Ad2 Phoenix continued a 47-year tradition by presenting the highly-coveted J. Terry Groener "Ad Person of the Year" award to Matthew Owens, partner at Owens Harkey Advertising, in recognition of his many years of providing advertising industry excellence and his ongoing dedication to making a positive impact throughout our local community.

Coincidentally Matthew's father, the late Bill Owens, received the same award 30 years ago! 

The winner is selected by AD2 Phoenix using the following criteria:
(1) A contributor to the betterment of the advertising industry, (2) An active participant in community service, and (3) Presently active in advertising/marketing/communications.

Tom Ortega has been one of Phoenix's most talented ad men for two and half decades. He is a Partner at RIESTER and serves as Chief Creative Officer supervising all creative staff and work produced from three offices in Phoenix, Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. Not only is he the hardest working man in advertising, he is one of the most selfless.

Tom first moved to the Valley in the early 1980s from his native Texas to join Phillips Ramsey as a copywriter. There he wrote award-winning campaigns for Safeway, PetSmart and Doubletree Hotels. He spent many subsequent years as the top freelance writer in town, helping establish creative credentials for many local upstart ad agencies.

RIESTER attributes some of its big account wins to Tom Ortega's leadership, including Hormel Foods,  First Solar, Nationwide Insurance and MidFirst Bank. As a result, Tom has provided more opportunities for Phoenix-based creative talent to work on larger client brands while attracting new creatives to Phoenix. Although his schedule forces him to actually jog between conference rooms and airports, Tom always makes time for his colleagues-both personally and professionally.

So many of us owe Tom a debt of tremendous gratitude. The folks at RIESTER know it would not have become the agency it is today without Tom Ortega.

Copywriter of the Year
Jason Hackett, HAPI
For Rose & Crown British Pub campaign
Client: Rose & Crown British Pub
 

Art Director of the Year
Brad Jones
PS Studios
For Living for Art: Gifts from the Dorothy & Herbert Vogel Collection
Client: Phoenix Art Museum
 

Best of Show
HAPI
For Arizona Humane Society Spay/Neuter Television campaign
Client: Arizona Humane Society
 

Student Best of Show
Raven Simone Cruz
For Minimal Movie Posters
School: Art Institute of Phoenix

And the ADDY Goes to ...
This year, 418 entries were received from 39 participating firms around the Valley. Our congratulations go to all of this year's winners who shared 20 Gold, 41 Silver and 43 Bronze ADDY awards. Students were awarded 3 Gold, 1 Silver and 6 Bronze Student ADDY awards.  
 
For a full list of winners, click here.
 
To download a copy of the 2012 ADDY Book of Winners, click here.

Click here to visit the Creative Gallery and view photos from the 2012 Awards Gala.

AAF Metro-Phoenix (AAFMP) is looking for a pro bono web site design partner to help create the new Ad Club web site. We are seeking a company/designer that can capture the diversity of the Phoenix advertising community as well as the uniqueness of Arizona. 

Here is your chance to showcase your web design capabilities in front of the Phoenix advertising community, which includes agencies, media companies, and individuals/professionals. Programming will not be involved.

The selected company/designer will receive the following sponsorship benefits: Preeminent placement and credits on the new Ad Club web site, sponsor recognition on the web site, in e-communications and at functions and events throughout the year.

If you are interested in submitting for consideration, please contact Gary Humbert at Cox Media for requirements and additional information.

Contact Info:
Gary Humbert, Cox Media
gary.humbert@coxmedia.com
623-328-1851

Michael Goldman joins Telemundo Arizona as National Sales Manager. 

Michael brings a wealth of experience as a successful sales executive with a deep knowledge of the Hispanic advertising market. In this role, he will provide exposure for KTAZ-TV and KHRR-TV; present national sales packages to increase sales revenues and ensure both stations over achieve revenue goals. Michael has over 34 years of radio & television experience in the Boston, San Francisco-San Jose, Phoenix and Tucson markets.

Denise McManus joins Telemundo Arizona as Vice President of Sales. In this role, she will provide leadership, guidance and support to the Phoenix & Tucson sales teams. Denise will lead and design strategies for growth in the marketplace leveraging and optimizing opportunities across all media platforms. Denise has worked in the Chicago, Detroit, New York and Philadelphia markets. She has over 15 years of radio, television and cable sales leadership experience.

Kent Johnson, formerly of the Orange County Register and Arizona Republic, has joined the East Valley Tribune as ad director. Tribune Publisher Terry Horne said Johnson "has deep and wide print and digital sales experience." Full story here.