Welcome to the official AAF Dallas page. Check back often for the latest news, photos and events from AAF Dallas. https://forms.gle/GoTJ3QtPikbCmLW16
05/15/2025
New date, new time, new lower ticket price! Our 2025 Trends event is back on and buzzier than ever.
Join AAF Dallas and a five-star panel of speakers for a far-ranging discussion about food, travel and tourism.
With the Texas Michelin Guide debuting in 2024, these topics have never been more timely. So come learn from the experts as they dig in to everything from how food and travel trends shape consumer behavior to how brands leverage these industries for storytelling. And gain a deeper understanding of the role Dallas advertising and marketing professionals play in this evolving landscape.
The Flavor of Travel:
Michelin, Hospitality & the New Tourism Economy
Tuesday, May 27, 4 p.m.
Medium Giant, 1954 Commerce St., Dallas, TX
Wine & light bites provided
Use metered street parking if available, or park in the garage at 208 S. Harwood St. next to the Dallas Morning News building and bring ticket for validation.
We are beyond thrilled to announce this year’s Luminary Award winners! These incredible women blaze new trails, empower everyone around them and inspire the next generation with outstanding talent, leadership and innovation.
Alice Kendrick, Ph.D, Southern Methodist University
Alicia Conner, See Pictures Productions
Amanda Jackson, LERMA/
Asha Gopalan Ramirez, Multiview
Carrie Davis, Communities Foundation of Texas
Deja Sanders, Our Bodega
Jackie Fernandez, Truth Marketing + Media
Jacqueline Hoyos, Moroch
Jan Marie Ballard, Texas Christian University
Jennifer Krajcirovic, Mouser Electronics
Jennifer Walker, Visit Dallas
Lee Hackett, East Texas A&M University
Marian Leonard, Arm Candy
Maureen Ealy, PMG
Meghan McPartland-Krakauer, TRG
Natalie Yancy, The Dallas Morning News & Medium Giant
Rhonda Contreras, TRG
Sarah Franks, Plot Twist Creativity
Taylor Torcellini, Twisted X
Val De Fex, The Infinite Agency
Want to show your support for the most remarkable women in Dallas advertising? Purchase a table or sponsorship package at https://aafdallas.org/online-events/ =148&wid=801&cid=1733
And make plans to join us for the Luminary Awards gala:
Date: Friday, June 13th
Time: 6 p.m. – 10 p.m.
Location: American Airlines Campus, 4501 Hwy 360, Fort Worth, TX 76155
04/30/2025
Tonight's AAF Dallas Flavor of Travel Trends event has been grounded thanks to all the storms here in DFW. We'll keep you posted on the rescheduled date.
04/28/2025
FIVE DAYS LEFT to submit your Luminary Awards nomination!
Don’t miss your chance to shine a spotlight on the most remarkable women in Dallas advertising. They’re the ones who blaze a trail for others to follow, empowering everyone around them and inspiring the next generation with outstanding talent, leadership and innovation.
The rain has come and gone, and now it’s time for you to bloom. Students, join AAF Dallas and Ad 2 Dallas for our free speed mentoring event on a new date.
Learn how to grow your professional skills from some of the area’s top marketers. Plus, every attendee gets a complimentary headshot, courtesy of American Airlines.
The Spring Career Fling
Wednesday, April 23 @ 4 p.m.
The Wild Detectives
314 W. Eighth St.
Dallas, TX 75208
04/15/2025
AAF Dallas is hosting a five-star panel of speakers for a far-ranging discussion about food, travel and tourism. And we’re saving you a seat at the table.
With the Texas Michelin Guide debuting in 2024, these topics have never been more timely. So come learn from the experts as they dig in to everything from how food and travel trends shape consumer behavior to how brands leverage these industries for storytelling. And gain a deeper understanding of the role Dallas advertising and marketing professionals play in this evolving landscape.
The Flavor of Travel:
Michelin, Hospitality & the New Tourism Economy
Wednesday, April 30, 5:45 p.m.
Medium Giant, 1954 Commerce St., Dallas, TX
Wine & light bites provided
Use metered street parking if available, or park in the garage at 208 S. Harwood St. next to the Dallas Morning News building and bring ticket for validation.
ONE WEEK LEFT to apply for a scholarship worth up to $2,000.
The 2025 AAF Dallas Foundation Scholarship is open to advertising and marketing students across North Texas, supporting the next generation of our industry. And if you’re a college sophomore or junior, or working toward a master’s degree, you could qualify.
The extended submission deadline is April 15, so apply today!
04/03/2025
April showers are good for the flowers, but not our speed mentoring event. Due to weather concerns, we are postponing the Spring Career Fling. Stay tuned—we’ll share a new date soon!
03/27/2025
Women are a powerful force in our industry. So for 2025, AAF Dallas is building on the legacy of the Shining Stars awards with a complete reimagining that brings even more energy and prestige to this important event.
Presenting the Luminary Awards: recognizing 10 remarkable women who are creating a vibrant future for Dallas advertising. They blaze a trail for others to follow, empowering everyone around them and inspiring the next generation with outstanding talent, leadership and innovation.
Whether you're a college sophomore or junior, or working toward a master's degree, you could qualify for a scholarship worth up to $2,000. The 2025 AAF Dallas Foundation Scholarship is open to advertising and marketing students across North Texas, supporting the next generation of our industry.
The submission deadline has been extended to April 15, so apply today!
03/24/2025
Students, it’s your time to bloom. Join AAF Dallas and Ad 2 Dallas for a free group speed mentoring event where some of the area’s top marketers will teach you how to grow in new ways. Plus, every attendee gets a free professional headshot, courtesy of American Airlines.
Be the first to know and let us send you an email when AAF Dallas posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
What’s done is history. What’s ahead is challenge. In pausing to celebrate its 100th anniversary by tracing the course of what has happened to date, the Dallas Advertising League can point with pride to the many significant accomplishments of the past in the lives and works of the members who created the League and made it grow.
By reviewing the past, the Dallas Advertising League can find inspiration and guidance for ever-increasing achievement in the future. This is not a full chronicle of that century of progress, only a brief look at some of the ways the Dallas Ad League has helped shape the enormous economic prosperity experienced in Dallas, and the impact made throughout the American Advertising Federation and District 10.
Nine of the DAL’s eleven charter members gathered on June 17, 1908, planning to work for safer and saner advertising in Dallas. Includes George Baker, first president, along with Gus Thomasson; Fred Johnson of Johnson Printing Co.; Albert Chaney, Titche-Goettinger Ad Manager; Richard Haughton, Founder of Haughton Brothers Printers; James Kirkland, Ad Manager Sanger Brothers; and Doc Wynn, Owner of Dallas’ first advertising agency.
In the Beginning
Shortly after the turn of the century, eleven Dallas businessmen gathered with ideas to promote Dallas and to work for better values in advertising. They called themselves the Dallas Advertising League. The group stated that one of its main purposes was “to suppress fake and scheme advertising,” because fraudulent advertising was running rampant in Dallas at the time. They intended to improve the quality of advertising in Dallas and inspire confidence of the public in advertising’s truthfulness.
As the voice of advertising, the DAL, which was created in 1908, became the principal force in the advertising industry, working toward the development and enforcement of a code of ethics that promoted good taste and truth in advertising. Now, a century later, the DAL is still committed to the principles envisioned by its early pioneers.
Fred Johnson, the dynamic and energetic second DAL president, used his extensive printing operations, which also included an advertising agency, to help form advertising clubs in other cities. He also arranged for the DAL’s membership in AACOA (Associated Advertising Clubs of America) which is now the AAF (American Advertising Federation).
To learn more about the AAF Dallas and its rich heritage, visit AAFDallas.org.
