April 25 Final Entry Deadline for Tenth Annual Program

The Stevie® Awards today named the 10 executives who will chair and form specialized final judging committees for its 10th Annual American Business Awards.

All organizations and individuals operating in the U.S.A. - public and private, large and small, for-profit and non-profit - are eligible to submit nominations to The American Business Awards.  Details are available at http://www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.  The final entry deadline is April 25.

The 10 committee selections are based on the categories that will be judged.  The appointments are as follows:

Company/Organization Awards: Doron Reuveni, CEO & Co-founder of uTest, Southborough, MA

Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, and Public Relations Awards: Alison Graves, WW Influencer Relations, Printing of Hewlett Packard Company, Escondido, CA

Creative Awards: Stafford Kendall, Principal of Covalent Logic, Baton Rouge, LA

Customer Service Awards: Anita Samojednik, VP Customer Operations of TheLadders, New York, NY

Human Resources Awards: John Hovnanian, Senior VP of Human Resources & Chief Talent Officer of Williams Lea, New York, NY

 

Support Awards: Jerry Weinberger, Senior Director, Customer Service and Retention of Webs, Inc., Silver Spring, MD

Information Technology Awards: Elizabeth Redding, President of Tellago, Schaumburg, IL

Management Awards: Therese Tucker, CEO of BlackLine Systems, Los Angeles, CA

Marketing Awards: Charles Kirby Wadsworth, VP of Global Marketing of F5 Networks, Seattle, WA

 New Product Awards & Product Management: Mike Oeth, CEO of OnSIP Business VoIP, New York, NY

“The executives who will chair the final judging committees for the 2012 ABAs are all past Stevie Award winners and are leaders of their industries,” said Michael Gallagher, president of the Stevie Awards. “Having a deep involvement and understanding of their respective industries and changing landscapes, these individuals possess the insight to recognize success factors for this year’s nominees.”

Finalists in The 2012 American Business Awards will be determined in preliminary judging to be conducted through May 6 by volunteer professionals nationwide. Final judging, to be conducted by panels that will be formed by the newly appointed committee chairs, will take place from late May through early June.  In total, more than 200 executives across the U.S.A. will participate in the judging process to determine 2012 Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners.

ABA Stevie Award winners will be announced at two award banquets: the first will take place on June 18 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York; and the second, a new event, will be held on September 17 at the Julia Morgan Ballroom in San Francisco, California and will honor Stevie Award winners in all tech-related categories.

For more information on The American Business Awards, visit: www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

About the Stevie® Awards
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 www.StevieAwards.com/, and follow the Stevie Awards on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube. 

Sponsors and partners of The 2012 American Business Awards include American Support, Business TalkRadio Network, Callidus Software, Citrix Online, Dynamic Research Corporation, iolo technologies, John Hancock Funds, LifeLock, PetRays, Primus Telecommunications Group, SoftPro, and VerticalResponse.

The final entry deadline for The 2012 (10th Annual) American Business Awards, the premier business awards competition in the U.S.A., is Wednesday, April 25, 2012.    

To begin your submission process, you should:

1. Request an entry kit. 
The entry kit will have all of the information you need regarding entry preparation and submission.

2. Review the 2012 ABA categories.
The American Business Awards honors all facets of workplace, our award categories include: app awards, company / organization awards, customer service awards, HR awards, IT awards, management awards, marketing awards, new product awards, PR awards, and website awards. See all of our business award categories.

3. Submit your entries.
Select your categories, write your submissions according to the instructions, and submit your entries.

If you have questions regarding the submission process, we have several resources including a step-by-step video on how to submit entries, past winners' entries for your review, and  7 tips on submitting winning entries to help you make the most out of your entries.

2012 Finalists will be announced mid-May and the 10th Annual winners will be announced at one of our two awards banquets. We will hold our traditional banquet on June 18th at the Marriott Marquis in New York City and have a second ceremony in San Francisco on September 17th at the Julia Morgan Ballroom where we will announce our tech awards winners. Click here to see the ABA calendar.

If you have any questions about the 2012 submission process, email us at help@stevieawards.com or call us at + 1 703-547-8389.

The Stevie® Awards, organizer of the world’s premier business awards, today announced the preliminary schedule of events for America Means Business, a landmark three-day event about entrepreneurship, taking place in New York City on June 13, 14, and 15.

Headquartered at the Metropolitan Pavilion at 125 West 18th Street, with events taking place there and at other locations throughout New York City, America Means Business will feature informative panel discussions, “How I Did It” case studies, an exposition of products and services that can help aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners, and many other events about how to start and grow a business.  Highlights from the current schedule include:

• How to Get Started and Which Business is Right for You, presented by SCORE
• Social Media and Email Marketing: How to Leverage the Power, presented by small business marketing experts of  VerticalResponse
• How to Be a Pro at Hiring, presented by Joanna Shows of ActionCOACH, the world’s top business coaching firm
• How to Be a Master of Time Management, presented by Tony Signorelli, president and author of New Rules of Self Employment
• Sales Fundamentals for the New Economy, presented by Julie Thomas, president of ValueSelling Associates
• Is Network Marketing Right for You?, presented by Barbara McCollough and Deanna Clarance, the entrepreneurs behind the Appreneur Lab
• 1-to-1 Counseling Lounge providing immediate small business feedback by SCORE’s small business professionals

For a full calendar of events scheduled thus far, visit: www.AmericaMeansBusiness-NYC.com/calendar.

“Since announcing America Means Business in February, we have received a huge response from entrepreneurs and business experts around the country seeking to participate through speaking, sponsoring, exhibiting, and attending,” said Michael Gallagher, president and founder of the Stevie Awards. “We are very pleased to announce our preliminary schedule, and are looking forward to adding even more events to the program that will benefit and inspire future and current entrepreneurs.”

America Means Business still has openings for those interested in speaking or staging an event related to entrepreneurship and business management. There is no cost to participate and proposals are being accepted online until June 13. Attendee registration for America Means Business is free through May 25, and just $10 thereafter.  Details on creating an event and registration are available at www.AmericaMeansBusiness-NYC.com. 

About America Means Business
America Means Business is a landmark event about entrepreneurship - about how to start, grow and manage your own business. To take place in New York City on June 13 - 15, 2012, America Means Business will be packed with educational, networking and social events that will show you how to bring your dream to life.  For more information visit www.AmericaMeansBusiness-NYC.com.

About the Stevie Awards
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 Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.  

The Ninth Annual International Business Awards, the world's premier business awards competition, is now accepting entries. The entry deadline is 16 May; request your entry kit here.) 

All individuals and organizations worldwide -- public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small -- may submit nominations to the IBAs. The International Business Awards recognize achievement in every facet of the workplace. Stevie® Awards are conferred upon top-scoring nominations in each category, as chosen by an international judging panel of more than 150 business leaders.

Our business awards categories include:

• Company/Organization Awards
• Customer Service Awards
• Human Resources Awards
• Information Technology Awards
• Management Awards
• Marketing Awards Categories
• New Product Awards
• Public Relations Awards
• Support Awards
• Web Site Awards, Smartphone and Tablet App, and other media awards

See the full list of international business awards categories.

Nominations should cite achievements during our eligibility period: January 2011 through 27 June 2012, the last day that late entries will be accepted. There is no eligibility timeframe for web site entries - it does not matter when the web sites were first published.

The IBA deadline is 16 May and late entries will be accepted through the final entry deadline of 27 June with a $35.00 late fee. Finalists will be announced in late July. Entry details are available at www.stevieawards.com/iba.

2012 honorees will be celebrated at the 9th annual awards banquet on Monday, 15 October in Seoul, South Korea. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Stevie Awards movement, we will introduce Silver and Bronze Stevie Awards. This means that all honorees in the IBAs will now be Stevie Award winners (Note: Silver and Bronze Stevie Awards will replace Distinguished Honoree (honorable mention) medals). Read more about the new awards here.

To request an entry kit for The 2011 International Business Awards, visit www.stevieawards.com/iba.

April 25 is the final entry deadline for The 2012 (10th Annual) American Business Awards, the premier business awards competition in the U.S.A. 

If you haven't received your 2012 entry kit, you can download it online here. For your convenience, we have created a step-by-step video called "How to Enter The 2012 American Business Awards" to help you with the submission process.

The 2012 ABAs have a range of categories to recognize achievements in all facets of the workplace; types of business awards categories include:

• App awards,
• Company / organization awards,
• Customer service awards,
• HR awards,
• IT awards,
• Management awards,
• Marketing awards,
• New product awards,
• PR awards, and
• Website awards.

2012 Finalists will be announced mid-May and the 10th Annual winners will be announced at one of our two awards banquets. We will hold our traditional banquet on June 18th at the Marriott Marquis in New York City and have a second ceremony in San Francisco on September 17th at the Julia Morgan Ballroom where we will announce our tech awards winners.

If you have any questions about the 2012 ABAs, please email us at help@stevieawards.com  or call us at + 1 703-547-8389.

Therese Tucker, CEO and Founder of BlackLine Systems, won the Stevie® Award for Executive of the Year  in The 2011 American Business Awards, the premier business awards program in the U.S.A. Therese will chair the committee for final judging of the management awards categories in The 2012 American Business Awards. (The final entry deadline for the 2012 ABAs is April 25, request your entry kit now.)

We asked Therese to share some tips with us on how managers can improve their end of year financial close processes.

What are your top 3 tips for senior managers looking to improve and streamline their account reconciliation and financial close processes?

1. Technology can automate repetitive, boring job functions and give your accounting staff more time to analyze and focus on strategic initiatives. 

2. Get organized: The best of tools won’t clean up a mess for you. 

3. Get executive sponsorship/buy-in early: Make sure that your CFO supports the initiative by understanding that a better process will give him/her confidence in the results. This will help garner the necessary time and resources to make meaningful changes and improvements.

What item of news recently caught your eye and why?
Another plane crash, in Siberia.  Regulations can be onerous, but as a frequent traveler I’m thankful that I mostly take the safety of flying for granted!

Do you have a favorite app?
The Sudoku app on my iPad.

If you could choose another profession, what would it be?
I would be either a yoga teacher or a chef.

What quality or qualities do you most value in your business associates?
Honesty, intelligence, and heart.

As someone at the top of your profession, what keeps you inspired or makes you hit the ground running in the morning?
As the business keeps growing, the job keeps changing.  Being CEO of a company with five people is very different than having 105 employees and almost 500 customers. It stays interesting!

About Therese Tucker, CEO and Founder, BlackLine Systems:
After 25 years at SunGard Treasury Systems where she served as Chief Technology Officer and head of development for SunGuard's Global Trader system, Therese Tucker was ready for a new business venture using emerging technology. Wanting to combine her two talents, technology innovation and finance, Therese started BlackLine in 2001 to address the technology needs of financial organizations. Therese successfully launched BlackLine by developing an automated solution for account reconciliations which tapped into a previously un-served market. In recent years, Therese has led the company’s shift to a SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) business model which has allowed to company to experience revenue growth of more than 50% in 2009, 2010, and 2011. In addition to her automated solution, Therese has developed other software including Tax Answer Scenarios, a tax planning product that has been marketed to over 1,000 tax preparers and CPAs annually since 1998.

About BlackLine Systems:
Founded in 2001, BlackLine Systems was the first to develop and offer a commercially available Balance Sheet Account Reconciliation solution.  BlackLine provides quick-to-implement, scalable, and easy-to-use applications that automate the entire financial close process to help improve financial controls for companies of all sizes.  BlackLine software applications complement existing Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Governance Risk and Compliance (GRC), and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. BlackLine offers clients its enterprise-class software in a simple and secure OnDemand/SaaS platform.  With a proven track record and a commitment to customer success, BlackLine seeks to reduce the burden the financial close places on accounting and finance professionals.  For more information, please visit www.blackline.com.

To help celebrate to 10th anniversary of the Stevie® Awards, organizer of the world’s premier business awards, we have introduced a monthly poll series recognizing the organizations, events, people, and products that have shaped our lives over the past decade.

Our April poll asks, Which is the top company of the past 10 years? After careful consideration, we've narrowed the choices to the following six companies. Vote now for your choice, on our poll on our Facebook page:

a) Apple

b) Facebook

c) Google

d) Research in Motion

e) Tata Group

f) Virgin

Results of our poll will be announced at the end of April.

Which company do you think is the top company of the decade? Vote now.

The Stevie® Awards, organizer of the world’s premier business awards, announced several scheduling details for America Means Business,  its landmark new event about how to start, grow, and manage a business. To take place in New York City on June 13 - 15, 2012, America Means Business will be packed with educational, networking, and social events that will show entrepreneurs how to bring their dreams to life.

America Means Business is being crowdsourced, meaning that dozens of organizations across the nation are contributing to its programming. Anyone who wants to hold an event related to entrepreneurship and business creation is invited to become an Event Partner. While most events will be held at our headquarters, Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 W. 18th Street, New York, NY, our Event Partners can choose to hold their event anywhere in New York City. America Means Business will promote events from all partners equally, regardless of location.

America Means Business events will cover topics including:

• Getting Started
• Finance
• Hiring
• Management
• Technology
• Web/Interactive
• Marketing
• Public Relations
• Sales
• Customer Service
• Product Development

There is no fee to participate, and our structure allows all of our partners to maintain creative control while being a part of the overall event. Watch this recording of our March 13 webinar to learn how your organization can participate.

The Stevie Awards has published several new events to the AMB calendar of events including inspirational keynotes, basic startup education by SCORE, networking opportunities, an exposition, and many other events about how to start and grow a business and everything in between. Click here to view the America Means Business calendar.

We will continue to add to and update the AMB calendar of events so we suggest periodically checking to learn about new opportunities for entrepreneurs at America Means Business.

Registration for America Means Business is free through May 25, and just $10 thereafter. Registration details are available at http://www.AmericaMeansBusiness-NYC.com.

America Means Business is presented by the Stevie Awards, the organizer of the annual American Business Awards. America Means Business will culminate with the presentation of the 10th annual ABAs on June 18.

Get updates from America Means Business. Connect with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter to get up to the minute news about the program.

Nearly 900 votes were cast to answer March's poll question, What’s the top new product or service of the past 10 years? As part of our 10th anniversary celebration, the Stevie® Awards, organizer of the world’s premier business awards, has introduced a monthly poll series to celebrate the events, people, organizations, and products that shaped our lives over the past decade.

You voted Apple's iPhone as the top new product or service of the past 10 years with 39% of all votes cast.

Other products and services included in the poll were:

BlackBerry - 17%

Crest WhiteStrips - 1%

Crocs - 2%

Guitar Hero - 3%

iPad - 17%

NetFlix - 3%

Skype- 11%

TiVO  - 2%

Toyota Prius Hybrid - 5%

We will introduce April's poll question, Which is the top company of the past decade? next week on the Stevie Awards' Facebook page.

Today is the entry deadline for The 2012 (10th Annual) American Business Awards, the premier business awards program in the U.S.A. If you haven't yet entered this year, the web site will be open all night to accept your entries. Request your entry kit here and you will receive it right away. Can't make today's deadline? Don't worry, we'll continue to accept entries through April 25 with a late fee of $35.00 per entry.

The American Business Awards honors all facets of workplace, our award categories include: app awards, company / organization awards, customer service awards, HR awards, IT awards, management awards, marketing awards, new product awards, PR awards, and website awards. See all of our business award categories.

All ABA entries are submitted directly online through your account. You can begin by registering here.

If you have any questions regarding the submission process, we have several helpful resources including a step-by-step video on how to submit entries,  past winners' entries for your review, and  7 tips on submitting winning entries to help you make the most out of your entries.

As always, don't hesitate to contact us with your questions about how to prepare and submit entries. You can reach us at + 1 703-547-8389 or email us at help@stevieawards.com and we'll get back to you right away.