1936: IT ALL STARTED...

• In the depths of the Great Depression
• By Mason Barlow, a small agency guy in Chicago
• The Goals:
  • "To share experience and expertise"
  • "To provide branch office services"
  • "To help clients expand from regional to national"

1936: A humble beginning

• Originally named National Advertising and Promotion Group (NAPG)
• Began with 15 charter members
• There were no dues
• Barlow ran the show
• There were no meetings

1938: Barlow goes out of business

• NAPG records were locked in a vacated office
• Milwaukee member, Charles Meissner bribes doorman, gets records
• Meissner volunteers to lead the group
• Still no meetings, no dues

1940: First Meeting held in Chicago

• Meissner elected "National Director"
  • No salary
• $50 annual dues
• Name changed to Transamerica Advertising Agency Network (TAAN)

1941 - 42:

• Annual meetings held in Denver and St. Louis in smoke-filled rooms (ahhh the good old days!)

1943 - 45:

• No meetings during World War II
• Communication and cooperation continue

1946: Meetings resume

• Charles Bohlan (St. Louis) named National Director
• Proposes making TAAN a corporation - with him owning controlling shares
• Idea is unanimously rejected
• Bohlan quits

1949: Meet in New Orleans

• System of regional governors and regional meetings established
• One network-wide meeting per year

1950 - 1963: Steady growth

• But nobody takes notes for 13 years
• Six agencies join
• Regular meetings held

1963: Mackinac Island Meeting

• Vote to limit membership to 30 US members.

1965: Charles "Ram" Ramsey Elected to Lead

• Retired head of Phillips-Ramsey,San Diego member
• First head of network not also operating agency
• Title changed from National Director to President

1966: First International Member Joins

• Howard Panton, Ltd., London

1967: Second International Member

• Harrison Marketing Counsel, Toronto

1968: Third International Member

• Sankosha Advertising Agency, Ltd., Tokyo
• Instantly becomes TAAN's largest member

1969: First Non-US Meeting

• Hosted by Howard Panton Agency in London
• Jay Tallant's Denver agency joins (would become TAAN president 1977 - 1987)

1970: Regional Meetings Discontinued

• Decision to meet twice yearly
• Second Non-US based meeting held in Tokyo
• Jack Warner's New York agency joins (would become TAAN president 1987-1997)

1970: Consultant Hired

• To determine feasibility of incorporating as a holding company
• Finding: Not feasible due to independence and diverse personalities of members

1970: Benchmarks

• Capitalized billings: $36.4 million
• 19 members
• 283 employees
• Largest member: $4.5 million capitalized

1972: First "shared" client

• Mr. Steak, client of San Diego member
• 4 TAAN members handle regional media buying
• Budgets dry up due to franchisee disagreements

1973: TEAN Formed in Europe

• Trans Europe Advertising Agency Network
• Formed as sister network to US group
• US network changes name to Transworld Advertising Agency Network
• Network runs 3 ads in WSJ

1974: Amsterdam Joint Meeting

• TAAN President and Board of Governors attend TEAN meeting in Amsterdam
• Network consists of 19 US members
• 2 international
• Average capitalized billings: $3.6 million (about $500K AGI)

1976: Jay Tallant Elected

• Head of Denver member
• Required to extricate from agency management by end of first 5 year term
• President to be paid salary for first time

1977: TAAN / TEAN Meet

• First joint meeting held in Barcelona
• Agree to meet "periodically"

1978: New Mission Statement

• Focuses on "improvement of management systems and skills."
• Minimum size established for new members: $4-million capitalized (about $600K AGI)
• Exceptions considered

1979: Winter Meet in Hawaii

• Schedule changed from 2 day winter and 5 day summer
• New schedule: 2 full days, one half day, twice a year, spanning weekend

1979: Conflict Resolution

• Policy established governing geographic exclusivity and conflicts
• First Workshop held: In Memphis for creative directors

1979: New Services

• Computer co-op formed to create uniform accounting system
• Newsletter begun ($25 fine for not contributing)
• Expertise Audit begun

1980: TAAN / TEAN Meet in London

• 9 US members now own their own buildings
• First joint venture between US agencies: Atlanta and San Francisco handle National Pecan Marketing account
• Norman Field (London) becomes director of TEAN

1981: Pooling Resources

• Several members share costs of Dun & Bradstreet, Arbitron, Telmar services
• Executive exchanges and seminars
• Morton Simon named legal counsel

1982: Joining hands

• 4 TEAN members attend US meeting in Toronto
• Australia, Japan and Hong Kong also attend
• Gary Lessner's Hartford agency joins (would become TAAN president 1997 - 2007)

1983: First "Graduation"

• Phillips-Ramsey (San Diego) outgrows its membership
• Resigns in order to expand into existing TAAN markets
• New presidents at nearly half of agencies

1983: Sharing & Caring

• Knoxville (Davis Newman Payne) produces TV spots for several members
• Computers now being used for word processing, type-setting, research, media buying, financials
• Collections become a huge problem: Interest rates top 16%!

1985: Meeting on Cape Cod in Nor'easter

• New TAAN Plan redefines primary objective: "To promote a vital, confidential, personal resource for the CEO managing his/her agency profitably"
• Now 23 US members; 4 international

1986:

• TAAN legal counsel upgraded as Doug Wood is appointed
• Atlanta member, Bowes-Hanlon, is named by Adweek as Southeast's "hottest agency"

1987: Jack Warner, President

• Bowes-Hanlon declares bankruptcy (The lesson learned: "We believed our own PR.")
• Bill Ling hosts meeting in Hong Kong.
• First female-run agency joins (Martz, Phoenix)

1988: Managing growth

• By-Laws changed to eliminate territorial protection
• Gentlemen's Agreement to govern competition; conflicts referred to president and board of governors to arbitrate
• Guest speaker from Apple demonstrates "desktop publishing"

1989: New Service

• Dallas-based CPA named as first financial advisor to TAAN
• Average size of members: $17 million capitalized (about $2.4 million AGI)

1990:

• First (and only) TAAN agencies merge: Denver and San Francisco members join to handle Hewlett-Packard business
• Robert Jan Anjema (Netherlands) becomes president of TEAN

1991: Recession

• Major meeting topic is survival
• Rampant downsizing
• La Agencia de Orci (Los Angeles) is TAAN's first (and only) Hispanic agency
• New financial counsel: Dwyne Willis

1992: Recession Worsens

• Many members now at half size
• Dan Wieden (Wieden & Kennedy) guest speaker
• TEAN changes name to TAAN Europe
• Special workshop held: "Managing Mac in Creative & Production"

1993: Ongoing improvements

• TAAN Plan 2000 developed
• Upgrading membership and meeting content emphasized
• "Integrated marketing" new buzz phrase
• CFO Workshop held

1994: New ideas

• Meetings focus on creativity
• "Re-engineering" concept introduced as LA knocks down all walls in agency
• Other emerging issues: account planning, database marketing

1995:

• Members report increasing movement to fee-based compensation
• LA reports failure of re-engineering. Walls rebuilt.
• Two workshops held: Creativity, Productivity

1996: TAAN's 60th Anniversary!

• Lake Tahoe meeting: something called "the Internet" comes up
• CPA Jerry Langsner named new financial advisor.
• Pete Gerritsen's Boston agency joins (would become TAAN president in 2007).

1997: Transition

• Dramatic drop in membership: 3 agencies bought, 2 out of business, 1 no longer viable - only 13 remain
• Gary Lessner assumes presidency
• New members in Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Wilmington recruited

1998: Meet in Sydney

• Members vote to pay for guest speakers
• US meeting schedule changed to one full day, 2 half days
• Side trip to Great Barrier Reef
• At Napa meeting, agency websites discussed (only 2 members have one)

1999: Sankosha fails

• Largest TAAN agency ($258-million; 5 offices) collapses amid scandal
• First TAAN website developed by Allen & Gerritsen
• Email becomes dominant mode of network communication
• Most members now have websites

2000: TAAN US & Europe Unite

• At Dusseldorf meeting, Europe members vote to centralize operations with US
• TAAN president Gary Lessner to run united network; US and Europe meetings
• TAAN joins 4 other networks as charter members of Network Summit

2001: 9/11, Dot.Com Bust

• World Trade Center attack and dot.com bust suppress growth, activity for 3 years
• Agencies struggle to survive, grow, adapt to new technologies

2002: Global Meeting in Amsterdam

• Vote to hold global meetings every 3 years rather than 5
• New website goes online
• US meeting schedule changed to 3 half-days

2003: New looks

• New TAAN Plan developed: emphasis on improved meeting content, recruitment
• TAAN recruitment video shot at Kiawah Island meeting
• Two workshops held: Media Directors in Memphis, CFOs in NY

2004: Asian Expansion

• India joins - recruits new members in Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok
• Credit card payments for dues, meeting expenses now accepted

2005: Global Meeting in NYC

• Members vote to hold global meetings every 2 years
• Argentina, Brazil and Mexico City join, opening TAAN to Latin America
• CFO Workshop held in NY
• US capitalized billings: $314 million ($47 million AGI; Avg member $2.8 million)

2006: Mid-east, Africa join

• Pete Gerritsen elected to become TAAN president in 2007
• Dubai, UAE and Lagos, Nigeria join, extending TAAN's global reach to Middle East and Africa

2007: Global growth

• Global meeting in New York City attended by 28 agencies from 16 countries
• TAAN membership now at 46 agencies in 29 countries... and growing
• Pete Gerritsen is new President
• New website designed by DigitalDay, TAAN's first all-interactive agency, goes online