As we mentioned last week, the Ad Club honored Peter Vaz with its Lifetime Achievement Award, a distinction he certainly deserves.  We took some time to talk with Peter as part of our One On One series right after he gave his heartfelt acceptance speech.

Profectio – What was your first thought when you heard the news?

PV – I was surprised, made sure they had the correct person (laughs).  It is good to be recognized, but I was not expecting it.  The fact that I was winning a “lifetime” achievement award made me stop and think.

Profectio – What are (3) of your biggest moments of pride throughout your career so far?

PV – Launching the first digital program with RBC, it was on 3.5″ floppy discs, I recall raising my hand telling my President that I wanted to lead that project, I saw this as my foot in the door, my “ah ha” moment of what I wanted to do with my career.  Second, there was a pitch to GM (GM in the US, as there was no GM Canada marketing department at that time) to do a search campaign with Google.  After two years, they were still the only automotive company who invested in search. I also remember back in 2003 we had launched the Onstart campaign with TELUS, it was a huge success and gave us all great learnings.

Profectio – Any advice for the next generation of professionals?

PV – This is the generation that has grown up with the digital medium, it is second nature to them.  Have a curiosity approach, don’t just do it because it is your job, and ask a lot of questions.  Never stop learning!

Profectio – What is the biggest surprise to you over the last 5 years?

PV – I knew digital would be big, but did not think it would be bigger than television.  A senior sales person once said to me that by working in digital, I’m working myself out of a job (laughs).