Parts of Victoria, Australia are currently being ravaged by bush fires. The worst the country has ever seen. The good news though is that the ease of donating online has meant that people have coughed up almost $1m an hour in the last few days.

If you can help out, be sure to click on the link below:

Applications for AWARD School 2009 are now open.

AWARD School is a course about ideas, creative thinking and the process involved with coming up with great ideas and ultimately good ads. AWARD School invites lecturers and tutors from some of the most talented pool of people working in the industry. There are currently around 85% of working creatives who have completed the course.

Past students of AWARD School include David Droga, Leo Premutico and Matt Eastwood

The 16-week part time course runs from March to July each year across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Hobart. The course consists of a Monday evening lecture and Thursday evening tutorial.

Applicants will have two weeks to complete their submission, and anyone (Australia, NZ/Asia) can apply. All work must be submitted hand drawn. The names of successful applicants will be
posted on the AWARD School website in early February.

The brief for this year's News Limited AWARD School is available to download here

AdWeek's predictions for what will be the sweet spots for our industry this coming year.

I throughly enjoyed Trendwatching's 2008 report and their 2009 report is here. I haven't had time to read mine but that's what weekends are for.

Not only that but throughout the year they continued to update the report with new sections and new videos. It's a pretty slick operation. The report is made to make it easy to slip their findings into your own presentations. There is the usual vox pop videos with consumers too. These I always find interesting.

If you only buy one trend report this year make it this one :) Considering the minimal cost it's worth more than attending a local conference for one day. Minus the free lunch.

The Australian Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB) has published it's annual list of the most complained about ads in 2008. Unsurprisingly an ad for Kotex Tampons that featured a women taking her Beaver to the beach, shopping and getting a manicure drew the most number of complaints - 185 out of a total 2350 received.

Watch the ad

Despite the complaints, Kotex produced two more sequels -

The ad that received the second highest number of complaints was 'Manning Toppings' for Dominos Pizza which features a Mary Poppins inspired character saying 'It's SuperCalaFreakinAwsome!'. It's unclear whether the complaints were regarding the language or the poor acting. (we hope the later)