O'Connell wins nine LI ad awards

L.F. O'Connell Associates grabbed the Best of Long Island ad awards' top prize of ad campaign of the year last night, one of nine first-place prizes for the Islip-based agency.

The firm's work on behalf of Polytechnic University also won the best institutional ad campaign award. Melville-based Marchon Eyewear, which last year took home the top ad campaign award, won six first-place prizes.

Curran & Connors, the Hauppauge-based designer of annual reports and corporate literature, won six BOLI awards and the Montauk-based Blumenfeld + Fleming agency took home five.

"I've seen the work at a lot of other ad clubs and this work is on par with a lot of the other work around the country," said Mark Preiser, a partner with Walter F. Cameron Advertising and ad club president.

The 32nd annual affair, produced by the Long Island Advertising Club, was held at the Nassau Coliseum and 640 people attended. There were 1332 entries this year, and out of 80 agencies that were finalists for awards, 19 of them were first-timers. Awards were presented in 94 categories.

"There were a lof of young people last year coming in, and I think that bodes well for the industry," said T. Walker Lloyd, the ad club secretary who oversaw the event.