2016 SoCal Awards

Creating a neighborhood is like a relay race starting with land acquisition, planning and entitlements.  The baton is passed on to designers and architects; WHA for example.  A construction team then transforms all the ideas and decisions into built reality. The anchor leg of the race is merchandising, marketing and sales.  It takes a team of talented individuals to reach the finish line and achieve a winning project.

On Saturday, September 10th at the Disneyland Hotel, the Building Industry Association (BIA) and the Greater Sales and Marketing Council (SMC) celebrated all of these noble endeavors with a concentrated focus on that final leg.  In all, 45 awards were handed out for design, graphics and marketing along with another 46 recognitions for sales achievements.  Nick Lehnert was introduced as the 2016 “Max Tipton Honoree” for marketing excellence and Lucy Dunn went home with this year’s “B.J. Stewart Women’s Achievement Award.”

The event was extremely well managed and very entertaining.  A brief appearance by Mickey and Minnie reminded us that we were, after all, seated at the “happiest place on earth.”  One of the three masters of ceremony performed impeccable impersonations of Matthew McConaughey, Johnny Carson, Jay Leno and Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Overall the hosts did a fantastic job managing the evening’s  proceedings and keeping the crowd entertained.

WHA was nominated for five awards and was proud to win two of them.  Our Parkview project for Pardee Homes won for ”Best Architectural Series for a Community Priced under $1 Million” and our branding studio, Placewright Design , won for Best Website for an Associate”  for Thompson Building Materials .  We congratulate all the winners and finalists and would like to send a big “thank you” to Lisa Parrish for all her work on the event.  We will see you in 2017.

For more information on the 2016 SoCal Awards please visit here.

If you attended the event please share your thoughts and experiences below.