The Delta Air Lines Customer Engagement and Sales Support Center won a Gold Stevie® Award in the Customer Service Awards categories in the 2014 Asia-Pacific Stevie® Awards.  Delta Air Lines also received a Grand Stevie® for having one of the five highest-scoring entries in the competition.

The 2015 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards is now accepting entries.
GET THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

There are even more customer service awards categories featured in the 2015 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. The deadline for entries is November 19. GET THAT ENTRY KIT HERE.

We talked with David Clayton, Customer Engagement Center Director – Asia Pacific, in Singapore for Delta Air Lines. He told us what winning the Stevie Award meant to his team.

“Our team takes great pride in this type of honor,” David explained. “It further validates Delta as a great place to work, motivating us to continue achieving and living our goals and celebrating successes. Building professional relationships between colleagues and customers with diverse backgrounds is a big part of our success. Affirmation of these achievements spurs us on to keep climbing, which would not be possible without the commitment of a truly dedicated and professional team.”

Broadening Awareness

David outlined the importance of winning in the Asia-Pacific Stevie® Awards and its significance in broadening awareness of Delta’s Customer Engagement and Sales Support Center in the region. “The Stevie® Awards organization is well known in the customer service industry and the trophy is a symbol of excellence to those honored by the award,” he told us. “Winning the Grand Stevie® in Asia and the Gold Stevie® for Customer Service Leader of the Year in Singapore gave us the opportunity to meet many business partners at the awards ceremony and enabled us to build on our relationships.”

David is also aware of the added-value of the extensive social media network utilized by the Stevie® Awards. “The English-language Stevie® Awards Update newsletter, which I understand is distributed worldwide to some 25,000 subscribers, combined with a further 17,000 views on the Stevie’s social media outlets, provides us with a great opportunity to deliver updates on Delta’s leadership position in customer experience,” David said.

Multinational Team

A unit of Delta’s Global Sales Division, the Asia Pacific Customer Engagement and Sales Support Center, is a multinational team that provides support via phone, email, delta.com, and Twitter. The team supports both direct and commercial Delta customers throughout the Asia-Pacific region using various mediums in Mandarin, Cantonese, Thai, Japanese, Korean, and English.

Since July 2012, Delta has focused on improving the customer experience in Asia, employing a variety of strategies to drive satisfaction and establish a reputation of differentiated service.

A Better Experience for the Business Traveler
David gave us details of areas in which Delta was working to improve the business traveler’s experience in the Asia Pacific region. “Our focus is on continuous improvement,” he told us.  “We have introduced a number of enhancements to the travel experience:

-   our long-haul, wide-body aircraft are equipped with 180° full flat-bed seats in Business-Elite, which come with the Westin Heavenly in-flight bedding and Tumi amenity kit;

-   we've refreshed in-flight menus, offering more food and beverage selections with a regional flair on both Business-Elite and Economy class;

-   Economy Comfort seats now provide up to 4 more inches of extra legroom, up to 50% more recline, and priority boarding;

-   and our in-flight entertainment, Delta Studio, offers an extensive selection of the latest new-release movies in international languages, popular TV shows, music and games, as well as streaming content through in-flight Wi-Fi.” 

Delta appreciates that staying connected is a priority for business travelers. “In-flight Wi-Fi is available on all US domestic and certain international aircraft,” he told us. “And it will be available on all aircraft by the end of 2015.”

Redefining the Customer Experience

By building on its divisional brand–“Listen. Care. Connect”–Delta has refreshed its incentives program, tying in behaviors that promote customer satisfaction.

The Asia Sales Support Center (SSC) serves as a Business-to-Business customer service center handling phone and email requests from travel agents and corporate travel managers representing Delta’s high-value agency and corporate accounts in China, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

People
Delta has expanded its workforce in the Asia-Pacific region, and ramped up training for its customer engagement specialists. The company partnered with the Singapore Workforce Development Agency to develop an in-house training program which results in employees obtaining their Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) Certificate in Tour and Travel Services upon completion. The company’s accomplishments were recognized by the agency when, in 2012 and again in 2013, Delta was awarded the WSQ Training Excellence Award for the Tour and Travel Category. 

Results

The company’s quality assurance data from 2012 to 2013 shows average favorable scores have significantly increased. Additionally, the Asia Pacific SSC has developed a great partnership with the company’s business-to-business partners. In spite of call volume for the Engagement Center trending upward between July 2012 and November 2013, overall Average Speed of Answer improved year over year—meaning customers get through and receive the service they need much faster.

Best of all, 96% of Delta’s Asia Pacific Engagement team employees responded positively to the internal employee satisfaction question “I am Proud to work for Delta.”

Outstanding Achievements
We asked David what inspired him and made him excited about the future.”I believe we have the best employees, not only in the airline business but also in the customer engagement business,” he told us. “We are a diverse team engaging our customers in six languages from all over the world. We handle customer interactions on phone calls, emails, and even on Facebook and Twitter.”

“I am absolutely inspired by the frontline Customer Engagement Specialists for their tremendous capacity for outstanding achievements,” David continued. “I celebrate the successes of my team through all levels and encourage a positive and friendly work environment.  I believe we stand on the shoulders of the great Delta employees who came before us and consider it an honor and duty to uphold only the best in customer service delivery.”

About David Clayton
David Clayton is Delta's Customer Engagement Director for Asia Pacific and is based in Singapore. In this role, he is responsible for approximately 550 employees who support the entire Asia Pacific region in over six different languages, and fulfill backend requests supporting customers across the globe. David’s team works closely with Vivien Khong, the Performance Manager of the Sales Support Center within the Singapore office, to ensure that Delta delivers the highest level of customer service across the Asia Pacific region.

A 28 year airline veteran, David began his career as a flight attendant and has held roles of increasing responsibilities during his tenure. He also serves his community as a member of the board for the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) Tour and Travel Industry Skills and Training Council (ISTC). Under his leadership, the Singapore-based operation has not only increased in size and scope, but successfully partnered with the WDA to support and deliver a developmental program, both for the benefit of employees and customers, and as a means of giving back to the communities they support.

About Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines serves nearly 165 million customers each year. This year, Delta was named the 2014 Airline of the Year by Air Transport World magazine and was named to FORTUNE magazine’s 50 Most Admired Companies, in addition to being named the most admired airline for the third time in four years. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 318 destinations in 57 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs nearly 80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 700 aircraft. The airline is a founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance and participates in the industry’s leading trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia as well as a newly formed joint venture with Virgin Atlantic. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 15,000 daily flights, with key hubs and markets including Amsterdam, Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-JFK, New York-LaGuardia, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City, Seattle and Tokyo-Narita. Delta has invested billions of dollars in airport facilities, global products, services, and technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the ground. Additional information is available on delta.com, Twitter @Delta, Google.com/+Delta, Facebook.com/delta and Delta’s blog takingoff.delta.com.

The newest Stevie Awards program, the German Stevie Awards, is now accepting nominations from all organizations operating in Germany at www.StevieAwards.com/Deutschland.

Recognizing the best in business in Germany, the program is offering the lowest entry fee of the year at 99 euros for all entries submitted by the November 5 deadline. Entry fees will rise substantially on November 6, through the final entry deadline of December 10.

The German Stevie Awards opened for entries in mid-August and have received an impressive number of nominations thus far from a wide variety of organizations.

The Stevie Awards are considered to be the world’s premier business awards, conferring recognition over the past 12 years in programs such as The International Business Awards and The American Business Awards. Stevie Awards programs attract more than 8,000 nominations each year from organizations in more than 60 nations.

Harald Oberhofer, Director of Corporate Communications at optivo and a Stevie Award winner, shared his thoughts about the new German Stevie Awards. “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.”

The German Stevie Awards welcome nominations from all organizations operating in Germany – large and small, for-profit and non-profit, publicly-held and privately-held - with a wide range of categories to choose from, including:

• Company of the Year awards
• Management awards
• Marketing awards
• Public relations awards
• Customer service awards
• Human resources awards
• IT awards
• New product awards
• App and website awards
• Video awards
  and more

Judging for the competition will be conducted in two rounds. The first round will determine Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners in each category. Stevie Awards competitions typically feature more than 200 executives as judges. Those winners will be announced on February 23.

All of the Gold Stevie Award winners will then compete in the second round of judging for the right to be named the Grand Stevie Award winner in their category groups. Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie winners will be honored, and Grand Stevie Award winners announced, at a gala awards banquet in Berlin in late March.

The Stevie Award trophies, made by the company that makes the Oscar and other major international awards, are among the world's most coveted prizes.

To learn more about the German Stevie Awards, visit our Frequently Asked Questions webpage at http://www.stevieawards.com/pubs/gsa/about/514_2923_24742.cfm.

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.