Easily Bill has been one of the most influential SEOs pertaining to the direction my career took.

Back in the mid-2000s it was Bill who first introduced me to the wonder and insight one could glean from reading patents. And perhaps even more important, when I (and dare I extend that to "we - the community") don't make time, he does the heavy lifting and reads and writes them up for us with only the type of insight he can.

He keeps up up-to-date on what's in them and the direction they point to. And he somehow does it without making the rest of us feel like idiots. :)

Fun fact ... in 2007 I took the stage in San Jose at an SES Conference to chat about patents. And who do you suppose decided to sit in the front row, right in front of the table? Why, the only person in the room who could intimidate the heck out of me on the topic of course!
(and at the time I didn't know he was one of the nicest people I'd meet)

That was probably the first time I met him in person, and I look forward to many more. :)