There is no word quite as versitile as the Australian "mate". Down under they can use it to mean almost anything, for example mate number eight means "Liar" and mate number three means "this is actually seriously bad news and I have nothing else to say". My personal favorite is mate number eighteen, as I've used it a lot.

BMF Melbourne is bringing back a famous Australian advertising icon: SOLO Man. Gone for over 20 years, the new campaign is a take on SOLO's history and shows how the Australian legend began.

"Our aim was to reinstate SOLO as the best reward for a big thirsty effort, and we felt there's no better man to deliver this message than SOLO Man. He's demonstrated SOLO's thirst crushing powers to generations of Aussie men, so we're really excited to see this campaign introduce a new chapter in his history." sad Meg Terrill, SOLO Brand Manager.

In todays Ad Chat we get to pick the brains of Fernanda Romano, the self-described geek and all-round creative who has been Creative Director at JWT, Global Creative Director Digital and Experiential at Euro RSCG, and even spotted in Madrid as Global Creative Director at Lola Lowe. Starting her ad career in Brazil she's been bouncing around the world ever since, and she did us the solid of replying to questions while on a flight somewhere above a large body of water. Dedication. She has it. You can track her down by following her twitter at @fefaromano

What's your favorite funny story about yourself?

When I got into university, as it's customary in Brasil, I had to go asking for money in the streets to buy the senior students booze (yes, we do that).

Dave Trott is the Creative Director of CSTTG, which is but one of the London ad agencies that he has left his initial on. He blogs frequently at http://www.cstthegate.com , tweets at @davetrott , just published the book called creative mischief and actually laughed at my little doodle-portrait of him seen in this comment thread. In short, he's a sport.

What's your favorite funny story about yourself?
Ever since I first met my Chinese wife, whenever we've been shopping together, I always said she spends too much. She always says "Don't worry, kyum si sai." I always thought 'kyum si sai' meant 'honey' or 'sweetie' or 'darling' in Chinese. Years later her brother told me it means 'stingy shit'.

In this weeks ad chat we catch up with Vegas-tripping Executive Creative Director of RR Partners, Arnie DiGeorge - who fesses up to leaving the iron on in his @arnied twitter bio. He's burning down the house.

What's your favorite funny story about yourself?
I won a contest singing the old Miller High Life song in college (When it's time to relax). I guess that was my start in advertising.

What piece of art (movie, book, music, painting, etc) has influenced you most? How or why?
My favorite movie is Dr. Strangelove. Sometimes I think advertising is strategic lunacy. And that movie is smart, strategic lunacy. One of my favorite quotes ever -- President Merkin Muffley: Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room.

Some things are even scarier than ghosts and zombies. In honor of Halloween, here's a list of 10 things that can scare the bagezus out of Creatives (in no particular order).

1. Moving deadlines--especially those that move closer, rather than farther away.
2. Computer crashes, a.k.a. the color wheel of death--especially if the work hasn't been saved.
3. Clients who think they are creative. They say their line or visual idea is just an example, but you know they really want you to use it.
4. There's no beer left in the kitchen fridge. Or bottle of booze in your desk. Or your AD/CW's desk. Or our Account person's desk.
5. Being forced to use Comic Sans. Because it's the brand font.
6. Being told to modify an idea someone else did that was cool and retrofit it to the project.

For those of you who have been following along, we've begun to change up some of the questions in Ad Chat. And now it's time to get to know Andy Kinsella, Innovation Director at Glue Isobar. Keep up with him on his blog at http://www.andykinsella.com/ or on The Twitter at @hellokinsella.

What’s your favorite funny story about yourself?
At my first glue Xmas party I attempted to take a swan dive off the boat into the blackness of the River Thames....dressed as a rapper. There’s been a few. Most aren’t for broadcast.

Which piece of art (movie, book, music, painting, etc) has influenced you the most? How or why?

Welcome to a new week and another ad chat. This week we tapped Koert Bakker, the Director of Strategy at Victors & Spoils, though he originally hails from Amsterdam. He blogs quite a bit about planning, strategy and advertising at koertbakker.com and you can stalk him on twitter at @koertbakker.

What’s your favorite funny story about yourself?
At my first job as a junior planner at BBDO I wore a suit for the first three weeks.

Which piece of art (movie, book, music, painting, etc) has influenced you the most? How or why?

At the Friars club where they've have parlayed one hundred years of antics into a legendary reputation, and all the walls seems to have hidden doors leading to Narnia, Rick Boyko was getting ready to be properly skewered by drinking large glasses of red wine and laughing at the bobble-heads made in his liking. "It doesn't even look like me!" he complained, making the same exact face as the skinny little bobble-head.

Give it up for our dear friend and sharp-as-a-tack creative, Evan Brown, Sr. Copywriter at TBWA\Chiat\Day. Get to know him a bit better by following him on Twitter at @strawberrycough.

Let's get it started...

What's your favorite funny story about yourself?
Three days after 9/11, I was in London, walking with a friend when we were stopped by some BBC reporters. I thought they wanted to interview us about what happened and started to panic. But they were doing a show on Britain's best loved children's poems. They asked us to read the first stanza of "On The Ning Nang Nong." I ended up reading it jointly with my friend to hide my non-Britishness. Wait. Was it supposed to be a "ha ha" funny story?

It's Monday again. Didn't that weekend go by fast? Let's get to know a friend of Adland.tv, Darryl Ohrt, Executive Creative Director of Carrot, NYC, and Adverveblog.com -er. You can also listen in to his thoughts, wisdom and more at twitter @darrylohrt.

We're kicking off our first Ad Chat of October with Dena Walker, Digital Strategist at Irish International in Dublin, Ireland. Follow her on Twitter at @curlydena or keep up with her at her blog at http://www.curlydena.com.

And now, on with the questions...

What's your favorite funny story about yourself?
As a young Account Exec, I once had to dress up as a giant sperm & run, with er, purpose, at Tamara Ingram, the then CEO of McCann-Erickson UK.

What piece of art (movie, book, music, painting, etc) has influenced you most? How or why?

Hello Monday. Today we chat with Bernie Watt, copywriter extraordinary at Make in Sydney, Australia. Give him a follow on The Twitter at @berniegerm or check out his blog at http://berniewatt.tumblr.com.

And now, on with the questions...

What's your favorite funny story about yourself?
It's not that funny, but I used to play in a punk band and an orchestra (not simultaneously, but at the same time)

What piece of art (movie, book, music, painting, etc) has influenced you most? How or why?
The animation of Terry Gilliam (Monty Python). It was surreal and removed the need for a definitive narrative. It is the thing that turns Monty Python from a disjointed sketch comedy into a piece of genius. Through his work, I discovered many of the great artists.

Running a bit late this week, but what else is new in this biz? This week we hear from Vincent Vella, ECD, who previously worked at Grey, Euro RSCG and Publicis.

What's your favorite funny story about yourself?
I'm not funny at all

What piece of art (movie, book, music, painting, etc) has influenced you most? How or why?
Undoubtedly the work of Marcel Duchamp. When I discovered his Readymades, I was about 13 years old. Suddenly I understood what a "concept" was. How a simple idea could grow, live outside and beyond of a vehicle, and be truly subversive. This is probably the trigger that made me turn to contemporary art, and then to advertising.

Gideon and fan Liat in Cannes this summer

This week we put Gideon Amichay, Creative Chairman of Shalmor Avnon Amichay Y&R Tel Aviv in our spotlight. You can find his blog at gideonamichay.com, and if you're lucky you'll pass him on the Croisette in Cannes as he cruises along eating ice-cream and he'll high-five you as you walk past each other (I am that kind of lucky, that was funny Gideon).

What's your favorite funny story about yourself?
My first career was as a cartoonist.

What piece of art (movie, book, music, painting, etc) has influenced you most? How or why?
The Fountainhead, the book and the movie. The book is about believing in your way and follow it till the end.

Photo © Adrian Chan

I had the pleasure of hanging out with Richard Tseng for a bit in Cannes, discussing everything between heaven and earth related to advertising, new media, story-telling, ideas and ethics, and I think he's a razor sharp guy. He's currently freelancing at CP+B in Toronto as a copywriter. You can find all his web-stuff on richtseng.com and follow @richardtseng on twitter.

What's your favorite funny story about yourself?
I was once chased for 3 blocks by 5 gangsta drug dealers because, when I walked by their alley and they told me they had what I wanted, I pretended to mistake them for gay prostitutes offering their services. I used to be a crazy asshole whenever I got drunk.

Monday yet again, and today we get a funny story and the urge to dance from Claudiu Florea, Managing Partner at Wunderkid in Romania.

What's your favorite funny story about yourself?
Losing my wedding ring into the sea while skinny dipping during a holiday in Bulgaria. Although at the time the sun was setting and the visibility was low, with the help of one of my friends who bought a torch, we manage to find it on the sea bed, only losing it again from euphoria closer to the shore. We recovery it immediately and went along to celebrate 'till dawn.

What piece of art (movie, book, music, painting, etc) has influenced you most? How or why?
Homo Ludens by Johan Huizinga because: "Man only plays when in the full meaning of the word he is a man, and he is only completely a man when he plays."

This week we bend the ear of fellow viking Snorre Martinsen, who seems to have the itch to travel. He's a senior creative at Saatchi & Saatchi Oslo, and can be found tweeting away at @snorrem when he's not planning viking raids in far-off lands.

What's your favorite funny story about yourself?
When I was born my mother was given the choice of either naming me Snorre, or Hårek. Hårek beeing the name of a drunken, fat viking cartoon my father thought brilliant in the early 70's.

What piece of art (movie, book, music, painting, etc) has influenced you most? How or why?

This week we chat with Laura Jordan Bambach, the executive creative director at LBi, seen on twitter as @laurajaybee. She's up for election as a D&AD Executive, her profile is here and you can hop over to vote here.

What's your favorite funny story about yourself?
- Hmm. reasonably common knowledge now I suppose, but I am a trained taxidermist. I learnt it to work in a taxidermy shop; as a way of funding my university studies in Sydney. Before you ask, it was the only store between my share-house and uni campus, so it seemed like a good idea...

It's Monday and that means Ad chat where we poke at adpeeps to see what inspires them. This week we talk to Simon White, Creative Lead at RAPP London, and punmeister extraordinaire.

What's your favorite funny story about yourself?

I once saw Brian May (Queen guitarist) outside M&C Saatchi where I was working and called him by his wife's name (Anita Dobson); it's a joke in the UK that they have the same hair. He stared me out for about 5 minutes while his friends tried to drag him away.