Last week we announced the Finalists in the 2011 (8th annual) Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the world's premiere honors for women entrepreneurs, executives, and the organizations they run.

This week the final judging process began, to determine the Stevie Award winner in each category from among the Finalists, and the process continues through the end of next week.

Here are the members of the final judging committees who are working hard to determine this year's winners, which will be announced at our 8th annual awards dinner in New York on Friday, November 11 (tickets are now on sale).  Thanks to all of them for their hard word and passion!

What do you think of our judging panels?

BEST EXECUTIVE AWARDS CATEGORIES

CHAIR:
Sherry Chris, CEO
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC
Parsippany, New Jersey, USA

COMMITTEE:
Dea Benson, Chief Accounting Officer
Realogy
Parsippany, New Jersey, USA

Denise Blasevick, CEO/Founding Partner
The S3 Agency
Boonton, New Jersey, USA

Elise Contarsy, VP Brand Licensing
Meredith Corporation
New York, New York, USA

Susan DeFranca, President & CEO
Doutlas Elliman Developments
New York, New York, USA

Elizabeth Gehringer, SVP Corporate Compliance
Realogy
Parsippany, New Jersey, USA

Jennifer Green, Managing Director
World 50, Inc.
Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Racquel Harris, VP, Marketing
Kraft Foods, Iinc.
Northfield, Illinois, USA

Dottie Herman, President & CEO
Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate
New York, New York, USA

Shannon King, Founder
YPN
Alexandria, Virginia, USA

Jean Brandolini Lamb, Director, Global Branding
SAP
New York, New York, USA

Karen Mayfield, SVP, National Mortgage Sales Manager
Bank of the West
San Francisco, California, USA
 
Molly O'Neill, Managing Director
DeVries Public Relations
New York, New York, USA

Wendy Purvey, CMO
Sotheby's Realty
Parsippany, New Jersey, USA

Tanya Reu, SVP, Human Resources
Realogy
Parsippany, New Jersey, USA

Kelly Roark, VP, Interactive Sales & Development
Scripps Networks Interactive
New York, New York, USA

Bernice Ross, CEO
RealEstateCoach.com
Austin, Texas, USA

Stephanie Smirnov, President & CCO
DeVries Public Relations
Leonia, New Jersey, USA

Bev Thorne, CMO
Century 21
Parsippany, New Jersey, USA

Tracy Weir, Chief Marketing Officer
Inman News
Alameda, California, USA

Anne Wilkie, Director, Business Development
Invesco Ltd.
Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Marti Winer, VP, Event Marketing and Communications
Wyndham Hotel Group
Parsippany, New Jersey, USA

Leslie Appleton Young, Chief Economist
California Association of Realtors
Los Angeles, California, USA

Rosanne Zusman, SVP, Global Brand Marketing
Wyndham Hotel Group
Parsippany, New Jersey, USA


BEST ENTREPRENEUR AWARDS CATEGORIES

CHAIR:  
Anne Walker, MBE, Founder & CEO
International Dance Supplies Ltd
Newton Abbot, United Kingdom

COMMITTEE:
Allison Coyne, Choreographer/Director
Milton Keynes, United Kingdom

Susan Epstein, Vice President
West Park Productions
New York, New York, USA

Sally Henley, Town Development Manager
Newton Abbot Town Centre Partnership
Exeter, United Kingdom

Shamina Krishna, Curriculum Development, Research & Advanced Training Unit Head
Smart Reader® Worldwide Sdn. Bhd.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Jackie Lee, Managing Director
The Dolls House Emporium
Ripley, United Kingdom

Judy Lever, Executive Chairman
Collier Campbell Ltd
London, United Kingdom

Carrie Molay, Director
MK Venture Partners
New York, New York, USA
 
Varvara Milovanova, Entrepreneur
Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Lorraine O'Neill, Director
Luxury Online Pty Ltd
Parrearra, Queensland, Australia

Jane Revell-Higgins, Managing Director
Synergy Partnership Ltd
Ilfracombe, United Kingdom

Steven Sirico, President
Dance Teacher Web
Norwalk, Connecticut, USA

Sarah Smith, Manager
The Bridal Gallery
Coventry, United Kingdom

Rosemary Stockdale, Managing Director
Sterling Marketing Ltd
London, United Kingdom

Dr. K H Wang, Group Executive Director
Smart Reader® Worldwide Sdn. Bhd.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Helen Watson, Managing Director
SES Recruitment
Newton Abbot, United Kingdom


COMPANY/ORGANIZATION AWARDS CATEGORIES

CHAIR:
Lisa Jones, CEO
EyeMail Inc.
Marietta, Georgia, USA

COMMITTEE:
Ahmed Alhai, BRM Specialist
ADCO
Abu Dhabi, UAE

Nagabhushan Balaji, Executive Vice President, Internal Control & Compliance
Dubai First
Dubai, UAE
 
Victoria Barnett, Senior Marketing Executive
Royal College of Nursing
London, United Kingdom

Alison Basa, Senior Executive
National Health Service
London, United Kingdom

Janet Beale, Manager, Platform Investment Implementation
MLC Limited
East Lindfield, NSW, Australia

Georgie Blake, Director
Marine Technicians Australia
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Heena Sunil Bulchandani, Training & Development Specialist
Dubai, UAE

Dr. Kate Darcy Hohenthal, Founder
The Birthday Club
Manchester, Connecticut, USA

Yvonne Howie, Chief Executive/NSW
The CEO Institute
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Anne Jefferies, Performance Scorecards & Supplier Benchmarking
AT&T
Glasgow, Scotland

Jennifer Lyon
Australian Institute of Company Directors
Gordon, NSW, Australia

Karen McFadzen, VP Technical Services
Cisco Systems
Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia

Dianne Morris, Researcher
Imperial College
London, United Kingdom

Charles Olsson, Managing Director
Stockfeed Purchasing Pty Ltd
Crestmead, Queensland, Australia

Janine Popick, CEO/Founder
Vertical Response, Inc.
San Francisco, California, USA

Emma Real, Corporate Communications Specialist
AECOM
Chicago, Illinois, USA

Dennis Reno, VP, Customer Experience
Oracle
San Francisco, California, USA

Shaikha Tariq Salim                              
Abu Dhabi, UAE

Susan Savage, General Manager
MICROS Fidelio Australia
South Turramurra, New South Wales, Australia

Julia Zamorska, Vice President, Corporate Communications
iolo technologies
Los Angeles, California, USA


COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING AWARDS CATEGORIES

CHAIR:
Susan M. Kidd, CEO
DRT Strategies, Inc.
Coronado, California, USA

COMMITTEE:
Sonja Beaubien, Finance Professional
Washington, DC,  USA

Margo Burnette, CEO
ImpaQ Solutions
Scottsdale, Arizona, USA

Andrea Chiou, Principal
ASC Consulting
Fairfax, Virginia, USA

Danielle Cogar, COO
Aquilent
Laurel, Maryland, USA

Jennifer Commander, Partner
Alexandria Clinical Research
Alexandria, Virginia, USA

Stephanie Eskins, President
e3Strategies
Sterling, Virginia, USA

Julie Henderson, President
Spoiled Rotten Dogs, inc.
Annapolis, Maryland, USA

Misty Jordan, VP
Compusearch Software Systems
Dulles, Virginia, USA

Cathy Lange, President
BusinessWorks of America, Inc.
McLean, Virginia, USA

Beth Maloney, President
Palladian Partners
Bethesda, Maryland, USA

Nidia Raya Martinez, Knowledge Management Specialist
University of Sydney
Botany, NSW, Australia

Kimberly Mayo, Deputy Chief
Department of Homeland Security, Office of Law Enforcement/
Federal Air Marshal Service
Arlington, Virginia, USA

Peggy McShane, President
Net New Growth
Arlington, Virginia, USA

Beth Meagher, Director  
Deloitte Consulting
Arlington, Virginia, USA

Deborah Moyer, President
Moyer Consulting Group
Sterling, Virginia, USA

Andrea Myslicki, Director Strategic Programs
SRA
Arlington, Virginia, USA

Toni Potter, Director
Technica
Dulles, Virginia, USA

Tara E. Roche, VP Sales and Client Relations,
Eastern Region
Diva Limousine LTD.
New York, New York, USA

Kristen Staples, Owner
Koru Photography
Aldie, Virginia, USA

PRODUCT & SERVICE AWARDS CATEGORIES

CHAIR: Tereson Dupuy, CEO
Fuzzibunz, LLC
Lafayette, Louisiana, USA

COMMITTEE:
Joan Boudreaux, Attorney
Broussard, Louisiana, USA

Erin Butler, Executive
Fedex International
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Julie Calzone, CEO
Calzone & Associates
Lafayette, Louisiana, USA

Penny Edwards, Owner
Pennimo Productions
Lafayette, Louisiana, USA

Jennifer Finke, CEO
Red Jeweled Media
Denver, Colorado, USA

Patricia Gannon, Editor
LA Femme Film Festival
Louisiana

Marina Go, Publisher
Independent Digital Media
Alexandria, NSW, Australia

Gena Gregerson, Owner
For the Monster
Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA

Lonnie Hill, Engineer
City of Mesquite
Dallas, Texas, USA

Kat Leonard, Executive
Zulily, Inc.
Seattle, Washington, USA

Kaan ÖZSÖKMEN, Agent Manager
K-Tex Sourcing & Buying Agency
Istanbul, Turkey

Elif Molla ÖZSÖKMEN, Chief Merchandiser
K-Tex Sourcing & Buying Agency
Istanbul, Turkey

Bobbi-Jean Palmer, Owner
Diaper Shops
South Paris, Maine, USA

Angie Philip, CEO
Reach Me
Auckland, New Zealand

Angela Powell, Owner
BumRite Diapers
Napa, California, USA

Jolene Powell, Owner
Sweet Cheeks
Auckland, New Zealand

Jeanette Rougee, Owner
Mike Rougee Inc
Kenner, Louisiana, USA

Addie Sorbo, President
Strawberry Fields Designs
Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA

Nataljia Sudina, CEO
Best 4 Kids, London, United Kingdom

Nancy Trahan, Executive
whitney Bank
Lafayette, Louisiana, USA

Kelly Wels, Author
KellyWels.com
Hebron, Maine, USA


MEDIA AWARDS CATEGORIES

CHAIR:
Jennifer Rotner,  Owneer
Elite Editing
New York, New York, USA

COMMITTEE:
Laurie Albo, Director
Maryland Financial Investors
Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Donna Balinkie, President
FireDrive Marketing Group
Owings Mills, Maryland, USA

Monica Berrocosa, CCO/Founder
MyCity4Her.com
Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Karen Brennan, Vice President
Lippe Taylor
New York, New York, USA

Melissa Casalena, Lead Designer
Greek Streak
Reisterstown, Maryland, USA

Liz Cassedy, Director of Product Development
Nations Photo Lab
Laurel, Maryland, USA

Will Davis, Managing Partner
Right Source Marketing
Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Rachel Fishman Fedderson, Editorial Director
Parenting.com
New York, New York, USA

Lisa Goldberg, Director, Marketing Services
VetCentric, Inc.
Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Latoya Hamilton, Manager, Business Development
NYC & Company
New York, New York, USA

Nicole Hirsch, President
Ty Lucas
Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Ronford Howell, CEO
Bottle Service
New York, New York, USA

Alexander Kouts, Senior Manager, Consumer Products
weatherbug.com
Mountain View, California, USA

Kristin Knoerlein, Creative Director
KkDesign
Nottigham, Maryland, USA

Katherine McDonald, Marketing Manager
Eataly
New York, New York, USA

Sophie Roberts, Senior Writer
NYC & Company
New York, New York, USA

Liz Rowell, Managing Director
Red Ark
St Leonards, NSW, Australia

Jessica Watson
CEO/Creative Director
Jwatson Creative
Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Finalists were announced today in the 8th Annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the international competition recognizing the accomplishments of outstanding women executives, business owners, and the organizations they run.  

The Stevie Awards for Women in Business are produced by the creators of the prestigious American Business Awards and International Business Awards.  The Stevies are widely considered to be the world’s premier business awards.

The final results of the 8th annual competition will be announced at an awards dinner at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City on Friday, November 11. 

More than 1,300 entries – a record for the competition - were submitted this year by organizations and individuals around the world for consideration in 75 categories, including Best Executive, Best Entrepreneur, Women Helping Women, and Communications Campaign of the Year. 

Among the leading contenders with multiple Finalists are Akbank, Istanbul, Turkey; Australian Innovative Systems Pty Ltd (AIS) Company, Brisbane, Australia; Coloredge New York • Los Angeles, New York, NY; Euro RSCG Worldwide PR, New York, NY; NetApp, Sunnyvale, CA; Staff Management | SMX, Chicago, IL; Staging Diva/Six Elements Inc., Toronto, Canada; TopLine Communications, London, United Kingdom; and VerticalResponse, San Francisco, CA.

For a complete list of Finalists by category, visit www.stevieawards.com/women.

Finalists were chosen by business professionals worldwide during preliminary judging.  Members of six final judging committees will select Stevie Award winners from among the Finalists during final judging.

A portion of each ticket sold for the November 11 awards dinner will be contributed to Camfed (www.camfed.org), which fights poverty and HIV/AIDS in Africa by educating girls and empowering women to become leaders of change. 

About the Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business 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 and supporters of the 8^th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business include the Business TalkRadio Network, Coloredge, Infogroup, KeyBank | Key4Women, Melilea International Group of Companies, SDL, and Smart Reader Worldwide.

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Tomorrow - Thursday, October 6 - is absolutely the last day that we can accept late entries for the 8th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the world's premier honors for women entrepreneurs, executives and the organizations they run.

You'll find the entry kit here, online. It explains how to choose categories and prepare entries. When you've written your entries, submit them here.

Late entries will not be penalized in any way in the judging process. Preliminary judging to determine Finalists closes on Sunday, and Finalists will be notified next Wednesday.

This year's Stevie Award winners will be announced at a dinner in New York on Friday, November 11. Attendance is not required to win.

Who do you know who should be nominated in the Stevies for Women?

We're a week away from what will be the largest International Business Awards event to date - our 8th annual awards banquet, on Tuesday, October 11 at the fabulous Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates.  We're expecting more than 400 executives from 25+ nations to attend to help celebrate this year's IBA honorees.

Tickets are going fast - get yours now.

The IBAs are the world's premier business awards program, honoring business-related achievements of all types with corporate awards, management awards, marketing awards, new product awards, website awards, human resources awards, IT awards, public relations awards, and more.

Here is the list of organizations that have already confirmed their attendance at next Tuesday's gala.  Will you be among them?

Abu Dhabi Airports Company, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Abu Dhabi Municipality, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Abu Dhabi Police General Headquarters, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Accenture Services Ltd  India
ACE enterprise Slovakia  Bratislava  Slovakia
Aepona Ltd  Belfast  United Kingdom
African Access Holdings  Durban  South Africa
Al Fara'a Group, Abu Dhabi, UAE
ASDA'A Burson Marsteller, Dubai, UAE
AstraZeneca Bulgaria
Athen International Airport  Athens  Greece
Aygaz  Istanbul  Turkey
Azercell Telecom LLC  Baku city  Azerbaijan
Bombardier, Montreal, Canada
BRComm, Seoul, South Korea
BT, London, United Kingdom
Callidus Software  Pleasanton  CA  USA
Cascades Tissue Group  Candiac  Canada
COMSEL Co.  Ltd.  Tokyo  Japan
DANI Communications, Seoul, South Korea
DHL Express, Bonn, Germany
EFES, Istanbul, Turkey
Emarat, Dubai, UAE
Emirates NBD, Dubai, UAE
Everything Everywhere  London  United Kingdom
Finansbank A.S.  Istanbul  Turkey
GeiserMaclang Marketing Communications  Inc.  Manila  Philippines
GLOBAL EVENTS ID Corporation SL  Madrid  Spain
GS Engineering & Construction , Seoul, South Korea
GSMA  London  United Kingdom
Gulf Aluminium Rolling Mill Company  Sitra  Bahrain
Gulf Bank  Kuwait City  Kuwait
HANAROADCOM, Seoul, South Korea
Hancom Inc., Seoul, South Korea
Iberdrola SA, Bilbao, Spain
IBM Netezza, Marlborough, MA USA
IF Net  Tokyo  Japan
INTERIORS (Branch of EASA SALEH AL GURG GROUP)  Dubai, UAE
International Armoring Corporation  Ogden  UT USA
iolo technologies, Los Angeles, CA USA
Isbank  Istanbul  Turkey
Jeju Free International City Development Center, Jeju City, South Korea
Julphar Gulf Pharmaceutıcal Industrıes, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Karsan, Istanbul, Turkey
Kier Group plc, Bedfordshire, United Kingdom
Korea Business Communicators Assn., Seoul, South Korea
Korea Nuclear Fuel Company, Seoul, South Korea
 Korea Student Aid Foundation, Seoul, South Korea
Lotte Department Store, Seoul, South Korea
M3 Communications Group, Inc., Sofia, Bulgaria
Malaysian Resources Corporation Berhad  Kuala Lumpur  Malaysia
Melilea International Group of Companies, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Nestle Turkey, Istanbul
Newsis, Seoul, South Korea
Nu Skin Korea, Seoul
P2i Limited  Oxfordshire  United Kingdom
PetRays  The Woodlands  TX USA
PJ Lhuillier  Inc.  Makati City  Philippines
Planting for Tomorrow  Sendai  Japan
plusadd  Inc., Kawasaki, Japan
PMFTC  Inc. (Philip Morris Philippines Manufacturing  Inc.), Baguio City
Portugal Telecom  Lisboa  Portugal
PT Bank Permata Tbk  Jakarta  Indonesia
PT Unilever Indonesia  Tbk  Jakarta  Indonesia
Quality Systems, Irvine, CA USA
Reckitt Benckiser Group plc  Slough  United Kingdom
Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
SIDM, Seoul, South Korea
Smart Media-The Annual Report Company  Colombo  Sri Lanka
Smart Reader Worldwide Sdn Bhd  Kuala Lumpur  Malaysia
Soongsil University, Seoul, South Korea
SUNGWOOADCOM, Seoul, South Korea
Tata Motors Limited  Mumbai  India
Thai Life Insurance Co., Bangkok, Thailand
The Brazilian Secretariat of Social Communication (SECOM), Brazilia
The Land Revitalization Institute  Tokyo  Japan
TSKB, Istanbul, Turkey
TTNET, Istanbul, Turkey
Türk Telekom  Istanbul  Turkey
 Uijeongbu City, South Korea
Uniqueplus, Seoul, South Korea
Weber Shandwick United Kingdom and Belgium
Whirlpool Europe  Comerio  Italy

APRA Porter Novelli of Sofia, Bulgaria has won the Stevie Award for Best Communications or PR Campaign of the Year - Reputation/Brand Management in the public relations awards categories of The 2011 International Business Awards. Here we look at their award-winning campaign to fight the flab.

The devastating facts behind APRA Porter Novelli’s LIVE ACTIVELY! campaign were that each year more and more people in Bulgaria were suffering from obesity and related health problems, particularly children, the elderly, and young working people. Contributing factors included a sedentary lifestyle and a lack of education on balanced nutrition. Bulgaria had recently ranked fifth in Europe for having the most obese population, according to the EU’s Diogenes project.

LIVE ACTIVELY! Campaign Objectives

Nestlé Bulgaria is the country’s biggest Nutrition Health and Wellness (NHW) Company, with products targeted at people from all age groups and social and professional backgrounds. Nestlé is also a socially responsible company, dedicated to long-term investment in the health and well being of consumers.

Research showed that obesity-related problems strike everyone, even children. APRA Porter Novelli therefore created the LIVE ACTIVELY! campaign for its client Nestlé to address the mass public.

LIVE ACTIVELY! Events

Since 2005, APRA Porter Novelli and Nestlé Bulgaria have organized an annual campaign to raise public awareness of the benefits of an active lifestyle and to promote the importance of physical activity in an urban environment. A key element in the project is to promote walking as a simple way to not only stay fit and healthy, but also to improving the environment and reduce air pollution.

APRA Porter Novelli organizes LIVE ACTIVELY! events each year in open air spaces that include central streets, parks, and beaches.  LIVE ACTIVELY! 2010 integrated the following events into one campaign:

• Sofia, June 20: Official Opening Ceremony, a walkathon, sports activities, concerts, and educational games.

• Varna, August 10, Nessebar, August 12, and Primorsko, August 14: Beach sports activities, tournaments, and educational games.
  

Communications Campaign

APRA Porter Novelli supported the 2010 LIVE ACTIVELY! project with a huge communications campaign that included the distribution of thousands of branded hats and T-shirts, special LIVE ACTIVELY! footsteps stuck on the ground to mark the route of the Sofia walkathon; 120,000 leaflet insertions in newspapers and magazines; 60,000 posters; print ads; TV and radio spots, outdoor billboards; Internet banner ads; and a Facebook fan page.

In addition, APRA Porter Novelli arranged for the distribution in Sofia schools of 10,000 maps of South Park, with locations and details of related sport activities; and at the opening ceremony, 50 LIVE ACTIVELY! Gold Medals were awarded to top Bulgarian sportsmen.

VIP Support

LIVE ACTIVELY! received support from numerous Bulgarian VIPs, including the Bulgarian Prime Minister, Boyko Borissov; the Mayor of Sofia, Yordanka Fandakova; Olympic athletics champion Tereza Marinova; World rhythmic gymnastics champion Iliana Raeva; World Champion weightlifter Armen Nazarian; and Olympic shooting champion Maria Grozdeva.

Overwhelming Results

The amount of publicity and total media space devoted to LIVE ACTIVELY! events has doubled each year.  Over 300 media outlets covered the events in 2010. The number of participants has grown by over 1,500% over the past 5 years, with 28,500 people taking part in 2010. Over 83,000 people were involved in all the 2010 LIVE ACTIVELY! activities, including 18,000 Facebook fans; and the most active participants received a total of 30,000 sports awards.

LIVE ACTIVELY! is currently the biggest sports event in Bulgaria. It is Nestlé

Bulgaria’s flagship initiative for Nutrition Health and Wellness.

About Tomislav Tsolov and Lubomir Alamanov:

Tomislav Tsolov and Lubomir Alamanov founded APRA Porter Novelli in 1994.  Under their guidance, it has evolved into one of the most experienced communication groups on the Bulgarian market, setting trends for the whole Bulgarian market.

APRA Porter Novelli was among the founders of the Bulgarian Association of PR

Agencies, and Lubomir Alamanov was its first Chairman, from 2001 to 2008. During these years the foundation of the PR industry in Bulgaria was formed and the Stockholm Chapter of Ethics was adopted.

About APRA Porter Novelli:

APRA Porter Novelli is a full-service communications agency with a team of over 70 experienced staff.  For more information go to www.apraagency.com.

Q&A with Jennifer Rotner, owner of Elite Editing in New York, New York, which won the Stevie Award for Best Website in the 2010 Stevie Awards for Women in Business.  Jennifer is also Chair of the final judging committee for the Media categories of the 2011 Stevie Awards for Women in Business.  The final entry deadline for the awards is this Friday - you'll find the entry kit here.

What are your top 3 tips for creating good writing on the Web or in business documents?

1. Be Clear.

Clear writing focuses on a specific objective and a specific audience. Examine your assumptions about readers—can you use industry jargon? How much background information will you need to provide?

2. Be Honest and Accurate.

This should go without saying; people are going to more willingly trust (and therefore do business with) companies known for their integrity. Be intentional about spreading the truth and about verifying information—anything less will annoy readers who know the facts and motivate them to look elsewhere.

3. Be Balanced.

Ultimately, effective business communication happens when the message you present is received, understood and accepted by your intended audience; and the best way for this to happen is to create a balance—passion with control, grammar with rhetoric and readability with enjoyment.

What has happened since you won Website of the Year at the 2010 Stevie Awards for Women in Business?

It’s been a great year for us. Since we took home the award, we immediately saw an increase in traffic to the website that has sustained throughout the year. We’ve also seen the B2B side of our business grow by twofold. Much of that growth comes from building a good reputation and gaining referral business. I credit the Stevie Award with strengthening our company’s overall reputability and visibility in the market.

In 2011 we’ve also put a tremendous amount of effort into our website. With the goal in mind of making a visit to EliteEditing.com as resourceful and simple as possible, we’ve made a lot of changes and are relaunching this October, complete with new services, checkout system, and blog.

What item of news recently caught your eye and why?

I’ve been really enthralled by what’s going on in the Middle East. So much of my business involves social media, writing, and the sharing of ideas, and these have been a driving force behind the unprecedented movements that are changing the landscape of that region. I have Twitter followers from Egypt whose profiles call for freedom and democracy. It’s pretty awe-inspiring.

Do you have a favorite business app?

(Does Angry Birds count? It’s a great stress reliever on those tough days!)

Yes, I do. Evernote is a game changer for me. If you’re a list maker or a bookmarker, this is the most incredible tool. I went from always having a notepad in front of me and post-its sticking to my laptop (and often to the bottoms of my shoes when I got home) to having everything I wrote, heard, saw, bookmarked, etc., neatly filed, tagged, and organized in a cloud-based app that syncs to all my devices. Ahhh.

If you could choose another profession, what would it be?

That’s easy. Storm chaser. Since I was a kid I ran outside when everyone else ran inside. But, being a small business owner, sometimes I feel like that IS my profession!

What quality or qualities do you most value in your business associates?

Trust, above all else. I’m putting my business, my clients, my livelihood, into the hands of those I work with, so I need to feel that they are as devoted to the work as I am.

What do you think is the worst bad habit to have at work?

Everyone is different, but I can tell you mine: bringing my laptop to bed. I’m trying so hard to break the habit! Bed is for sleep, not for work! (Or that’s what I keep telling myself…)

As someone at the top of your profession, what keeps you inspired or makes you hit the ground running in the morning?

You’ve got to love what you do. I can’t imagine getting up every day and devoting my time to something I’m not passionate about. Whatever it is, you’ve got to find that thing that makes you want to kick the covers off and get to work. For me, it’s running this business. It’s helping people—day in and day out—to get published, get into grad school, or run their own businesses more effectively with our services. This is what drives and inspires me every morning to get working, and what makes me sneak that laptop into bed at night!

About Jennifer Rotner

Jennifer Rotner is the owner of Elite Editing, a New York–based full-service editorial company offering proofreading, editing and writing help for businesses, academics and individuals through the website EliteEditing.com.

From her real-world experience as a professional editor, Jennifer recognized the need for a better way to ensure that editing and proofreading services were customized to each of her clients. With this goal firmly in mind, she developed the exclusive matching system Elite Editing uses to pair every project and customer with the right proofreader or editor. Which is why Elite Editing boasts a loyal roster of satisfied clients and an unrivaled pool of editors that hail from the business, academic and journalism realms. 

Prior to founding Elite Editing, Jennifer helped form the editorial division at NYC & Company, New York City’s official marketing organization, where she ran the copy department as copy chief. Before taking on this post, she gained years of experience in the field as features editor for Focus-New York magazine and as an editor for the marketing department at the American Museum of Natural History.

Jennifer received a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and is a Baltimorean (her home town) above all else.

About Elite Editing

Elite Editing is a New York–based proofreading, editing, and writing company that offers editorial support for companies of all sizes, from small businesses and non-profits to large corporations and Fortunate 500s; authors and writers seeking to get published; and students who want their projects to have that final, all-important polish. Elite Editing also offers copywriting, web copy optimization and SEO, content creation, and many other long-term customized business solutions that give their clients the benefits of having a professional editorial staff, without the overhead. For more information visit EliteEditing.com.

Gulf Aluminum Rolling Mill Company in Bahrain will receive the Stevie Award for Manufacturing Company of the Year at The 2011 International Business Awards in Abu Dhabi on October 11. Here we look at how this company is improving efficiencies and cutting costs while keeping its worldwide customers happy.

Gulf Aluminium Rolling Mill (GARMCO) was established in 1981 to manufacture and market aluminium rolled coils and sheets. The company was set up as a joint venture between the Arabian Gulf states, with the Bahrain Government and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation as the majority shareholders, followed by the Industrial Bank of Kuwait and the Gulf Investment Corporation from Kuwait, Omani Centre for Investment Promotion & Export Development (OCIPED) of Oman, Qatar Petroleum from Qatar, and the Government of Iraq.

GARMCO‘s initial annual production capacity was 40,000 tonnes per annum of aluminium rolled coils and sheets. The main target markets were Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states and the Middle East. Today, GARMCO has become the largest downstream aluminium facility in the Middle East, producing over 165,000 tonnes a year.

Worldwide Sales
GARMCO has been developed strategically to sell its products worldwide through Bahrain or through its network of 25 international service centers and sales subsidiaries. With the current global economic downturn, high inflation, and stiff competition in international markets, GARMCO has intensified its efforts to reduce costs, improve quality, and better serve its customers.

Establishment of an Excellence Center
GARMCO undertook several initiatives during 2010 to achieve its objectives, the main one being the establishment of the GARMCO Excellence Center (GEC), an initiative that was strongly supported by Dr. Adel Hamad, GARMCO’s CEO. The major objectives of the GEC were to:

-  reduce costs on a long-term basis

-  increase plant efficiency and productivity

-  improve delivery times

-  improve product quality

-  improve service and the level of customer satisfaction

-  increase GARMCO’s competitive advantage in the global market

-  ensure employee health, safety, and security

-  achieve environmental excellence

Reduced Costs
GARMCO has been highly successful in achieving its objectives. One of the first recommendations by the center was to reduce scrape, which resulted in less recycling, This manufacturing change has also reduced carbon emissions and brought down costs, with a saving of US$2,000,000 in the first year.

GARMCO improved equipment and labor efficiency by 10%, and boosted customer satisfaction through the on-time delivery of high-quality, reasonably priced products. 

Business Continuity Management Certification
During 2010, GARMCO achieved BS 25999 business continuity management certification, becoming Bahrain's first manufacturing company to receive this international standard. The certification has enhanced GARMCO’s image, brand, and reputation.

Implementing an ERP Business Solution
As part of GARMCO’s long-term plans to improve the infrastructure of its worldwide subsidiaries, the company has successfully implemented the Oracle ERP business solution. The Singapore subsidiary can now access the ERP in Bahrain over the Internet, which has increased transparency between GARMCO’s headquarters in Bahrain and its subsidiary.

A Long and Challenging Journey Ahead
Said Dr. Hamad: “This is just the beginning of a long, challenging, and I hope enjoyable journey for our company. We anticipate that the monetary benefits generated by the recommendations of the GEC will reach as much as $10,000,000 over the next five years. BS25999 certification has been another milestone for us.  After all, being known as a reliable company is good for both our customers and our employees.

“It is an honor for GARMCO that our efforts are being recognized in The 2011 International Business Awards.”

About Dr. Adel Hamad
Dr. Adel Hamad was named CEO of the GARMCO group of companies and Chairman of all worldwide subsidiaries in April 2007.  He started his career at GARMCO as a mechanical engineer, becoming an engineering manager, an administration manager, and a deputy general manager before becoming CEO.  Prior to joining GARMCO, Dr. Hamad  was the headmaster of Muharraq Technical School.

Dr. Hamad is President of the Bahrain Management Society Board, and a member of the Bahrain Engineering Society, the Bahrain Society for Training & Development, and the International Business Leaders Association. He has a Master’s Degree in Management from Sheffield University, UK, and a PhD in Corporate Governance from Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas.

About GARMCO
Gulf Aluminium Rolling Mill Company (GARMCO) was formed in the Kingdom of Bahrain in 1981, and started manufacturing operations in July 1985. It has six shareholders from Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Iraq.  It produces quality rolled aluminium sheets, and coils. The products of GARMCO are sold throughout the globe.  More information can be obtained by visiting the company’s homepage: www.garmco.com.

The Stevie Awards, the world's premier business awards, are looking to hire a Communications Manager. Interested, or know someone who might be? 

Title: Communications Manager

Responsibilities / Approximate % of time

• Answering phone and email inquiries from entrants and potential entrants (30%)
• Soliciting, editing, writing, preparing, and publishing content for our weekly email newsletter, blog postings, and LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook page postings (20%)
• Managing day-to-day relationship with public relations agency (5%)
• Preparing and publishing web site updates (10%)
• Various administrative tasks such as awards fulfillment, mailings, and correspondence (10%)
• Working with art director, print broker, list suppliers, and mailhouses to design, prepare, and fulfill direct mailings and advertising campaigns (15%)
• Outbound telephone and email correspondence with entrants, potential entrants, sponsors, potential sponsors, and other constituents. (10%)

Requirements

• Proficiency in Word, Excel, Outlook, and Powerpoint
• Knowledge of HTML and proficiency in an HTML editor such as Dreamweaver
• Experience in the use of online content management systems
• Expertise in the use of social media
• 1-4 years of experience in public relations and/or marketing
• Ability and willingness to travel when needed for awards programs and other reasons
• Ability to thrive in a small, fast-moving, flexible and casual work environment: requires creativity, adaptability, patience, ingenuity, initiative, and dedication to excellence.

Salary and benefits negotiable.

Office in Fairfax, Virginia but location TBD for the right candidate.

Email resume, cover letter, and salary requirements to michael@stevieawards.com. 

Q&A with Sherry Chris, President and CEO of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC in Parsippany, New Jersey, USA, who was named Best Executive in a Service Business (up to 100 employees) in the 2010 Stevie Awards for Women In Business.  She is also Chair of the committee for final judging of the Best Executive categories in the 2011 Stevie Awards for Women in Business.  The final entry deadline for the awards is September 30.

What are your top 3 tips for using social media in business?

• Be authentic when you are online. Make sure your voice is real and that you are not hiding behind a persona.
• Be doggedly determined.  Being active in the social-media space is not a one-time marketing campaign or stunt. You need a long-term strategy and you need to stick to it.
• Always remember that technology is a tool that creates efficiencies; however, it does not—and never will—replace the importance of face-to-face or personal contact.
  

What item of news recently caught your eye and why?

The recent stepping-down by Steve Jobs as CEO of Apple was significant to me not only because of his indelible impact on the technology industry, but also because his innovation forever changed the way we live our lives with technology.

As a CEO myself, this news was an opportunity to further reflect on the tenets I live by:

• Do your best, in small and large endeavors, every single day
• Attack your goals with passion
• Make a big impact: on your company, on your industry, in your community
• Inspire your team
• Empower your team to move the business forward: ground them with a common vision

Do you have a favorite business app?

Flipboard for iPad is my favorite business app.  It’s the world’s first social magazine, allowing the more than 3.5 million people who have downloaded the app to organize their social and news streams into an easy-to-read electronic magazine format on their iPad.  Our Twitter feed--@bhgrealestate--is featured content in the Business & Finance category of Flipboad.  We are the only real estate franchise to be featured, a distinction that makes us very proud.

If you could choose another profession, what would it be?

Real estate is in my DNA.  I have been in this wonderful industry for 30 years and could not see myself anywhere else.  One of the reasons I love my job and my industry is because, while technically I am in real estate, I consider myself in the customer service business.  Another industry that mirrors this is hospitality. I attended the Ritz Carlton executive customer-service training program because I believe customer service is the way to stand apart.  I have integrated the philosophy of extreme customer service into everything we do at Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate.

What quality or qualities do you most value in your business associates?

One of the first things we did when we built the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate brand was to create a set of core business values, which we call PAIGE: Passion, Authenticity, Innovation, Growth, and Excellence.  These are the values I follow both professionally and personally.  They are qualities that are consistent across my team and across our network of brokers and agents.

What do you think is the worst bad habit to have at work?

I believe one bad habit that holds many leaders and companies back is not having the courage to acknowledge mistakes quickly, correct them, and move on.  We live in a dynamic business world.  With the right core values, strategies, and team, a company is empowered to tackle any roadblock that comes its way—and to emerge stronger because of it.

As someone at the top of your profession, what keeps you inspired or makes you hit the ground running in the morning?

I believe my job is not only to build the most innovative lifestyle-real-estate brand, it is also to change the way we do business in our industry.  When you fully believe in something; when you are fortunate enough to truly be passionate about your company, your customers, and your goals; and when you have been empowered to look at and do things differently to achieve those goals, there simply aren’t enough hours in the day. 

About Sherry Chris

Sherry Chris was appointed President and CEO of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC in October of 2007. Her appointment followed Realogy's announcement that it had entered into a 50-year agreement with Meredith Corporation to license the Better Homes and Gardens® name to launch a new and dynamic global residential real estate brand.

Sherry has more than 27 years of real estate experience, including significant senior management positions in the areas of sales, marketing, new technologies, and franchise management. A native Canadian, she began her real estate career in Canada and held increasingly senior positions with Royal LePage for 16 years before taking on executive roles with Real Living (Ohio) and Prudential CA/NV/TX Realty. She joined Realogy in 2006 as Chief Operating Officer for Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC.

Well known within the real estate industry, Sherry is a frequent speaker at real estate and technology conferences. She serves on Zillow's broker-advisory board and has served on a number of industry- and technology-related advisory boards, including Trulia and Google Real Estate. She is a past chairman of The Realty Alliance. Sherry is a graduate of The University of Western Ontario, and she earned an MBA from the Ivey School of Business.

About Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate

Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC is a real estate brand that offers a full range of services to brokers, sales associates, and home buyers and sellers. Using innovative technology, sophisticated business systems, and the broad appeal of a lifestyle brand, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC embodies the future of the real estate industry while remaining grounded in the tradition of home. Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC is a subsidiary of Realogy Corporation, a global provider of real estate and relocation services. The growing Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate network includes approximately 7,000 sales associates and more than 200 offices serving homebuyers and sellers in 23 states: Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.  For more information, please visit www.BHGRealEstate.com.       

Better Homes and Gardens(r) is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation licensed to Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC.  Equal Opportunity Company. Equal Housing Opportunity. Each Better Homes and Gardens(r) Real Estate Franchise is Independently Owned and Operated.

The Stevie Awards, organizer of the world’s premier business awards programs, has issued a call for entries for the 2012 (6th annual) Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.  Entry kits and complete details on the competition are available at www.stevieawards.com/sales/.   

All customer service, contact center, and sales departments, teams and professionals worldwide are eligible to be nominated, in addition to new products and services used by those professionals.

The early-bird entry deadline is October 12 and the final deadline is November 18.  Winners of the sixth annual competition will be announced at a gala awards dinner on in February 2012 in Las Vegas.

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

2012 will mark the 10^th anniversary of the Stevie Awards movement, and to mark the occasion  the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service will be the first to present awards in three levels of distinction: gold, silver and bronze.  To date only overall category winners have received (gold) Stevie Awards.

The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service feature more than 125 sales awards, customer service awards, and call center awards categories.  Entrants may submit any number of nominations to any number of categories, which include:

• Sales Individual categories such as Senior Sales Executive of the Year and Worldwide VP of Sales of the Year
• Sales Team categories like Global Sales Team of the Year and Field Sales Team of the Year
• Sales Achievement categories such as Sales Turnaround of the Year and Outbound Marketing Program of the Year
• Sales Department of the Year categories in 13 industry groupings
• Customer Service and Contact Center Individual categories such as Front-Line Customer Service Professional of the Year and Customer Service Manager of the Year
• Customer Service and Contact Center Team categories like Contact Center of the Year and Customer Service Management Team of the Year
• Customer Service and Contact Center Achievement categories such as e-Commerce Customer Service Award and Award for Innovation in Customer Service
• Customer Service Department categories in 11 industry groupings
• New Product and Service categories like Best New Business Intelligence Solution and Best New Relationship Management Solution
• Solution Provider categories such as Sales Consulting Practice of the Year and Incentive, Rewards, or Recognition Provider of the Year

Winners of the most recent edition of the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service included Apple Inc., Bulldog Solutions, CIGNA Government Services, Competence Call Center AG, L.L. Bean, Marsh U.S. Consumer, Overstock.com, Rosetta Stone, salesforce.com, SMART Technologies, SuiteAmerica Corporate Housing, and T-Mobile. A complete list of the fifth annual honorees is available at http://www.stevieawards.com/sales/.

About The Stevie Awards:

The Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business 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 http://www.stevieawards.com/, and follow the Stevie Awards on Twitter @TheStevieAwards.   

Sponsors of the 6th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service include InfoGroup, ValueSelling Associates, and SDL.