots, "Expect Faster Rewards," has joined WestWayne as executive creative director in Atlanta. Pearce, 37, will report to Scott Sheinberg, WestWayne's chief creative officer, who has been commuting between the agency's Atlanta and Tampa offices during the six-month search. A University of Georgia graduate, Pearce considers Atlanta his home and has spent the last 13 years honing his talent at agencies including Fallon, Goodby Berlin Silverstein, Carmichael-Lynch and McCann-Erickson, where he developed

creative for clients including Budweiser, Holiday Inn Express, Ikea, Monday Night Football, MTV and Saturn.

He began his career at BBDO in Atlanta, which he left as a copywriter in 1994. "It was always in the plan for me to come back home," says Pearce. "There was a reason behind every agency move that I made. I learned radio at Doner, print at Carmichael and did some great TV at McCann in Seattle and Fallon in Minneapolis," he says. "I'm ready to start the next phase of my career at WestWayne—an agency moving in the right direction—where I can continue doing great work and help other creative people become as good as they deserve to be."

In addition to the new hire, WestWayne has also promoted a few of its own in recent weeks. Jennifer Garr has been promoted to chief operating officer at WestWayne, and will continue to run the agency's Tampa office as executive vice president, managing director. Karen Evans has been promoted from executive vice president, chief strategic officer at WestWayne to executive vice president, chief marketing officer. Tom Fuller, formerly COO, has been named chief administrative officer.

In her new role, Garr will work closely with agency president and CEO Jeff Johnson to ensure integration across disciplines, optimize staff resources, and focus the agency on business-building ideas for its clients. She joined WestWayne from Publicis' flagship office in New York, where she had been executive vice president, chief marketing officer and management director. During her career, she also worked with Leo Burnett, J. Walter Thompson, and Ammirati Puris Lintas.

As chief marketing officer, Evans will continue to drive strategic thinking and ensure that clients have a compelling marketing strategy to reach their respective goals. She recently migrated to WestWayne after spending seven years at Cliff Freeman & Partners in New York, where she developed and grew the Brand Planning department. Evans has led account and brand planning for clients including Coca-Cola, Fanta, Ameritech Cellular, Bank of America, Ore-Ira, Staples, Quiznos, Hollywood Video, and Budget Rent-a-Car.

Tom Fuller's new responsibilities include improving agency systems and processes to facilitate growth and service offerings. Fuller will also play a role in managing the agency's budget to ensure continued profitability. He has been with WestWayne since 1990; prior to that, he spent four years with Austin Kelley Advertising, Atlanta.

Not all new news coming from WestWayne is personnel-related. Copywriter Krista Hogg and art director Justin Lesinski, a creative team at WestWayne's Tampa office, won first place in the 2005 Young Creative Competition for USA Today, the U.S. Representative for the Cannes International Advertising Festival. The team's winning ad, for a program called "Principal For A Day," will represent the United States in the 24-hour international competition at the 52nd International Advertising Festival in Cannes. The independent shop's ad won out over a pool of 70 ads from other U.S. agencies including Crispin Porter + Bogusky, TBWA\Chiat\Day, Cliff Freeman & Partners, and BBDO.

As part of the Young Creative Competition — restricted to participants under 28 — the team had one week to create a print ad for the flagship program for PENCIL (Public Education Needs Civic Involvement in Learning). PENCIL was founded in 1995 to foster partnerships between local businesses in New York City and public schools. The team's ad features a photo of an open wallet with not one or two "pictures of the kids," but one hundred shots of children. The copy reads, "The Principal For a Day program is about more than money. It's about developing a long-term school partnership that you'll be proud to brag about. Because when you have a chance to make a difference, why stop at just one kid?"

As sole representatives for "Team USA," the WestWayne team will spend a full week at Cannes for the advertising festival, in which they will compete against agencies from countries across the globe. The team also earned the right to design next year's Young Creative Competition poster.