Jaime Mandelbaum

How do you feel about Golden Drum Festival? What do you especially like about the brand, event and the general atmosphere in Portorož?

The Golden Drum holds a special place in my heart, I’ve been fortunate enough to attend the Festival for many years already and it’s a complete package which you don’t get in other shows, inspiration is in every corner there, from the sessions of the Festival to the wonderful city of Piran and the food.

What are the 3 things you would wish to see or experience at the Golden Drum Festival in 3-5 years from today?

What I would love to see there is how the Golden Drum can not only continue but elevate the global attention to the innovation and creative minds of this region, it’s something truly special and unique about this festival and this region definitely deserves more attention globally because there’s a massive pool of talent here.

What are 3 things you wish to see happen in the creative advertising industry in 3, 5 or 10 years from today?

Less infatuation with the latest thing proclaiming the death of whatever it was prior to that, regain focus on who we are speaking with, not the channel through which we do it.

How do you see New Europe as a creative community? What would you wish to keep and what to change?

The region needs to maintain its talent, continue on a path of innovation otherwise it will start losing more and more people to the tech industry which has been already attracting young talent in the past few years across the region.

On a more personal note: Who were/are your idols? Who did/do you want to learn from? Did you have any mentors, teachers on the job that you would like to point out (and also thank)?

I’ve got a frame with a quote behind my table from a fellow countryman of mine Ayrton Senna and it says:

“I have no idols, I admire work, dedication and competence.”

Of course having a quote like that is a contradiction in itself because I do admire Senna, in my formative years he was one of the only things and figures that showed Brazilians we were capable of greater things, that we are not inferior and we should be proud, he did that in times which there was very little to be proud of.

Childhood dreams? What did you want to be, to achieve before you’ve decided on your career? Did you ever get to realize your dreams? How come?

Until I was 14 I was dead set on being an astronaut, until I went to Cape Canaveral in Florida and found out I had to be really good at math so that was the end of it for me.

After that I’ve set my mind in advertising, I’ve started working when I was 16 years old and loved it so much I used to skip school to go to client meetings, still love it to this day and unlike astronauts we don’t have to piss inside our suits which is also a huge plus.