NEW YORK, NY (September 28, 2004) At the first-ever Online Media, Marketing and Advertising Awards (OMMAs), the IAB honored Rich LeFurgy, Principal, Archer Advisors, with the Lifetime Achievement award in recognition of his immeasurable contributions to the online advertising industry.
“It is both a professional and personal pleasure to pay tribute to Rich, who has so immensely supported the IAB, and without whom, I dare say, the association may not be here today,” said Greg Stuart, President and CEO, IAB. “Rich is a world-class leader, whose professionalism, dedication and historical perspective render him an industry insider almost without rival.”
Mr. LeFurgy is the founding Chairman of the IAB and presided in that role from the inception of the IAB in 1996 until 2001. His foray into online advertising came after 17 years in Advertising and Direct Marketing, when he joined Starwave as the head of Ad Sales, which was later sold to The Walt Disney Company. Mr. LeFurgy then went to Walden VC, leading their efforts into a number of well-known Venture-backed advertising businesses.
Having created the first governance and structure for the association, Mr. LeFurgy’s contributions have had long-lasting impact on the IAB. Among his many accomplishments, Mr. LeFurgy commissioned the very first PricewaterhouseCoopers/IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report that has become the standard for tracking and reporting Internet Ad Spending.
He also developed the first Banner size standards that continue to evolve today, led the IAB in developing the first Impression standards, worked to develop the first Terms & Conditions that provided a baseline for agency and publisher negotiation and developed the industry’s first Online Advertising Effectiveness insights that were the precursors to the XMOS work today.
In 2000, Mr. LeFurgy was one of the inductees in Advertising Age’s Interactive Hall of Fame along with industry luminaries Jeff Bezos from Amazon, Jerry Yang of Yahoo! and Steve Case of America Online.
Contact:
Emily Kutner – IAB