MUMBAI: The Asian Federation of Advertising Associations (AFAA) recently conducted the inaugural Fast Track Professional Excellence Programme for 25 young professionals from Asia Pacific.

Originally conceived and announced in 2012, the Fast Track programme took place on 22 to 24 February at Swiss Garden Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. The 3-day training covered both personal and professional development to nurture the 25 participants to become extraordinary professionals and leaders in the advertising and marketing industry.

The training included participants from India, Taiwan, Indonesia, Korea, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Malaysia. When asked about the program, all 25 participants said that they were satisfied with the program, with 18 participants saying they were "Totally Satisfied."

When asked about the training, Diana Chew, Brand Executive at McCann Erickson, Malaysia, said, "The activities got us so well connected and we learnt so much. There is realisation, self reflection, spontaneous action and closeness among all the participants!" Other participants agreed, praising the activities, trainers and the personal development module alike. "It was an honour to spend so much time with such truly wonderful people," says Dorab Ghadiali, Account Manager at Madision India. "You?ve managed to do what I never imagined possible."

The next Fast Track edition is scheduled to come in the third quarter of 2014 in Bali. It will be held over three and a half days, and will accommodate up to 40 participants across Asia Pacific.

Mumbai: The Asian Federation of Advertising Associations (AFAA) held their first executive committee meeting at Kuala Lumpur on 22nd May 2012.

Newly elected Chairman of AFAA Pradeep Guha said ?there was a sense of purpose and urgency at the meeting?.

Following its new mandate the Executive Committee of AFAA has planned out a slew of initiatives that would be rolled out in the months ahead.

The first one is a skills re-orientation initiative that would be held in September in Kuala Lumpur where young professionals would be exposed to a program that has been carefully crafted keeping in mind the needs of our profession. The Advertising Council of India (ACI) which represents India on the AFAA International Council would be setting in motion a process to send three young professionals representing advertising, media and marketing respectively to attend
this program.

There would be a master class conducted by senior professionals with 30 students from countries all over Asia. This would provide a unique cross-cultural flavor to the program which would benefit the participants enormously.