By Mic Wilborn
— December 17th, 2025
Station Casinos’ guest experience is the art and science of timely, high-impact communication.
For 31 years, Richard Van Rhyn, Director of Sign Animation, has pioneered that craft—evolving from hand-coding marquee animations to architecting and operating a modern, cloud-based digital signage ecosystem that now spans 19 properties. From towering marquees and Poppulo proudly recognizes Richard Van Rhyn for transforming digital signage into a scalable, data-driven platform that keeps 19 properties and hundreds of endpoints informative, on-brand, and ready for anything—from daily promotions to synchronized, citywide moments. His legacy isn’t just in the screens that light up Las Vegas—it’s in the innovation and integrity that have illuminated an entire industry.
From Station Casino’s LED walls and menu boards to conference readerboards and room-door displays, Richard’s work ensures every property communicates with guests clearly, creatively, and consistently.
One of the first to integrate an animation program with electronic signage, Richard helped shape an entire industry. What began as a custom hot-dog animation on an incandescent lamp sign at the Westward Ho became the foundation for a career—and a city’s visual identity. At Station Casinos, Richard built the signage network from the ground up, standardizing on the Poppulo platform to deliver consistent, branded, and dynamic content across every venue. That standardization not only brought artistic precision but also gave marketers and casino operators the speed and flexibility to respond instantly to what’s happening across their properties.
Under Richard’s leadership, Station Casinos has achieved a balance between innovation and operational excellence that few organizations can match. Across the hundreds of endpoints Station Casinos manages, Richard works with a team of dedicated individuals who work tirelessly to meet the demands of a 24/7 casino operation. They established a centralized communication system with unified governance and granular brand control. His team can now schedule and deploy up to hundreds of pieces of content in minutes. This efficiency has redefined what’s possible for in-house creative teams—transforming signage from a logistical challenge into a dynamic marketing and operations tool.
Across all four brands—Luxury, Station Casinos, Wildfire, and Seventy Six Taverns—Richard’s template system ensures each location maintains its unique personality while still delivering a cohesive visual experience. Whether it’s promoting fine dining, live entertainment, tournaments, or family-friendly attractions like Kids Quest, theaters, and bowling, the message always feels fresh, local, and unmistakably “Station.”
His migration to Poppulo’s cloud-based platform, and modernization of all player units have strengthened reliability, accelerated updates, and simplified operations. What once required multiple people and manual coordination can now be executed in minutes.
Reflecting on the recognition, Richard shared, “Receiving the Poppulo Impact Award means a great deal to me, and frankly, I’m honored. After more than three decades in this field, it’s been an absolute joy to keep pushing the boundaries of what digital signage can do in the casino industry. Every project has been an opportunity to experiment, to innovate, and to elevate the guest experience in new ways. I’m proud of what our team has built and grateful to have partnered with Poppulo in turning creative vision into everyday reality.”
Ruth Fornell, CEO of Poppulo, stated, “Richard’s work is nothing short of extraordinary. He built Station Casinos’ signage network from the ground up. Seeing it today—the sheer scale and complexity of what he built—is really inspiring. Richard’s technical ability and creative vision turned digital signage into a core part of Station Casinos’ brand, elevating guest engagement and operational efficiency. We’re honored to recognize Richard with the Poppulo Impact Award.”
Richard’s career-long dedication to craftsmanship, collaboration, vision, and technical expertise has driven the digital signage industry forward, helping define the modern casino experience.
About the Poppulo Impact Awards:
The Poppulo Impact Awards celebrate individuals and organizations that demonstrate excellence in utilizing digital signage to drive value within their companies. This program recognizes innovators who leverage Poppulo’s solutions to achieve significant results and set new standards in their respective fields.