No additional late fees charged
The Stevie® Awards, organizer of The International Business Awards, announced today that the final entry deadline for The 12th annual IBAs has been extended to July 15. The IBAs are the top business awards program and attract nominations from organizations in more than 50 nations and territories each year.
“We’ve received so many requests for individual deadline extensions that we’ve decided to extend the 
deadline for everyone,” said Stevie Awards president Michael Gallagher. The original final deadline was June 10. Gallagher emphasizes that no additional late fees will be charged for entries submitted through July 15, and late entrieswill not be penalized in any way in the judging process.” All organizations now have an additional four weeks to prepare and submit their entries in hopes of winning a Stevie award for their achievements.”
All individuals and organizations worldwide -- public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small -- may submit nominations to The International Business Awards. The 2015 awards will honor achievements since the beginning of 2014. Entry details are available at http://www.StevieAwards.com/IBA.
The International Business Awards recognize achievement in every facet of the workplace. Categories include:
•Information Technology Awards
•Website Awards, Smartphone and Tablet Apps, and other Media Awards
There are several new Company/Organization categories that don’t require entry fees, including four Startup of the Year categories and Energy Industry Innovation of the Year, a category that will recognize singular innovations in energy-related technology, production, conservation, storage or delivery.
“With the feedback that we received from past winners and judging committees, we developed new awards categories this year, and more than ever before to reach a broad range of organizations,” explains Michael Gallagher. Other new categories include Woman of the Year (in the Management categories), Branded Content Campaign of the Year (in the Marketing categories), and Best Business Book or Best E-Book (in the Publication categories).”
Stevie Award winners will be selected during a judging process by more than 200 professionals worldwide. Winners will be announced on August 12, and the awards will be presented at a gala awards ceremony at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Toronto, Canada, on October 16.
About The Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in six programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 10,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 60 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.StevieAwards.com.
Over 180 professionals attended the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards banquet. Stevie Award winners were from 13 nations including Australia, China, East Timor, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Nominations of more than 300 organizations were considered by the judges this year.
When people think of ‘business awards’ they most often think of awards for overall companies or executives, especially Fortune 500 companies. The Stevie Awards recognize achievement in every facet of the workplace for organizations of every size, including 
The People's Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite Companies is a worldwide public vote in which your customers, employees, fans, and followers may vote for your organization in one or more industry-specific category. Yes, it's a popularity contest, to run alongside the adjudicated peer-reviewed judging that will determine the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners in each category. Voting will open to the public on August 13 and will close on September 11.
BizTalkRadio’s broadcast will begin with a 10-minute preshow segment at 7:30 pm CT / 8:30 pm ET. Listen live on the BizTalk website 
Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners were selected by more than 50 executives who participated in judging. The Stevie Award trophy, made by the company that makes the Oscar and other major international awards, is among the world's most coveted prizes.
As founder and president of the Stevie Awards Michael Gallagher knows about the challenges entrepreneurs face when starting their businesses: “Founders must overcome many obstacles in order to succeed. Therefore, we at the Stevie Awards want to help remove one of those obstacles by providing the world’s best startup companies with a platform on which to generate national and international brand recognition.”
The fields of government and non-profit are crucial to every society, and are increasingly being shaped by women. In the U.S.A. alone, the non-profit sector has 1.6 million organizations, and provides a great range of services in conjunction with government agencies such as relief for the poor, adoption, job placement, and community outreach.
Dennis Najjar, co-Founder of AccountingDepartment.com, has worked in public accounting since 1982. After graduating from Rutgers University in 1982, Dennis joined Coopers & Lybrand. In 1986, Dennis started the public accounting firm Dennis M. Najjar, CPA. His practice had an emphasis on tax planning and preparation for corporations, partnerships, and individuals. Throughout his career, Dennis has worked exclusively with small, medium, and start-up businesses, giving him the knowledge and experience to oversee the AccountingDepartment.com team in helping clients with strategic business planning for future success and growth.
Laura Ribas is the Vice President of Marketing at Klein Steel Service Inc., in Rochester, New York. She has over 25 years of progressive and diversified experience in management consulting and marketing strategy. Laura is a leader and mentor who thrives in team- and values-based environments which are professional, motivating, and fun. With an ethical foundation and positive attitude, she brings a focus on delivering results with fiscal responsibility. She is passionate about bringing brands to life by using data-driven insights to derive strategy, employing killer creative, and engaging storytelling to bring the right, actionable message to the correct target audience. Her mission: the betterment of people, processes, organizations, and brands.
Scott is the founder and Global Managing Partner of inVNT, a global brand communications agency that collaborates with brands and organizations to create remarkable moments that stir emotions, challenge convention, mindsets, competitors, and the market. With a reach that spans sixty countries across six continents, inVNT works to launch products, build brand allegiance, deepen relations, create demand and align organizations with target audiences.
Chris Hook, Director of Global Marketing at AMD, is an acclaimed PR and marketing visionary with over 20 years experience directing innovative global marketing, public relations, and social media campaigns for a variety of Fortune 500 technology companies, consumer brands, government leaders and non-profit organizations. Known for building agile, aggressive, highly effective teams with a laser-focus on results, innovation leadership, measurement and continuous improvement, Hook led the efforts behind AMD’s 1st place Grand Stevie Award at the 2014 ABAs, including 3 Gold Stevies in the Corp Comms/PR/IR category. In December 2013, PR News named Chris Hook PR Professional of the Year.
As Senior Vice President of Emerging Consumer Markets, Joni Arison leads the team responsible for exploring innovative business models and transforming emerging consumer markets to drive value and growth in AT&T Home Solutions. The team supports functions that include AdWorks, Chat, Connected Communities, Door-to-Door Sales, Online Sales, Social Media Care, and Wireless Home Phone. Joni also holds P&L responsibility for legacy voice, DSL, and satellite TV services for Home Solutions customers.
Alison is a senior communications professional with in-house and PR agency experience, and a strong foundation in print and broadcast journalism. She has lead external communications for large and small organizations, both public and private, across a broad array of industries including manufacturing, hi tech, and automotive. Alison currently serves as Director of External Communications at Dealertrack Technologies, a leading b2b software provider for the auto industry that is changing the way people shop for and buy vehicles. Prior to Dealertrack, she was Director of Corporate Communications at Dealer.com, which was acquired by Dealertrack for $1B in 2014. Before entering the automotive industry, Alison led PR for the global consumer packaging manufacturer MeadWestvaco, where she developed and managed a worldwide network of PR agencies, drove vertical PR programs, and served as spokesperson for financial events and corporate announcements including quarterly earnings, restructuring, acquisitions and divestitures, labor relations and other highly sensitive announcements. Before working on in-house communications, she served on the agency side, cutting her teeth in Silicon Valley during the hi tech bubble and burst, first as an account executive with Miller Shandwick then as an early founder of Voce Communications. At the heart of her communications career, Alison pursued journalism, both print and broadcast, including working at CNN where she produced a piece on solar power with BP’s former CEO that aired on Headline News.
In 1991, after graduating with a Ph.D. in physics from University Paris-Orsay, Dr. Dan Yang began her career in France as an Associated Professor of Optics and Photonics. In 1993, she moved to Montreal to work as a scientist and designed submarine fiber-optic networking systems before quitting to pursue her career as a technology entrepreneur. Very well recognized and "crowned" as the "Queen of Optical Amplifiers" by fiber-optic industry insiders, Dr. Yang is a renowned inventor with over 20 U.S. patents, some of which have become the standard for today's fiber-optic network.
David is celebrating more than 25 years as a Training and Organizational Effectiveness professional. His broad range of accomplishments includes the development of multiple training programs, competency models, and feedback instruments in organizational performance improvement; leadership and professional staff skills training; sales and customer service training; team building; and team effectiveness.
John has over 20 years of sales and online marketing experience, and his analytics-driven decision making and business savvy help his companies and clients gain market share. John built the direct-to-consumer consumer software business of Softkey/The Learning Company from $16 million to $145 million in 4 years, playing a key role in the acquisition of The Learning Company by Mattel for $3.8 billion. (And yes, Kevin O’Leary from the TV show Shark Tank was his boss—no pressure there!)
