optivo in Berlin, Germany won two Stevie® Awards in The 2014 International Business Awards: its Customer Care Team won a Bronze Stevie in the Customer Service Awards categories; and its optivo® broadmail–Marketing Automation Solution won in the New Product Awards categories.

We asked Harald Oberhofer, Director of Corporate Communications at optivo, for his thoughts about the new German Stevie Awards. (Get your German Stevie Awards entry kit here.)

“Herzlich willkommen, as we say in Germany,” was his response. “We regularly participate in the international edition of the Stevies and our company and innovations have received several awards. We are therefore really happy that the Stevie Awards have now launched a competition specifically for the German market.”

“German companies are acting more and more internationally,” Harald added. “The German Stevie Awards might help to deepen our global mindset. At the same time, I think it’s great that German business achievements are going to be recognized through these new Awards, and that German innovations and product highlights will get the visibility they deserve.”

Delivering Added Value

We asked Harald if he had any advice for companies thinking of doing business in Germany.

“The starting point has to be a valid business model–and that applies to Germany companies, too.” Harald told us. “In Germany, careful and thorough planning is of great importance. Plans and concepts should be developed very thoroughly, with a special eye on the details. There is a great demand in Germany for professionalism and for delivering added value. And, of course, reliability is a must.”

Industry News

Harald also gave us some tips on a few of the apps and blogs that he finds most useful in the workplace.

“optivo is one of the largest email marketing and omnichannel specialists in Europe,” he told us. “We have our own German language blog at www.optivo.de/de/blog, which provides a lot of useful industry news information. For other industry news, I can also recommend www.emailmarketingforum.de and www.emailmarketingblog.de.  However, if you need a cab in Germany, the MyTaxi app is essential!”

Looking Ahead

We asked Harald what he most enjoyed about his work at optivo. “optivo is the technology leader in its industry and right now we are expanding internationally, which is exciting for the entire company as well as for me,” he told us.  “Moreover, my colleagues in our Berlin office are cool and dedicated, as are the people working in our offices around Europe. In short, to work at optivo is fun and rewarding.”

optivo® broadmail

optivo’s main product is optivo® broadmail, which enables optivo clients to send out permission-based and professional newsletters as well as email marketing campaigns. optivo® broadmail is an internationally applicable solution for all business sectors and industries. The user interface is available in English, German, Polish, Dutch, and Turkish. The software includes more than 300 functions and can be used via all relevant web browsers. Its customers can send out up to 25,000,000 emails per hour. Furthermore, it is continuously being updated and developed. New functionalities are provided regularly and made available free of charge to optivo’s customers.

Customer Care Team

The optivo customer care team helps with advice and assistance in all matters concerning the use of optivo® broadmail. Online marketing specialists create customer templates for a consistent corporate design and give international support regarding the use of the online broadcasting system as well as email and omnichannel marketing in general. The staff is multinational and supports customers in various European languages.

optivo offers workshops on email marketing strategies, customer training, and academies. Its customers receive regularly updated documentation, technical white papers, video tutorials, and newsletters. Through its blog, optivo offers in-depth information on relevant topics concerning email and omnichannel marketing to all interested parties. Customers can also subscribe to a newsletter series that offersuseful tips on email marketing over the course of one year, and they can attend free webinars on special topics which are held on a regular basis.

About Harald Oberhofer

Harald Oberhofer is Director of Corporate Communication at optivo. He has 14 years of experience in PR and Marketing in the online sector. Harald joined optivo in 2007 in order to set up the Marketing Department. His current responsibilities are the management and coordination of international and corporate PR and marketing communications activities. Prior to optivo, Harald worked for Zanox and IBM, among others.

About optivo

optivo is one of Europe's leading email and omnichannel marketing service providers, delivering efficient, professional and secure email marketing solutions from one single source. Since the foundation of optivo in 2001, all of its operations have focused on efficient direct marketing. More than 1,000 companies from various industries rely on its services, including many top names; such as Best Western Hotels, Bosch Power Tools, Die Zeit, InnoGames, Henkel, and QVC.  For more information go to www.optivo.com

The Stevie Awards are delighted to announce the names of the five distinguished women who will chair the final judging committees of the 2014 (11th annual) Stevie Awards for Women in Business competition.

The Stevie Awards for Women in Business are the world's top business awards program for female entrepreneurs, executives, employees, and the organizations they run.

Finalists in this year's Stevie Awards for Women in Business were announced last week.  Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie placements from among the Finalists will be determined in final judging, to begin next week.  Results will be announced at the 11th annual awards dinner in New York on November 14.  Tickets are now on sale.

The five committee chair selections are based on the categories that will be judged. Final judging chairs helped to form their committees, each of which will be comprised of 10-20 other executives.  Here are this year's final judging committee chairs.

INDIVIDUAL/EXECUTIVE AWARDS

CHAIR: Susan Johnson, Director of Communications
The Women Presidents’ Organization, New York, New York

Susan Johnson is Director of Communications for the Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO). WPO is a membership organization for women presidents and CEOs of privately held, multimillion dollar companies. Through global, confidential, and collaborative peer-learning groups, the WPO accelerates business growth, enhances competitiveness and promotes economic security. Working at the local, national, and international levels, Susan oversees marketing, public relations, and brand building initiatives for WPO, whose mission is to accelerate business growth, enhance competitiveness, and promote economic security for multi-million dollar, women-led companies.

Prior to joining WPO, Susan had her own business, developing strategically creative marketing campaigns to give brands, services, and nonprofits a distinctive voice, personality, and presence.  A seasoned public relations agency professional, Susan has a strong background managing strategic business-to-business and business-to-consumer communications that build brand reputation and value, and support business objectives. Having had the privilege of launching and sustaining many well-known brands, she’s also helped startups come to market and built thought leadership platforms for nonprofit organizations.

Her work at Fleishman Hillard and Rowland Worldwide has been recognized with the industry’s highest honors, including a Silver Anvil from The Public Relations Society of America. Named a fellow of Columbia University’s Age Boom Academy, she honed her social media skills at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism.

INDIVIDUAL/ENTREPRENEUR AWARDS

CHAIR: Redickaa Subramanian, CEO & Chief Strategist
Interakt Digital Group, Singapore

Redickaa Subramanian is a global advertising, marketing, and technology expert and the co-founder and CEO of Interakt Digital Communications Group, a digital marketing and communications firm headquartered in Singapore. Through her strategic insight and hands-on leadership, she has guided Interakt’s growth to approximately 200 associates with operations on four continents.

As Interakt’s chief strategist, she specializes in helping global companies deliver their brand promise inside/out by aligning all audiences and messaging, internally and externally. She has worked with some of the world’s most respected brands, including Citibank, Ecolab, Lenovo, Nalco, Sony, Hewlett-Packard, Acer, HSBC, Motorola, Levi’s® and Estee Lauder Companies.

Redicka earned her MBA at the State University of New York at Buffalo and was named “Outstanding Entrepreneur of the Year 2007” by DBS-SICCI.

COMPANY/ORGANIZATION AWARDS

CHAIR: Stephanie Azzarone, Founder & President
Child’s Play Communications, New York, New York

Stephanie Azzarone is founder and president of Child’s Play Communications, the first agency to specialize exclusively in marketing to moms. Child’s Play celebrated its 25th anniversary last year (2013). Stephanie is creator of the award-winning Team Mom™ blogger network, the voice behind the blog Mom Market Trends, and winner of Bulldog Reporter’s Social Media Innovator of the Year Award. She also received an Honorable Mention in this year’s Enterprising Women of the Year Awards.

Stephanie has been quoted on the subject of marketing to moms in media ranging from PRWeek through The Wall Street Journal and writes a monthly post for the industry publication Engage:Moms. Disney, Warner Bros. Consumer Products, Heinz, Hewlett Packard, TIME Inc., and the Wildlife Conservation Society are among her recent clients.

CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS/MARKETING/NEW PRODUCTS & SERVICES

CHAIR: Katrin Ludvigsson, CEO
Rippler Communications, Stockholm, Sweden

Katrin is the CEO of Rippler Communications, an award-winning strategic and creative agency committed to delivering quality marketing and communications solutions in multiple channels and across platforms. Having spent a decade as account director and senior consultant at one of Sweden´s largest PR-firms, she founded Rippler eight years ago together with a female former colleague. Together they set out to create a business squarely dedicated to delivering quality with pride, a matter of “ your business is our business.”

From the first year of operations, Katrin and Rippler have earned numerous awards in SPINN—the Swedish equivalent of the IPRA Golden Awards—for both business-to-business and business-to-consumer clients. Last year, though, was the first year Rippler entered any international competitions and as a result Katrin won the Gold Stevie® Award for Communications or PR Campaign of the Year – Public Affairs and Public Service with “For a more humane city” – displaying homelessness through a nationally covered photo campaign. The campaign “For a humane city” was also selected as one of the winners in IPRA last year.

On a more personal level, Katrin is dedicated to work against ethnic and racial intolerance, being one of the co-founders of Oss alla, a national network with about 20,000 followers, writing and co-signing opinion pieces, commissioning and promoting research to combat myths about refugees and immigration. She recently launched a campaign,“the mirror of prejudice,” targeted at high school students and aiming to promote classroom discussions on tolerance issues. Katrin and her Rippler co-founder have also started an informal network for women, meeting twice a year to help promote other women in business.

Katrin has a Bachelor of Arts in both journalism and international relations from the University of Minnesota.  

MEDIA

CHAIR: Caroline Tien-Spalding, Marketing Director
Arcsoft/Perfect 365, San Francisco, CA

As Senior Director of Marketing for ArcSoft consumer imaging applications and a photography black belt, Caroline Tien-Spalding is always looking to turn pixels into magic pixie dust. Caroline has built an impressive track record of success in the mobile app and consumer markets, and was the driving force behind bringing ArcSoft’s Perfect365, a digital makeover app, to the forefront of over 45 million users.

Prior to ArcSoft, Caroline was instrumental in successfully launching the renowned photo app Camera Awesome with SmugMug, and spreading the word on wireless memory cards at Eye-Fi.

Caroline has been a speaker at CES, Macworld, SXSW, and Mobile Mondays in Silicon Valley. She is a University of California, Berkeley alumna (go bears!) and has a Masters in Linguistics. She speaks on a wide range of topics related to imaging technology, including face recognition, Internet of Things, and connected home. Past engagements include Macworld, CES, CTIA, SXSW and Mobile Mondays.

The following professionals participated in preliminary judging of the 2014 Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the top business awards program for women,  in September and October.  Their average scores determined the 2014 Finalists.  We thank them for their time, insights and support.

Husam Mahmoud Abdallah, Sr. Specialist Strategy & Business Excellence, Dubai Airport Free Zone, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Lisa Abeyta, Founder/CEO, APPCityLife, Inc., Albuquerque, NM, USA
Huda Al-Husaini, Engineer, Jordan Engineers Association, Jordan
Andrea Archuleta, Director, Corporate Strategy and Business Development, Ascendant Global Technology, Albuquerque, NM, USA
Kausar Asif, Sr.Manager Mktg.Services, Cupola Pakistan Limited, Karachi, Pakistan
Michelle Bart, President, CEO, National Women's Coalition Against Violence & Exploitation (NWCAVE), Vancouver, WA, USA
Janet Beale, Managing Director, Sytor Enterprises Pty Ltd, East Lindfield, NSW, Australia
Talia Beckett, Managing Director, Pink Pearl Public Relations, Canada
Sherry Bellamy, Business Owner, Anythingdomain.com, Centreville, VA, USA
Denise Blasevick, CEO, The S3 Agency, Boonton, NJ, USA
Tya Bolton, CEO / Business & Event Strategist, Exceptional Business Solutions, LLC, Waldorf, MD, USA
Karen Bonsignori, Founder/CEO, FRESH Company USA, Clearwater, FL, USA
Jennifer Braun, Owner & CEO, Type A Events | Festivities, Medina, MN, USA
Jane Bryant, Director, Spire Communications, Potomac Falls, VA, USA
Mj Callaway, Author, Coach, Speaker, Rock More Sales, Delmont, PA, USA
Bev Campbell, Employee Advocate, Bev's Business Services, Kimberley, BC, Canada
Dawn Campbell Giesman, Sr. Marketing Manager, PublicSchoolWORKS, Cincinnati, OH, USA
Deb Carr, Founder, Sydney Lifestyle Blog, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Kim Clark, Principal, Polished Professionals Boston, Boston, MA, USA
Monica Coburn, Vice President, Wells Fargo, Las Vegas, NV, USA
Etta Cohen, Founder, Forward Ladies, Leeds, United Kingdom
Jennifer Commander, Partner and Managing Director, Alexandria Clinical Research Alexandria, VA, USA
Irene Corpuz, Head of Planning & IT Security, Western Region Municipality, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Maria Coyne, Executive VP, KeyBank, Cleveland, OH, USA
Kate Darcy Hohenthal, Founder, The Birthday Club, Manchester, CT, USA
Churchill Dass Prince, Founder CEO, Sales Intellect Company, Chennai, India
Danielle Davenport, Co-Founder South Valley Angels, San Martin, CA, USA
Robyn Davis, Owner, When I Need Help, Lexington, SC, USA
Anna Day, Director, Worldwide Womens Resources, Bicester, South East, United Kingdom
Rochelle Ekanayake, Managing Director, MrPierce Studios International Asia (pvt) LTD, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Lori Ericson, Product Planning and Development, Epicor Software Denver, CO, USA
Joy Lynn Fields, President, Joy Lynn, Inc., GA, USA
Kharma Finley-Wallace, Principal, Hoverfly Media, Washington DC, USA
Lynette Flowers, CEO, Flowers Powers Girls, USA
Susan Flynn-Doyle, Co-Owner, SFD Couture Formal Wear, New York, NY, USA
Lorretta Gasper, Owner/Principal, Wind Rose Communications, Atlanta, GA, USA
Manoj Gautam, MR Om Shiva Shakti, Herbal Company, Kathmandu, Nepal
Linda Ginac, CEO, TalentGuard, Austin, TX, USA
Barb Girson, President, My Sales Tactics, LLC, New Albany, OH, USA
Regina Glick, Director of Marketing, Summit Business Media, New York, NY, USA
Charity Herb, Online Content Administrator, American Greetings, Cleveland, OH, USA
Kimberly Howard Vice President, Creative Director, The Thomas Collective, New York, NY, USA
Jennifer Hrycyszyn, Vice President, Greenough, Boston, MA, USA
Craig Jacobsen, Founder, Open Spaces Marketing, Vista, CA, USA
Monika Jaslowska, Corporate Communications, Polpharma, Warsaw, Poland
Anne Jefferies, Vendor Compliance Manager, AT&T Global Vendor Management, Biggar, United Kingdom
Brigitte Johnson, APR, Communications Manager, Enterprise Community Partners, Columbia, MD, USA
JP Jones, Owner, Paige1Media, Lawerenceburg, TN, USA
Rebecca Jones, Owner, bScene Marketing Solutions, Miami, FL, USA
Rose Jurczewski, Owner, Funxion Fuzion, Roselle, IL, USA
Nancy Justice, Global Customer Service Manager, Braiform, Asheville, NC, USA
Laura Kerr, Principal Business Analyst, Sabre Airline Solutions, Southlake, TX, USA
Datin Sri Dato', Dr. Wang Kim Ha, Group Executive Director, Smart Reader® Worldwide Sdn. Bhd., Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Shamina Krishna Manager, Training Department, Smart Reader® Worldwide Sdn. Bhd. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tammy Kronawitter, Executive Assistant, Clear Decisions, Mitcham, SA, Australia
Iwona Kubicz, President of the Board, Procontent, Warsaw, Poland
Jill Liberman, Founder, Videoglobetrotter Inc., Boca Raton, FL, USA
Vanessa Lindeberg, Account Manager, OnStrategy, Reno, NV, USA
Natalie Lowde, Founder Director, #Changetheratio, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom
Susan Lynch, EVP & CFO, Global Information Solutions Division, Hitachi Data Systems, Santa Clara, CA, USA
Anil Machado, Managing Director, Tnell Sieradz, Poland
Morag Malloy, Managing Director, Fission Creative, Paisley, United Kingdom
Carol Marx, Past President, American Agri-Women, Rickreall, OR, USA
Donald Mazzella, COO, Information Strategies, Inc., Ridgefield NJ, USA
Robin McCoy-Ramirez, Owner, SoothEaze, Boston, MA, USA
Elaine Metlin, Senior Partner, Dickstein Shapiro, Washington, DC, USA
Nicole Middendorf, CEO, Prosperwell Financial, Plymouth, MN, USA
Laurel Mintz, CEO,Elevate My Brand, Inc Studio City, CA, USA
Deborah Mitchell, Founder, Heaven Health & Beauty Ltd, Wolverhampton, United Kingdom
Debbie Moore, COO, Other Creative Ltd LONDON, London, United Kingdom
Dawn Morris, Sr Vice President & General Manager, Bankers Warranty Group, St. Petersburg, FL, USA
Chris Moschovitis, CEO, TMG-emedia, New York, NY, USA
Stephanie Moss, Vice President, Hansen Technnologies, Powder Springs, GA, USA
Rajendran Nair, Sr Director, Marketing Intalio, USA
Kirsten Osolind, founding CEO, Re:invention, USA
Liz Palmer, President and CEO, Liz Palmer Media Group Inc., Toronto, ON, Canada
Gayle Pearce, Senior Associate, STS Capital Partners, Mississauga, ON, Canada
Sarah-Jane Peterschlingmann, Managing Director, ATechnology International, Australia
Harish Pillai, COO, Indus Health Plus Pvt. Ltd., Pune, India
Toni Potter, Director, Technica Dulles, VA, USA
Fabi Preslar, President, SPARK Publications, Matthew, NC, USA
Vicky Prior, Founder, Utter Content Creation Ltd, Huddersfield, AL, United Kingdom
Rebecca Quin, Owner, The Rebecca Quin Agency, New York, NY, USA
Maria Reitan, Senior Principal, Lola Red PR, Minneapolis, MN, USA
Sandra Richardson, Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer, Métier, Ltd., Healdsburg, CA, USA
Anupama Rosa, Marketing Executive, LYCATEL SWITCHWARE LTD, United Kingdom
Catalina Rousseau, President & CEO, BDR Associates, Bucharest, Romania
Pearl Saadi, Ms Other creative Ltd London, London, United Kingdom
Amy Scarlino, President & CEO, Catchpole Corporation, Boston, MA, USA
Grace Schalkwyk, CEO, Gramercy Digital Strategy Advisors, New York, NY, USA
Katja Schroeder, President, Expedition PR, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Mark Schroeder, Senior Vice President, M Booth & Associates New York, NY, USA
Christine Seymour, Director of Marketing, Siemens Industry, Inc., Alpharetta, GA, USA
Julie Sheppard, General Counsel, Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition (IHMC), Pensacola, FL, USA
Letty Swank, Founder, Giftwrapperz, Los Gatos, CA, USA
Alice Takpemongo, Technology & Innovation Consultant, Mindjet, Brentford, Middlesex, United Kingdom
Pamela Thomas, President, The Thomas Collective, New York, NY, USA
Josie Thomson, CEO, JosieThomson.com, Red Hill, QLD, Australia
Melanie Tinto, Vice President, Hewlett-Packard, Palo Alto, CA, USA
Debra Turbes, Director Corporate Marketing, NEI Global Relocation, Omaha, NE, USA
Gea Wijers, Senior Consultant, Wijers Community-based Consulting, Amsterdam, Noord Holland, The Netherlands
Leah Wilkinson, Partner, Wilkinson Shein Communications, Stevenson, MD, USA
Becky Wilson, Chief Visibility Officer, WDS Marketing & PR, Overland Park, KS USA
Yvonne Wu, Author Assistant & Publicist, The YP Publishing, Ontario, Canada

More than 23,000 votes were cast in this year's People's Choice Stevie® Awards for Favorite Companies, a feature of The International Business Awards, the world's premier business awards competition. All organizations honored in the IBA’s Company of the Year categories were included in People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite Companies voting, in which the general public voted for their favorite companies.

Winners of the crystal People's Choice Stevie Awards will be presented on stage at the 11^th Annual International Business Awards banquet at the Westin Vendôme Hotel in Paris, France on October 10^th.

Organizations worldwide are eligible to submit nominations to the IBAs – public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small.  More than 3,300 nominations were submitted to this year’s International Business Awards by organizations in over 60 nations and territories, for consideration in a wide variety of categories including New Product or Service of the Year, Most Innovative Company of the Year, Management Team of the Year, Best New Product or Service of the Year, Corporate Social Responsibility Program of the Year, and Executive of the Year, among others. 

With the most votes received in their respective categories, the following are the 2014 winners of the crystal People's Choice Stevie® Award trophies:

Advertising, Marketing & PR: HH Global
Banking / Financial / Insurance: Union National Bank                            
Business Services: Competence Call Center                
Computer Hardware / Electronics: Arvento Mobile Systems   
Computer Services / Internet: Quality Systems, Inc.                 
Computer Software: HRBoss Singapore             
Conglomerates: Virgin Group               
Construction / Manufacturing / Materials: Clearpath Robotics         
Energy & Utilities: ADCO
Food & Beverage:  Food Innovation Solutions             
Health Products and Services: NU SKIN Expo
Hospitality / Leisure / Retail: Diamantis Masoutis S.A.
Media & Entertainment: ABS-CBN Corporation                  
Non-Profit & Government Organizations: Abu Dhabi Police GHQ
Service Industries: iPai
Telecommunications: Globe Telecom, Inc.
Transportation: OMSAN Logistics


For more information about The International Business Awards, including a complete list of all Stevie Award winners in the 2014 IBAs, visit www.StevieAwards.com/IBA.

About the Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in six programs: The International Business Awards, The American Business Awards, the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.  Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide.  Learn more about the Stevie Awards at www.StevieAwards.com.

Sponsors of The International Business Awards include Competence Call Center, Egyptian Steel, and the Korea Business Communicators Association

Tore Claesson, a Director of U.S.-based creative agency TIO, has been sharing his time between the US and China since October 2013.  Tore was a judge for The 2014 International Business Awards, covering the Communications Awards, PR Awards, and Creative Awards categories.

The 2015 International Business Awards will open for entries in January. Join the mailing list and we'll email you once the entry kit becomes available.

We talked to Tore about his experience of judging for the Stevie Awards and were gratified by his enthusiasm. “I think I’ve learned more from judging the Stevie Awards than from any book on creativity!” he told us.

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.”

Why China?

Tore had a pithy response to why he has been in China for the past year. “To fill a void.”

Tore explained: “There are simply no agencies focused on small and medium-sized businesses and brands that can bridge the culture gap between the U.S. and China, or Europe and China. And that applies whether a Chinese brand is going west or a Western company is trying to penetrate China.

“You either get an agency that finds a ‘partner’ in China for adaptation work, or—if you’re a Chinese company—you may go to a Chinese agency, which most likely has no experience in the nuances of US communications.

“Nuance is key to all communication. Being on the ground in China, with a mixed Western and domestic team, means we master those nuances. With an agency in New York as well as an agency in China, both cultures are a daily part of our work.”

The Importance of Social Media

Tore stressed the importance of social media in China. “One has to immerse oneself in all social media in China such as Wechat, QQ, Weibo, Youku, etc.  China may have a long way to go before it is on a par with the US and Europe on branding and marketing communications—the industry is still young in China—but in social media, which is a much newer business, they are way ahead. The West can learn from China when it comes to using social media.”

Future Judging

The Stevie Awards recently introduced the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, and the 2015 competition opens this month. (For more information on how to participate, sign up to receive an Entry Kit.)   Tore is intrigued by the possibilities of this competition and has expressed interest in judging the newly revamped and expanded entry categories.

Life in China

Since October 2013, Tore has been working in China and is based in Chengdu, Sichuan.  Tore told us, “Chengdu is China’s fourth biggest city with 14 million people, a fantastic kitchen if you like spicy food, a world famous Panda park, and Geely, which makes Volvo cars.

“Chengdu is known as the Silicon Valley of China—a real tech-hub—and Chengdu Hi-Tech Zone (CDHT) is home to 33,237 hi-tech companies, of which 1,115 companies are foreign-invested enterprises, including over 120 Fortune 500 and world-renowned companies.”

When we asked Tore what kept him inspired or excited about the future, his apt response was: “In my case it’s a curiosity to see where the road leads. I can’t stand still. Petrification is for statues!”

You can read and see more of Tore’s adventures in China on his blog or view some of the work being done in China on his LinkedIn site. His profile page links to a showcase for a Swedish company, Sveba-Dahlen, that needed a Chinese name and more.

About Tore Claesson

Tore’s background at agencies such as Ogilvy and Anderson & Lembke McCann, based in Singapore, Tokyo, and Hong Kong in Asia, and 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.

About TIO Agency

TIO is a creative agency specializing in brand strategy, market communication, advertising, and design. TIO helps businesses communicate to their stakeholders with a unique, clear, and consistent voice. To be heard in today’s over-saturated media landscape, efficient brand communication must be designed holistically to convey a unified message to internal and external stakeholders, then transmitted via multiple media.By aligning to each client’s strategic vision, TIO ensures that its work is focused on concrete marketing objectives, rather than dictated by simple creative whims or technological indulgences.

TIO was founded in 2009 by designer Norman Rabinovich and brand strategist Michael Raisanen. Its team consists of 20 creative professionals across design, strategy, communication, technology advertising, public relations, and new media. The agency is headquartered in New Canaan, Connecticut, USA, with an office in Gothenburg, Sweden.

The 2015 (2^nd annual) Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the premier business awards competition for the region will offer fully revamped and expanded entry categories.

Nominations will be accepted starting the week of September 15. Get the entry kit as soon as it's available.

All individuals and organizations in the 22 nations of the Asia-Pacific region -- public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small -- may submit nominations to the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards.

The Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards now feature a wide range of categories to recognize achievement in every aspect of the workplace. In the 2014 awards, only 18 categories were offered. This year there are over 250 industry specific entry categories including:

• Customer Service Awards
• Company/Organization Awards
• Human Resources Awards
• Information Technology Awards
• Management Awards
• Marketing Awards Categories
• New Product Awards
• Corporate Communications, IR, and PR Awards
• Support Awards
• Website Awards and Smartphone and Tablet App Awards

See the full list of Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards categories.

Nominations should cite achievements since July 1 2013. There is no eligibility timeframe for app and web site entries - it does not matter when they were first published.

The early-bird entry deadline, with discounted entry fees, is October 29. The entry deadline is December 3, but late entries will be accepted through January 28 with payment of a late fee. Entry details are available at www.asia.stevieawards.com.

Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners will be announced on March 11. The 2015 winners will be celebrated at the second annual awards banquet on April 24, in China.

Contact us with your questions about how to participate in the 2015 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards.

Today we’ve opened the preliminary round of judging for the 2014 (11th annual) Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the world's premier business awards program for women entrepreneurs, executives, employees, and the organizations they run.

You're invited to apply to participate in the judging process, which takes place online.  Interested?  Apply here.

                                              

As a judge you'll read and rate nominations submitted by women-owned and–run organizations all around the world. You’ll be assigned categories based on your experience, function, and industry. Judging takes place online, at your convenience, any time day or night, through October 5. 

You’ll be inspired and educated by the stories of high-achieving women around the world, and you’ll receive a certificate of appreciation, suitable for framing. You’ll also be acknowledged on the awards website (see last year's judges here) and in the November 14 awards dinner program.

Plus, the two judges who review the most entries in the women awards will be offered two tickets to the November 14 awards dinner and $1,000 toward the cost of attending the event.

Apply to be a Stevie Awards for Women in Business judge.  You'll be glad you did!

Questions about the judging process?  Let us know.

The Stevie® Awards have announced the winners of the Best of the IBA Awards in The 2014 (11^th Annual) International Business Awards, the world's premier business awards competition.

Nominees in the 2014 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. This year's Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners in The International Business Awards were announced on August 13.

The winners of the Best of the IBA Awards will be presented with Grand Stevie Award trophies at The 11^th Annual International Business Awards banquet at The Westin Vendôme Hotel in Paris, France on October 10. 

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 3 points, a Silver Stevie for 2 points, and a Bronze Stevie counting for 1.5.  The winners are:

Organization of the Year: Quality, Systems, Inc. Irvine, California, USA. With 68.5 total points, Quality Systems, Inc. is the most honored organization in the 2014 IBAs.

Public Relations Agency of the Year: MWW. MWW offices around the world won a total of 42.5 points.

Marketing Agency of the Year: Weber Shandwick. Weber Shandwick offices worldwide won a total of 39.5 points.

Interactive Services Agency of the Year: Plasenta Conversation Agency, Istanbul, Turkey (31.5 points)

Top 10: After the winners of the above prizes, the following entrants earned the most award points in the 2014 IBAs:

1. MSLGROUP, worldwide (35.5)
2. CallidusCloud, Pleasanton, California, USA (32.5)
3. Akbank TAS, Istanbul, Turkey (31.5)
4. Maras Group, Adelaide, Australia (31)
5. LLORENTE Y CUENCA, Madrid, Spain (27.5)
6. Odea Bank A.S., Istanbul, Turkey (26.5)
7. Ooredoo Group, Doha, Qatar (25.5)
8. Accenture, worldwide (24.5)
9. Oxford City Football Club, Lake Worth, Florida, USA (23)
10. ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (22)

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.

For more information about The International Business Awards, including a complete list of all Stevie Award winners in the 2014 IBAs, visit www.StevieAwards.com/IBA.

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

      Business Awards Program to Celebrate Excellence Worldwide at Paris Event

High-achieving organizations and executives around the world have been announced as Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie® Award winners in The 11th Annual International Business Awards, the world's only international, all-encompassing business awards program.

Nicknamed the Stevies from the Greek word "crowned," the awards will be presented at a gala event on Friday, 10 October at the Westin Vendôme Hotel in Paris, France. Tickets for the event are on sale now at www.StevieAwards.com/IBA. 

Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie winners were selected from more than 3,500 nominations received from organizations and individuals in more than 60 nations. All organizations worldwide are eligible to compete in The International Business Awards, and can submit entries in a wide range of categories, including management awards, company of the year awards, marketing awards, public relations awards, customer service awards, human resources awards, new product awards, IT awards, web site awards, and more.  

More than 250 executives worldwide participated in the judging process this year.

The top Gold Stevies winners this year are Weber Shandwick, worldwide, with eight, and Quality Systems, Inc. (USA) with seven. Accenture (USA), Akbank (Turkey), LLORENTE Y CUENCA (Spain), MSLGROUP worldwide, MWW Group (USA), and Plasenta Conversation Agency (Turkey) are winners of five Golds each. Winners of four Gold Stevies are AT&T (USA), CallidusCloud (USA), Jack Morton Worldwide, Maras Group (Australia), and Oxford City Football Club (USA). 

Among the winners of three Gold Stevie Awards are Advanced Bionics (USA), AECOM (USA), ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller (United Arab Emirates), DHL Express worldwide, Globe Telecom (Philippines), Kanyon (Turkey), Odea Bank (Turkey), PS Communication (Denmark), and StarHub Ltd (Singapore).

A complete list of all 2014 Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners by category is available at www.StevieAwards.com/IBA.

 “The entries we received this year were some of the most noteworthy we have ever seen,” said Michael Gallagher, president and founder of the Stevie Awards.  “We congratulate all of the winners, and we look forward to recognizing them for their achievements at our gala event in Paris on 10 October.”

Next week the winners of the Best of the IBA Awards, five best-of-competition prizes, will be announced.

For high-resolution photos of the Stevie Award trophy or International Business Awards logo, visit http://www.stevieawards.com/pubs/iba/press/172_701_3120.cfm. Other information and resources for press are available at http://www.stevieawards.com/pubs/iba/press/172_701_3121.cfm

About the Stevie Awards

Stevie Awards are conferred in six programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. The sixth program, the new German Stevie Awards, will open for entries on 18 August.  Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.stevieawards.com and on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

The following professionals participated in preliminary judging of The 2014 International Business Awards, the worlds top business awards program, in May-July.  Their average scores determined the entries that were eligible to be included in final judging.  We thank them for their time, insights and support.

Dr. Mamdooh Abdelmottlep, Founding President, International Police Sciences Association, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Nicole Y. Adams, Translator & Consultant, NYA Communications, Brisbane, Australia
Hazem Adawie Senior Manager-Corporate Performance Management Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Bora Aksoylu, Event Manager, NIKE Turkey, Istanbul, Turkey
Shadi Al Hroub, Creative Director, Freelance, Amman, Jordan
Ahmad Alhai, Drilling Services Automation Project Manager & RTOC Project Member, ADCO, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Mahmoud Alhayek, Quality Expert, Abu Dhabi Police, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Dr. Mohammed A. Alkhozai, Director, Bahrain Management Society, Manama, Bahrain
Amal Al-Najjar, HR Manager, Fluor Kuwait, Kuwait
Col. Mohammed Alreeh, Ministry of the Interior, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Ani Atanasova, CEOPixelhunters, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Dr. Christina Augustine, Global Strategic HR, Virtusa Corporation, Chennai, India
Heather Barton, Head of Human Resources, American Institute for Foreign Study (UK) Ltd, London, United Kingdom
Israel Bonequi, Creative Director, Birds Nest Foundation, Montreal, QC, Canada
Ted Bridgwater, President, Foresight Corporate Communications, Toronto, ON, Canada
Oana Bulexa, Managing Director, The Practice, Bucharest, Romania
Connie Bullock, Director, Marketing, NuCompass Mobility, Manassas, VA , USA
Mark Burton, CEO, International Armoring Corp., Centerville, UT, USA
Peter Bush, Doctor, Response Ambulance Services, Port Talbot, United Kingdom
Jorge Cachinero, Director Corporativo de Reputación e Innovación, Llorente y Cuenca, Madrid, Spain
Venkata Rajesh, Cheerla    Group Senior Manager - HR Strategy, Policies & Compliance, Etisalat Group, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Tore Claesson, Director, Tio Agency, New York, USA
Sally Clubley, Senior Consultant, IHRDC, Stourton, United Kingdom
Dorothy Crenshaw, CEO, Crenshaw Communications, New York, NY, USA
Kate Darcy Hohenthal, Founder, The Birthday Club, Manchester, CT , USA
Karla Davis, General Manager, Plantation Resort, Surfside Beach, SC, USA
Saraida De Marchena Kaluche, President and CEO, Markatel, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Lelanie de Wet, Web Content & Social Media Manager, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa
Teresa DeFelice, Account Executive, RCI, Orlando, FL, USA
Danielle Di-Masi, Managing Director, The Interactions Lab, Coogee, Australia
Richard Dixon, Owner/Administrator, Home Helpers and Direct Link of North Texas, Keller, TX, USA
Sheryl Dobson, Director of Customer Contact, J2 Global, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Michal Dunin, Managing Director, WebTalk, Warsaw, Poland
Stacey Edmonds, Founder and MD Lively, Lively Coogee, NSW, Australia
Rochelle Ekanayake, Managing Director UK/SRI LANKA, MrPierce Studios International Asia (PVT) Ltd, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Kristina Garcia, Managing Director, German State of Hessen U.S. Office for Economic Development, New York, NY, USA
Sergio García, Creative Director, Doctor Jekyll, Barcelona, Spain
Manoj Gautam, Om shiva, shakti herbal company pvt. Ltd, Kathmandu, Nepal
Constantinos Grivas, CEO and Founder, Swiss Nutraceuticals MIKE, Athens, Greece
Naresh Gupta, Associate Partner, IBM Global Business Services, Gurgaon, India
Danita Harn, VP of Operations, Harn & Associates Bookkeeping Firm, Woodstock, GA, USA
Robin Harris, Principal/Creative Director, Harris Design Inc., McLean, VA, USA
Aida Hernandez, New Business Development, Marco de Comunicación, Madrid, Spain
Jesse Hertstein, Senior CSR Specialist, Amway, Ada, MI, USA
Jamie K. Holt, MBA, President/CEO, JMK Notary And Services, Miami, FL, USA
Giles House, VP Marketing, CallidusCloud, Pleasanton, CA, USA
Yvonne Howie, CEO, NSW, The CEO Institute, Neutral Bay, NSW, Australia
Richard    Hu, Senior Editor, China Advertising, Beijing, China
Elif Ildeniz, Employer Branding Project Leader, TOFAS-FIAT, Istanbul, Turkey
Echo Ilott, Director, Boost Marketing, Bournemouth, United Kingdom
Leo Indarwahono, Public Health & Educational Executive, The Indonesian Business Coalition on AIDS (IBCA), Jakarta, Indonesia
Petr Jares, Member of the Board, Etnetera, Prague, Czech Republic
Parag Jaripatke, Senior Systems Administrator, AOL Inc., Dulles, VA, USA
Monika Jaslowska, Senior Head of Brand Public Relations Department, Polpharma Biuro Handlowe Sp. z o. o., Warsaw, Poland
Beverly Jensen, President/CEO, WomensMedicineBowl.com, Greeley, CO, USA
Özgür Karaçak, Managing Partner / Founder/ Creative Director, SesliHarfler Digital Advertising Agency, Istanbul, Turkey
Hakan Karamanli, IT Manager, GARANTI TEKNOLOJI, Istanbul, Turkey
Samitha Karunarathne, CEO, Aryans Engineering (Pvt) Ltd., Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka
Mazin Khoury, CEO, Middle East, AMEX (Middle East) B.S.C. (c), Manama, Bahrain
Elzbieta Krawczynska, Quality Specialist & Trainer, Bank Zachodni WBK S.A, Poznan, Poland
A.J.Lawrence, CEO, the JAR group, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Andreea Leonte, Senior PR Consultant, MCCANN PR, Bucharest, Romania
Chris Litherland, International Snr Director HR, Intermec by Honeywell Heinsberg, Germany
Ke Je Tony Liu, Greater China Partner, Creative Chairman, MC Saatchi aeiou, Shanghai,  China
Denis Looney, Vice President, Marriott Vacations Worldwide, Cork, Ireland
Anil Machado, Managing Director, Tnell, Sieradz, Poland
Morag Malloy, Managing Director, Fission Creative, Paisley, United Kingdom
Kristin Marcell, Vice President Public Relations, SmartMark Communications, Newtown, PA   USA
Wessam Massoud, Programme Delivery Manager, Abu Dhabi Systems & Information Center (ADSIC), Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Chris McConnell, Senior Manager, Accenture, Chicago, IL, USA
Colin McKillop, Chief Executive Officer, Butcher Enterprises, Windsor, ON, Canada
Jennifer, McQueen, Managing Partner, Ausnindo-Asia/Pacific, Croydon, VIC, Australia
Jeremy McWilliams, Managing Director, Bang TV, London, United Kingdom
Ronald Meske, President, Training Systems Design, Camarillo, CA, USA
Eric Mosely, CEO, Globoforce, Dublin, Ireland
Rajesh Kumar Mudiakal, SAP Project Manager, CMC Limited, Mumbai, India
Motomasa Murayama, Professor, Tokiwa University, Mito City, Japan
Rajiv Noronha, AVP, Location HR Leader & Head -Org., Effectiveness, Tata Consultancy Services, Bangalore, India
Charles Olsson, Managing Director, Stockfeed Purchasing Pty Ltd, Crestmead, Australia
Pierluigi Orati    Head of Country Analysis, SENEL SPA, Rome, Italy
Diego Otero Rodríguez, Creative Director, Suigeneris Communications SL (A Save Your Numbers Holding), Barcelona, Spain
Alper Afsin Özdemir, President, Krombera Digital Marketing Agency, Istanbul, Turkey
Cem Cabbar Özdemir, Creative Director, Project House, Istanbul, Turkey
Parveen Panwar, CEO, PMI 5, Media LLC, Los Altos, CA, USA
Anne Patterson, VP Client Delivery, FreeFlow, Kerry Ireland
Katarzyna Pawlikowska, Managing Partner, Garden of Words, Warsaw, Poland
Guy Perry, President, CEO & Founder, Salt Lake Running Company, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Donald Pillai, International Marketing Executive, Bumbo (Pty) Ltd, Rosslyn, South Africa
Churchill Dass Prince, Founder & CEO, Sales Intellect Company, Chennai, India
Rammesh Rajagopal, Senior Manager IT, Cisco Systems Inc., Morrisville, NC, USA
Fanjarivo Rakotonirina, President, Tropical Items Madagascar, LLC, Boulder, CO, USA
V.S. Ramachandran, Senior VP, Emarat, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Mohamed A. R. Rashed, Director of Strategic Planning, Ahlia University, Manama, Bahrain
Dennis Reno, Vice President, Customer Experience, New Relic, San Francisco, CA, USA
Pamela Robinson, CEO, Financial Voyages LLC, Atlanta, GA, USA
Linanne Sackett, Principal Investigator, Verizon Next Step Program, Albany, NY, USA
Prof. Dr. Mohamed Amr Sadik, VP - Curriculum Development, INTEX, Cairo, Egypt
Sasan Saeidi, Managing Director, FP7, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Göktug Sahin, Lecturer, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey
Hande Sarantopoulos, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Director, Kale Group, Istanbul, Turkey
Gauri Sharma, Head of Business, Modest Inc, Chicago, IL, USA
Keira Shein, Partner, WilkinsonShein Communications, Stevenson, MD, USA
Pelle Sjöqvist, Creative Director, Dahlheim & Sjöqvist, Stockholm, Sweden
Asuncion Soriano, Vice President, INFORPRESS, Madrid, Spain
Leslie Stretch, President & CEO, CallidusCloud, Pleasanton, CA, USA
Julian Stubbs, Senior Lecturer, Marketing (retired), The University of Greenwich, London, United Kingdom
Begum Susar, Digital Marketing and Design Assistant, Vice President, ING Bank Turkey, Istanbul, Turkey
Andrzej Szczepaniak, Deputy Director, Bank Zachodni WBK S.A, Srem, Poland
Pinar Tuba, Temizkan, HR Senior Consultant and Co-Active Coach, Elemental-Value (official provider of The Coaches Training Institute-CTI), Istanbul   
Meera Tenguria, Founder & Director, Aarrohan Communications, Mumbai, India
Wailaya    Tiningsih Bravyanto, Corporate Relations, PT Unilever Indonesia, Tbk, Jakarta, Indonesia
Han Tjan, VP Corporate Communications, Daimler, New York, NY, USA
Aigerim Tulepbergenova, Business Analyst, Morgan Stanley, Eugene, OR, USA
Noel Unciano, Research Specialist, Industrial Technology Development Institute, Taguig City, Philippines
Aykut Ustun, Group Manager - HR and Management System, Opet Petrolculuk, Istanbul, Turkey
Rob Vandenberg, President & CEO Lingotek, Draper, UT, USA
Kirti Vashee, Vice President, Enterprise Translation, Asia Online, Santa Monica, CA , USA
Nicole Vaughn, Account Supervisor, Fleishman-Hillard, Inc., St. Louis, MO, USA
Vincent Verdi, Art Director, CUNY-TV, Staten Island, NY, USA
Robyn  Vogels, Founder, Managing Director, Personnel Relocations, Cheltenham, SA, Australia
Mike Voznick, National Business Consultant, Harn and Associates, Smyrna, GA, USA
Clara H.Y. Wang, Account Director, KAI Communications (China&UK), Beijing, China
Floor Wijburg, CEO, W & I Consultants, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Silvana Xhaferi, General Secretary, Albanian-British Chamber of Commerce and industry, Tirana, Albania
Mimi Young, Principal, Behavior Design, New York, NY, USA
David Zapata, President, Zapwater Communications, Chicago, USA                            
Joseph Zitzelberger, Director of Manufacturing Development, PACCAR Inc., Chillicothe, OH, USA