The following professionals participated in preliminary judging of The 2012 American Business Awards, the nation’s premier business awards program, in April-May. Their average scores determined the Finalists.  We thank them for their time, insights, and support.

Tsvika Abramovitch, Vice President, HR, Hadera Paper, Hadera, Israel
Ilene Adler, CEO, Vantage Communications, San Francisco, CA
Stewart Andrews, Creative Director, Noodlebox Design, LLC, Arlington, VA   
Zainab Ansari, Director/CEO, Xenith PR (Pvt.) Ltd, Karachi, Pakistan  
Jon Baer, President, Wakefly, Westborough, MA             
Jeff Bell, Partner, NCT Ventures, Kirkland, OH
Ray Benjamin, President, Ray Benjamin Productions, New York, NY        
Israel Bonequi, Creative Director, Birds Nest Foundation, Montreal, Canada
Jonathan Bruns, Art Director, The Design Channel, Chevy Chase, MD
Heena Bulchandani, Specialist - Training & Development, Dubai Electricity & Water Authority, Dubai, UAE            
Joy Carter, Communications Manager, American Cast Iron Pipe Co., Birmingham, AL       
William Casey, Vice President, Global Marketing, Brightpoint, Inc., Indianapolis, IN          
Annie  Castellano, Chief Creative Officer, Switch, St. Louis, MO         
Susan Chait, VP, Creative Director, Lebowitz | Gould | Design, Inc., New York, NY       
Kevin Chen, President/CEO, Business Methods Corporation, Randolph, NJ
Denise Clancey, President, Teledirect Partners, Boston, MA       
David Clarke, Managing Director, BGT Partners, Miami, FL            
David Craig, Vice President, Human Resources, Fazoli's Restaurants, Lexington, KY          
David Crawford, Senior VP, Managing Group Creative Director, GSD&M, Austin, TX        
Cynthia Cruz, PR Account Coordinator, iolo technologies, Los Angeles, CA      
Karen Danielson, Marketing Communications & Brand Manager, US Water Services, Inc, St Michael, MN              
Sherri Davis, Manager, Internet Marketing Services, Delphi, Troy, MI      
Jennifer Deare, President, Deare Marketing, Inc, Tenafly, NJ     
Rachel Deutsch, Creative Director, The Design Channel, Chevy Chase, MD
Kevin Elliott, Senior Vice President, Hill & Knowlton Strategies, Irvine, CA           
Hossein Eslambolchi, Chairman and CEO, 20/20 Venture Partners, Charlotte, NC    
Robert Feeney, Sales Manager, catchfire, Minneapolis, MN       
Mike Fernandez, Corporate VP, Corporate Affairs, Cargill, Inc., Wayzata, MN     
Jennifer Fisher, Director, Sales Operations and Production, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Washington, DC
Marc Foelsch, Senior Art Director, Fraser Wallace Advertising, Montgomery Village, MD 
Anna Garcia, Owner, CouponAnna, West Covina, CA      
Kristina Garcia, Managing Director, German State of Hessen U.S. Office for Economic Development, New York, NY          
Mark Geiger, Assoc. Director of Marketing & Communication, Georgia World Congress Center Authority, Atlanta, GA    
Paul Gennaro, Senior Vice President, Chief Communications Officer, AECOM, New York, NY       
Stephen Gifford, Director of Human Resources, Eurpac Service, Inc., Norwalk, CT            
David Gilman, President, Gilman Performance Systems, Brookfield, CT 
Justin Grenier, Support Team Manager, Listrak, Lititz, PA             
Andrew Gutman, Chief Financial Officer, Farbman Group, Southfield, MI             
Rosemary Haefner,Vice President, Human Resources, CareerBuilder.com, Minneapolis, MN       
Christopher Harmon, Principal & CEO, theBATstudio, Oakland, CA            
Peggy Heafey, Director - Intermediary Partner Care, Marriott Intl, Inc., Omaha, NE          
Courtenay Higgins, Senior Partner, Winning Strategies, Newark, NJ         
Diego Hoic, Product Manager, Church & Dwight, Princeton, NJ  
Carole Holden, Founder/CEO, Gelmtree Advertising, Howey in the Hills, FL         
Jamie Holt, President/CEO, JMK Notary & Services, Miami, FL    
Susan Hudgins, Technical Producer, Fourth Wall Events, New York, NY           
Jodi Hutchison, Director of Communications, Hamilton Sundstrand, Windsor Locks, CT   
Ananda Jagoda, Chief Creative Officer, Smart Media - The Annual Report Company, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Robert Jeppsen, Sr. Vice President, Commercial Sales, Zions Bank, Salt Lake City, UT       
Allen Jernigan, President & CEO, My Marketing Department, Inc., Seminole, FL
Mike Jingozian, Founder and CEO, AngelVision, New York, NY               
Robert Jones, Vice President, Corporate Development, DRC, Reston, VA
Peter Justen, CEO, MyBizHomepage, Inc., Middleburg, VA          
Nagib Khallouf, President, Trademart International Trading, Santa Rosa, CA        
Ross Kimbarovsky, Co-Founder, crowdSPRING, Chicago, IL          
Patrick King, Founder, ImagineDesign, Manassas, VA     
Bob Klee, CEO, HometownQuotes.com, Franklin, TN      
Nitin Kumar, Director, PWC, New York, NY          
Micah Laney, Sr. Digital Communications Manager, Walmart Global Associate Communications, Fayetteville, AR         
Brook Larios, CEO and Founder, PlainClarity Communications, San Diego, CA
Laure LeBlanc, President, ubi.Q Inc, East Greenwich, RI 
Peter Levy, President, Corniche Productions, Brooklyn, NY         
Lloyd Lofton, Vice President COO, American Eagle Consultants, Inc, Smyrna, GA               
Krushna Prasad Mahapatra, Global Head HR- GE ISU, Tata Consultancy Services, Edison, NJ         
Janice Maiman, Senior Vice President, Communications & Media Channels, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, New York, NY        
Joseph Mangiaracina, Principal/Owner, SurfNet.Inc., Levittown, PA        
Laura Maniccia, Principal, Interactive Marketing Solutions, South Lyon, MI           
Andrew Mauriello, Sr. Manager, Global Sales Operations, Mimio - A Newell Rubbermaid Company, Cambridge, MA       
Maggie Mayer, Founder, Mayer & Associates, CPA, LLC, Madison, CT     
Dawn McDermott, Marketing Associate Director, Sun Life Financial, Wellesley Hills, MA
Jeannine McHenry, Art Director, One17 Creative, Marina Del Rey, CA    
Colin McKillop, Chief Executive Officer, Butcher Enterprises, Windsor, Canada   
Catherine McQuaid, Principal, Big Game Hunting, Toronto, Canada          
Gabrielle Medecki, Chief Marketing Officer, Wolfgang's Vault, San Francisco, CA              
Stan Mendoza, President, Mendoza Media, Montclair, NJ 
Kathy Menzie, Associate Professor & Chair, Washburn University, Topeka, KS   
Jessica Merz, Director Global Corporate Communications, Bacardi-Martini, Inc, Coral Gables, FL
Sharon Metzung, Publications & Graphics Manager, Lake Metroparks, Concord Township, OH   
Andrea Michaels, President, Extraordinary Events, Sherman Oaks, CA   
Thaddeus  Miles, President, Neighborhood Networks National Consortium, North Little Rock, AR            
Carlos Minetti, President, Consumer Banking, Discover Financial Services, Riverwoods, IL             
Simona Mollova, CEO, www.nokbg.eu, Sofia, Bulgaria   
Brian Mulvey, Vice President, Investor Growth Capital, New York, NY    
Christina Mulvihill, Director, Government and Public Affairs, Sony, Washington, DC         
Ann Murphy, Senior VP, O'Neill & Associates, Boston, MA           
Kirk Musselman, Director, Human Resources, Classified Ventures LLC, Chicago, IL            
Rajendran Nair, Director, Marketing, Callidus Software, Pleasanton, CA
Steve Nelson, Partner & CTO, AP42, San Ramon, CA       
Cheryl Nguyen, Manager, Sales & Marketing Communications, Marriott International, Inc., Bethesda, MD           
Judilynn (Judi) Niedercorn, President and CEO, SysTactics, McLean, VA 
Kevin O'Donnell, Vice President, Credit Issuance, Discover Financial Services, Riverwoods, IL      
Bob Older, President, Creative Travel Inc. dba Rainbow Charter Service, Wilmington, DE               
Kirsten Osolind, CEO, Reinvention Marketing, San Diego, CA      
Mark O'Toole, Managing Director, Public Relations & Content Marketing, H|B, Newton, MA       
Audrey Pannell, Director of Public Relations & Social Media, STYLE Advertising, Birmingham, AL 
Paul Patton, Senior Product Development Manager, Delta Faucet Co., Indianapolis, IN  
Michael Pisner, Graphic Designer, The Design Channel, Chevy Chase, MD
Mac Premo, Creative Director, MacPremo, Brooklyn, NY              
Fabi Preslar, President, SPARK Publications, Matthews, NC         
Toni Purry, President, Purry Communications Group, Los Angeles, CA    
Gillian Rawcliffe, Business Development Manager, Vérité, Sandy, UT     
Dennis Reno, Vice President, Global Customer Service, Oracle, San Francisco, CA             
Avis Richards, President/CEO, Birds Nest Productions, Purchase, NY       
Bridgette Ridgeway, President & CEO, Taylorfield & Company, Brown Deer, WI 
Viurniel Sanchez, Program Management Coordinator, NextEra Energy, Inc., Miami, FL   
Scott Sanfilippo, Co-Founder, Solid Cactus, Shavertown, PA        
Russell Sarder, CEO and Chairman, NetCom Learning, New York, NY       
John Sawyer, Senior Security Analyst, InGuardians, Inc., Gainesville, FL 
Karen Schadow, President, The Voice of Success, New York, NY               
Francesca Schuler, Chief Marketing Officer, BevMo!, Concord, CA           
David Sentman, SVP-Change Management Executive, Bank of America, Newark, DE      
Bill Shelton, Vice President, USHEALTH Advisors, Grapevine, TX
Gary Shumaker, President, Gary E. Shumaker, Inc., Fairfax, VA 
Jeffrey Shuman, Senior VP Chief Human Resources and Administrative Officer, Harris Corp., Melbourne, FL       
Ravinder Paul Singh, Director - Strategy and Online Marketing, Kulwant Advisory, Nairobi, Kenya             
DeAllous Smith, Public Information Officer, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta, GA              
Julian Soler, Director of Marketing, Studio One Networks, New York, NY              
Cate Sommervold, Vice President of Development and Patient Outreach, pharmaCline, Sioux Falls, SD 
Lacey Stephen, Project Manager, Strativity Group, LLC, Rochelle Park, NJ             
Caroline Storey-Sabetti, Executive Director, Marketing & Business Solutions, Staff Management | SMX, Amherst, MA   
Julie Suntrup, SVP Marketing and Business Development, Switch, St. Louis, MO               
Daniel Sweeza, SVP, Operations, Air Evac EMS, Inc., West Plains, MO     
Julie Thomas, CEO, ValueSelling, Santa Fe, CA    
Stephen Thompson, Executive Creative Director, iCrossing, Chicago, IL  
Michelle Thorsell, Principal, SMT Architects, P.C., Glen Ellyn, IL  
Han Tjan, Corporate Communications, Daimler, New York, NY   
Beverly Turek, Owner/Operator, Turek's Computer Dr, Bryan, TX            
Rajani Veeramachaneni, President, E Center, Inc., Newtown, PA             
Vinny Verdi, Producer, CUNY-TV, New York, NY
Kate Watts, VP of Client Services, Huge, Brooklyn, NY    
Jake Wengroff, Global Director, Social Media Strategy & Research, Frost & Sullivan, San Antonio, TX       
Vicki Whisenhant, SVP Cultural Transformation, Medtech, Atlanta, GA  
Kirsten Wilkinson, Customer Service Manager, Heeling Sports, Ltd., Carrollton, TX           
Keith Wolf, VP of Marketing, Murray Resources, Houston, TX    
Leslie Yeransian, Communications/Media, Rising Medical Solutions, Chicago, IL
Michael Yue, Senior Writer, The Design Channel, Chevy Chase, MD
Didi Yunginger, Director of Strategy & Development, Wolper Subscription Services, Easton, PA           
Julia Zamorska, VP of Corporate Communications, iolo technologies, Los Angeles, CA     
Matthew Zintel, President, Zintel Public Relations, Cypress, TX  
Joseph Zitzelberger, Director of Manufacturing Development, PACCAR Inc, Chillicothe, OH         
Chris Zoloth, Director, Global Customer Care, IHG, Salt Lake City, UT       

The second early-bird deadline for The American Business Awards is today, Wednesday, December 14.Here are the first steps to help you start the submission process for The 2012 American Business Awards:

1. Get your entry kit here.
2. Review the 2012 ABA categories. We have dozen of possible categories including awards for organizations, teams, departments, and individuals as well as awards for websites, videos, blogs, apps, live events, and much more.
3. Review past winners' entries here. They're great models for how you should write your entries.
4. Make the most out of your submissions and learn how to submit winning entries here.

Have questions? Contact us at help@stevieawards.com; we'd love to help you get started on your 2012 submissions!

Not going to make the early-bird deadline? Don't worry - the next ABA deadline is March 28, 2012!

As the December 14 early-bird deadline for The 2012 American Business Awards approaches, we encourage everyone to submit their entries for the 2012 ABAs. Get your entry kit here.

Below are the top 10 reasons why you should enter:

1. Improve employee morale.  
   Applying for The Stevie® Awards is a simple and affordable way to recognize your organization and employees.
2. Impress potential clients.
   Your work will not only be reviewed and honored by peers and competitors, but also by potential clients!  Use the American Business Awards categories to show off your work and achievements.
3. Global recognition and free publicity.   
   Gold Stevie Award winners will have the opportunity to make a 30-second acceptance speech before an audience of 600+ executives from across the country during a nationally-broadcast awards dinner that will also be streamed worldwide over the Internet.
4. Company size equality.  
   You don't have to be a big company to win a Stevie!  Small organizations have an equal opportunity to win Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevies.
5. Access to your industry's leaders.  
   Many of the world's top business leaders will review your nominations during the judging process.
6. Flexible categories and newly-added categories.
   There are dozens of business award categories for individuals, companies, teams and departments as well as new categories to recognize websites, blogs, and apps!  Our ABA categories include acknowledgement of exceptional management and finance,  marketing and public relations, product development, customer service, and human resources.
7. Low entry fees. 
   The publicity that comes with winning a Stevie Award is well worth the low entry fees.
8. Earn industry status.
   The ABA is a great way to benchmark your achievements against competitors in your industry.
9. Oscar-like trophies.
   The Stevie Award trophies are among the most coveted prizes in the world and are produced by the creators of the Oscars. And now there's more of them, with the introduction of Silver and Bronze Stevies.
10. The Stevie Awards are the world's premier business awards. 
    You and your team deserve the kind of positive recognition that comes with being a Stevie Awards recipient.

What's your number one reason for applying for The American Business Awards?

The first early-bird deadline for The 2012 American Business Awards, the largest of The Stevie Awards programs, is this Wednesday, November 16th. To be considered for the first early-bird deadline, submit your entries by 11:59PM Wednesday night.

How to Enter:

1. Request the Entry Kit.  Once emailed to you, the kit will be your guide on everything you'll need to know about how to prepare and submit your entries.
   
   
2. Pick who you would like to recognize and what for. There are hundreds of categories to choose from as well as awards for individuals, teams, and departments. Click here to see the entire list of categories.
   
   
3. Don't panic if you're not going to make the deadline, the second early-bird deadline is December 14. Click here to see the ABA's calendar.  

Entries submitted after the early-bird deadline will not be penalized in any way in the judging process. Preliminary judging will begin in April after the final entry deadline of April 25, 2012.  

Who do you know that should be nominated in the American Business Awards?

Tom Crowley, CEO of MBX in Wauconda, Illinois, USA won the Stevie Award for Executive of the Year in Computer Hardware in The 2011 American Business Awards. He is the driving force behind MBX’s expansion in 2010, and for the previous fifteen consecutive years of growth.

What are your top 3 tips for keeping up business growth during a downturn?

My advice is simple:

1. Constant customer communication;
2. Diligent business development;
3. Keep marketing!
   

What item of news recently caught your eye and why?

Jim Hendry, the Chicago Cubs (baseball team) General Manager, just got fired.  They should have given him another chance! Why did this catch my eye? Because I love the Cubs.

Do you have a favorite business app?

Signal, a homegrown app that our developers created to allow the company to operate at maximum efficiency. It has personalized dashboards that allow each employee to have instant access to just what they need. It’s awesome!

If you could choose another profession, what would it be?

Musician.

(Before entering the business world, Tom Crowley was a musician whose band, Idle Tears, released an album on the MCA label and opened for the Beach Boys in 1984.)

What quality or qualities do you most value in your business associates?

Honesty, integrity, creativity, and guts.

What do you think is the worst bad habit to have at work?

My worst habit is that I am easily distracted. I know that if I could kick that, my job would be much easier.

As someone at the top of your profession, what keeps you inspired or makes you hit the ground running in the morning?

I don’t think that I could be considered at the “top of my profession." There are so many others out there who do what I do much better. Not to sound corny, but I think of my occupation as a journey—more of a road than a climb.

Besides my wonderful family, what makes me hit the ground running and inspires me is the fact that my job always changes. The road is never straight or flat. I do have consistent duties and requirements to help keep us going, but the challenges of the job are always in flux, which makes it fun and inspirational. Plus I have the best team of people in the world to work with, and I want to make sure that I can always provide them with the tools they need to be successful. We are all in this together.

About Tom Crowley

Tom Crowley is the CEO of MBX Systems. He founded the company in 1995 as a mail-order supplier of hard drives and, later, computer components. By 2003 he had transitioned MBX to focus exclusively on the server appliance market, providing software developers with the option to deliver their applications on hardware optimized for trouble-free customer deployment. He previously had a successful business-development career at Telecom Corporation.

About MBX Systems

MBX Systems specializes in the configuration, manufacturing, and deployment of server appliances and optimized systems for software application developers and service providers. MBX combines turnkey hardware programs with value-added services including platform configuration, hardware branding, inventory management, global logistics, product support, and system warranties.

Michelle King Robson, Founder, Chairperson, and CEO of EmpowHER Media in Scottsdale, Arizona USA, was named Chairman of the Year in the management awards categories of The 2011 American Business Awards, the top awards program in America recognizing achievements in the workplace.  (Entries for the 2012 edition of the ABAs will open in October - join the mailing list.)

What do you see as the top 3 changes/innovations in health care for women around the world?

1. Technology is making it far easier for women to take charge of their health and to be better informed through sites such as EmpowHER.com and many others.

2. Because of this technology, more women are voicing their health concerns or making their own decisions.  For too long women have suffered silently—maybe it’s something in our DNA—but now we need to take charge of everything that affects our health.

3. Women are physically different from men (surprise) so we shouldn’t have to rely on drug trials that are based on results in men only.  Currently only 37% of clinical trials target women’s health issues, and we have to change this.

There’s still so much that needs to change, but technology is a real game changer. Now women anywhere can get the information they need to make informed decisions.  This will have a positive impact globally.

What items of news recently caught your eye and why?

The biggest story in health care recently has been what’s going on in the field of biotechnology, and not just for women.  There is a story coming out about something called DRACO being tested by researchers at MIT.  It is possible that we will soon have a cure for the common cold, flu, and all kinds of viral infections.  This could be as big as the discovery of penicillin.

I was also powerfully moved by the story of Diana Nyad, a 61-year-old- woman, who—even though she didn’t make it from Cuba to the Florida Keys—managed to swim 103 miles. Not too shabby!  (And she might have completed the swim with the aid of DRACO …)   Nyad said: “60 is the new 40,” and at EmpowHER we truly believe that you can accomplish anything, regardless of age. Nyad is an inspiration to all women.

One final story I have to mention is that, after all these years, women in the U.S.A. will finally be getting free birth control.  Viagra had been covered by insurance for some time, but not birth control.  It’s about time!

Do you have a favorite business app?

I am a news junky for anything to do with health care, so I have lots of apps that will channel breaking news to my iPad, including Flipboard.

If you could choose another profession, what would it be?

I would have loved to have attended medical school and studied to be a doctor.  As you can guess, health has always been my passion.  When I was a girl there was not a lot of emphasis on higher education for women, but times have changed, and I am making sure that my own daughter receives a degree.  Nonetheless, I don’t feel hampered by not having done this myself, and it hasn’t stopped me from achieving what I wanted.  My mother always told me:  “You can be whatever you want.”  And she was right.

What quality or qualities do you most value in your business associates?

The team at EmpowHER Media has great passion for what they do: they work tirelessly to support my vision. They are dedicated to innovation, challenging the norm, and on finding new ideas or new ways to do things better.  I always try to hire people who are smarter than I am and who can execute my vision. We now have an amazing team here in Scottsdale, Arizona.

What do you think is the worst bad habit to have at work?

Settling for second best. I have no patience for mediocrity. “No, we can’t” is not an acceptable answer in my office.

As someone at the top of your profession, what keeps you inspired or makes you hit the ground running in the morning?

Women have been short-changed in health care because no one has stood up for them. I believe that anything to do with our bodies should be the individual’s choice.  Fortunately I have been able to make my voice heard and have been able to act as an advocate for women in health matters. I feel honored and privileged to be making a difference for women’s lives In the U.S. and around the world.

About Michelle King Robson
As Founder, Chairperson, and CEO of EmpowHER Media, Michelle King Robson has combined a successful track record as a business woman and entrepreneur with nearly two decades of civic and community leadership to lead what is today one of the fastest-growing digital-media companies in the world, focused on her passion for improving women's health. Michelle started the company following her personal struggle with a debilitating health issue. A tireless voice for women and the visionary behind EmpowHER, Michelle, a nationally recognized women’s health advocate, travels the world talking to women's groups, health care organizations, political leaders, regulatory bodies, and the media about women's health and wellness issues, and about the importance of women advocating for themselves and their loved ones. Her goal is to drive innovation and change in health care for women around the world.

About EmpowHER
EmpowHER Media is an award-winning, HON-certified health media company for women. The Company's flagship and Top 5 women's health and wellness site—EmpowHER.com—is an online community for female health consumers. We call them Chief Health and Wellness Officers of the Home. EmpowHER.com provides visitors access to one of the largest women's health and wellness content libraries on the Web, as well as one of the most active online communities of women discussing their health and wellness issues. Health care professionals, health and wellness marketers, and agency professionals rely on EmpowHER Media for reaching the most influential health and wellness buyer on the Internet: women. Millions of women visit EmpowHER.com every year, making it one of the largest and fastest-growing resources dedicated exclusively to women's health and wellness.

Integrate.com of Denver, Colorado USA won the Stevie Award for Best New Company of the Year at The 2011 American Business Awards.  Here we look at how this new company achieves its goals.

Integrate claims to be the first advertising marketplace of its kind.  It is making waves in the online marketing industry by offering a technology that combines a wide array of distribution sources with multiple campaign models in order to serve every type of advertiser in their quest for new customers. 

Following are four ways that Integrate.com is living up to its name. 

1. Uniting Distribution Sources

Integrate’s advertising marketplace is a media-buying dashboard. It unites every type of distribution source: websites, mobile publishers, television networks, national and local radio syndicates, billboard sources, online and offline yellow pages, email marketers, newspapers, magazines, and more.

2. Connecting with Media Sources

Advertisers in more than 65 different B2B and B2C verticals can easily create

customized, performance-marketing campaigns.  At the click of a button they connect with hundreds of media sources—a process that historically takes days is reduced to minutes. Put simply, the Integrate platform allows one person to do the job of an entire team, from any place with an Internet connection.

3. Providing Multiple Pay-Per-Performance Models

Integrate caters to many performance-based pricing models where advertisers and merchants pay only for the qualifying leads, customers, or inbound phone calls they receive.  Integrate pay-per-performance models include Cost-per-Lead, Cost-per-Acquisition, Cost-per-Inbound-Call, and Cost-per-Live-Transfer.  Integrate claims to be the first platform to combine all of these options into one system.

4. Matching Campaigns with Fulfillment Sources

Integrate also provides a proprietary matching technology to streamline the media transaction process.  Upon joining the marketplace, advertisers and publishers create custom profiles highlighting important details about their companies and their areas of expertise.  The Integrate technology uses this information to automatically match campaigns with the fulfillment sources most likely to deliver the best results. 

Commitment to Quality

Integrate maintains a commitment to quality from the moment a partner applies to its community and throughout every interaction that takes place on its platform.  All applicants undergo a strict approval process to ensure that only the most reliable partners have a presence.  Stringent quality-control filters are applied throughout the campaign-creation process, implementation, and delivery.  Integrate aim is to introduce ethics and accountability into the performance marketing space.

Bridging the Gap Between Publishers and Advertisers

Integrate is not just an advertising marketplace, but also a community.  It provides a semi-transparent environment that bridges the gap between publishers and advertisers.  Both parties can review one another’s vital business data—including credit and trade reference reports, campaign performance statistics, strengths, and weaknesses­—before deciding to collaborate. Parties communicate with one another through the Integrate Messaging Center. Using Integrate’s mediation tools, advertisers and publishers can directly discuss any quality-and-return issues that may arise. 

Since its launch in February 2010, Integrate has united more than 3500 advertisers and publishers, and provided the technology behind more than 2500 marketing campaigns. It received its first round of funding from Foundry Group in December 2010.

Said Jeremy Bloom, co-founder of Integrate.com: “We are committed to remaining on the forefront of marketing technology­—providing businesses with a cutting-edge solution for their marketing needs.  Winning the Stevie Award for Best New Company proves that what we are offering is appreciated in the industry.”

About Jeremy Bloom:

Jeremy Bloom is Co-Founder of Integrate.  Through his vision, Integrate achieved impressive scale from the beginning. Bloom specializes in moving fast and making an impact.  His focus and motivation provide unbeatable inspiration for his team.

Bloom began his career in professional athletics, both as an Olympic Skier and NFL Football player.  In addition to his athletic and business accomplishments, he launched a nonprofit foundation, Jeremy Bloom’s Wish of a Lifetime, which grants wishes to 80, 90 and 100+ year old people across the country. 

About Integrate.com:

Integrate.com offers a unified media-buying dashboard that allows advertisers in B2B and B2C verticals to create custom marketing campaigns. Integrate unites a variety of media sources including Internet, print, radio, TV, and mobile. Its core services range from Cost-per-Lead and Cost-per-Acquisition to Cost-per-Inbound-Call and Live Transfer.  For more information go to www.integrate.com

Integrate is a next-generation multi-channel advertising marketplace that applies new technology to streamline the media-buying and -selling process.  It combines virtually every type of media source—ranging from contextual sites, email, and mobile to billboards, TV, and radio—into a single dashboard, allowing one person to effectively do the job of an entire team.  Integrate’s proprietary IMPACT technology automatically matches ad campaigns with the most relevant sources for fulfillment based on a series of data points including vital business details, campaign criteria, and performance statistics.  Market participants directly communicate and negotiate with one another through the Integrate Messaging Center.   Integrate provides the marketplace with unparalleled data validation and fraud prevention controls to ensure that all parties are mutually protected.  For more information go to www.integrate.com.

 

Janine Popick is the CEO and Founder of VerticalResponse, which has won multiple Stevie Awards, most recently for Support Team of the Year in The 2011 American Business Awards; and Janine Popick was named Best Entrepreneur in a Service Business with up to 100 Employees in the 2010 Stevie Awards for Women in Business.

What are your top three tips for small business owners on email marketing, content creation, and social media?

1. Take the time to organize your first email marketing campaign, and then use the same template for all of your weekly or monthly email campaigns. Creating your first email can be daunting. As we all know, business owners just don’t have the extra time in their day that it takes to do this. But if you keep reusing your template it will take less and less time, and when you are comfortable making changes to it, you can try new things and add to it to get a better response.
2. A lot of people don’t know where to start when it comes to creating content. The answer is to use what you have. Why not feature a customer and whether he/she likes the experience of using your product or service? If you’ve recently won an award or received a great review, that’s another thing you can highlight. You can even have a sale around an upcoming holiday or an create an event for one. The more you think about all you do in your business, the more you’ll realize you’ve got a ton of ideas to write about or share via photos and videos.
3. Social media is a great way to extend the life of your email marketing campaign. Make sure you include “follow us” links so that your email recipients have yet another way of getting your messages. In addition, you’ll want to include links to Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn in your email campaigns so that your recipients will share them with their own followers. Doing this spreads the word fast!
   

What item of news recently caught your eye and why?

The Pope is Tweeting! Gotta love it.

Do you have a favorite app?

My favorite iPhone app is Shazam. I’m always amazed that the app will pretty flawlessly tell you who is singing a song!

If you could choose another profession, what would it be?

I once wanted to be an MTV veejay, but now I’m not even sure whether that profession still exists!

What quality or qualities do you most value in your business associates?

Honesty is the quality I most value in any business associate, whether it is someone inside my company or on the outside. I love it when people tell me they simply “don’t know” rather than faking it. And I love doing business with companies who are honest and open with their customers.

What do you think is the worst bad habit to have at work?

Clipping your nails. Kidding! I think the worst bad habit to have at work is avoiding the big projects that need to be done.  Simply put: procrastination. I do it, we all do it, but getting your arms around it when you detect it’s happening and changing your behavior is always a good thing. And half the time you build up that “big” project in your mind, but when you get into it, it’s not really that big.

As someone at the top of your profession, what keeps you inspired or makes you hit the ground running in the morning?

My people and my customers always inspire me. Our mission is to help small businesses and non-profits grow by providing easy-to-use online marketing tools. So when a customer tells me that something our team produced helped them grow—whether it be a phone call, an email, or a piece of technology—I’m happy all the way around.

About Janine Popick:

Janine Popick, CEO and Founder, started VerticalResponse in 2001, when email marketing was catching on for larger businesses but still out of reach for small businesses. She realized that developing simple-to-use, cost-effective Web-based tools would make email marketing affordable and practical for small businesses—and that has been the company’s mission ever since.

In her spare time, Janine is CEB (Chief Executive Blogger) for the award-winning VerticalResponse Marketing Blog for Small Businesses. Prior to founding VerticalResponse, she led direct and Internet marketing programs for some of the biggest brands in technology and entertainment, including NBC Internet; XOOM.com; Claris, a wholly owned subsidiary of Apple Inc.; and Symantec Corporation.

About VerticalResponse:
VerticalResponse Inc. is a leading provider of self-service email marketing, social media, online surveys, and direct-mail services empowering small businesses and nonprofit organizations to easily create, share, and analyze their own marketing campaigns. Users can benefit from a wide variety of features including more than 700 free email marketing templates in a variety of categories; plus the ability to share their content over several social media networks; and tracking on everything from email marketing to social media responses so that they can understand campaign success. VerticalResponse offers customers an integrated Web-based marketing solution that’s intuitive and affordable. VerticalResponse is headquartered in San Francisco, Calif. For additional information, please visit www.verticalresponse.com.

In the midst of an economic environment where there’s no such thing as “business as usual,” The 9^th Annual American Business Awards^SM honored the best and brightest in a stunningly wide array of businesses and disciplines, crowning this year’s Stevie® Award winners at a gala event last night in New York City.

With more than 600 executives in attendance, The 2011 American Business Awards (ABAs) honored an all-inclusive spectrum of American business people and organizations -- from non-profits, emerging start-ups, major public companies and government agencies, to corner-office executives, corporate communicators, support staff and customer service teams.

Download the official program of the 2011 ABAs, featuring complete lists of honorees and judges.

The ABAs also paid tribute to entrepreneur and philanthropist Russell Simmons, best known as the co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, with its Difference Maker award, which made its debut this year.  The honor was presented to Simmons in recognition of his groundbreaking vision and influence on music, fashion, finance, television and film as well as modern philanthropy.

The event took place at the New York Marriott Marquis in Times Square and the emcee for the evening was Fox Business Network anchor Cheryl Casone.

Notable Stevie Award winners in The 2011 American Business Awards include, among others:

­   Executive of the Year: Jeffrey Bezos, Chairman of the Board, President & CEO, Amazon.com, Inc.

­   Best Overall Company of the Year: Apple Inc.

­   Business Turnaround of the Year: Whole Foods Market, Inc.

­   Corporate Social Responsibility Program of the Year: Cisco

­   Customer Service Team of the Year: Dell

­   Support Team of the Year: DHL Express

­   Information Technology Team of the Year: CIGNA Government Services

­   Most Innovative Company of the Year: General Electric

­   Fastest Growing Company of the Year: Groupon

­   Communications or PR Campaign of the Year: Hewlett-Packard

­   New Product or Service of the Year: Research In Motion's BlackBerry PlayBook

Winners in in the People’s Choice Stevie® Awards for Favorite New Products, determined by more than 140,000 public votes, were also awarded at the event to companies including Apple Inc., Motorola, PetRays, Reliv International and Zebra Technologies.

For a complete list of The 2011 American Business Awards honorees visit:  www.stevieawards.com/aba. 

More than 2,800 entries were submitted to The 2011 American Business Awards and more than 200 executives nationwide participated in judging to determine this year’s Stevie Award finalists and winners.

Winners of multiple Stevie Awards include Akavit, American Express, Apple, BGT Partners, Blackboard, CIGNA Government Services, Cisco, CME Group, Dealer.com, EffectiveUI, Hewlett-Packard, High Performance Technologies, Humana, IFDS Canada, Informatica Corporation, The Knowland Group, LifeLock, MediaCom Search, Millennial Media, MOST Brand Development + Advertising, Mountain View Group, MWW Group, Overstock.com, PetRays, Quality Systems, Inc., Reputation.com, Slack and Company, Sprint Prepaid Brands, Tesla Motors, and XPLANE.

A portion of each ticket sold for the gala event will be contributed to Camfed (www.camfed.org), an organization which fights poverty and HIV/AIDS in Africa by educating girls and empowering women to become leaders of change. 

About The Stevie® Awards

The Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.  Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide.  Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.stevieawards.com/, and follow the Stevie Awards on Twitter @TheStevieAwards.   

Sponsors and partners of The 2011 American Business Awards include Infogroup, IBM Netezza, American Support, Citrix Online, Epic Media Group, High Performance Technologies Inc., iolo technologies, LifeLock, Merisel/Coloredge, PetRays, SDL, SoftPro, and Vérité, Inc.

Throughout this week we've been acknowledging the more than 200 professionals who participated in judging of The 2011 (9th Annual) American Business Awards.  And the last group we'd like to acknowledge, but by no means the least, is the Board of Distinguished Judges & Advisors for the Media Section of the ABAs.

We formed this judging board several years ago to acknowledge the fact that the number of entries to the ABAs' categories for all form of media - web sites, blogs, video, live events, annual reports, etc. - was growing so quickly.

The following professionals participated on that judging board this year.  They participated in final judging of the media categories, and their work will be reflected in this year's Stevie Award winners who will be announced in New York on Monday evening, June 20.

Thanks so much to all of them!

John Avila, Senior VP, Executive Design Director, Edelman Design, Chicago, IL
Thomas R. Beeby, Principal, Executive Creative Director, Beeby Clark + Meyler, Irvington, NY
Christy Belden, Vice President, Media +, LeapFrog Interactive, Louisville, KY
Patrick Bonomo, Managing Partner, Director of Search & Digital Operations, MediaCom Search, New York, NY
Alison Cahill, Marketing Director, E*TRADE, New York, NY
Ming Chan, CEO, The1stMovement, Pasadena, CA
Lisa Chapman, Senior Manager, Brand Marketing, Blue Shield of California, San Francisco, CA
David Clarke, Managing Partner, BGT Partners, Miami, FL
David Crawford, Senior VP-Managing Group Creative Director, GSD&M Idea City, Austin, TX
Kevin Daly, CEO, Creek Systems Inc., Aliso Viejo, CA
Rob Davis, CEO & Founder, Akavit, Denver, CO
Stephen Donaldson, Principal, Radiant Brands, Atlantic City, NJ
Chad Eikhoff, Owner, Trick 3D, Atlanta, GA
Matt Finizio, Creative Director, Slack and Company, Chicago, IL
Max Fresen, Executive Creative Director, Isobar North America, Inc., Watertown, MA
Katherine Goldman, Senior VP, Executive Creative Director, Jack Morton Worldwide, New York, NY
Steven Hacker, President, International Association of Exhibitions and Events, Dallas, TX
Tina Hansen, Supervising Marketing Analyst, Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, New York, NY
Christopher Harmon, Principal & CEO, theBATstudio, Oakland, CA
Nancy Hasselback, President & CEO, Diversified Business Communications, Portland, ME
Scott Holmes, President-Interactive, WONGDOODY, Crandall, Wiener, Seattle, WA
Douglas Kelly, Executive VP-Design Director, Imagination Publishing, Chicago, IL
Frank Laudo, VP, Chief Creative Officer, GES, Las Vegas, NV
Peyton Lindley, Executive Director of User Experience Design and Technology, EffectiveUI, Denver, CO
Michael Magnani, President, Nvision, New York, NY
Dawn McDermott, Marketing Associate Director, Sun Life Financial, Wellesley Hills, MA
Jeannine McHenry, Senior Graphic Designer, Creative Channel Services, Los Angeles, CA
Joe Mele, Manager for Media & Marketing, Razorfish West, Seattle, WA
Dana Mellecker, Director, Public Relations, iCrossing, New York, NY
Patrick Milling Smith, Partner, Smuggler, New York, NY
Rajendran Nair, Marketing Director, Callidus Software, Pleasanton, CA
Gillian Rawcliffe, Business Development Manager, Verite, Inc., Sandy, UT
David M. Rich, Senior VP-Client Services Worldwide, George P. Johnson Co., Detroit, MI
Katie Rogers, Executive Vice President, DirectAnswer, Inc., Oxon Hill, MD
Ann Roskey, VP, Marketing & Audience Development, Accela Communications, Southborough, MA
Greg Schell, Director, Marketing, Brand, Advertising & Sponsorships, BMO Capital Markets, New York, NY
Molly E. Spatara, Global Director, Internet Marketing, Accenture, Chicago, IL
Scott Takeda, Director-Producer-Actor, Takeda Entertainment, Inc., Denver, CO
Tinne Teugels, Account Director, Metia, New York, NY
Michael Weil, Vice President, Hall-Erickson, Inc., Westmont, IL
Michael Weiss, CEO, imagistic Media Studios, Westlake Village, CA