American Advertising Awards Judges
THIS YEAR, WE HIT THE JACKPOT!
The judges for our 2026 AAF Spokane Awards were well-credentialed, highly-skilled, and enthusiastic to see what is coming out of the Inland Northwest!
meet the judges
SCOTT OSTMAN
SIOUX FALLS, SD
Scott Ostman is a veteran creative leader with over four decades of experience shaping brands, campaigns, and stories across a wide range of industries. A former VP of Creative at Epicosity in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Creative Director at other agencies throughout the Midwest, Scott has led award-winning work spanning banking, healthcare, tourism, manufacturing, agriculture, hospitality, and non-profit organizations.
Known for blending strategic rigor with sharp creative instincts, Scott has overseen everything from brand positioning and integrated campaigns to video production. His work has earned more than 400 American Advertising Awards, 50 national Telly Award finalist honors, and numerous national recognitions for effectiveness and impact.
Scott has served as an American Advertising Awards judge since 1991, evaluating creative work in markets across the United States. He is also a former adjunct faculty member, teaching advertising, marketing, and campaign strategy at the university level. In 2016, he was honored with the South Dakota Advertising Federation’s Creative Legacy Award.
Now retired from agency life, Scott brings a seasoned, thoughtful, and creatively demanding perspective to judging, valuing work that is strategically sound, emotionally resonant, and unmistakably well-crafted.
TAYLOR POTTS
FORT WORTH, TX
Taylor Potts is a sixth-generation Texan based in Fort Worth, Texas, with deep roots in ranching, Western heritage and Texas culture. He began his career in graphic design in the early 2000s during the industry’s transition from analog to digital, an experience that shaped his appreciation for craft, process and execution. Over the past two decades, he has built a career spanning brand identity, campaigns, video, photography and integrated marketing, with a consistent focus on work that is both strategically grounded and visually distinctive.
Taylor has served as a Creative Director and Executive Producer across agency and in-house environments, leading multidisciplinary teams and overseeing work for heritage brands, healthcare organizations, financial institutions and consumer-facing companies. His background in design expanded early into film and photography, giving him a strong point of view on storytelling, aesthetics and production quality across channels. A five-time national AAF award recipient, he helped earn AAF Fort Worth its first Best of Show recognition at the multi-state district level in the organization’s 115-year history. Drawing on his experience, Taylor also served as a storytelling consultant on the billion-dollar redevelopment of the historic Fort Worth Stockyards.
In addition to his client work, Taylor has served on the Fort Worth Film Commission Marketing Advisory Committee, helping support and attract film and television production in Texas. His involvement coincides with the state’s growing presence in film and television, including productions such as Landman and feature films like The Green Knight, reinforcing Fort Worth and Texas as authentic backdrops for modern storytelling.
Today, he is a Multimedia Creative Director at Balcom Agency in Fort Worth, Texas, where he continues to lead creative and marketing efforts while building new ventures at the intersection of brand, culture and technology, guided by a distinctly Texan perspective rooted in independence, craftsmanship and story.
CARL VERVISCH
TAMPA, FL
My professional mission is to tell stories that matter.
More than two decades into my career, I’m happy to say that’s the sole focus of my work, creating short-form documentary films with narrative storytelling and biographical content from my home office in Tampa, Florida.
I’m a Michigan native, a proudly married cat dad, and I haven’t had a boss in 17 years.
Life is good.