The Spaceship, in Sydney, Australia, won five Gold Stevie® Awards in the 2016 Asia-Pacific Stevie® Awards: two in the Corporate Communications/Investor Relations/Public Relations Awards categories, for Innovation in the Use of Celebrities or Public Figures and for Innovation in the Use of Video; and three in the Marketing Awards categories, for Innovation in Branded Entertainment, for Innovation in Sponsorships, and for Most Innovative Marketing or Advertising Professional of the Year.

The 2017 Asia-Pacific Stevie® Awards will open for entries in October. 

Request your Entry Kit here.

We spoke with 2016’s Most Innovative Marketing or Advertising Professional, Kumar Manix, Founder and Creative Director of The Spaceship, about his company, his work philosophy, and what winning multiple Gold Stevie® Awards has meant to him and his team.

Kumar and his team at The Spaceship specialize in blending the creative and the commercial with an entrepreneurial flair, and bring to each project a deep level of strategic thinking and industry knowledge honed by years of experience working with blue chip brands.

The Spaceship team is talented and highly motivated, and they approach campaigns with a provocative and adventurous spirit, as well as a strong sense of fun, but are still relentless in achieving demonstrable results for their clients.

Kumar told us that winning in the Asia-Pacific Stevie® Awards has been great for his team and his clients. “We take great pride in our work,” he told us. “We celebrate our success at the Stevie Awards and it is something each of us will hold close to our heart. Our clients also get to share in the win and it allows them to shine amongst their peers.”

Transforming Customers into Fans

Together with his team at The Spaceship, Kumar’s goal is to find innovative and inspiring ways to transform customers into fans, content into ideas, and ideas into experiences. 

A great example of this is the Gold Stevie® Award-winning entry for their Rise of The Tomb Raider Asia Launch.

Tomb Raider is the iconic video game franchise starring its beautiful and fearless protagonist, Lara Croft, battling enemies through highly challenging environments using improvised weapons and gadgets. The exclusive launch of Rise of the Tomb Raider on Xbox made the event a natural magnet for worldwide attention, Xbox sought to elevate the game experience even further by bringing Lara Croft herself to life for fans in Asia.

The Spaceship team created and executed a clever stunt-led idea that developed into an all-encompassing, fan-focused campaign. It started with a death-defying stunt, and continued with fun interactive contests using Twitch, the leading video platform and community for gamers.

High Impact Stunt

Renowned Lara Croft cosplayer, Jenn Croft, leapt off the world’s highest bungee jump at Macau Tower, decked out in the latest Tomb Raider outfit and accessories.

Embedded Prizes

Fans could #HackTheIce through the twitter hashtag to reveal prizes embedded in eight Rise of the Tomb Raider-themed ice sculptures.

Social & Digital

The entire event, from the death-defying stunt, fan engagement contests, unveiling of never-before-seen Rise of the Tomb Raider footage, meet-and-greets, and question-and-answer sessions were all streamed live over Twitch–a first for a game launch in Asia.

Fans who tuned in participated by tweeting in their questions bearing the #HackTheIce hashtag, and voted for the ice sculpture to be hacked by Jenn Croft, to reveal prizes for participating fans. This sequence of events was also amplified via Xbox and Microsoft social media channels across Asia. A media release on the #HackTheIce campaign was disseminated to media across Asia, and posted on the Microsoft Asia News Center.

Outstanding Results

In line with Lara Croft’s personal adventures in Rise of the Tomb Raider, the #HackTheIce Campaign has shown that the bold execution of big ideas and going off-the-beaten-track can lead to great rewards:

• The campaign generated the highest-ever digital sales for any Tomb Raider version on Xbox;

• The video game content created for the campaign was viewed more than a million times;

• The interactive live stream event saw nearly 600 questions tweeted over just two hours, and reached close to 600,000 fans from around the world via social media; and

• The media outreach garnered 66 stories across multiple markets in the region.

Bringing Crazy Ideas to Life

We asked Kumar how The Spaceship team keeps coming up with such amazingly wild and crazy ideas. He told us: “We are fortunate to have an incredible team that thrives on the challenge and relishes the buzz of bringing crazy ideas to life. We have a zest for doing amazing experiences. We want our clients to push us to create new and bold ideas. We don’t want to just emulate other best practices. We want to create them.”

A Bright Future for Brands in Digital and Social Media

Kumar added that the Asia-Pacific Stevie® Awards are helping in broadening awareness of his company.  “Being recognized as an ‘innovative business’ by the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards is helping to further open doors for us in new business development. It is also helping us to transcend the traditional events agency model.”  As Kumar puts it:  “We work on creating epic launches and experiences for brands across Asia.”

Looking ahead, Kumar sees a bright future. “We love the challenge of creating shareable experiences that go well beyond the moment and that extend beyond the audience at an event,” he explained. “We aim to transform customers into fans. Digital and Social are at the heart of what we believe is the start of an amazing era of rich experiences for brands all over the world.”

About Kumar Manix:

Kumar has led a wide range of high profile campaigns for clients such as Microsoft, Foxtel, Samsung, Intel, Coca Cola, and Adobe. He has achieved enormous success, driving millions of dollars’ worth of earned media and inspiring epic levels of fan engagement.

As a marketer, his campaigns have seen him collaborate with some of the greatest storytellers in the world including Oprah, the BBC, Disney and Marvel. Through his innovative use of video to drive engagement, Kumar has taken fans on numerous adventures to thrilling places, such as floating 100,000 feet into the sky on a space balloon, leaping off a high building with Lara Croft, and driving at 280 km/h in a racing car with The Stig.

He has worked extensively in the Asian market, primarily in China and Singapore, but also in Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. His deep understanding of the unique character and requirements of consumers in Asia has helped him to achieve extraordinary results, including working on the launch of the Xbox video game console in China in 2014 following a decade-long ban on foreign video game consoles.

Outside of his work, Kumar is happily married and the father of two children, Kiran and Ria. He is sports obsessed–something the Australians term a “sports tragic”–and a lover of street food from all over the world. He also owns an enviable collection of sneakers.

About The Spaceship:

The Spaceship is a brand activation agency that is based in Sydney and works globally.

For more information, go to http://thespaceship.com.au/

Top Sales Awards and Customer Service Awards Winners to Be Recognized in Las Vegas

The Stevie® Awards, organizer of the world’s premier business awards programs, has issued a call for entries for the 2017 (11th annual) Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Entry kits and complete details on the competition are available at www.StevieAwards.com/Sales.

All customer service, contact center, business development and sales departments, teams and professionals worldwide are eligible to be nominated, in addition to new products and services used by those professionals. The 2017 awards will recognize achievements since July 1, 2015.

The early-bird entry deadline, with reduced entry fees, is October 19, 2016. The final entry deadline is November 16, but late entries will be accepted through January 11, 2017 with payment of a late fee. Winners of the 11th annual competition will be announced at a gala awards banquet on February 24 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service feature more than 135 sales awards, customer service awards, business development awards, new product awards and solution provider awards categories. Entrants may submit any number of nominations to any number of categories, which include:

•         Sales Individual categories such as Senior Sales Executive of the Year and Sales Representative of the Year
•         Sales Team categories like Global Sales Team of the Year and Online Sales Team of the Year
•         Sales Achievement categories such as Sales Turnaround of the Year and Sales Training or Coaching Program of the Year
•         Sales Distinction categories in 13 industry groupings
•         Customer Service and Contact Center Individual categories such as Front-Line Customer Service Professional of the Year and Customer Service Leader of the Year
•         Customer Service and Contact Center Team categories like Contact Center of the Year and Back Office Customer Service Team of the Year
•         Customer Service and Contact Center Achievement categories such as e-Commerce Customer Service Award and Award for Innovation in Customer Service
•         Customer Service Department categories in 11 industry groupings
•         Customer Service Success categories in five industry groupings, to recognize the customer service-related achievements of organizations without a formal customer service function
•         New Product and Service categories like Best New Business Intelligence Solution and Best New Marketing Solution
•         Solution Provider categories such as Sales Consulting Practice of the Year and Incentive, Rewards or Recognition Provider of the Year
•         Business Development categories such as Business Development Professional of the Year and Business Development Achievement of the Year    

The 2017 program offers new categories for new products and services and solution providers. New categories for new products and services include Customer Service or Sales Book of the Year, Customer Service Training Product of the Year and Sales Training Product of the Year. The new solution provider category for 2017 is Leadership or Management Training Practice of the Year.

The 2017 competition will be judged by more than 200 professionals around the world.

2017 will see the return of the People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite Customer Service, a popular feature of the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service in which the general public worldwide may vote for their favorite providers of customer service.

Stevie Winners in the 2016 edition of the awards included Cars.com, Comcast, CubeSmart, Delta Air Lines, DP DHL, Etiya, eZCom Software, FedEx, HubSpot, IBM, ISN Software UK Ltd., Kohl’s Department Stores, Office Depot, SAVO, ShopKeep POS, Vestmark, VIZIO, Inc. and Vodafone Turkey, among others.  The full-text of Gold Stevie-winning nominations are available on the website.

The 2017 entry kit and a complete history of the awards program are available at www.StevieAwards.com/Sales.

The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service recognize the achievements of contact center, customer service, business development and sales professionals worldwide. Entries for the 2017 competition are now being accepted.

October 19 is the early-bird entry deadline with discounted entry fees. The entry deadline is November 16, but late entries will be accepted through January 11 with payment of a late fee. Winners of the eleventh annual competition will be announced at a gala awards banquet on February 24 at Caesars Palace Hotel in Las Vegas.

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

Today we will focus on the Customer Service Success Awards categories.

If your organization doesn't have a formal customer service function - if "everyone here works in customer service" is your motto - then these are the categories for you.

 If your organization has a formal customer service function, don't enter these categories - enter the Customer Service Department categories instead.

Information required for entries in these categories include:

(a) An essay of up to 650 words describing your organization's customer service-related accomplishments since July 1, 2015.
(b) Optional (but highly recommended), a collection of supporting files and web addresses that you may upload to our server to support your entry and provide more background information to the judges. At the very least you should provide a link to the organization's website.

140. Customer Service Success - Business Service Industries
     141. Customer Service Success - Financial Service Industries
     142. Customer Service Success - Other Service Industries
     143. Customer Service Success - Technology Industries
     144. Customer Service Success - All Other Industries

Winners of the Customer Service Success Awards categores in 2016 include:

Customer Service Success - Business Service Industries 
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
John Hancock Financial Services, Boston, MA USA: Service Success Along the Way
SILVER STEVIE WINNER:
SAHOURI Insurance, McLean, VA USA: SAHOURI Insurance

Customer Service Success - Technology Industries 
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Wagepoint, Kitchener-Waterloo, ON, Canada: Wagepoint - Where customers are part of the family
SILVER STEVIE WINNER:
Calabrio, Minneapolis, MN USA: Calabrio's Customer Service Success
BRONZE STEVIE WINNERS:
Aplos Software, Fresno, CA USA: Aplos Builds Customer Confidence To Find Customer Service Success
Cisco Systems, Inc., Feltham, United Kingdom: Service Logistics and Operations Best Practice in the Delivery of Field Services
Patagonia Health, Cary, NC USA: Patagonia Health: Trust Comes from Providing Great Service

Customer Service Success - All Other Services and Industries 
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
IDG TechNetwork, New York, NY USA: IDG TechNetwork's Customer Service Success
SILVER STEVIE WINNER:
Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Youth Assembly, Istanbul, Turkey: IMM Youth Assembly's Successful Projects
BRONZE STEVIE WINNER:
Selvice Service Co., Ltd., Osaka, Japan: Selvice Service's Maple Halloween

Tania Hummel is Director of Thrive Coaching and Consulting in London, United Kingdom.  She assisted in judging the Company/Organization Awards categories for last year’s Stevie Awards for Women in Business.

The 2016 Stevie Awards for Women in Business is accepting late entries through the final entry deadline of Wednesday, September 21.  REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

Preliminary judging of the 2016 Awards has just commenced. Tania will be joining the final round of judging in October. If you are interested in being a judge this year, apply to judge here.

Following are some surprisingly moving comments Tania sent us on her experience of judging in 2015.

This time last year, I was approached by an old friend to judge the Stevie Awards for Women in Business.   Not knowing what to expect, I gamely applied and was accepted. At the allotted time and date I accessed the judging website to view entries.

The first thing I discovered was that there were many more entries than I had expected– and from all over the world.  

The next thing I discovered was just how challenging judging could be.

Pressure to Succeed

Some submissions were about women who had scaled the heights of corporate giants, landing in senior roles where the competition and pressure to succeed could scarcely be imagined. Closer inspection of supporting documents to these applications showed that these were often “winners” from childhood–starting in their earliest school days, often mentored or supported by other high achievers, and given the best education money could buy.  In some cases, the question wasn't how could they succeed, but how could they possibly fail?  Yet the pressure to succeed, the perfectionist standards, and the constant striving made clear that success was without doubt hard won.

Rising from Obscurity

Then there were women who rose from complete obscurity, with no advantages at all, who told stories of how they worked during the day, and studied at night, sometimes working more than one job just to make ends meet.  They also scaled the corporate heights, sometimes in areas you might expect such as NGOs and charities, where sheer pluck and strength of character might get you places, but also in more conventional and male-dominated industries.  They added a quality of sheer grit and determination, inspiring others to believe that they, too, could make it, against all odds.  I identified with these women, as their story was my story–but I was careful not to allow my conscious bias to affect my objectivity.

Building Businesses from Scratch

I noticed there were women from all kinds of backgrounds: corporate refugees; stay-at-home moms; apparently ordinary women who started up businesses from their living rooms.  Sometimes they succeeded first time, sometimes they didn't.  Some of them had succeeded so well they had more than one entry, as they were running more than one business.  This demonstrated the power of the Internet to create new businesses, but these entries didn't shy away from illustrating the long hours, moments of doubt and despair, and sheer commitment and sacrifice needed to build a business from scratch.

Turning Weakness into Strength

Then there were the women who defeated the odds by overcoming their personal demons, and in so doing had succeeded beyond all expectations. These were women who had been given harsh feedback because of some personal flaw, but had not given in to either self-pity or self-loathing. Instead–with courage, determination, and the will to work on themselves–they had turned things around, and turned those weaknesses into strengths.  

Harnessing Technology to Solve Suffering

And then there were the women in technology roles, who started out in global organizations but who managed to use their positions of power to lobby their organizations to use their technology for a purpose beyond profit.  One such example was a woman who showed how her company brought first-line medical care to the remotest parts of the world via telecommunications in a way that made me rejoice at the limitless possibilities of harnessing technology to solve suffering in the world.

The Capacity to Care

Finally, there were the stories that made me stop in wonder at the human capacity to care.  One woman had started an obscure charity in a faraway country to which she apparently had no personal links. As an example of what must have been pure altruism, she showed the difference she had made–with no personal gain that I could see–to a group of blind and disabled people in a developing country, who, as a result of her efforts, were able to earn a living in a supportive community.

Mentoring and Inspiring

How clever, how kind, how determined, and how creative these ladies were. And how wonderful that so many of them cited other women as mentors, and were mentoring young women themselves.  It shattered the myth of the Queen Bee who pulls up the ladder behind her, and renewed my gratitude to the great lady who gave me my own big break.  And how encouraging, too, that many cited as inspiration their fathers, the male bosses who mentored them, or the husbands and partners who provided much needed moral, practical, or financial support.

I was once asked in a consultation forum what was the one thing I thought a woman with a family most needed to be successful. Without hesitation I replied: “A quality husband!”  Looking around at my successful girlfriends, however, I note that these can be a rare commodity, which makes the women who succeed as single parents, or who recover from adversity, all the more to be admired and respected.  

At any rate, there is usually someone, whether male or female, who is prepared to take a step down while you take a step up. Someone who is prepared to be a little bit beta while you go a little bit alpha … because no one gets to have it all–at least not all at the same time. 

So, in celebration of all successful women and the people who helped make them so, here is an anthem to Women’s Day from Peter Gabriel & Youssou N’Dour to play us out. 

Read more of Tania’s views on the world of Coaching and HR on the Thrive Blog.

About Tania Hummel:

Currently the Director of Thrive Coaching & Consulting, for six years until 2014 Tania Hummel led the HR function of the Nature and Macmillan Publishing Group, one of the world’s most renowned scientific, academic, and education publishers, during a period of transformation from a regionally organized, traditional, print-based business to a global digital and data-driven information provider. She had strategic and operational accountability for over 5,000 employees in over 50 markets, dealing with complex people and organizational challenges in countries as diverse as Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Kenya, Mexico, Brazil, India, Japan, Australia, and the US. Her key experiences include managing complex employee relations issues in the UK and internationally, executive coaching, talent management, employer brand development, leadership and management development, communications, and global compliance and risk management.

Creative, pragmatic, and focused, Tania creates a safe space for teams and individuals to develop transformational goals whilst building confidence and increasing strategic capability. She is equally comfortable coaching groups, or individuals and is passionate about developing talent through strategic talent management initiatives. She uses innovative, award winning tools and techniques to create bespoke initiatives and has coached senior executives internationally via Skype or Google hangouts.

The Stevie^® Awards, organizer of the world’s premier business awards programs, is accepting entries for its 2016 (13^th annual) Stevie Awards for Women in Business. Entry kits and complete details on the competition are available at www.StevieAwards.com/Women.

The final entry deadline is Wednesday, September 21. Finalists will be announced on October 5. The Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners will be revealed at a gala awards dinner at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City on November 18, 2016.    

The awards are produced by the creators of the prestigious American Business Awards and International Business Awards.

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

The Stevie Awards for Women in Business honor the achievements of working women in more than 85 categories 

Today we will highlight the Company / Organization Awards categories:

These categories will recognize the achievements since July 1, 2015 of women-owned and -run organizations worldwide. To be eligible for these categories, an organization must be at least 50% owned by one or more women, and/or have a woman as its chief executive and at least 40% of its management team comprised of women.

Entries to these categories require the following:

1. An essay of up to 525 words describing the nominated organization's achievements in the category since July 1, 2015

2. A biography of up to 125 words of the leader of the nominated organization
3. Optional (but highly recommended), a collection of supporting files and web addresses that you may upload to our server to support your entry and provide more background information to the judges.

Note that employee totals are for the entire organization.

50. Company of the Year – Business Products – 10 or Less Employees
51. Company of the Year – Business Products – More Than 10 Employees
52. Company of the Year – Business Services – 10 or Less Employees
53. Company of the Year – Business Services – More Than 10 Employees
54. Company of the Year – Consumer Products – 10 or Less Employees
55. Company of the Year – Consumer Products – More Than 10 Employees
56. Company of the Year – Consumer Services – 10 or Less Employees
57. Company of the Year – Consumer Services – More Than 10 Employees
58. Organization of the Year – Government or Non-Profit– 10 or Less Employees (this category has no entry fee)
59. Organization of the Year – Government or Non-Profit– More Than 10 Employees (this category has no entry fee)

60. Startup of the Year: These categories will recognize the achievements since July 1, 2015 of organizations that began operations after July 1, 2014.  There are no entry fees for these categories.
      a. Business Products Industries
      b. Business Services Industries
      c. Consumer Products Industries
      d. Consumer Services Industries

61. Most Innovative Company of the Year – 10 or Less Employees
62. Most Innovative Company of the Year – More Than 10 Employees

63. Fastest Growing Company of the Year
64. Community Involvement Program of the Year

65. Management Team of the Year – 10 or Less Employees
66. Management Team of the Year – More Than 10 Employees

67. Women-Run Workplace of the Year - 10 ore Less Employees
68. Women-Run Workplace of the Year - More Than 10 Employees

Past winners in the Company / Organization Awards categories of the Stevie Awards for Women in Business include:

Company of the Year - Business Services - 10 or Less Employees
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
DemandLab, LLC, Jenkintown, PA USA
SILVER STEVIE WINNER:
Irving Levin Associates, Inc., Norwalk, CT USA
BRONZE STEVIE WINNERS:
Brookline Public Relations Inc., Calgary, AB, Canada
Jacobson Strategic Communications, Philadelphia, PA USA
KC Projects, Birmingham, AL USA
Tasman Consulting, San Francisco, CA USA

Company of the Year – Business Products & Services - More Than 10 Employees
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Vaco Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA USA
SILVER STEVIE WINNERS:
ALOM, Fremont, CA USA
Consultants 2 Go, Newark, NJ USA
Grow Marketing, San Francisco, CA USA
Pink Elephant, Burlington, ON, Canada
BRONZE STEVIE WINNERS:
DCR Workforce, Inc., Boca Raton, FL USA
eZCom Software, Englewood, NJ USA
HUYA Bioscience International, San Diego, CA USA & Shanghai, China
Stratus Interactive, West Chester, PA USA

Company of the Year - Consumer Products & Services - 10 or Less Employees
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Owl's Brew, New York, NY USA
BRONZE STEVIE WINNERS:
ECLAT! on madison, New York, NY USA
MuTu System, Cornwall, United Kingdom

Organization of the Year - Government or Non-Profit- 10 or Less Employees
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Dream it. Code it. Win it., New York, NY USA
SILVER STEVIE WINNERS:
The Australian Charity for the Children of Vietnam (ACCV), Queensland, VIC, Australia
The Double Hit Lymphoma Foundation, Chicago, IL USA
Miss America's Outstanding Teen, Inc., Clearwater, FL USA
BRONZE STEVIE WINNER:
The Mentoring by Example Foundation, Inc., Bowie, MD USA

Organization of the Year - Government or Non-Profit- More Than 10 Employees
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Enterprise Community Partners, Columbia, MD USA
SILVER STEVIE WINNERS:
The Connecticut Open, New Haven, CT USA: The Connecticut Open Tennis Tournament and Its Ability to Connect the Community
Pathways Community Interest Company, Crewe, Cheshire, United Kingdom: Impacting Health Through Work

...and more. See all of the 2015 Stevie-winners here.

The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service recognize the achievements of contact center, customer service, business development and sales professionals worldwide. Entries for the 2017 competition are now being accepted.

October 19 is the early-bird entry deadline with discounted entry fees. The entry deadline is November 16, but late entries will be accepted through January 11 with payment of a late fee. Winners of the eleventh annual competition will be announced at a gala awards banquet on February 24 at Caesars Palace Hotel in Las Vegas.

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

Today we will highlight we the Sales Distinction Awards categories.

Rather than focus on the performance of a named sales department, these categories recognize sales-related achievements across your entire company or organization. You choose the successes you wish to highlight. They can be related to revenue growth, customer acquisition, lead development, training, enculturation of product knowledge, etc.

Information required for entries in these categories include:
(a) An essay of up to 650 words describing your organization's sales-related accomplishments since July 1, 2015.

(b) Optional (but highly recommended), a collection of supporting files and web addresses that you may upload to our server to support your entry and provide more background information to the judges. At the very least you should provide a link to the organization's website.

40. Sales Distinction of the Year - Computer Hardware
41. Sales Distinction of the Year - Computer Services
42. Sales Distinction of the Year - Computer Software
43. Sales Distinction of the Year – Distribution & Transportation
44. Sales Distinction of the Year - Financial Services
45. Sales Distinction of the Year – Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, and Related Industries
46. Sales Distinction of the Year – Hospitality & Tourism
47. Sales Distinction of the Year - Industrial & Manufacturing
48. Sales Distinction of the Year  - Media & Entertainment
49. Sales Distinction of the Year – Public Services & Education
50. Sales Distinction of the Year - Services
51. Sales Distinction of the Year - Telecommunications
52. Sales Distinction of the Year – All Other Industries

Winners of the Sales Distinction Awards in 2016 include:

Sales Distinction of the Year - Computer Services 
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
SoftPro, Raleigh, NC USA: SoftPro Shatters 2015 Sales Goals
SILVER STEVIE WINNER:
Oildex, Denver, CO USA: Oildex: A David vs. Goliath Deal
BRONZE STEVIE WINNER:
Yesware, Boston, MA USA: Yesware - Ahead of the Pack in Sales Software

Sales Distinction of the Year - Distribution & Transportation 
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
DHL Express, Beirut, Lebanon: DHL Service Point Team, in Beirut Central District
SILVER STEVIE WINNER:
DHL Express, Arnhem, The Netherlands: DHL Express NL Spotdesk
BRONZE STEVIE WINNER:
DHL Express - Saudi Arabia, Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia: DHL Express - Saudi Arabia - A Journey from Good to Great

Sales Distinction of the Year - Financial Services 
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
WePay Inc, Redwood City, CA USA: WePay's Amazing Sales Achievements
SILVER STEVIE WINNER:
HealthEquity, Draper, UT USA: HealthEquity
BRONZE STEVIE WINNER:
Elephant Insurance, Richmond, VA USA: Elephant's Sales Department: Growing, Growing, Growing!

Sales Distinction of the Year - Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, and Related Industries 
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
GuideWell Connect, Jacksonville, FL USA: High Performers Rise to the Occasion
SILVER STEVIE WINNER:
GuideWell Connect, Jacksonville, FL USA: ‘MOR' assures Guidewell Connect is not 'Middle of the Road'
BRONZE STEVIE WINNER:
GuideWell Connect, Jacksonville, FL USA: Time for a Do Over

Sales Distinction of the Year - Telecommunications 
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Vodafone Turkey, Istanbul, Turkey: Vodafone Turkey's 'Pusula'
SILVER STEVIE WINNER:
Sales Partnerships, Inc., Westminster, CO USA: Internet leader shines with SPI

Sales Distinction of the Year - All Other Industries 
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Sales Partnerships, Inc., Westminster, CO USA: Cutting Edge Blue Collar Sales
SILVER STEVIE WINNER:
Marriott Vacations Worldwide, Orlando, FL USA: Marriott Vacation Club - Sales Center Technology - Dynamic Customization and Personalization
BRONZE STEVIE WINNER:
Campaigner Email Marketing, Woburn, MA USA: Campaigner Email Marketing's Distinctive Sales Achievements

The Stevie® Awards have announced the winners of the Best of the IBA Awards in The 2016 (13^th annual) International Business Awards, the world’s premier business awards competition.

Nominees in the 2016 IBAs were not able to apply for the Best of the IBA Awards directly. Winners were determined by a points system based on the total number of awards won in the IBAs with a Gold Stevie win counting for three points, a Silver Stevie for two points and a Bronze Stevie win for one-and-a-half points. 

This year’s Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners in The International Business Awards were announced on 10 August. The winners of the Best of the IBA Awards will be presented with Grand Stevie Award trophies at The 13^th annual International Business Awards banquet at the Rome Cavalieri, Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Rome, Italy on 21 October. 

Winners of the 2016 Grand Stevie Awards are:

Most Honored Organization: With 62 award points earned by Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie-winning entries submitted by DHL offices in 21 nations, Deutsche Post DHL is the winner of the Grand Stevie Award trophy for Most Honored Organization of the year. DP DHL is no stranger to Grand Stevie Award honors. The company won the same honor in last year’s IBAs and the 2015 Stevie Awards for Women in Business. They’ve also won the award for three consecutive years in the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.

Most Honored Public Relations Agency: With a total of 65 points earned by Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie-winning entries submitted by their agencies and offices in China, India, Japan and the USA, MSLGROUP is the winner of the Grand Stevie Award trophy for Most Honored Public Relations Agency of the year.

Most Honored Marketing Agency: With a total of 87.5 points earned by Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie-winning entries on behalf of clients such as Korean Air Lines, LG and the Seoul Foundation for Arts Culture, South Korean advertising agency HS Ad is the winner of the Grand Stevie Award trophy for Most Honored Marketing Agency of the year.

Most Honored Interactive Services Agency: With 26.5 points for Stevies won on behalf of clients including China Mobile Hong Kong, L’OCCITANE and NIVEA, Hong Kong-based PRIZM is the winner of the Grand Stevie Award trophy for Most Honored Interactive Services Agency of the year.

Top 10: These are the top Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie winners among all other organizations honored in the 2016 IBAs. They’ll be presented with Grand Stevie Award trophies.

1. LLORENTE & CUENCA—Madrid, Spain (50 points)
   2. CallidusCloud—Dublin, CA, USA (47)
   3. (two-way tie at 44 points)
   ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller—Dubai, United Arab Emirates
   Cisco Systems—worldwide
   5. Telkom Indonesia—Jakarta (42)  
   6. ECE Türkiye—Istanbul, Turkey (39.5)
   7. Weber Shandwick—worldwide (38.5)
   8. Ooredoo—Doha, Qatar (37 points)
   9. Dubai Statistics Center—Dubai, United Arab Emirates (31)
   10. Freelancer.com—Sydney, Australia (29)

“These 14 organizations understand the value of seeking public recognition for the achievements of their executive teams and their employees, by nominating them for Stevie Awards in many different categories,” said Michael Gallagher, president and founder of the Stevie Awards. “The Best of the IBA Awards are intended to honor organizations that demonstrate a high level of achievement globally, in many different initiatives, and we look forward to celebrating these firms with Grand Stevie Award trophies at our gala event in Rome on 21 October.”

The International Business Awards feature a wide variety of categories to recognize achievement in every facet of work life, including management awards, new product awards, marketing awards, PR awards, customer service awards, website awards and more.

Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award placements in the 2016 IBAs were determined by the average scores of more than 200 professionals worldwide in the three-month judging process.

For more information about The International Business Awards, including a complete list of all Stevie Award winners in the 2016 competition, visit www.StevieAwards.com/IBA.

About The Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in seven programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, 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.

The Ministry of the Interior in Seoul, South Korea, won a Gold Stevie for Innovation in Community Relations or Public Service Communications in the Corporate Communications, Investor Relations and Public Relations Awards categories of the 2016 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards. The Ministry also received the Grand Award for Communications/Public Relations.

The 2017 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards will open for entries in October.  Sign up to recieve the entry kit as soon as it's available.

Because of a low birth rate and rapidly aging population, social welfare requirements in South Korea have increased. This has put pressure on local finance, so in 2015, the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) introduced Local Finance Reforms to help address these problems. As a result, the Ministry has significantly improved public service communications with local communities through such activities as locally oriented storytelling, customized field public relations, extensive communications through social media channels, and the production and distribution of visual products such as info-graphics.

We talked with Kim Sung-lyul, Vice Minster at the MOI, about the challenges his office was addressing; what winning the Gold and Grand Stevie Awards had meant to his department; and what the department was planning for the coming year.

Communication is Key

Kim told us that the main objective of the reforms carried out by the MOI since 2015 was to improve local fiscal operative soundness and transparency, which up until then had been the task of local governments. As he put it: “Communication was key, as the process involved different stakeholders such as local businesses and citizens.”

The MOI used various methods to communicate with different people. Kim explained: “A program called ‘Regional Storytelling (Not Text, But Story),’ was developed to cater to regional citizens, along with customized regional promotion campaigns; participatory activity produced by Social Media journalists composed of digitalized policy prosumers; Group Intelligence linking service of portals (Netizens ask and MOI answers); the production and distribution of visual-intuitive contents such as infographics—these were just a few other examples. Public relations were also conducted through the social media channels and other different news media of the MOI.”

The MOI efforts proved a success, Kim told us. “The program to publicize local fiscal reform gained good reviews after a thorough evaluation. And winning the Grand and Gold Stevie Awards shows that our diverse efforts to communicate with the citizens have now received recognition on a wider stage.”

Expanding our Network

Continued Kim: “It is a great honor that our program to publicize local fiscal reform has won an internationally renowned award. It has inspired the teams that contributed to promoting these programs despite difficult circumstances.  Our publicists are more confident and more focused on their work, and our administrators recognize more than ever the important role that communications play in actively motivating people.

“It was also immensely helpful to have learned about other excellent cases and individuals from different countries at the awards ceremony, and to expand our network of policy publicity within the Asia-Pacific region.

“We fully expect that our government-led reforms will be further encouraged as the program is recognized by the international community. We have successfully publicized our different policies, and while we acknowledge the fact that it is a rare thing, it is delightful to have been officially recognized from the outside.  I would also like to express my gratitude to the judging committee and officials of the Stevie Awards.”

Elevating Government Stature

Kim also sees the value of these awards to his government as a whole. “Effective communication and cooperation between central government and local government is crucial for local fiscal reform. The fact that our program for strategic publicity of this reform gained international recognition implies that the innovative administration of the Korean government has been recognized as well. This will play a pivotal role in elevating the stature of the Korean government and the MOI through publicity in the Asia-Pacific region.”

Government 3.0

Looking ahead, Kim told us that the MOI will continue its efforts to communicate with citizens using various practical approaches to allow easier understanding of its major policies.  “We are currently focusing on Government 3.0 tasks. Government 3.0 is based on Article 1 Clause 2 of the Constitution, which states: The sovereignty of the Republic of Korea resides with its citizens. Simply put, we are encouraging citizens to actively participate in evaluating the government’s policies, works and services.”

Kim explained: “The reason Government 3.0 holds such great importance is that unlike in earlier days when the government decided policies unilaterally, now it is co-governance between the government and the people. Also back then, corporations were only required to fulfill their social responsibilities, but now they’re expected to create shared values. It’s officially an ‘era of governance’ where cooperation between the government and the people is more than necessary. The border dividing the two entities is diminishing rapidly.

“A good example of Government 3.0 is the Citizen Policy Design Group, in which citizens proactively participate in the enforcement of government policies. Not only do citizens enjoy the services provided, but also they directly create ideas and services, which the government may adopt or purchase as needed. The society we are living in right now is one where everyone can be a professional and wisdom is valued over knowledge. We have introduced the concept of Do-It-Yourself to public services!”

Putting People First

Kim is enthusiastic about his career and the future: “If I had to live my life again I would still be a civil servant. I can think of no other occupation that is more rewarding. I take care and protect the lives, property, and security of the people. As a public official, I put people first. I can provide what people need and I can make the fallen stand once again.

Kim has a personal credo, which consists of three core values: Pride, Pleasure, and Fulfillment.

“People should have pride and respect for themselves. Being proud and respectful—not arrogant—will lead to success. And people should be proud of their work, organization, boss, and country as well.”

“Secondly, you should enjoy work. Don’t just do it for the sake of doing it, but do it differently from others. Pleasure comes when you see new things and do new things.”

“Last but not least, everything should come with a sense of fulfillment. Work can only be truly rewarding when you feel it in your heart, not just from getting a prizes or being promoted. You should be moved and impressed by your own work.”

About Kim Sung-lyul:

Vice Minister Kim Sung-lyul was born to serve. His father was a police officer, teacher, and a town official. Following in his father’s footsteps, Kim has been a devoted public servant for 30 years. He is immensely proud that his work protects the lives, security, and property of the people.  Kim is also a founding members of the Civil Service Commission, and is proud of his involvement in the establishment of the public officer system, including the senior executive service system, incentive salaries, executive agency system, political executive HR system, and more.

Early in his career, Kim spent two years on dispatch to the United Kingdom’s Home Office, and two-and-a-half years on dispatch to the headquarters of the Organization for Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD) in Paris, France, which provided him with a strong basis in domestic administration.

Before starting his career as a public servant, Kim studied public policies in the United States.

About the Korean Ministry of Interior:

The Korean Ministry of the Interior is one of the core departments of the Korean government, working to improve the wellbeing of citizens through innovation and local governance. Under the regime of Park Geun-hye, President of the Republic of Korea, the MOI is focused on creating jobs and establishing an efficient government by providing customized services through Government 3.0 under the maxims of openness, sharing, communication, and cooperation.

The MOI is devoting its full capacity to improving local government by fortifying and reforming local finance. Its top priority currently is to fulfill national endeavors to create an autonomous living style in which the people are happy; and to eliminate discomfort in daily life by reviving the local economy through on-the-spot regulatory reforms and innovation of local budgets.

The MOI also supports government operations including parliamentary activities and prizes, national archival management, running the government office, unified operation of governmental resources, and scientific investigations.

Finalists in the 2016 Stevie® Awards for Great Employers, an international competition, were announced today. The awards recognize the world’s best employers and the human resources professionals, teams, achievements and HR-related products and suppliers who help to create and drive great places to work.    

A diverse group of organizations and individuals around the world are among those recognized. The leader among finalists is the Dubai Statistics Center. The Emirati government organization is recognized in five categories, including Employer of the Year.  

Turk Telekom (Turkey) and Under Armour (USA) are finalists in four categories. Organizations with three finalists each include BMC Software (USA), Ceridian (USA), Karrikins Group Pty Ltd. (Australia), Kuzey Academy (Turkey), New American Funding (USA), Roth Staffing Companies (USA), RWE Group Business Services GmbH (Germany) and T-Mobile, worldwide.

For a full list of finalists by category, visit www.StevieAwards.com/HR.   

All finalists will ultimately be named Gold, Silver or Bronze Stevie Award winners. The placements will be announced during a gala banquet on Friday, September 30 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. Tickets are now on sale. The presentations will be broadcast live via Livestream.

More than 250 nominations from organizations around the world were evaluated in this year’s competition. Winners were determined by the average scores of more than 50 professionals worldwide, acting as judges. The Stevie Awards for Great Employers recognize achievement in many facets of the workplace. Categories include:

•     Employer of the Year
•    HR Achievements
•    HR Individual Awards
•    HR Team Categories
•    Solution Provider Awards
•    More than 50 New Product & Service Categories

Stevie Award winners in the 34 Employer of the Year categories were determined by a unique blending of the ratings of professionals and the votes of the general public. More than 44,000 votes were cast by members of the public for their favorite employer.

The awards are presented by the Stevie Awards, which organizes several of the world’s leading business awards shows including the prestigious International Business Awards and American Business Awards.

The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service recognize the achievements of contact center, customer service, business development and sales professionals worldwide. Entries for the 2017 competition are now being accepted.

October 19 is the early-bird entry deadline with discounted entry fees. The entry deadline is November 16, but late entries will be accepted through January 11 with payment of a late fee. Winners of the eleventh annual competition will be announced at a gala awards banquet on February 24 at Caesars Palace Hotel in Las Vegas.

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

Today we will highlight the Customer Service Department Awards categories.

In addition to the possibility of receiving a peer-reviewed honor in these categories, all nominated customer service departments that are chosen as Finalists also will be included in voting for the People's Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite Customer Service.  Online voting will open to the public worldwide in mid-January and will continue through early February.  We will provide Finalists in these categories with tools to help you encourage your fans, followers and customers to vote for you.  The nominee with the most votes in each category will receive a special crystal People's Choice Stevie Award.

The customer service department categories recognize everyone who works formally in customer service in your organization, regardless of their role or location. 

Information required for entries in these categories include:
(a) An essay of up to 650 words describing your customer service department’s accomplishments since July 1, 2015.
(b) Optional (but highly recommended), a collection of supporting files and web addresses that you may upload to our server to support your entry and provide more background information to the judges. At the very least you should provide a link to the organization's website.

80. Customer Service Department of the Year – Airlines, Distribution & Transportation
81. Customer Service Department of the Year – Computer Hardware
82.  Customer Service Department of the Year – Computer Software. This category is split into two separate categories:
       a. At Organizations With Up to 100 Employees
       b. At Organizations With 100 or More Employees
83. Customer Service Department of the Year – Computer Service
84. Customer Service Department of the Year – Financial Services. This category is split into two separate categories:
       a. At Organizations With Up to 100 Employees
       b. At Organizations With 100 or More Employees
85. Customer Service Department of the Year – Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, and Related Industries
86. Customer Service Department of the Year – Leisure & Tourism
87. Customer Service Department of the Year – Public Services & Education
88. Customer Service Department of the Year – Retail
89. Customer Service Department of the Year – Telecommunications
90. Customer Service Department of the Year – All Other Industries

Past winners of the Customer Service Department awards include…

Customer Service Department of the Year - Airlines, Distribution & Transportation 
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Delta Air Lines, Inc., Atlanta, GA USA: Delta Air Lines' Sales Support

Customer Service Department of the Year - Computer Hardware 
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Service Express, Grand Rapids, MI USA: SEI's Exceptional Customer Service Experience

Customer Service Department of the Year - Computer Services 
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Datapipe, Jersey City, NJ USA 

Customer Service Department of the Year - Computer Software - Up to 100 Employees 
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Druva Inc., Sunnyvale, CA USA

Customer Service Department of the Year - Computer Software - 100 or More Employees 
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Jobvite, San Mateo, CA USA

...and more. See all 2016 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service winners here.