Awards to Be Presented at Gala Ceremony on June 20 in New York City

Liaison Technologies and West Unified Communications are the top winners in the 2016 People's Choice Stevie® Awards for Favorite New Products, a feature of The American Business Awards, the U.S.A.’s top business awards program, which are now in their 14th year.

The nationwide public vote was conducted last month, with the highest number of votes deciding the winners in a variety of product categories. More than 26,000 votes were cast.  To win, a category’s leading vote-getter had to receive at least 100 votes.

Liaison Technologies, the Alpharetta, Georgia-based provider of integration and data management solutions, and West Unified Communications, the Omaha, Nebraska-based telecommunications group, both won People’s Choice Stevie Awards in two categories. LIMU LEAN BURN garnered the most votes of any nominee.

The crystal People’s Choice Stevie Awards will be presented to winners at The American Business Awards’ gala event on Monday, June 20 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. The winners of peer-adjudicated Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Awards will also be presented their awards that evening. More than 400 executives from across the U.S.A. are expected to attend.

All new products and services recognized as Stevie winners in the new product awards categories of this year’s American Business Awards were eligible to be included in public voting for the people’s choice awards.

The winners of the 2016 People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products are:

Business-to-Business Products: ClearSlide Mail
Business-to-Business Services: iTalent Digital Transformation Service
Computer Hardware: Link by Fasetto
Consumer Electronics: TomTom Spark GPS Fitness Watch
Consumer Products & Services: LIMU LEAN BURN
Content Solution: West Unified Communications’ Webcast Pro
Education – Cloud/Virtual: Study.com Video Lessons
Education – Enterprise Solution: SchoolMint
Education – Other: Youth Digital’s Server Design 1
Education – Personalized Learning: Epiphany Learning K-12 Learning Relationships Management (LRM) Solution
Financial Services: The Caregiver Mortgage
Health & Pharmaceutical: Beltone Legend 17 – Custom
Other Products/Services: Gorilla Safety’s Fleet and Safety Management Mobile App
Software - Big Data:  Progress® DataDirect
Software –  Cloud Application/Service: Infor CloudSuite Facilities Management
Software – Cloud Backup/Storage: Hedvig Distributed Storage Platform
Software – Cloud Infrastructure/Platform: Liasian Alloy Platform
Software – Collaboration/Social: Zoom’s Collaboration Product Suite
Software –  Content Management: Progress® Sitefinity^TM
Software – Ecommerce: Elavon’s Commerce SDK
Software – Financial Management: Host Analytics’ Cloud-Based Financial Modeling
Software –  Governance/Risk: Simility’s Fraud Prevention
Software – Human Capital Management: mroads Paññã
Software – Integration Solution: Liaison ALLOY Platform
Software –  Learning/Workforce Development: Brainshark for Coaching
Software –  Marketing/Public Relations: West Unified Communications' Webcast Essentials
Software –  Mobile: CD2 Mobile Platform with Enhanced Gamification
Software – Project/Systems Management: Epicor ERP 10.1
Software—Security Solution: SecureAuth’s SecureAuth IdP
Software –  Social Business: TouchCommerce TouchSocial
Software– Other: Qmatic Orchestra 6
Telecommunications – Product: Ooma Telo
Telecommunications – Service: Broadview Networks' MyOfficeSuite

The 13th annual International Business Awards, the world's premier business awards competition, is accepting nominations through June 15. This is the final entry deadline this year. The IBAs attract nominations from organizations in more than 60 nations and territories each year.

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

All individuals and organizations worldwide—public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small—may submit nominations to The International Business Awards. An international judging panel of more than 200 executives will determine the Stevie Award winners. Results will be announced in mid-August. Stevie Award winners will be presented their awards at a gala banquet in Rome, Italy on October 21.

Today we will highlight the IT Awards categories. These categories pertain to all information technology, software and web development professionals.

The information requirements for entries in these categories in the 2016 competition include:

a. An essay of up to 650 words describing the nominee's achievements since January 1, 2015

b. In bullet-list form (up to 150 words), a brief summary of up to ten (10) of the nominee's chief achievements since January 1, 2015

c. 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

The categories:

H01. Information Technology Department of the Year

Enter this category if you wish to recognize everyone who works in technology functions in your organization, regardless of function, location, seniority or position.

H02. Information Technology Team of the Year

Enter this category if you wish to recognize some subset of your entire IT organization, such as a specific web maintenance, software development or infrastructure planning team, for example. The team may be multidisciplinary, may stretch across multiple organizations (your own organization, client organizations and agency or vendor organizations, for example) and may be a permanent team or a temporary team that was assembled for a specific task or assignment.

H03. Information Technology Executive of the Year

Enter this category to recognize the achievements of individual IT executives at the VP level or above.

Past Stevie Award winners in the Information Technology categories include:

• Dubai Statistics Center, Dubai, United Arab Emirates: DSC IT Department- IT Department of the Year
• Cisco Systems, San Jose, CA USA: IT Database Droids: Innovative Operational Excellence- IT Team of the Year
• TangoMe, Mountain View, CA USA: Guy Fighel, Director of Engineering, Platform Infrastructure- IT Executive of the Year
• …and more!

 

All Female Entrepreneurs, Executives and Employees Worldwide are Eligible

The Stevie^® Awards, organizer of the world’s premier business awards programs, has issued the call for 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 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 including, among others, Best Entrepreneur, Best Executive, Mentor or Coach of the Year, Lifetime Achievement Award, Women Helping Women, Employee of the Year, Woman-Owned or -Run Company of the Year and Innovator of the Year. All female entrepreneurs, executives, employees and the organizations they run, anywhere in the world, are eligible to be nominated.

The early-bird entry deadline is July 20 and includes reduced entry fees. The final entry deadline is August 24, but late entries will be accepted through September 21 with payment of a late fee. 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.    

Most categories require the payment of an entry fee for the submission of a nomination. Several categories, such as most honoring women in the non-profit and governmental sectors, and the Startup of the Year categories, do not have a fee.

Susan LaPlante-Dube and Maureen Condon, principals at Precision Marketing Group and 2015 Gold Stevie Award winners, commented on the impact of their win.

“Being recognized as one of the first-ever Women-Run Workplace of the Year winners was truly an honor. We’ve worked hard to balance our commitment to being responsive to our clients with our vision of maintaining a flexible, supportive work environment for our team. It’s important to us that our employees are engaged and challenged every day—and winning this Gold Stevie Award was a great testament to the team and the way the company culture allows employees to have  rich, fulfilling personal lives."

Other winners of the 2015 Stevie Awards for Women in Business include, among others: 

•     Debbie Madden, CEO, Stride, New York, NY
•     Stephanie Mitelman, President, Founder and Inventor, Senseez Pillows, Montréal, QC, Canada
•     Brittany Stresing, Prosthetist / Orthotist and President, LimBionics, Durham, NC
•     Gorkem Özkan, HR Director, Calik Energy, Ankara, Turkey
•     Carrie Rich, CEO and Co-founder, Global Good Fund, Arlington, VA
•     Kerri Evans, Senior Director, DHL Express (Canada), Ltd, Brampton, ON, Canada
•     María Esteve, Managing Director, LLORENTE & CUENCA in Colombia and Madrid, Spain
•     Heather Magaha, Senior VP and National Client Services Manager, Wells Fargo, San Francisco, CA
•     Dream it. Code. Win it., New York, NY
•     Family Development Foundation, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
•     Ooredoo, Doha, Qatar
•     Virtual Legal Pty Ltd, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

The 2015 Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners reflected a diverse group of large and small organizations around the globe. The 2016 Stevie Awards for Women in Business will be judged by more than 200 leading professionals around the world, and nominees will have access to the judges’ comments and suggestions about their nominations.

The Stevie® Awards have announced the twelve executives who will chair the specialized judging committees for the 13th Annual International Business Awards, the premier business awards competition around the world.

All individuals and organizations worldwide -- public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small -- may submit nominations to The International Business Awards.

Winners in this year's International Business Awards will be announced on
August 11. Judging will take place in June and July. Winners will be celebrated at an awards banquet in Rome, Italy on October 21. 

Here are this year's judging committee chairs.

COMPANY/ORGANIZATION

Chair:
Ronald Tse, Founder
Ribose Inc., Hong Kong, China

Ronald is the founder of Ribose, an award-winning, secure, cloud-collaboration platform trusted by regulated industries and users with heightened security needs. Interested in solving real-world problems elegantly and efficiently using computation, Ronald currently serves on CSA’s International Standardization Council, technical committees at CalConnect, as well as the ISO/IEC’s JTC1/SC27.

Ronald graduated from Brown University in Providence, RI, USA, with Bachelor's Degrees in Computer Science and Biology and a Master's Degree in Computer Science.

CUSTOMER SERVICE/SUPPORT

Chair:
Amy Downs, Chief Customer Success & Happiness Officer
Lifesize, Austin, Texas

It's not every day that you see a business leader whose professional title includes the words “customer happiness.” But for Amy Downs, Chief Customer Success and Happiness Officer at Lifesize, there are simply no better words to describe her critical role at the company.

Amy joined Lifesize in 2014 to evangelize the importance of its customers throughout the organization, a core value she calls “Customer Obsession.” Amy’s role is to ensure that everyone who interacts with the company has a smile on their face. From customer success, support, service, training, community, and renewals, Amy drives the strategy and execution of programs that provide world-class experiences for Lifesize customers and partners to bring successful video collaboration to their companies. For example, introducing Net Promoter to Lifesize now propels the voices of its customers and partners into all areas of its business and is driving great organizational improvements.

Prior to joining Lifesize, Amy led Voxeo’s industry-leading customer success, support, and service organizations and oversaw all post-sales interaction with customers. She previously led professional services at Fiserv Corporation.  Amy has a Bachelor of Science Degree and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration, specializing in MIS, from the University of Florida.

HUMAN RESOURCES

Chair:
Gerald Hüsch, CEO
Global Leadership School, Berlin, Germany

In addition to being Founder and CEO of the Global Leadership School in Berlin, Gerald Hüsch is a Founding Member and CEO of the German Society for Stress Diagnostics & Prevention GmbH, and is also a Senator in the German Senat der Wirtschaft. Gerald has been training and guiding executives from the upper and middle management of multi-national corporations for 20 years. He is regarded as a visionary expert and the pioneer of an Evidence Based Leadership & Collaboration System, a world-class collection of tools and methods that encourage ideal collaborative and leadership behaviors throughout an entire organization. His many years of work experience have enabled Gerald to establish an entirely new system that is extremely powerful while easy to use. The aim is to achieve outstanding performance–and to avoid managerial blunders such as those seen recently in the automotive industry.

In addition to his credentials as a certified coach and trainer, Gerald is also a contributing author to “Human Resource Management–The Human Face” by Dr. Parveen Prasad und Sekhar Seshan.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Chair:
Thomas B. Cross, CEO
TECHtionary, Boulder, Colorado, USA

Tom has decades of experience in startups and is a consulting advisor with leading providers and venture capital companies in market planning, marketing and development, hardware/software design and development, project management, intellectual property in telecommunications, information technology, conferencing, teletraining, telecommuting, groupware, networks, call centers, internet, artificial intelligence, and more. He has managed the successful development of more than 10 software, hardware, and Internet products to market and received industry awards for this work. He has authored 13 books, and has written, produced, and directed 15 commercial videos. He has also created thousands of online e-learning tutorials on intelligent buildings, WiFi, WiMax, IPTV, telecommuting, VoIP-SIP security, artificial intelligence, and voice/data networking.

“The International Business Awards is the leading independent evaluation of companies’ business strategies, customer engagement, and benefits to a global society,” Tom told us. “I believe this competition represents the opportunity for companies to align and focus their goals for a greater purpose as it is not just the challenge of the competition, but also the ability of a company and its people to collaborate together.”

Twitter - https://twitter.com/techtionary

MANAGEMENT

Chair:
Dr. Amanda Hamilton-Attwell, Managing Director
Business DNA, Pretoria, South Africa

Dr. Amanda Hamilton-Attwell is a globally acclaimed specialist in improving employee efficiency. She has assisted organizations in the mining, manufacturing, and hospitality industries to improve their business results through enhanced communication and customer service. She is recognized for her knowledge in communicating to operational employees and training leadership to communicate effectively with their teams; and for her experience in change communication, communication with shift workers, and communication in crisis situations.

Amanda frequently participates in radio programs on women in management and has had several articles published on this topic.

She holds a Doctorate in Communication Science from the University of South Africa, is an Accredited Business Communicator with the IABC (International Association of Business Communicators), and is a Certified Public Relations Officer with the Public Relations Institute of South Africa. She is a Fellow of the IABC.

MARKETING

Co- Chair:
Julie Toma, General Manager–Marketing and Communications
Sonic Clinical Services, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Julie Toma is the General Manager–Marketing and Communications at Sonic Clinical Services, a fully owned subsidiary of Sonic Healthcare, which is in the ASX Top 50. Julie has a background in healthcare, marketing, and management consulting with experience on global strategic planning teams, Asia Pacific marketing strategy, and new product and service development for leading corporations including Cochlear Limited, Kimberly-Clark, and BD. 

Julie is currently a non-executive Board Director for CareWest and is the Chair of the Australian Marketing Institute NSW Committee. Julie is an Australian Marketing Institute Marketing Awards for Excellence Judge and is also a member of the Cancer Australia Research Grant Advisory Committee. 

Julie has a Bachelor of Applied Science (Biomedical) Degree from the University of Technology, Sydney, a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the Macquarie Graduate School of Management, and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. 

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

Since 2002, Han Sangpil has been Professor at the Department of Advertising and Public Relations at Hanyang University. 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, 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 PRODUCT & PRODUCT MANAGEMENT

Chair:
Moussa Habib, Under-Secretary-General
Jordan Engineers Association, Amman, Jordan

Since 2014, Dr. Habib has held the position of Under-Secretary-General, Professional Development and Scientific Affairs, at Jordan Engineers Association. From 2010 until 2014, he was the Assistant Director General, Chief Capacity Management Officer at the Istishari Hospital in Amman, Jordan. Before that, he was Acting Dean of Engineering, Director of the Nanotechnology Program, and Associate Professor of Electronics, at Princess Sumaya University for Technology in Amman, Jordan.

Dr. Habib has worked as a technical consultant to a number of engineering firms in the areas of Speech, Imaging, IT, and Biomedical Engineering. He has written over 100 publications and articles in peer-reviewed journals and for international conferences. From 2011 to 2013, he was the Vice President of the IEEE Jordan Chapter. Dr. Habib has been the Chair or Co-chair for a number of international conferences in the area of Electrical and Electronics Engineering. He is actively involved in a number of community service committees, including Rakhaa’ Noble Invest, the English Language Olympics, and JEA Consulting Committee.

Dr. Habib holds a Master’s Degree in Science and Doctorate in Medical Electronics from Dalhousie University, Canada.

PR/IR/CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS

Chair:
Dr. Elke Neujahr, Managing Director
comm:up Kommunikation und Management GmbH, Dusseldorf, Germany

Dr. Elke Neujahr has been an Acting Partner of comm:up since 2004. The agency provides consulting services for the corporate communications of globally operating companies and organizations. Its main consulting areas are change management, coaching for top executives, media training, crisis management, and communications and corporate reputation topics. 

Elke is a communications expert and has completed trainer and coach-the-coach training.  She has 11 years of experience at companies such as Continental AG, BEB Erdgas GmbH, and as the Head of Publicity and Public Relations at Hanover Airport. She has worked at public relations agencies since 1992 and for 10 years was an Acting Partner and the CEO of ECC Kohtes Klewes (now KetchumPLEON) and its holdings (650 employees).

On being appointed Chair of the Corporate Communications/Investor Relations/Public Relations Awards Judging Committee, Elke commented: “Communication is essential for a good reputation. With The International Business Awards we are able to honor best practice approaches that underline the leading role of communications in our increasingly global world.”

CREATIVE: LIVE EVENTS

Chair:
Kristin Marcell, Vice President
SmartMark Communications, Langhorne, Pennsylvania, USA

Focused on ensuring high-quality deliverables and results, Kristin is responsible for managing all aspects of PR and marketing for clients at SmartMark Communications. Prior to joining SmartMark, Kristin gained experience at a large, global public relations firm based in Washington D.C., where she provided communications counsel and service to a number of clients, including several high-profile energy and environment organizations, utilities, and corporations.

Previously, Kristin was the Communications Director of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) at the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and directed the agency’s communications program, as well as serving as its official spokesperson. Kristin was also the Director of External Affairs for the U.S. House Committee on Resources, General Electric’s Political Action Committee Manager in their Washington, D.C. corporate office, and she served as a legislative staffer to two former congressmen in the U.S. House of Representatives.

CREATIVE: PUBLICATIONS

Chair:
Tore Claesson, Director
TIO Agency, Beijing, China

Tore’s background at agencies such as Ogilvy, based in Singapore, Tokyo, and Hong Kong in Asia, and Anderson & Lembke McCann based in Amsterdam in Europe, in addition to his many years in New York, means that TIO has a leader that knows the ins and out of cross-culture communication better than just about anybody on this small planet.

“I think I’ve learned more from judging the Stevie Awards than from any book on creativity!” Tore told us recently. Tore sees judging as an opportunity to peek into other professionals’ brains. As he puts it: “To see how others have solved certain business and creative problems is invaluable. It’s like a secret peek behind the curtain.”

You can read and see more of Tore’s adventures in China on his blog.

CREATIVE: VIDEO

Chair:
Begüm Susar, Consumer Engagement Services Manager
Nestlé, Istanbul, Turkey

Begüm has a diverse background in both the financial services and food-and-beverage sectors. After 6 years in the banking industry with various responsibilities, she is now Consumer Engagement Services Manager at Nestlé Turkey.

In the early years of her career, she worked at creative, media planning, and PR agencies. Then, she moved to the marketing communications department of an international bank. She gained experience in credit cards marketing, digital banking marketing, customer management, and finally in the digital marketing and design department, where she worked as an Assistant Vice President. 

From 2005-2009, Begüm studied Economics at Yeditepe University in Istanbul. She also studied in the Netherlands for 6 months with the Erasmus Program.

CREATIVE: WEBSITES/APPS

Chair:
Simon Hardy, VP Brand Experience
FCV Interactive, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Simon Hardy leads FCV’s Design, Brand, and Content teams, creating solutions that engage customers and deliver results. An award-winning creative director, designer, and copywriter with international experience across digital, print, and TV for brands including Starbucks, Nike, lululemon athletica, and EA Sports, Simon also serves on the Digital Design Advisory Board at Vancouver Film School.

Simon previously worked at Blast Radius and TBWA\Worldwide.  He has a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Buckinghamshire New University in the United Kingdom.

The Stevie® Awards is accepting entries for the first annual Stevie Awards for Great Employers, which will honor the world’s best companies to work for and the HR teams and professionals, HR achievements, new products and services, and suppliers that help to create and drive great workplaces.

The final entry deadline is June 8, but late entries will be accepted through July 20 with payment of a late fee. Entry details are available at www.StevieAwards.com/HR

Other Stevie Awards programs such as The American Business Awards and The International Business Awards offer one human resource individual category, but the Stevie Awards for Great Employers now offers 15 categories for HR professionals.

Today we will highlight the HR Individual categories in the Stevie Awards for Great Employers.

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

These categories recognize the achievements of individual professionals since the beginning of 2015.

Information to be submitted online for entries in these categories in the 2016 competition include:

a.  An essay of up to 625 words describing the nominated individual's achievement since the beginning of 2015.  Focus on achievements since that date.  Make reference, where appropriate, to supporting materials attached to your entry that support your claims.

b.  Summarize in up to 10 bullet points (up to 150 words) the chief accomplishments of the nominated individual since the beginning of 2015.

c.  Add to your entry up to 10 webpage links and up to 10 document uploads to support your case to the judges.  These might be press articles, press releases, videos, work samples, internal or external reviews, or employee feedback, for example. 

C01     People-Focused CEO of the Year   
Recognizing the top organizational executives who best demonstrate a commitment to making their organizations great employers.

C02     Chief Human Resources Officer of the Year        
Recognizing the achievements of organizations' top human resources executives.

C03     Chief Happiness Officer of the Year          
Recognizing the achievements of executives who focus on the happiness and wellbeing of organizations' employees.

C04     Chief Learning Officer of the Year
Recognizing the achievements of executives who focus on the training and skills- and knowledge-advancement of organizations' employees.

C05     Human Resources Executive of the Year  
Recognizing the achievements of HR executives at the VP level or higher.

C06     Benefits or Payroll Professional of the Year         
Recognizing the achievements of individual professionals in benefits or payroll administration.

C07     Compliance & Safety Professional of the Year     
Recognizing the achievements of individual professionals in the design and delivery of compliance and workplace safety programs.

C08     Employee Relations Professional of the Year       
Recognizing the achievements of individual employee relations professionals.

C09     Human Resources IT Professional of the Year     
Recognizing the achievements of individual professionals in HR systems development, installation, and maintenance.

C10     Human Resources Professional of the Year          
Recognizing the achievements of non-executive HR professionals.

C11     Internal Communications Professional of the Year         
Recognizing the achievements of individuals who specialize in internal communications.

C12     Learning or Training Professional of the Year    
Recognizing the achievements of individual professionals in training or corporate learning.

C13     Onboarding Professional of the Year        
Recognizing the achievements of individual professionals who work in new employee orientation and assimilation.

C14     Recruiting or Talent Acquisition Professional of the Year         
Recognizing the achievements of individual recruiters.

C15     Technical Recruiting Professional of the Year     
Recognizing the achievements of individual technical recruiters.

Winners in the third annual Asia-Pacific Stevie® Awards, the only awards program to recognize innovation in business throughout the entire Asia-Pacific region, will be honored this Friday, May 27 in Sydney, Australia.  

For the first time at the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards gala, the awards presentations will be broadcast live.  Watch the ceremony on Friday, May 27 on Livestream via the Stevie Awards’ Facebook page at 7:40 pm / 19:40 local time (9:40 am GMT, 5:40 am ET).

You'll be able to watch the presentations on Facebook only if you're on a desktop device, however.  To watch the event on your mobile device, watch it here.

Won't be awake as the ceremony is taking place? Don't fret -- the Livestream will be saved to watch later on the webpages linked above.

The Stevie Awards are considered to be the world's premier business awards, conferring recognition for achievement in the workplace over the past 14 years in programs such as The International Business Awards and The American Business Awards. 

The 2016 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards have recognized organizations in 17 nations including Australia, China, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Qatar, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the U.S.A., and Vietnam. More than 600 nominations about innovative achievements in the 22-nation APAC region were considered by the judges this year.

This year’s top overall winner, with five Gold, eight Silver, and six Bronze Stevie Award wins is Telkom Indonesia.

Atomic 212 of Australia has won eight Gold Stevie Awards, more than any other organization this year. Telkom Indonesia and The Spaceship (Australia) are runners up, each with five Gold Stevie wins. Winners of two Gold Stevies include KoROAD (South Korea), PT PETROKIMIA GRESIK (Indonesia), Singapore Airlines, Songpa Gu Office (South Korea) Strategic Public Relations Group (Hong Kong), and WardrobeTrendsFashion (Singapore).

Details about the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards and the list of Stevie Award winners are available at http://Asia.Stevieawards.com.

The Stevie® Awards today announced Grand Stevie Award winners in The 14^th Annual American Business Awards competition. Winners will be presented with their Grand Stevie trophies at the ABAs’ gala banquet on June 20 in New York.

CallidusCloud, the Dublin, CA based software developer, received the Grand Stevie for organization of the year, for earning the most award points (76) in The 2016 American Business Awards. Other top ABA Grand Stevie winners include TopSpot Internet Marketing (Houston, TX) for interactive agency of the year (17 points), Merkle (Columbia, MD) for marketing agency of the year (16), and MWW (East Rutherford, NJ) for public relations agency of the year (17.5). This is the fourth year in a row that MWW has won this award.

The Grand Stevie Awards were granted to the organizations that submitted the best body of entries to The American Business Awards this year, in their own name or in the names of one or more clients, with a Gold Stevie Award win counting for three points, a Silver Stevie win for two points, and a Bronze Stevie win counting for 1.5 points. The organizations with the most points won.

Besides CallidusCloud, TopSpot Internet Marketing, Merkle, and MWW, Grand Stevies were also awarded to the 10 other organizations with the most points in the 2016 competition. There were a few ties this year.  The other winners are:

1. Cisco Systems, San Jose, CA (52 points)
2. Tied at 27 points: Jeunesse Global (Orlando, FL) and Lakeshore Recycling Systems (Morton Grove, IL)
3. Accenture, Chicago, IL (22)
4. Isagenix International, Gilbert, AZ (20)
5. Tied at 18.5 points: Cigna (Bloomfield, CT) and John Hancock (Boston, MA)
6.  Tied at 17.5 points: AT&T (Dallas, TX) and New American Funding (Tustin, CA)
7. SoftPro, Raleigh, NC (17)

The American Business Awards honor an all-inclusive spectrum of American business people and organizations -- from non-profits, emerging start-ups, major public companies and government agencies, to corner-office executives, product developers, marketers and web development teams. More than 3,400 entries were submitted to The 2016 American Business Awards and more than 250 executives nationwide participated in judging.

Stevie Awards are conferred in five levels of distinction: Grand, Gold, Silver, Bronze, and People’s Choice. More than 400 executives and their guests are expected to attend the June 20 awards gala at New York’s Marriott Marquis Hotel.

For a complete list of all 2016 American Business Awards’ Stevie Award winners visit http://www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

This is the first year in which Stevie winners in The American Business Awards are announced before the awards gala. In the ABAs’ first 13 years, finalists were announced in advance of the awards gala, but the Stevie winners weren’t revealed until the night of the presentations.

We were shocked and saddened to learn of the passing of Ir. Tony Roland Silitonga, MBM, MBA, DBAcan, a regular judge for the Stevie Awards, most recently for the 2016 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, His family informed us that he had passed away on April 15 after battling lung disease and diabetes, and our thoughts are with them at this time.

It also caused us to look more closely at the illustrious career of a man we had come to see as a good friend of the Stevie Awards.

Tony was a judge who took his responsibilities seriously, and last fall he received a prize for his contribution to judging the 2015 Stevie Awards for Women in Business.  He and his wife attended our 12th annual awards dinner on Friday, November 13, 2015, in New York City, and we were honored to have met him and to have been able to thank him in person for his generous contribution to the important process of judging our Stevie Awards.

(Tony is featured in the center of the above photo. This picture was taken during his trip to the United States last October/November, and this is how we will remember him: a happy and outgoing man.)

Tony had a distinguished career: he had been on the Board of Trustees of the Indonesian Institute for Corporate Directorship since October 2012. The IICD is a not-for-profit organization founded by ten highly reputable Indonesian Business Schools and preeminent individuals.  Tony had been a lecturer to Post Graduates at universities such as De La Salle University-The Philippines, Swiss German University, Universitas Indonesia (UI), Universitas Gajah Mada (UGM), Universitas Brawijaya, and Universitas Sriwiijaya. From 2010, Tony had also been Chairman of The Board of Management of the Forestry Research Institute for Public Policy, Economic, and Community Development (FORESPECT), a Research company on Forestry Development, and Eco Green activities

Tony had more than 30 years of professional experience across different countries and industries, and had worked with different multinationals including IBM, ARCO Oil & Gas (now BP Indonesia), Standard Chartered Bank (The Philippines), Merrill Lynch (USA), China Development Industrial Bank (Taiwan), Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA/BPPN), and Indonesian Institute for Corporate Directorships. He was also a founder member of the Indonesian Finance Association, Forestry Research Program on Education & Cultural Transformation, and Sentra Pemimpin Asia, a John Maxwell Leadership Company.

Tony graduated from Bandung Institute of Technology in Petroleum Engineering. He obtained his Master in Business Management (MBM) in Finance and Strategic Management from the Asian Institute of Management, Makati, Philippines, and his MBA in finance from Columbia Business School, New York, USA.

The Stevie® Awards, organizer of the world’s premier business awards programs, today announced the winners of three Grand Stevie Award trophies in its third annual Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards.  The Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards are the only awards to recognize innovation in the workplace throughout the entire 22-nation Asia-Pacific region.  All organizations in the region are eligible to submit nominations.

Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners in the various categories were announced on April 20.  Those awards were determined by the average scores of more than 50 executives worldwide earlier this year. 

All awards will be presented to winners during a gala event at the Westin Hotel in Sydney, Australia on Friday, May 27.  Tickets for the event are now on sale. 

The three Grand Stevie Award winners announced today are:

• Telkom Indonesia, winner of the Grand Stevie for Organization of the Year for the second year in a row. The leading telecommunications and network services provider in Indonesia won the most award points in the competition this year – 36 – earned for five Gold, eight Silver, and six Bronze Stevie wins in a variety of categories for innovation.  Each Gold win earns three points, each Silver win two points, and each Bronze 1.5 points for the Grand Stevie-winner calculation.
• The Korean Ministry of the Interior won a Grand Stevie for submitting the highest-rated nomination in the competition this year: the story of its innovative community relations campaign to spur continuous reform in local finance. The MInistry communicated with many different stakeholders through various media and digital content.
• BRiN of Sydney, Australia, which submitted the highest-scoring nomination from the host nation of this year’s awards ceremony: the story of the creation of the world’s first 24-hour small business TV channel.

The 2016 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards have recognized organizations in 17 nations including Australia, China, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Qatar, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the U.S.A., and Vietnam. More than 600 nominations about innovative achievements in the 22-nation APAC region were considered by the judges this year.

“We are very pleased with the results of the 2016 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, with the growth in the number of entries and the depth and breadth of the stories of business innovation that we received,” said Michael Gallagher, president and founder of the Stevie Awards.  “We are very much looking forward to greeting and celebrating this year’s winners in Sydney on 27 May.”

Details about the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards and the list of Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners are available at http://Asia.Stevieawards.com.

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 Women in Business, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, 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.

 

Simon Hardy, Vice President Brand Experience at FCV Interactive in Vancouver, Canada, has been named as the Chair of the Website & Apps Judging Committee of The 2016 (13th Annual) International Business Awards. FCV won a Gold Stevie Award in the Website Categories of The 2015 International Business Awards for their redesign of the Calgary Transit website.

The 2016 International Business Awards will be accepting entries through June 15, but enter by May 11 to avoid a late entry fee. REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

We asked Simon about being named Chair, what winning the Gold Stevie Award in 2015 had meant to FCV, and what new developments he thought would most affect how companies do business in the future.

On being named Chair of The 2016 International Business Awards Judging Committee for the Website & App Awards categories, Simon observed: “This is a great honor, not only for me, but also for FCV. As we expand across Canada and into the US, it’s really exciting to be a part of The International Business Awards, recognizing work that has genuinely made a difference to an organization or an industry, and–most importantly–resulted in a better user experience.”

A Fantastic Validation

Representatives of FCV attended the 2015 International Business Awards in Toronto last October. On winning the Stevie Award for Best Website in the Transportation category, Simon commented: “We’re very proud of the Gold Stevie Award we won for our work with Calgary Transit. It was fantastic validation for a site that has transformed the digital experience for one of Canada’s most complex public transportation networks. But as a user-focused transformation agency, it also shone a spotlight on the wider range of work we’re doing in public transportation, travel and tourism, and digital government services across North America.”


Calgary Transit provides over 100 million trips every year to riders across the Canadian city. Its website had been out of date, difficult to use, and lacking in the important features that customers expect: mobile compatibility, accessibility, real-time updates, and trip planning. Calgary Transit approached FCV to design a responsive, customer-focused, future-proof website that would serve the connected riders’ every need.

Information at the Users’ Fingertips
FCV successfully delivered a mobile-friendly, customer-centric, scalable website that streamlined user tasks and integrated all transit services into one site. Features included: WCAG 2.0 (AA) accessibility, real-time service updates, improved information architecture, and responsive design.

FCV Interactive’s award-winning website for Calgary Transit launched in 2014 and transformed how riders obtained transit information. They can now access a responsively designed website via phone, tablet, and desktop. Real-time transit information is now at the fingertips of almost 20,000 daily mobile transit users.

The Future of Web Development

As an expert in this field, we asked Simon for his thoughts on what new developments in social media and web development businesses should be looking out for.

“The last year has seen a wide adoption of tools like Sketch and InVision, helping our teams to rapidly prototype, test, and iterate.” he told us. “For private and public sector organizations, this agile approach means we can transform user and brand experiences into something more powerful and meaningful much faster.”

Looking into the future, Simon added: “As more and more clients see the power of truly serving their users’ needs in order to meet business goals, I think we’re going to see some really exciting and unexpected solutions.”



Improving Digital Services

According to Simon, his job has changed over the years, but for the better. “My job used to be all about persuading people to do things,” he explained. “But over the last 10 years, as we’ve all become more and more empowered, it’s evolved into helping people to do things. Working to constantly improve private and public sector digital services with faster access to more relevant data is incredibly exciting.”

In short, Simon told us: “At FCV, the goal that motivates us across every project is always the same: to create a user-focused experience that makes life better.”

About Simon Hardy:
Simon Hardy is Vice President Brand Experience at FCV Interactive. He leads FCV’s Design, Brand, and Content teams, creating solutions that engage customers and deliver results.

Simon is an award-winning creative director, designer, and copywriter with international experience across digital, print, and TV for brands including Starbucks, Nike, lululemon athletica, and EA Sports.  He also serves on the Digital Design Advisory Board at Vancouver Film School.

About FCV Interactive:
FCV Interactive is a user-focused transformation agency. Every day, FCV redesigns organizations and creates digital services that people love. With over a decade of expertise working with public and private sector clients, FCV delivers experiences that make life better. To learn more, visit fcvinteractive.com.