The Dubai Lynx International Advertising Festival juries have shortlisted 438 entries from the 2,037 entries submitted. The festival will run until Wednesday, after which festival award winners will be named. The festival has been hosting various exhibitions, workshops and seminars for the advertising and marketing industry, featuring seminars on digital media and brand engagement.

'Unethical practices' in the Arab advertising industry are the target of a new campaign by the International Advertising Association (IAA). The association hopes to address malpractice in the industry by issuing a series of guidelines. According to Lance de Masi, the president of the UAE chapter of the IAA, there are problems with both agencies and their clients. "When clients call pitches, and invite 24 agencies to participate, and then no one gets the business, that's an example of something that is wrong.

The International Advertising Association's (IAA) UAE Chapter announced the newly appointed board of directors, 2010-2012. The new board is comprised of regional professionals with a diverse range of experience across the marketing communications industry, assumed their positions effective immediately and has elected Dr. Lance de Masi, President of the American University in Dubai, as the President of the IAA UAE Chapter. Dr. de Masi will assume the position for a second term. Mr. Nassib Boueri, Chief Executive Officer (MENA) of Y&R/Wunderman was re-elected Vice President of the Board, also for a second term.

Business 24|7 reports that following this year’s Dubai Lynx event, which saw a 35% drop in participation yet still attracted over 1300 entries, it has been noticed that there is somewhat of a gap between advertising work presented at festivals and that seen on TV or in magazines, and that some of the work viewed was not familiar to the audience. Speaking to Emirates Business, Lance De Masi, President of the International Advertising Association (IAA), UAE Chapter, expected creativity in the region to achieve international standards in three to five years.

Following the events of Dubai Lynx 2009, the organisers have been in consultation with industry leaders in the MENA region and beyond. To establish the way forward industry opinion has been gathered from both the organisers of Dubai Lynx and the IAA UAE board.