The following professionals participated in first-round judging of The 12th Annual International Business Awards.  Their average scores helped to determine the nominations that were eligible to be included in second-round (final) judging, to determine the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award placements.  We thank them for their time, interest and insights.

Husam Mahmoud Abdallah, Senior Advisor, Organization Development, Dubai Airport Freezone, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Dr. Mamdooh Abdelmottlep, Founder and Executive Chairman, IPSA - International Police Sciences Association, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Sumaya Abdulla, Head - Human Resource Development, Bahrain National Gas Compnay, Manama, Bahrain
Bora Aksoylu, Event Manager, NIKE Turkey, Istanbul, Turkey
Mohammad Al Dweiri, Training Specialist, Abu Dhabi Police, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Ahmed Alattas, Tam Development, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Ahmad Alhai, Drilling Services Automation Project Manager, ADCO, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Maryam Alhashmi, Deputy Representative of Quality, Fujairah police G.H.Q, AlFujairah, United Arab Emirates
Huda Al-Husaini, Industrial Engineer, Jordan Engineers Association, Amman, Jordan
Asma Almarzoqi, Human Resources Consultant, HRSolutions, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Samar Almashjeri, Strategic Planning and Project Mangment Unit Lead, National Archives, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Hussein Alsaied Ahmed, Strategy and Corporate Excellence Expert, Dubai Statistics Center, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Don Anderson, Partner, Janet LeBlanc + Associates, Ottawa, Canada
Juan Paolo Arao, Senior Specialist - Talent Development, Abu Dhabi Polymers Co. Ltd - Borouge, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Jenny Ashmore, Chief Marketing Officer, Jazz-Works, Perth, United Kingdom
Ani Atanasova, CEO, Pixelhunters, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Lizette Badando, Project Coordinator - Human Resources, Dubai First, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Judhajit Bagchi, Director, Yaanus Films, Mumbai, India
Dan Banks, Founder & Creative Director, Project Design Company, Washington, DC USA
Heather Barton, Head of Human Resources, American Institute for Foreign Study, London, United Kingdom
Maxim Behar, CEO, M3 Communications Group, Inc., Sofia, Bulgaria
Carolyn Belefski, Designer & Illustrator, Curls Studio, Fairfax, VA USA
Ranadeep Bhattacharyya, Director, Yaanus Films, Mumbai, India
Hugh Brown, Director, JeaterBROWN Creative Partners, London, United Kingdom
Jane Bryant, Director, Spire Communications, Potomac Falls, VA USA
Jorge Cachinero, Director Corporativo de Reputación e Innovación, Llorente y Cuenca, Madrid, Spain
Colin Campbell-Austin, Head of Talent and People Development, Telegraph Media Group, London, United Kingdom
Venkata Rajesh Cheerla, Group Senior Manager - HR Strategy, Policies & Compliance, Etisalat Group, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Boris Chow, Assistant Marketing Manager, Wealth Bond Precious Metals (Asia) Ltd, Kowloon, Hong Kong
David Clark, Marketing Manager, BJSS, London, United Kingdom
Sally Clubley, Senior Consultant, IHRDC, Stourton, United Kingdom
Shelly Coates, Graphic Designer, Shellville Design, Falls Church, VA USA
Zeki Engin Çolak, Group Corporate Communications Executive, Coca-Cola Icecek, Umraniye, Turkey
Kira Cole, Brand and Marketing Specialist, Accenture, Chicago, IL USA
Adriena Daunt, Public Relations Manager - The Americas, Tourism New Zealand, Los Angeles, CA USA
Karla Davis, General Manager, Plantation Resort, Surfside Beach, NC USA
Saraida De Marchena Kaluche, President and CEO, Markatel, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Lelanie de Wet, Web Content & Social Media Manager, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa
Annette Densham, CEO, Publicity Genie, Forest Lake, Australia
Rachel Deutsch, Creative Director, The Design Channel, Chevy Chase, MD USA
Richard Dixon, Owner/Administrator, Home Helpers and Direct Link of North Texas, Keller, TX USA
Jon Dobinson, Chief Executive, Other Creative Ltd, London, United Kingdom
Michal Dunin, Managing Director, WebTalk, Warsaw, Poland
Yavuz Duyar, HR Operations Specialist, Opet Petrolculuk A.S., Istanbul, Turkey
Stacey Edmonds, Founder and MD, Lively, Coogee, Australia
Nayomi Ekanayake, Director of Marketing, Ekanayake Associates, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Rochelle Ekanayake, Managing Director UK/SRI LANKA, MrPierce Studios International Asia (PVT) Ltd, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Gary Erskine, Art Director, Ford's Theatre, Washington, DC USA
Eaton Fallows, Program Director, British Telecom, Manchester, United Kingdom
Mohammed Fattoum, Management and Information Technology Expert, Fujairah Police General Head Quarter, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Julia Forsyth, Senior Global Marketing Manager GSMA, Atlanta, GA USA
Manoj Gautam, Managing Director, Om Shiva Shakti Herbal Company, Kathmandu, Nepal
George Georgallides, Managing Partner, Curious Ventures (Investment arm of Curious Pictures), Chula Vista, CA USA
Pinar Tuba Gocgun, Human Resources Director, MetLife, Istanbul, Turkey
Ashantha Goonetilleke, Professor Water/Infrastructure Engineering, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
Lisa Gregovich, Manager, Vendor Operations, Prime Therapeutics, Coppell, CO USA
Danita Harn, VP of Operations, Harn & Associates, Bookkeeping Firm, Woodstock, CO USA
Peter Harrington, Senior HR Consultant, Harrington HR Services Ltd, Witham, United Kingdom
Robin Harris, Principal/Creative Director, Harris Design Inc., McLean, VA USA
Wayne Harris, Chairman, International Safety Quality Environment Management Association, Reading, United Kingdom
Steffen Hartmann, Senior Account Manager, Hill+Knowlton Strategies, Frankfurt, Germany
Joanne Hizon, Vice President - Human Resources SM Investments Corp, Pasay City, Indonesia
Jamie K. Holt, MBA, President/CEO, JMK Notary And Services, Miami, FL USA
Yvonne Howie, CEO, NSW The CEO Institute, Neutral Bay, Australia
Hamad Ibrahim, Expert Innovation and IT DEMARS, Amman, Jordan
Echo Ilott, Director, Boost Marketing, Bournemouth, United Kingdom
Leo Indarwahono, Public Health & Educational Executive, The Indonesian Business Coalition on AIDS (IBCA), Jakarta, Indonesia
Franky Jamin, Independent Commissioner, PT Kamadjaja Logistics and PT Paramount Land Development, Jakarta Selatan, Indonesia
Graham Jenkins, Chair, The Executive Connection, Balmain, Australia
Beverly Jensen, Ph.D., President, www.WomensMedicineBowl.com, Miami, FL USA
Kyle Johnson, Principal/Creative Director, BlkMrkt. Cr8tiv Labs, Houston, TX USA
Hakan Karamanli, Executive Vice President, TAM Faktoring A.S., Istanbul, Turkey
Shahnawaz Karim, Marketing Head, Bharti Airtel, New Delhi, India
Joe Kay, Senior Business Transformation Consultant, Alcatel-Lucent, Middlesbrough, United Kingdom
Umu Kececioglu, Senior Associate Mobile Banking Management, Denizbank, Istanbul, Turkey
Ki-hak Kim, Chairman, Korea-China-Japan, Regional Economy and Culture Association, Seoul, South Korea
Jennifer Kozak, Principal Creative, J Kozak Creative Company, Baltimore, MD USA
Cat Leaver, Group Head of Strategy, We are AD Ltd, Glasgow, United Kingdom
Sally Ledger, Marketing Director, Dendron, Watford, United Kingdom
Andreea Leonte, Creative & Strategy Director, McCannPR, Bucharest, Romania
Katya Linossi, Managing Director, ClearPeople Ltd, London, United Kingdom
Chris Litherland, International Senior Director HR, Intermec by Honeywell, Heinsberg, Germany
Petr Lymar, Regional Business Development, Yandex, Odessa, Ukraine
Anil Machado, Managing Director, Tnell, Sieradz, Poland
Dr. Kanak Madrecha, Advisor-Corporate Excellence Division, Municipality of Abu Dhabi City, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Connie Maina Nkatha, Head of Resource Mobilization, Kenya Wildlife Service, Nairobi, Kenya
Morag Malloy, Managing Director, Fission Creative, Paisley, United Kingdom
Margaret Manning, CEO, Reading Room, Singapore, Singapore
Steven Marr, Operations Manager, TELUS, Edmonton, Canada
Maheshkumar Mathilakath, Head of Business Process Re-Engineering, Commercial Bank of Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Chris McConnell, Senior Manager, Digital Marketing, Accenture, Chicago, IL USA
Jeremy McWilliams, Managing Director, Bang TV, London, United Kingdom
Eliza Misiecka, Director, GENESIS PR, Warsaw, Poland
Amanda Morales, Clinical Trial Administrative Assistant, WCCT Global, Cypress, TX USA
Ruth Moyte, Owner, Red Dandelion Creative, Temecula, CA USA
Motomasa Murayama, Professor, Tokiwa University, Tokyo, Japan
Özgür Mutlu, Director of Financial and Administrative Affairs, Ankara Netmon A.S., Ankara, Turkey
Rajendran Nair, VP Marketing, Estuate, San Francisco, CA USA
Therese Necio, VP Corporate Communications, SM Investments Corp, Pasay City, Indonesia
Rajiv Noronha, Head - Organizational Effectiveness, BPS Tata Consultancy Services, Bangalore, India
Irem Onal, HR Manager, Danone Early Life Nutrition Turkey, Istanbul, Turkey
Pierluigi, Orati, Head of Country Analysis, ENEL SPA, Rome, Italy
Mary Ortiz-Arzani, EDI/Sales Service Manager, Igloo Products Corp, Katy, TX USA
Egemen Ozcan, COO & Chief Storyteller, Boogy The Event Company, Istanbul, Turkey
Katarzyna Pawlikowska, Managing Partner, Garden of Words, Warsaw, Poland
Alexander Powell, Washington, DC USA
Nazia Qidwai, Planner, Kuwait Oil Company, Kuwait City, Kuwait
Rhiannon Rees, CEO, Love Living the dream PTY LTD, Murwillumbah, Australia
Pamela Robinson, CEO, Financial Voyages LLC, Atlanta, GA USA
Sharon Rudd, Organisational Development & Sales Consultant, TNT, Mascot, Australia
Linanne Sackett, Principal Investigator, Verizon Next Step Program, Albany, NY USA
Naya Saymon, Creative and Innovative Trainer, CIT, Palestine
Ron Sereg, Asst. Prof. Public Relations, Louisiana State University in Shreveport, Shreveport, LA USA
Dr. Shih-Wei Sheu, Centre of Excellence for Scientific & Research Journalism, Taipei, Taiwan
Sushrut Shrotri, Managing Partner, Novus Global Solutions, Singapore, Singapore
Tony Roland, Silitonga, Board of Trustees, Indonesian Institute for Corporate Directorship, Jakarta, Indonesia
Manu Singh, Manager - Contact Center, Dubai First, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Asuncion Soriano, CEO, Atrevia, Madrid, Spain
Julian Stubbs, Senior Lecturer, Marketing (retired), The University of Greenwich, London, United Kingdom
Malcolm Summerfield, Owner, MIS Consulting, Petersfield, United Kingdom
Begum Susar, Digital Marketing and Design Assistant Vice President, ING Bank Turkey, Istanbul, Turkey
Alicja Szalska, Education Coordinator, Vemma Services, Gdansk, Poland
Divya Tekchandani, Director, Airglow Aviation Service FZC, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Josie Thomson, Lifestyle Coach, JosieThomson.com, Red Hill, Australia
Wailaya Tiningsih, Bravyanto Health, Wellbeing & Nutrition Manager, PT Unilever Indonesia, Tbk Jakarta, Indonesia
Nazim Torun, Business Applications Manager, Bayer Türk, Istanbul, Turkey
Aigerim Tulepbergenova, Business Analyst, Morgan Stanley, New York, NY USA
Aykut Ustun, Group Manager - HR and Management System, Opet Petrolculuk, Istanbul, Turkey
Katarina Valachovicova, Client Service Director, GINGERS, Bratislava, Slovakia
Vincent Verdi, Art Director, CUNY-TV, New York, NY USA
Gwen Wight, Senior Director, Inside Sales, ServiceSource, Sandyford, Ireland
Young Kuk Won, CEO/ECD, Solcom, Seoul, South Korea
Debra Woodfork, Production and Design Manager, Association of Corporate Counsel, Washington, DC USA

Interested in becoming a Stevie Awards judge? You're invited to apply to be a preliminary-round judge for The Stevie Awards for Women in Business. As a judge you'll see how many individuals and organizations around the world are innovating and achieving success, and you'll receive a certificate of appreciation suitable for framing. Judging begins in September.

The Stevie® Awards have announced the eight executives who will chair the specialized final judging committees for its 12th Annual International Business Awards, the top business awards competition in the world.

All organizations are eligible to submit nominations - public and private, large and small, for-profit and non-profit.

The eight committee selections are based on the categories that will be judged.  Here are this year's final judging committee chairs.

WEBSITE, APP, VIDEO, PUBLICATION & LIVE EVENT AWARDS:

Takeo Apitzsch, Director of Digital for Corporate & Crisis
Edelman Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia

Takeo Apitzsch heads the digital department for corporate and crisis at Edelman Indonesia, where he develops key offerings and tools for corporate and consumer clients. He regularly conducts training sessions and workshops in digital knowledge, current trends, and communication strategies for C-level members at the company.

Takeo acquired expert knowledge and extensive experience in the fields of marketing, PR, sales, IT, and client management, not only working with international companies, but also by running his own ventures, which included development of websites and mobile apps.

Takeo studied Science of Economy at the University of Cologne from 2005-2007, and received a Masters in Marketing Communications from the London School of Public Relations, Jakarta, in 2012. More recently, he has volunteered for Habitat For Humanity Indonesia as part of Edelman’s Global Citizenship program, and he is a regular Co-host for French Tuesdays in Jakarta.

MANAGEMENT/INDIVIDUAL AWARDS:

Matthew Downes, CEO
Strategy To Revenue, Farnham Common, Bucks, United Kingdom

Matt has worked in the sales training and enablement industry for the last 15 years in both the United Kingdom and the US, helping global companies to become motivated and high-performing sales organizations. As one of the founders of Strategy To Revenue (STR), Matt previously focused on sales and marketing for the company.  Now, as CEO, Matt is involved in all aspects of the business to drive the growth strategy, while still playing an active role engaging with new and existing clients.

Prior to STR, Matt spent eight years working for other global sales training and performance companies engaging with Fortune 500 companies.  During that time, Matt lived in the US and led a sales transformation practice, before returning to the UK to launch STR in 2008.  

Outside of work, Matt is passionate about sport and is kept busy enjoying life with his wife Rosie and their three children Joe, Olly, and Bella.  Matt holds a BSc in Business Information Technology Management.

COMPANY/ORGANIZATION AWARDS:

Juggy Sihota, Vice President, Customer Experience Strategy and Operations
TELUS Health, Vancouver, Canada

"My passion is making health care better for Canadians,” says Juggy Sihota, VP of Customer Experience Strategy and Operations at TELUS Health. Juggy currently leads the national Customer Experience Operations team. Her work includes the development and execution of a national service strategy for driving the performance and engagement of the business in order to increase client loyalty, profitability, and satisfaction.

A telecom executive with more than 20 years of leadership experience, at TELUS Juggy has led several emerging technology businesses and operations spanning service development and operations, as well as strategy and marketing. Prior to her current role, Juggy was Vice President of Client Experience, Strategy, and Development for TELUS consumer services, which covered TV, High Speed Internet, landline, and wireless. Under her leadership, a national team of 170 management professionals transformed customer experience at TELUS, resulting in a 35% drop in call centre call volumes year-on-year, and a 40% reduction in customer complaints year-on-year. She received a Forty Under 40 award in 2012 for her business achievements, inspirational leadership, and community contributions, and was also one of seven women in Canada to be awarded the 2013 Leadership Excellence Trailblazer Award by Canadian Women in Communications and Technology.

Juggy served as a director on the TELUS Vancouver Community Board from 2008 to 2011 and was the Vancouver Lower Mainland regional chair of TELUS Day of Giving in 2012–2014. She currently serves on the Vancouver Board of Trade’s Women’s Leadership Council, as well as the VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation Board. Juggy holds an MBA from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and has completed Executive Development programs at Harvard and INSEAD

CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS & PUBLIC RELATIONS AWARDS:

Holly Gilthorpe, Head of Global Communications
GE Software, San Ramon, California

Holly Gilthorpe is chief officer of communications for GE Software. She is responsible for putting into practice public relations programs that communicate the value of GE's software and data analytics capabilities to the broader industry.

Holly has spent the past 21 years working in public relations, employee communications, and marketing for high technology companies in and around the Bay Area. Previously, Holly served as director of corporate communications at TIBCO, a provider of infrastructure software, where she successfully raised the profile of the company as a software and analytics leader. Holly was also director of worldwide public relations and internal communications for Spansion, a global leader in Flash memory semiconductor solutions, where she played an instrumental role in the company's crisis communications relating to litigation and restructuring activities. Prior to that, Holly spent five years at IBM, driving internal and external communications for IBM research and software businesses.

Holly earned a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from UC Davis in California. She spent 5 years in Toronto as a child and is looking forward to attending the International Business Awards presentations there in October so that she can look up some old childhood school friend

CUSTOMER SERVICE/SUPPORT AWARDS:

Eniz Akdag, Director of Call Center Operations
Turk Telekom Group Communications Services, Istanbul, Turkey

Eniz Akdag has been working at Turk Telekom Group Communication Services since 2012.  He leads the Customer Sales & Service Operations for the third-largest group of companies in Turkey, with 34 different locations and more than 7.000 employees.Turk Telekom Group is the leading communications and convergence technology group in Turkey. As of March 31, 2015, Turk Telekom Group companies has 13 million fixed access lines, 7.6 million broadband connections, and 16.6 million cellphone subscribers. 

Eniz currently plays a major role in transforming the Group’s call centers from cost centers to profit centers. His focus is on a high standard of customer care combined with high employee satisfaction. He brings considerable experience to this task: he was the leader of key customer care projects at Turk Telekom, which successfully introduced such new concepts as increasing first contact resolution; increasing customer satisfaction; decreasing repeat-calls volume; improving back office operations processes; decreasing churn; and increasing cross-sell activities.

Being part of a strong team is critical to Eniz in managing these operations. He relishes a challenge, and is always willing to try new methods of execution. He also believes in motivating his team by encouraging creativity and innovation and involving the team in the decision-making process, but he never forgets to have fun while working. 

Eniz was honored to win the Silver Stevie Award for Customer Service Manager of the Year in the 2015 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. He also led his team to win ‘Best Contact Center of Turkey’ in the 2013 IMI Awards. He graduated from the Business Administration Department of Istanbul University, and was involved in many social responsibility projects during his years at university.

HUMAN RESOURCES AWARDS:

Michalle Faulkner, Managing Director
EastCoast Human Resource Group, Queensland, Australia

Michalle believes: “Invest in your people, increase your profit.”  She is a senior Human Resource Management practitioner with more than 25 years experience gained in the building, construction, and labor hire industries. In addition to her business and Human Resource Management expertise, she is an active Workplace Health and Safety Consultant.  Michalle is also a qualified Workplace Trainer and Assessor and Internal Auditor of Quality Systems, including AS/NZS 9001:2008 and AS/NZS 4801- OHS Management Systems.

As well as providing clients with consulting services, Michalle is responsible for the EastCoast Human Resource Group’s delivery of specialist workforce solutions to a wide cross-section of clients. She is also responsible for general business development.

Michalle’s commitment to her profession was recognized in 2008 when she was awarded a Business Woman of the Year Award. A devoted wife and the mother of a young family, Michalle still finds the time to volunteer for the extremely active Sunshine Coast Business Women’s Network.

MARKETING & CREATIVE AWARDS:

Professor Han Sangpil, Department of Advertising and Public Relations
College of Communications and Social Science, Hanyang University, Seoul, South Korea

Han Sangpil has been Professor at the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, Hanyang University, since 2002. He joined the department as an Assistant Professor in 1991, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 1997. In addition to being Head of Department at various times between 1993 and 2002, Professor Han was Associate Dean of the College of Communications and Social Science from1999 to 2002. Outside of his academic role, Professor Han has also been Director at the Hanyang University Broadcasting Station for two year, and earlier, was the Director of Internet Hanyang.

In addition to his impressive academic achievements, Professor Han is a member of the American Academy of Advertising, and was president of the Korean Academy of Advertising from 2010 to 2011. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Korean Service Marketing Association, the Korean Academy of Marketing, and the Korean Academy of Customer Satisfaction. He is also an enthusiastic supporter of the MBC Children’s Football Foundation.

Professor Han received a BA (Honors) from Hanyang University in 1985, having completed his military service. In 1987, he received an MS in Advertising and Public Relations, going on to earn his Ph.D. in Communications in 1990, both from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

NEW PRODUCTS & SERVICES/INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AWARDS:

Mahesh Kumar Mathilakath, Head of Business Process Re-Engineering
Commercial Bank of Dubai, Dubai, UAE

Mahesh joined the Commercial Bank of Dubai in 2008, where he is currently the Head of Business Process Re-Engineering. On being appointed Chair of the IBA Final Judging Committee, he told us: “The International Business Awards are the only awards where the judging process is totally impartial and democratic as each judging panel is drawn from the expertise of professionals from around the globe, spanning many countries and businesses.”

From 2001 to 2007, Mahesh spent seven years at Emirates NBD, where he became the Program Office Project Head (Operations & IT) in the Merger & Integration department during the merger of Emirates Bank and National Bank of Dubai. Before moving to Dubai, Mahesh worked for HSBC at its Area Head Office in Mumbai. Outside of work, since 2006 Mahesh has been volunteering as a Senior Assessor (Team Leader) for the Dubai Quality Award, run by the Department of Economic Development, Government of Dubai.

Starting out with a BSc from Presidency College, University of Madras, Chennai, India, Mahesh went on to earn an MBA with distinction from Bradford University of Management in the UK in 2007. In 2009, he qualified as a PMP from the Project Management Institute. When not working, studying, or volunteering his services, Mahesh can be found painting, reading, or playing carrom.

The Cultural Council of Palm Beach County in Lake Worth, Florida, USA, won a Gold Stevie Award for Best Public Relations Event in the Live Events Awards categories of The 2015 American Business Awards. The Council also won a Silver Stevie for Best Newsletter/House Organ in the Publications Awards categories.

The winners of the New Product & Service and Information Technology Awards categories in The 2015 American Business Awards will be announced in San Francisco on September 11. Find out more here.

The 2016 American Business Awards will open for entries in October. Request an Entry Kit for the 2016 Awards.

The Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, a non-profit organization, enhances the quality of life and economic growth of the community by creating a cultural destination through the promotion of arts and culture.

The goals of its Gold Stevie Award-winning event “Break the Ice” Governor’s Conference last September were to bring worldwide attention to Palm Beach County arts and culture through social media, print, digital, and broadcast media; and to show government officials and Florida Governor Rick Scott the impact of the arts on the state’s economy and tourism.

We asked Marilyn Bauer, director of marketing and government affairs for the Cultural Council, what winning Gold and Silver Stevie Awards has meant to her organization and her team.

Getting the Word Out

“The Cultural Council was honored to win the prestigious Gold Stevie Award for Best Public Relations Event and the Silver Stevie Award for our house organ, art&culture magazine,” Marilyn told us. “These awards validate the work we are doing in promoting arts and culture in Palm Beach County. Furthermore, they illustrate how a small team of four in a secondary market can get the word out across the globe.”

We asked Marilyn to elaborate on how The American Business Awards had helped to broaden awareness for her organization. Her response: “Just being at the Awards Ceremony, in front of the impressive audience of business leaders, helped us to get the word out about the sophisticated and varied nature of arts and culture in Palm Beach County.”

Economic Impact of The Arts

“Art and culture in Palm Beach County are directly responsible for a total annual economic impact of $250 million with total spending at $139 million,” Marilyn continued. “The audience numbers 3.4 million and the cultural industry in the county accounts for more than 6,000 jobs. Because much of our work is in cultural tourism, it is very important to us—and to the county that funds us—that we get the word out outside the county borders.”

“The Stevie Awards were the perfect vehicle for this,” concluded Marilyn.

Combining Dance, Classical Music, and Rap

By bringing together Ballet Palm Beach, the Palm Beach Symphony, and Palm Beach County resident Vanilla Ice (Robert Van Winkle), the Cultural Council coordinated and created an event during the Governor’s Conference on Tourism in Boca Raton that combined the three art forms of dance, classical music and rap.

After the symphony and ballet each performed traditional works by Bach and Tchaikovsky, Vanilla Ice took the audience by surprise when he performed his hit single, “Ice, Ice Baby,” in tandem with the symphony and ballet. Vanilla Ice, who donated his time, was enthusiastic about performing a version of his song professionally scored by the symphony and choreographed by the ballet. (You can view the performance video on YouTube.)

The Council developed a public relations strategy that launched weeks before the actual event and combined social media posts and photos using the hashtag #breaktheice to create “conversation” about the upcoming event. The scope of the performance remained a surprise to the more than 1,000 guests and media attending that evening.

Instant Success

After directing the video and still photography, the Council immediately shared a video of the performance on social media. Its success was instantaneous. Using #breaktheice, Vanilla Ice, the arts organizations, members of the press, and the audience were virally active on all social platforms. This delivered the highest number of impressions the Council has ever had. Some numbers achieved: YouTube views totaling 12,347; Tweet impressions totaling 10,250; and 5,090 people reached with 169 likes on Facebook. The total for all media (including print, digital, social, and broadcast) was calculated at 97,534,629 impressions. The Council was subsequently recognized by the South Florida-based Gold Coast Public Relations Association with the 2014 Bernays Award for best special event.

High Quality Cultural Tourism Destination

The Cultural Council considered its goals fulfilled, not only by the press coverage, but also by the quality of discussion generated about Palm Beach County, the arts and culture of the area, and the importance of the relationship between politics and arts advocacy. For local and regional patrons, the “Break the Ice” event showed that they would not have to go far to see an eclectic mix of excellent arts entertainment. But, more importantly, to a crowd gathered specifically for the benefit of tourism, the message was clear that Palm Beach County is a high quality cultural tourism destination.

As director of marketing and government affairs for the Cultural Council, Marilyn is proud of her region’s achievements. “It is a joy to market the arts in the county and to give back to our community,” she informed us. “We have a very vibrant arts community: a 53-year old opera that produced a world premiere last year; two world-class museums; an acclaimed ballet; and theaters staging plays reviewed by The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. I am personally proud of the accomplishments of our 200-plus member organizations and how they contribute to the richness and quality of life in Palm Beach County. I am proud that we are making art here.”

About Marilyn Bauer:

Marilyn Bauer, director of marketing and government affairs at the Cultural Council, is a marketing and communications expert with extensive experience in cross-platform marketing. She is also an award-winning journalist and two-time National Endowment for the Arts fellow with more than twenty years of experience working for major metropolitan newspapers, national magazines. and websites on both the editorial and business sides. She has been an arts advocate for most of her life, not only writing about the business and importance of the arts in numerous outlets, but also as an art critic for publications including ARTnews, Art & Antiques, and Cincinnati Enquirer, where she was the art critic for six years. She is also a frequent contributor to Western Art & Architecture.

Marilyn attended graduate school at New York University in arts administration and has held senior marketing positions at Harper’s Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, Cartier and American Express. She is a member of the board of the Carbonell Awards recognizing excellence in theater, and sits on the communications committee for Visit Florida.

About The Cultural Council of Palm Beach County:

The Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, a community-based organization, enhances the quality of life by creating a cultural destination through support, education and promotion of arts and culture within Palm Beach County.

The Stevie Awards for Women in Business are looking for the world’s best female entrepreneurs, executives and employees.

Early birds will benefit from special rates. Entry fees for most government and non-profit categories are waived.

The call for entries for the 12^th Stevie Awards for Women in is in full swing. Through September 23, female entrepreneurs, executives, employees, and the organizations they run, worldwide, may submit their entries to compete for the Stevie®, the highest honor in the business world.

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

“Women are a tremendous force in the global economy,“ emphasizes Michael Gallagher, president and founder of the Stevie Awards. “We therefore want to encourage women entrepreneurs, executives and employees all over the world to seek and receive the recognition that they deserve.” Women’s power in the business world is confirmed by various national and international studies. In the United States alone, 8.6 million women own businesses. In total they employ 7.8 million people, with revenue of 1.3 trillion dollars. According to the Global Report on Women and Entrepreneurship 2012, more than 126 million female entrepreneurs were starting or running new businesses in 67 nations in that year.

To recognize the workplace achievements of women around the world, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business honor women and women-run businesses in more than 85 categories including: Entrepreneur of the Year, Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Executive of the Year, Mentor or Coach of Overall Company of the Year, and Most Innovative Company of the Year, New Product of the Year, and Marketing Campaign of the Year, among others, .

New categories in 2015 include Startup of the Year and Women-Run Workplace of the Year.

By winning a Gold, Silver or Bronze Stevie Award, business women and their organizations gain increased media awareness. Further benefits are increased brand recognition and a positive reputation as attractive employers. In a short video Michael Gallagher explains the benefits for women of entering business awards: https://youtu.be/Rm9yazD_sU8.

Emphasizing the great effect women-owned and women-run businesses have on the global economy, Gallagher elaborates another reason to encourage women to enter business awards like the Stevies. “Beside the benefits for their own organizations and their reputation, the winners of the Stevie Awards for Women in Business are great role models for women and girls worldwide. With their stories they inspire other women to follow their lead, start their own businesses and aim for leadership and executive positions. Simply put: to rise up to their potential. Stevie Awards winners encourage other women to be bold and follow their professional vocation.”

There is still plenty of time to prepare a winning entry, but early birds will benefit from special rates, when submitting their entries through July 22. The regular entry deadline is August 26 and late entries will be accepted through September 23 with payment of a late fee. A jury of many leading women entrepreneurs, executives and luminaries worldwide will then evaluate the entries, before the winners of the 12th annual competition will be announced at a gala awards dinner at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York on November 13, 2015.    

Winners of the 2014 Stevie Awards for Women in Business included, among others:

• Jennifer Moss, Cofounder of Plasticity Labs, Waterloo, ON Canada
• Kristina McCoobery, Co-Founder, Managing Partner and Head of Operations of inVNT, New York, NY
• Ffyona Dawber, Synergy Vision Ltd, London, United Kingdom
• Asteway Desta, Country manager DHL Express Uganda, Capetown, South Africa
• Umran Beba, Senior VP & CHRO, PepsiCo AMEA, Dubai, United Arab Emerates
• Christina Smedley, VP of Global Brand and Communications, PayPal, San Jose, CA
• Luisa Garcia, CEO and Partner, Llorente & Cuenca, Madrid, Spain

The countdown is on. The extended final entry deadline of The 12^th Annual International Business Awards is July 15. Organizations and individuals worldwide have eight days left in which to compete for the Stevie®, the highest honor in the business world. The International Business Awards attract more than 3,500 nominations from organizations in more than 60 nations and territories each year.

All companies, organizations and individuals worldwide may participate: public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. Participants may choose from a wide variety of categories.  “The International Business Awards offer more than 250 awards categories for every facet of business,” explains Stevie Awards president Michael Gallagher. There are several new categories this year. “For example, we have four new Startup of the Year categories as well as a category for the Energy Industry Innovation of the Year.”

Gallagher emphasizes that it’s possible to create high-quality nominations in the time remaining to entrants. Interested organizations may get the entry kit and other details at www.StevieAwards.com/IBA and select the categories suitable to their achievements. “The heart of each entry is an essay of up to 650 words, describing the nominee’s achievements since the beginning of 2014. The more precise and compelling the story of those achievements, the better.” advises Gallagher. He also emphasizes that no additional late fees will be charged for entries submitted through July 15, and late entries will not be penalized in any way in the judging process.

Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners will be selected during the judging process by more than 200 professionals worldwide. Winners will be announced on August 12, and the awards will be presented at a gala awards ceremony at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Toronto, Canada, on October 23. The Stevie Award trophy, made by the same company that manufactures the Oscar, is one of the world’s most coveted prizes.

Learn more about The International Business Awards and the benefits of entering in a short video interview with Michael Gallagher.

Overview of Categories:

• Management Awards
• Company of the Year Awards
• Customer Service Awards
• Human Resources Awards
• Information Technology Awards
• Marketing Awards
• New Product Awards
• Public Relations Awards
• Website Awards, Smartphone and Tablet Apps, and other Media Awards
  

About The Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in six programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 10,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 60 nations. 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.

Deckers Brands of Goleta, California, USA won a Bronze Stevie® Award for Company of the Year in the 2015 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards. View all of the 2015 winners here.

The 2016 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards will be open for entries in October 2015. Request your entry kit now and it will be emailed to you when it's available.

Deckers Brands has a 40-year history of building niche footwear brands into lifestyle market leaders, attracting millions of loyal consumers globally. The company was traditionally a wholesaler, selling to other retailers and international distributors, but recently changed its business model to become more consumer-centric. Some 25% of Deckers' revenues now come from direct-to-consumer sales online and in-store.

In 2015, Deckers Brands launched its first multi-brand e-commerce website in the Asia-Pacific region, www.stylebydeckers.com.

“Our People Are Our Most Valuable Asset”

Decker Brands’ President of Asia Pacific, Peter Worley, was delighted to win the Bronze Stevie® Award for Company of the Year in the 2015 (2nd Annual) Asia-Pacific Stevie® Awards. “We at Deckers Brands are proud to have been acknowledged, along with all the other worthy recipients, in this year’s Asia-Pacific Stevie® Awards,” Peter Worley, Deckers Brands President of Asia Pacific, told us. “Our people are our most valuable asset, and this award is recognition of the passion, collaborative spirit, hard work, and relentless dedication of each of our employees.  I’m both honored and humbled to receive this prestigious award on their behalf, and I know they will be inspired and motivated by it.”

Rapid Growth

We asked Peter what challenges he had faced with Decker Brands’ expansion into Asia-Pacific, and if he had advice for other companies considering expansion in the region.

“The Asia-Pacific region represents an immense business opportunity for compelling footwear brands like UGG®, Teva®, Sanuk®, Hoka®, and Ahnu®.  Consumption has grown faster in Asia Pacific than any other region in the world over the past 10 years,” Peter told us. “The most obvious challenge to doing business in Asia-Pacific is the sheer complexity of the region, with all the countries, currencies, languages, and time zones—not to mention the two hemispheres and associated climate issues,” Peter continued. “On top of that, commerce in the region is changing and evolving rapidly, influenced by politics, economics, religion, tourism, and other factors.  This is not a bad thing at all, but businesses must be nimble and responsive to evolving consumer purchase habits and expectations.” 

In conclusion, according to Peter: “New brands and businesses wishing to enter the region should take time to assess their opportunities thoroughly, and perhaps focus on the one or two markets where they feel they can have the most relevance.”

Style X Deckers

Deckers Brands is expanding its service in several APAC countries over the course of this year. To-date, Singapore and Australia have already gone live, followed by Hong Kong, Malaysia, and South Korea.

The Style X Deckers website platform includes several features that enhance the shopping experience for APAC consumers:

• The lifestyle search: Consumers can search for products on the website based on his/her personal lifestyle preferences, including "Home," "Urban," "Beach" and "Active."
• Cross-brand product search: In addition to the lifestyle search, the platform offers a comprehensive product search across all four Deckers' brands, based on a number of criteria, including brand name, price, color, size, materials, collection, benefit, and activity.
• Geo-targeted catalogue and pricing: The website has the ability to define different catalogs of products based on geography. This includes the ability to accept local currency for each country.
• Direct access to brand sites: Should customers prefer to shop just one brand, the new multi-brand website makes it easy to access the official brand pages directly.

Style X Deckers is the first online experience that cross-merchandises all of Deckers top footwear brands together directly for the consumer. The cross-brand search function allows consumers to find the product that will best meet their needs–whether for at-home, active lifestyles, or everyday wear.         

The Style X Deckers website is expected to launch in New Zealand and Taiwan during 2016, with the remainder of the targeted APAC countries to follow in 2017.

Growth & Evolution

Peter is excited about the future. “I’ve been in the business of building and developing brands for 30 years … more specifically, lifestyle footwear brands,” he explained. “What inspires and excites me is continuous change and evolution.  It keeps me growing and evolving, both professionally and personally, because I know that what got me where I am today won’t get me where I need to be tomorrow.  Also, it rarely feels like work. Creating compelling products and marketing communications, and building healthy and lasting relationships with consumers is a lot of fun!”

In conclusion, Peter told us: “As a Stevie Award recipient, we share a commonality with all the other organizations that have been recognized for their commitment to excellence this year.  Our people have newfound admiration for these organizations, and their products and services.  Likewise, we appreciate this opportunity to invite their people to experience the Deckers portfolio of brands!”

Deckers Brands' Stevie Award makes them even more well positioned to succeed in the Asia-Pacific region.

About Peter Worley:

Peter Worley was appointed President of Asia Pacific by Deckers Brands in 2012. In this key position, Peter leads Deckers’ continued expansion in a critical geographic region important to all the brands in the Deckers portfolio. He had just marked his fifth year with the Teva brand, where he led its successful turnaround and re-positioning, building a new management team, and increased global sales by 55% since 2006. Prior to joining Deckers, Worley held Product and Sales Vice President roles with K-Swiss during a 10-year period of over 350% growth, as well as product and marketing roles witin the Reebok International organization. Worley is based at Deckers’ Hong Kong office.

About Deckers Brands:

Deckers Brands is a global leader in designing, marketing, and distributing innovative footwear, apparel, and accessories developed for both everyday casual lifestyle use and high performance activities. The Company's portfolio of brands includes UGG®, Teva®, Sanuk®, Ahnu®, and HOKA ONE ONE®. Deckers Brands products are sold in more than 50 countries and territories through select department and specialty stores, 142 Company-owned and operated retail stores, and select online stores, including Company-owned websites. Deckers Brands has a 40-year history of building niche footwear brands into lifestyle market leaders attracting millions of loyal consumers globally. For more information, please visit www.deckers.com.

The Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards have company awards categories as well as categories for management, marketing, customer service, human resources, new products, and much more.  Join the mailing list and you'll get the 2016 entry kit in October.

Clean Air Task Force (CATF), a nonprofit environmental organization based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, believes that partnerships between companies in China and the West are crucial to accelerating the commercialization of low-carbon, coal-based energy generation. To that end, CATF is working in China and elsewhere in Asia to facilitate the development of joint business ventures between innovative energy companies and research institutions.

CATF is represented in China by Dr. S. Ming Sung, its Beijing-based Chief Representative for Asia-Pacific. CATF and Sung’s efforts in China focus on developing partnerships and knowledge-sharing that build on the country's current leadership in low-carbon coal technologies essential to addressing climate change and energy security.

Working Together

Beyond simply importing Western technologies, Chinese firms are working side-by-side with U.S. companies to learn how to adapt technologies to their needs and train new workforces. “The United States is more innovative,” said Sung. “But China tends to execute projects faster and cheaper than anyone else. So, if we can get the United States and China working together, everyone will benefit, and those concerns will also make a lot of money.”

Sung is profoundly aware of the importance of his work. As he put it: “CATF has a unique role to play in protecting the environment and addressing global climate change by catalyzing these business-to-business collaborations between the U.S. and Asia.”

Averting the Worst Consequences of Climate Change

Reliance on coal creates many challenges—along with some critically important opportunities. Energy companies in North America, Asia, Europe, and Australia have enormous experience and expertise working with coal, and are similarly motivated to develop technologies and techniques that will preserve a role for cleaner coal in a carbon-constrained world economy.

Business-to-business collaborations hold the potential to:

- Mitigate the cost of developing highly advanced clean energy technologies;

- Shorten the deployment time of clean energy systems;

- Decrease the world's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

The environmental and economic benefits of transitioning to clean energy will be smaller and slower to materialize if western and Asian companies do not work together. Investments by both countries will reduce the cost of that technology worldwide, increasing the likelihood that low-carbon technologies such as carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) will be widely deployed in time to help avert the worst consequences of climate change.

Developing Partnerships in China

Together, the U.S. and China account for about 40% of the world's CO2 releases. Both countries are heavily reliant on fossil fuels, so the challenges they face are the same: How to cut CO2 emissions without harming economic growth and national security. CATF therefore believes that in developing climate change solutions, the U.S. and China are natural partners, not rivals.

Dr. Sung has helped CATF to facilitate several joint ventures between U.S. and Chinese technology companies to get low or zero carbon coal deployed quickly. (Find out more about these projects on the CATF website.)

Dr. Sung has worked with Chinese energy industry leaders to draft energy proposals. He serves as the Senior Economic Advisor to the Chinese city of DaQing, and has been a keynote speaker/moderator at many international conferences.

China’s giant state-owned companies are taking the lead on these projects, and many also involve major international partners. “If CCUS is to succeed, the U.S. and China must share more technical information on clean-coal technology,” says Sung.

A Thirst for Cleaner Energy

China's thirst for cleaner energy and the targets established in its 12th 5-year plan are pressuring the major companies operating in China to ramp up their efforts to explore for natural gas in shale formations and rapidly scale up production. But haste may risk environmental degradation and adverse human health impacts as reported in the press (e.g. The New York Times article "China Takes On Big Risks in Its Push for Shale Gas" from April 11, 2014).

CATF's vision is that by learning from the experiences of modern shale developers, China can leapfrog to more advanced, cleaner, safer practices proven in the U.S.

Moving Forward on Solar, Nuclear and Renewable Energy

Taking the "all of the above" approach to clean energy, CATF has also worked on helping China’s industry develop nuclear and solar capabilities. For example:

• As part of U.S.-China collaboration on nuclear energy development, CATF is helping Chinese nuclear operators receive training in U.S. facilities run by Duke Energy and Southern Companies. Trainees shadow U.S. nuclear operators for a 3-6 months program;

• Working with Duke Energy, Huaneng Group, and others, CATF is evaluating and validating the technical and economic feasibility of advanced small modular nuclear reactors for the global market, including China;

• CATF recently held a solar thermal technical conference in China for potential Chinese market development, and facilitated a meeting between Huaneng Group and a major solar thermal plant operator in Nevada;

• This past year, CATF helped General Compression, an energy storage company based in Massachusetts, to partner with Huaneng CERI to develop a commercial demonstration facility in China.
  

About Dr. S. Ming Sung:

Dr. S. Ming Sung joined the Clean Air Task Force as its Chief Representative for Asia-Pacific shortly after the 2008 ACEII Roundtable event in Beiijng. An American citizen, Dr. Sung was born in Shanghai and is fluent in all three major Chinese dialects. He is well connected with China energy companies and relevant public officials, and has deep ties to the global coal gasification and large chemical/energy project development communities. Dr. Sung's experience and connections have proven a perfect fit with CATF and he has immeasurably expanded ACEII's ability to achieve its objectives.

Dr. Sung's professional experience extends over 40 years in the energy and IT industries. He has worked for a handful of the world's leading companies and institutions, including Shell (where he spent 25 years), AspenTech, BASF, Monsanto, US DOE, and XinAo Group (a division of China's ENN Group). His experience covers management, engineering, operations, and marketing in coal, oil, chemicals and related areas.

Dr. Sung earned his BS and MS in Chemical and Petroleum Refining Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines. His Ph.D. research was in asphalt rheology at the University of Florida.

About Clean Air Task Force:

Clean Air Task Force is a nonprofit environmental organization with offices across the U.S. and in China. CATF works to help safeguard against the worst impacts of climate change by catalyzing the rapid global development and deployment of low carbon energy and other climate-protecting technologies through research and analysis, public advocacy leadership, and partnership with the private sector. For more information, please visit www.catf.us.