LIA Announces Paul Wauters as the 2016 Radio & Audio Jury President

Paul Wauters, Co-Founder & Executive Creative Director of Babel, has been named the Radio & Audio Jury President for London International Awards (LIA) 2016.

Paul comments: “I am delighted to be part of LIA again this year, very honoured to be presiding [over] the Radio & Audio Jury, and also quite happy that this festival takes its radio as seriously as it does the ‘hot’ categories.

“It’s incredibly difficult to get radio right,” he adds, “so I’m looking forward to honouring the brave men and women who never tire of rewriting the script, spending time on the length of the dramatic pause and the well-balanced Swedish accent. At the same time, I’m hoping to see innovative ideas and new ways to create connections with a scattered and ad-averse audience.”

Under Paul’s guidance, Babel has become the fastest growing independent agency in Paris. Paul has won a large number of national and international awards from Cannes Lions, LIA, D&AD, Dubai Lynx, Sharks and Creative Club of Belgium, while also frequently appearing on their radio juries.

The LIA Radio & Audio competition saw an increase in entries in 2015, over what was received in 2014, a confirmation of the large volume of effort and innovation that agencies put into the medium. The 2016 Radio & Audio Jury will do the first and second rounds of judging on the sun-drenched patio of Wynn/Encore Las Vegas, while the final round of statue discussions will take place in a private and comfortable indoor setting. In 2014, Paul’s first year of judging LIA, the judging took place in a cabana at the SLS Pool which was used exclusively by LIA.

Paul concludes: “The true challenge in the [Radio & Audio] category is that the work has to be better than silence.”

Paul Wauters - Co-Founder / ECD, Babel, Paris (Jury President)

Tom Eymundson - CEO, Pirate Group Inc., Toronto (2015 Jury President)

Oliver Handlos - Creative Lead of Activation, GREY, New York

Larissa Kirschner - VP, Creative Director, Publicis, New York

Mariana O’Kelly - Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather, Johannesburg

Chuck Rachford - Executive Creative Director, Cossette Chicago, Chicago

Chris Smith - Group Creative Director, The Richards Group, Dallas

Ralph van Dijk - Founder and Creative Director, Eardrum, Sydney 

The LIA 2016 Entry System is now accepting entries. The initial Entry Deadline is 10th June. Judging will take place in Las Vegas from 6th October to 14th October. The shortlists will be announced as each judging session concludes, with Winners being announced 8th November. For more information on submissions and eligibility, please visit the LIA website.