Commentary

Paul Venables Named Winner Of The 2016 Hal Riney Award For Excellence

Venables Bell & Partners Founder and Chairman Paul Venables is being named by the SF Bay Area Innovation Group winner of the 2016 Hal Riney Award For Excellence, a distinguishing honor given for extraordinary contributions to the advertising industry. Venables will receive this honor at the 8th annual Hal Riney Dinner and Silent Auction on November 16 at the San Francisco City Club.

Venables Bell & Partners is, of course, one of the industry's leading agencies. To wit, in January 2016, the agency was named to Ad Age’s list of top 10 U.S. agencies in the magazine’s annual A-List issue. Over the course of its existence, the agency has worked with well-known brands such as PlayStation, Celebrity Cruises, Blue Moon, adidas, REI, Reebok, Intel, SKYY Vodka, Audi of America, Google and the Phillips 66 Company to its roster. 

Of this honor, Venables said: "Thank you to sfBIG for this tremendous honor. Hal Riney has been a longtime inspiration to me because he was someone who was able to accomplish great things while staying true to his convictions. I’m especially grateful that this award will support a student’s endeavors, and I hope that she or he will be inspired to forge their own gratifying path in our industry as both Hal and I have been lucky enough to be able to do.”

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Eight years ago, sfBIG introduced the Hal Riney Icons of Marketing Award to recognize the talented people who have helped contribute to and create this legacy of innovation from which the industry at large is able to benefit. sfBIG named the event in recognition of the late Hal Riney, whose agency was arguably the first to put San Francisco creativity and innovation on the map.

So far, sfBIG has recognized amazing leaders from across the industry. In its first year, sfBIG recognized Jeff Goodby, co-founder of Goodby Silverstein who shared his experiences working for his mentor Hal. Other recipients have included Louis Rossetta and Jane Metcalf, founders of Wired Magazine, Deborah Contrad, CMO of Intel, John Battelle, Author, organizer of Web 2.0 and founder of Federated Media, Tom Bedecarre, Chairman of AKQA and President of WPP Ventures, Larry Kramer President and Publisher of USA Today and last year Willie Brown, Former San Francisco Mayor.

Congratulating Venables on his win, sfBIG President Kelly Burke said, "We are delighted to recognize Paul Venables, Founder and Chairman of Venables Bell & Partners, one of the top ad agencies in the United States. We are so fortunate to honor this man, who represents the best of what Hal Riney brought to the table in advertising:  insights, intelligence, and inspiration in the creative process. It will be a special night for sfBIG to honor this man and his work."

Kudos, Paul.

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