September Meeting: An Evening with Stan Richards

Date – Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Reception – 6:00 pm Meeting – 7:00 pm
Location – Magnolia Theater (Google Maps)
Members – FREE Non-Members – $20Students – $10 (ID Required)http://dsvc.org/events/monthly-meetings/09/2010

Summer is over and school is back in session. We're kicking off the 2010–2011 season with Richards Group founder, and national advertising legend Stan Richards.

Stan founded The Richards Group as a freelance practice after graduating from Pratt Institute in New York. Over the next 20 years, it became one of the nation’s premier creative resources. In 1976, it became a full-service advertising agency.Stan’s work has received awards in virtually every major competition in the world. In 1976, Stan was chosen by the Dallas Society of Visual Communications as “the single individual who, over his career, has made the most significant contribution to the advancement of creative standards in the Southwestern United States.”In 1981, 1983, and 1984, Stan was named by Adweek to the Southwest Creative All-Stars Hall of Fame. In 1985, Stan was honored by Pratt Institute as a Distinguished Alumnus. In 1986, he was honored with an Advertising Age cover story. Also in 1986, Adweek named him Executive of the Year, and he was included in The Wall Street Journal’s “Giants of Our Time.” In 1988, the firm was named Agency of the Year by Adweek. Again in 1990 and 1994. And once more in 2002. In 1995, Stan was named an Entrepreneur of the Year by Inc. magazine.

The University of Texas named him the 1996 recipient of its Reddick Award for leadership in communication. Previous honorees include Walter Cronkite, Ted Turner, and Bill Moyers. More recently, Southern Methodist University announced the Stan Richards Creative Chair.Also in 1996, Stan received the AIGA Gold Medal, the award for career achievement in design. In 1997, Graphis magazine named The Richards Group one of the 10 best agencies in the world, and the American Association of Advertising Agencies honored the firm with its A+ Award, given annually to America’s best agency. In 2007, Graphic Design USA named the firm one of America’s six most influential agencies.

In 1999, Stan received the highest honor available to a creative with his election to the Art Directors Hall of Fame, joining such luminaries as Walt Disney, Norman Rockwell, and Andy Warhol. Apart from business, Stan’s interests include skiing in Utah and fly-fishing the backwaters of Laguna Madre. He is an avid runner, having logged 40,000 miles.

In addition, Stan serves, or has served, on many boards: The Salvation Army, Episcopal School of Dallas, YMCA, Cooper Aerobics Enterprises, Dallas Symphony Association, United Way, the Creative Committee of the AAAA, Pratt Institute Board of Trustees, and the Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation. Stan and Betty have been married 53 years and have two sons. Grant is a creative director at his own agency in San Francisco, and Brad is a clinical psychologist.