If you hear about a California “energy drain,” you can blame it on BBDO South. And they are fully aware that they are the cause. President/CEO Chris Hall recruited a Silicon Valley player, Jim Noble, for Atlanta’s creative reserves.

Noble, new Executive Creative Director, replaces Art Mellor who retired last year. Noble, the mind behind Cisco Systems’ international campaign brings 15 years experience in the industry. His most recent stint was with GMO/Hill Holliday in San Francisco where his clients included Kia Motors, Lucas Learning, and Sybase. Noble has been afflicted with the ‘BBDO virus’ before, working as Creative Director/Copywriter at the agency’s office in Vancouver where he worked on campaigns for Molson Breweries, A&W Restaurants, and the Vancouver Film Festival.

This medaled man was named Canada’s “Creative Director of the Year” after only 14 months in his role at BBDO. Before joining the BBDO family, Noble worked at Chiat/Day in San Francisco where he brought in more awards and worked on campaigns for Dell, Apple, 3Com, and Reno Air.

Of his move to Atlanta, Noble said, “I will have both the freedom and the support to lead BBDO South’s creative to the next level. Plus, here in California we have no electricity, and it’s sort of hard to write in the dark.” Noble has another reason to celebrate his new role in Atlanta, his reunion with longtime colleague, Rich Wakefield, who joined BBDO as Senior Vice President/Group Creative Director in March.

Wakefield and Noble’s creative bi-coastal collaborations have included stints at Goldberg Moser O’Neill in San Francisco, BBDO Vancouver, and Fahlgren in Atlanta. Wakefield comes to BBDO South from MRA where he worked with The Athlete’s Foot, Dekalb Medical Center, the Atlanta Brewing Company, NDC Health, and Bard and Rheem. He also served as Senior Art Director at Hawley Martin in Richmond and as Art Director at Adylotte & Cartwright. His former clients have included BellSouth, Delta, Dell Computers, Kia Motors, Cellular One, McDonald’s and Molson Breweries.

Noble and Wakefield will be supported by BBDO staffers, many with new titles. Shannon Bopp, was promoted to Account Executive from Asst. Account Executive; Julia Plourde was promoted to Media Planning Supervisor from Media Planner. The following were promoted to the Media Planner level: Kristin Sutton, Jason Moon, Kristi Blank, Tiffany North, Bree Winter. The following step up to Media Buyer roles: Dabney Luhn, Montanna Triplett, Jennifer Saunders, Jody Johnson. Deborah von Kutzleben steps up from Vice President, Account Supervisor to Vice President, Management Supervisor; Patrick Vrana moves from Senior Account Executive to Account Supervisor; Amber Askins steps up from Senior Account Executive to Account Supervisor, and Leslie Solomon formerly Asst. Broadcast Buyer assumes the role of Broadcast Buyer.

BBDO South’s new additions include: Cindy Manson, Media Supervisor, formerly with Eller Media; Jessica Jett, Asst. Media Planner, formerly with Bates USA; Jeff Hagen, Asst. Media Buyer, formerly with Initiative Media; Dawn Adams, Senior Print Production Manager, formerly with J. Walter Thompson (Atlanta); Kelly Harden, Production Manager, formerly with Publicis Hal Riney (San Francisco); Barbara Jones, Digital Dispatcher, formerly with Haas Publishing; Cathy Llewellyn, Production Manager, a former freelancer; Patton Paty, Asst. Production Manager, formerly with WebMD; Dee Altman, Studio Technician, a former freelancer; Kathy Nickerson, Cybrarian, formerly with WebMD; Mandy Marchioli, Account Coordinator, and Dawn Vierra, Executive Asst., formerly with Converse Managed Services. Continuing with Craig Nadler, Media Planning Supervisor, formerly with Hook Media; Connie Iverson, Media Scheduling Supervisor, formerly with Sawyer Riley Compton: Sarah Hovis, Asst. Media Planner; Aliya Jiwa, Asst. Media Planner; Rob Kuehn Asst. Media Planner, formerly with Doner; Sebastian Otereo, Asst. Media Planner, formerly with Young & Rubicam. In the account team, new hires include: Jennifer McPeak, Account Supervisor, formerly with Fitzgerald & Co.; Heather Balkema, Senior Account Executive, formerly with Pollak Levitt & Partners; Brian Carr, Asst. Account Executive, formerly with Agency 180; Kellie Moore, Asst. Account Executive, formerly with Ames Scullin O’Haire; Brittany Pickles, Asst. Account Executive, formerly with Adair-Greene; Keisha Taylor, Account Coordinator, formerly with The Coca-Cola Company; Lisa Schwert, Marketing Intern. New production team members are Carol Riley, Broadcast Traffic Manager, formerly with WestWayne; Melissa Harron, Station Traffic, formerly with Teligent Communications; Barbara Goddard, Studio Artist, formerly with WestWayne; Tracee Hill, Print Coord. formerly with Talking Real Estate; Jennifer Bickford, Print Traffic Coord.

Not everything is new at BBDO South. Honoring time tested loyalty and aptitude, Hall honored Kyle Lewis with the Founder’s Award. This Senior Vice President, Group Creative Director recently celebrated his fifth year as Creative Director. The award is given annually to recognize skill, spirit, and excellence.