Tomorrow (July 7) is absolutely the last day that entries will be accepted for The 2011 (8th Annual) International Business Awards.  Preliminary judging ends on Sunday, and final judging begins next week.  And we're pleased to announce the chairpersons of the nine specialized final judging committees that will determine the honorees in this year's IBAs.

If you're not familiar with the IBAs, they're the world's only all-encompassing business awards program.  Open to all organizations and individuals worldwide, the IBAs typically receive entries from more than 40 nations.

So here are the nine executives who will chair this year's final judging committees:

Company / Organization Categories: Shin Sung-In, CEO, KPR & Associates Inc., Seoul, South Korea
Corporate Communications, Investor Relations & Public Relations: Atul Ahluwalia, President - India, Corporate Voice | Weber Shandwick, New Delhi, India
Creative: Ian Thomas, Executive Creative Director, JWT International, London, United Kingdom
Customer Service & Support: Sue Savage, General Manager, Micro Fidelios Asia Pacific, Belrose, NSW Australia
Human Resources: Sengul Demircan, Head of HR, HSBC Bank Turkey, Istanbul, Turkey
Information Technology: Eng. Natasha Gangaramani, Director of AL Faraa Group of Companies and Head of Information Technology division for all the AL Faraa Group of Companies, United Arab Emirates
Management: Yvonne Howie, CEO, NSW, The CEO Institute, Neutral Bay, NSW Australia
Marketing: Praphan Phornthanavarsit, Chief Operating Officer, Thai Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd., Samutprakarn, Thailand
New Products & Product Management: Rob Vandenberg, President and CEO, Lingotek, Draper, UT USA

Results in the 2011 IBAs will be announced on July 27, and the honorees will be celebrated at a gala in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on October 11.

What do you think of the chairs of this year's final judging committees?

Integrate.com of Denver, Colorado USA won the Stevie Award for Best New Company of the Year at The 2011 American Business Awards.  Here we look at how this new company achieves its goals.

Integrate claims to be the first advertising marketplace of its kind.  It is making waves in the online marketing industry by offering a technology that combines a wide array of distribution sources with multiple campaign models in order to serve every type of advertiser in their quest for new customers. 

Following are four ways that Integrate.com is living up to its name. 

1. Uniting Distribution Sources

Integrate’s advertising marketplace is a media-buying dashboard. It unites every type of distribution source: websites, mobile publishers, television networks, national and local radio syndicates, billboard sources, online and offline yellow pages, email marketers, newspapers, magazines, and more.

2. Connecting with Media Sources

Advertisers in more than 65 different B2B and B2C verticals can easily create

customized, performance-marketing campaigns.  At the click of a button they connect with hundreds of media sources—a process that historically takes days is reduced to minutes. Put simply, the Integrate platform allows one person to do the job of an entire team, from any place with an Internet connection.

3. Providing Multiple Pay-Per-Performance Models

Integrate caters to many performance-based pricing models where advertisers and merchants pay only for the qualifying leads, customers, or inbound phone calls they receive.  Integrate pay-per-performance models include Cost-per-Lead, Cost-per-Acquisition, Cost-per-Inbound-Call, and Cost-per-Live-Transfer.  Integrate claims to be the first platform to combine all of these options into one system.

4. Matching Campaigns with Fulfillment Sources

Integrate also provides a proprietary matching technology to streamline the media transaction process.  Upon joining the marketplace, advertisers and publishers create custom profiles highlighting important details about their companies and their areas of expertise.  The Integrate technology uses this information to automatically match campaigns with the fulfillment sources most likely to deliver the best results. 

Commitment to Quality

Integrate maintains a commitment to quality from the moment a partner applies to its community and throughout every interaction that takes place on its platform.  All applicants undergo a strict approval process to ensure that only the most reliable partners have a presence.  Stringent quality-control filters are applied throughout the campaign-creation process, implementation, and delivery.  Integrate aim is to introduce ethics and accountability into the performance marketing space.

Bridging the Gap Between Publishers and Advertisers

Integrate is not just an advertising marketplace, but also a community.  It provides a semi-transparent environment that bridges the gap between publishers and advertisers.  Both parties can review one another’s vital business data—including credit and trade reference reports, campaign performance statistics, strengths, and weaknesses­—before deciding to collaborate. Parties communicate with one another through the Integrate Messaging Center. Using Integrate’s mediation tools, advertisers and publishers can directly discuss any quality-and-return issues that may arise. 

Since its launch in February 2010, Integrate has united more than 3500 advertisers and publishers, and provided the technology behind more than 2500 marketing campaigns. It received its first round of funding from Foundry Group in December 2010.

Said Jeremy Bloom, co-founder of Integrate.com: “We are committed to remaining on the forefront of marketing technology­—providing businesses with a cutting-edge solution for their marketing needs.  Winning the Stevie Award for Best New Company proves that what we are offering is appreciated in the industry.”

About Jeremy Bloom:

Jeremy Bloom is Co-Founder of Integrate.  Through his vision, Integrate achieved impressive scale from the beginning. Bloom specializes in moving fast and making an impact.  His focus and motivation provide unbeatable inspiration for his team.

Bloom began his career in professional athletics, both as an Olympic Skier and NFL Football player.  In addition to his athletic and business accomplishments, he launched a nonprofit foundation, Jeremy Bloom’s Wish of a Lifetime, which grants wishes to 80, 90 and 100+ year old people across the country. 

About Integrate.com:

Integrate.com offers a unified media-buying dashboard that allows advertisers in B2B and B2C verticals to create custom marketing campaigns. Integrate unites a variety of media sources including Internet, print, radio, TV, and mobile. Its core services range from Cost-per-Lead and Cost-per-Acquisition to Cost-per-Inbound-Call and Live Transfer.  For more information go to www.integrate.com

Integrate is a next-generation multi-channel advertising marketplace that applies new technology to streamline the media-buying and -selling process.  It combines virtually every type of media source—ranging from contextual sites, email, and mobile to billboards, TV, and radio—into a single dashboard, allowing one person to effectively do the job of an entire team.  Integrate’s proprietary IMPACT technology automatically matches ad campaigns with the most relevant sources for fulfillment based on a series of data points including vital business details, campaign criteria, and performance statistics.  Market participants directly communicate and negotiate with one another through the Integrate Messaging Center.   Integrate provides the marketplace with unparalleled data validation and fraud prevention controls to ensure that all parties are mutually protected.  For more information go to www.integrate.com.

 

Janine Popick is the CEO and Founder of VerticalResponse, which has won multiple Stevie Awards, most recently for Support Team of the Year in The 2011 American Business Awards; and Janine Popick was named Best Entrepreneur in a Service Business with up to 100 Employees in the 2010 Stevie Awards for Women in Business.

What are your top three tips for small business owners on email marketing, content creation, and social media?

1. Take the time to organize your first email marketing campaign, and then use the same template for all of your weekly or monthly email campaigns. Creating your first email can be daunting. As we all know, business owners just don’t have the extra time in their day that it takes to do this. But if you keep reusing your template it will take less and less time, and when you are comfortable making changes to it, you can try new things and add to it to get a better response.
2. A lot of people don’t know where to start when it comes to creating content. The answer is to use what you have. Why not feature a customer and whether he/she likes the experience of using your product or service? If you’ve recently won an award or received a great review, that’s another thing you can highlight. You can even have a sale around an upcoming holiday or an create an event for one. The more you think about all you do in your business, the more you’ll realize you’ve got a ton of ideas to write about or share via photos and videos.
3. Social media is a great way to extend the life of your email marketing campaign. Make sure you include “follow us” links so that your email recipients have yet another way of getting your messages. In addition, you’ll want to include links to Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn in your email campaigns so that your recipients will share them with their own followers. Doing this spreads the word fast!
   

What item of news recently caught your eye and why?

The Pope is Tweeting! Gotta love it.

Do you have a favorite app?

My favorite iPhone app is Shazam. I’m always amazed that the app will pretty flawlessly tell you who is singing a song!

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

I once wanted to be an MTV veejay, but now I’m not even sure whether that profession still exists!

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

Honesty is the quality I most value in any business associate, whether it is someone inside my company or on the outside. I love it when people tell me they simply “don’t know” rather than faking it. And I love doing business with companies who are honest and open with their customers.

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

Clipping your nails. Kidding! I think the worst bad habit to have at work is avoiding the big projects that need to be done.  Simply put: procrastination. I do it, we all do it, but getting your arms around it when you detect it’s happening and changing your behavior is always a good thing. And half the time you build up that “big” project in your mind, but when you get into it, it’s not really that big.

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

My people and my customers always inspire me. Our mission is to help small businesses and non-profits grow by providing easy-to-use online marketing tools. So when a customer tells me that something our team produced helped them grow—whether it be a phone call, an email, or a piece of technology—I’m happy all the way around.

About Janine Popick:

Janine Popick, CEO and Founder, started VerticalResponse in 2001, when email marketing was catching on for larger businesses but still out of reach for small businesses. She realized that developing simple-to-use, cost-effective Web-based tools would make email marketing affordable and practical for small businesses—and that has been the company’s mission ever since.

In her spare time, Janine is CEB (Chief Executive Blogger) for the award-winning VerticalResponse Marketing Blog for Small Businesses. Prior to founding VerticalResponse, she led direct and Internet marketing programs for some of the biggest brands in technology and entertainment, including NBC Internet; XOOM.com; Claris, a wholly owned subsidiary of Apple Inc.; and Symantec Corporation.

About VerticalResponse:
VerticalResponse Inc. is a leading provider of self-service email marketing, social media, online surveys, and direct-mail services empowering small businesses and nonprofit organizations to easily create, share, and analyze their own marketing campaigns. Users can benefit from a wide variety of features including more than 700 free email marketing templates in a variety of categories; plus the ability to share their content over several social media networks; and tracking on everything from email marketing to social media responses so that they can understand campaign success. VerticalResponse offers customers an integrated Web-based marketing solution that’s intuitive and affordable. VerticalResponse is headquartered in San Francisco, Calif. For additional information, please visit www.verticalresponse.com.

In the midst of an economic environment where there’s no such thing as “business as usual,” The 9^th Annual American Business Awards^SM honored the best and brightest in a stunningly wide array of businesses and disciplines, crowning this year’s Stevie® Award winners at a gala event last night in New York City.

With more than 600 executives in attendance, The 2011 American Business Awards (ABAs) honored an all-inclusive spectrum of American business people and organizations -- from non-profits, emerging start-ups, major public companies and government agencies, to corner-office executives, corporate communicators, support staff and customer service teams.

Download the official program of the 2011 ABAs, featuring complete lists of honorees and judges.

The ABAs also paid tribute to entrepreneur and philanthropist Russell Simmons, best known as the co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, with its Difference Maker award, which made its debut this year.  The honor was presented to Simmons in recognition of his groundbreaking vision and influence on music, fashion, finance, television and film as well as modern philanthropy.

The event took place at the New York Marriott Marquis in Times Square and the emcee for the evening was Fox Business Network anchor Cheryl Casone.

Notable Stevie Award winners in The 2011 American Business Awards include, among others:

­   Executive of the Year: Jeffrey Bezos, Chairman of the Board, President & CEO, Amazon.com, Inc.

­   Best Overall Company of the Year: Apple Inc.

­   Business Turnaround of the Year: Whole Foods Market, Inc.

­   Corporate Social Responsibility Program of the Year: Cisco

­   Customer Service Team of the Year: Dell

­   Support Team of the Year: DHL Express

­   Information Technology Team of the Year: CIGNA Government Services

­   Most Innovative Company of the Year: General Electric

­   Fastest Growing Company of the Year: Groupon

­   Communications or PR Campaign of the Year: Hewlett-Packard

­   New Product or Service of the Year: Research In Motion's BlackBerry PlayBook

Winners in in the People’s Choice Stevie® Awards for Favorite New Products, determined by more than 140,000 public votes, were also awarded at the event to companies including Apple Inc., Motorola, PetRays, Reliv International and Zebra Technologies.

For a complete list of The 2011 American Business Awards honorees visit:  www.stevieawards.com/aba. 

More than 2,800 entries were submitted to The 2011 American Business Awards and more than 200 executives nationwide participated in judging to determine this year’s Stevie Award finalists and winners.

Winners of multiple Stevie Awards include Akavit, American Express, Apple, BGT Partners, Blackboard, CIGNA Government Services, Cisco, CME Group, Dealer.com, EffectiveUI, Hewlett-Packard, High Performance Technologies, Humana, IFDS Canada, Informatica Corporation, The Knowland Group, LifeLock, MediaCom Search, Millennial Media, MOST Brand Development + Advertising, Mountain View Group, MWW Group, Overstock.com, PetRays, Quality Systems, Inc., Reputation.com, Slack and Company, Sprint Prepaid Brands, Tesla Motors, and XPLANE.

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

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 and partners of The 2011 American Business Awards include Infogroup, IBM Netezza, American Support, Citrix Online, Epic Media Group, High Performance Technologies Inc., iolo technologies, LifeLock, Merisel/Coloredge, PetRays, SDL, SoftPro, and Vérité, Inc.

Throughout this week we've been acknowledging the more than 200 professionals who participated in judging of The 2011 (9th Annual) American Business Awards.  And the last group we'd like to acknowledge, but by no means the least, is the Board of Distinguished Judges & Advisors for the Media Section of the ABAs.

We formed this judging board several years ago to acknowledge the fact that the number of entries to the ABAs' categories for all form of media - web sites, blogs, video, live events, annual reports, etc. - was growing so quickly.

The following professionals participated on that judging board this year.  They participated in final judging of the media categories, and their work will be reflected in this year's Stevie Award winners who will be announced in New York on Monday evening, June 20.

Thanks so much to all of them!

John Avila, Senior VP, Executive Design Director, Edelman Design, Chicago, IL
Thomas R. Beeby, Principal, Executive Creative Director, Beeby Clark + Meyler, Irvington, NY
Christy Belden, Vice President, Media +, LeapFrog Interactive, Louisville, KY
Patrick Bonomo, Managing Partner, Director of Search & Digital Operations, MediaCom Search, New York, NY
Alison Cahill, Marketing Director, E*TRADE, New York, NY
Ming Chan, CEO, The1stMovement, Pasadena, CA
Lisa Chapman, Senior Manager, Brand Marketing, Blue Shield of California, San Francisco, CA
David Clarke, Managing Partner, BGT Partners, Miami, FL
David Crawford, Senior VP-Managing Group Creative Director, GSD&M Idea City, Austin, TX
Kevin Daly, CEO, Creek Systems Inc., Aliso Viejo, CA
Rob Davis, CEO & Founder, Akavit, Denver, CO
Stephen Donaldson, Principal, Radiant Brands, Atlantic City, NJ
Chad Eikhoff, Owner, Trick 3D, Atlanta, GA
Matt Finizio, Creative Director, Slack and Company, Chicago, IL
Max Fresen, Executive Creative Director, Isobar North America, Inc., Watertown, MA
Katherine Goldman, Senior VP, Executive Creative Director, Jack Morton Worldwide, New York, NY
Steven Hacker, President, International Association of Exhibitions and Events, Dallas, TX
Tina Hansen, Supervising Marketing Analyst, Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, New York, NY
Christopher Harmon, Principal & CEO, theBATstudio, Oakland, CA
Nancy Hasselback, President & CEO, Diversified Business Communications, Portland, ME
Scott Holmes, President-Interactive, WONGDOODY, Crandall, Wiener, Seattle, WA
Douglas Kelly, Executive VP-Design Director, Imagination Publishing, Chicago, IL
Frank Laudo, VP, Chief Creative Officer, GES, Las Vegas, NV
Peyton Lindley, Executive Director of User Experience Design and Technology, EffectiveUI, Denver, CO
Michael Magnani, President, Nvision, New York, NY
Dawn McDermott, Marketing Associate Director, Sun Life Financial, Wellesley Hills, MA
Jeannine McHenry, Senior Graphic Designer, Creative Channel Services, Los Angeles, CA
Joe Mele, Manager for Media & Marketing, Razorfish West, Seattle, WA
Dana Mellecker, Director, Public Relations, iCrossing, New York, NY
Patrick Milling Smith, Partner, Smuggler, New York, NY
Rajendran Nair, Marketing Director, Callidus Software, Pleasanton, CA
Gillian Rawcliffe, Business Development Manager, Verite, Inc., Sandy, UT
David M. Rich, Senior VP-Client Services Worldwide, George P. Johnson Co., Detroit, MI
Katie Rogers, Executive Vice President, DirectAnswer, Inc., Oxon Hill, MD
Ann Roskey, VP, Marketing & Audience Development, Accela Communications, Southborough, MA
Greg Schell, Director, Marketing, Brand, Advertising & Sponsorships, BMO Capital Markets, New York, NY
Molly E. Spatara, Global Director, Internet Marketing, Accenture, Chicago, IL
Scott Takeda, Director-Producer-Actor, Takeda Entertainment, Inc., Denver, CO
Tinne Teugels, Account Director, Metia, New York, NY
Michael Weil, Vice President, Hall-Erickson, Inc., Westmont, IL
Michael Weiss, CEO, imagistic Media Studios, Westlake Village, CA

Here's the list of the 214 organizations who have thus far reserved their tickets for this coming Monday's 9th Annual American Business Awards in New York.  Do you plan to join them?

ABS Associates, Inc. Rolling Meadows, IL            
Accenture, Chicago, IL                       
Acorda Therapeutics, New York, NY             
Acquity Group, LLC Chicago, IL
ActionCOACH  Las Vegas  NV
adBrite  San Francisco  CA                
AECOM Technology Corporation  New York  NY    
Aegis Electronic Group Inc.  Gilbert AZ
Affinnova, Waltham, MA
Agiliance  Inc.
Allen Interactions Inc., Mendota Heights, MN       
AlliedBarton Security Services
Alloy Software  Nutley  NJ
AmberMcGown.com
American Express Business Travel  New York  NY      
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, New York, NY                    
American Support           
Americas' SAP Users' Group  Chicago  IL            
Anjali Kataria                          
Approva Corporation  Herndon  VA                 
Assurant Solutions, Atlanta, GA               
A-T Solutions Inc., Vienna, VA                 
Atlantic Shores Retirement Community Virginia Beach VA                                              
AutoMD.com  Carson  CA
AXA Distributors, LLC            
Backup My Info!, New York, NY              
Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Deerfield, IL           
Berkshire Associates Inc.  Columbia  MD             
BGT Partners  Miami  FL
BlackLine Systems                       
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, Durham, NC                                          
BOXLIGHT, Belfair, Washington              
Braces By Burris  Jonesboro  AR                 
BrainStorm Inc.  American Fork  UT              
Brendan O'Connell               
Bridge Publications, Inc., Los Angeles, CA             
BrightRoll  San Francisco  CA
Broadview Networks                    
Buckeye Partners  L.P.                 
Business TalkRadio Network                 
Cabell Huntington Hospital  Huntington  WV        
CACI International, Inc.               
Cambium Learning Technologies  Natick  MA          
Capital Access Network, Scarsdale, NY
Cartus Corporation  Danbury  CT
Catapult Technology  Bethesda  MD
CIGNA Corporation
CIGNA Government Services  LLC
CitiusTech Inc.
Citizens Financial Group  Providence  RI            
CME Group  Chicago  IL                    
Constant Contact
Content Master                            
Coveo                       
Coverall Health-Based Cleaning System  Boca Raton  FL                    
Creative Lodging Solutions, Lexington, KY                 
Credit Alliance Group  Dallas  TX
CrownPeak, Los Angeles, CA
Dawson + Murray + Teague Communications  Houston  TX                                          
Dealer.com
Definition 6  Atlanta  GA
Dell  Inc.  Round Rock  TX
DeVry University
DHL Express  Tempe  AZ
Dimension Data
Donlen, Northbrook, IL
DYMO Endicia                      
DYMO/Mimio Inside Sales & Sales Operations       
E Center, Inc.                    
eClinicalWorks
EffectiveUI, Denver, CO
eHarmony
Electric Insurance Company
Eloqua  Vienna  VA
EMKAY Inc.  Itasca  IL
Empire Today  Northlake  IL
Empire Today  Northlake  IL
EmpowHER Media  Scottsdale  AZ
Entergy Corporation  New Orleans  LA
Epic Media Group
Epicor Software Corporation  Irvine  CA
ExactTarget  Indianapolis  IN
EXIT Realty Corp. USA  Woburn MA
F5 Networks  Seattle  WA                 
Fisher Communications, Inc., Seattle, WA            
Flextronics International  Milpitas  CA                 
Fox Business Network                   
Gas Station TV                    
GPS Capital Markets  Salt Lake City  UT              
Grasshopper Group  Needham  MA
Groupon, Inc. Chicago, IL
Harris Corporation, Melbourne, FL
High Performance Technologies Inc.
Hilton Hotels & Resorts, McLean, VA
Homewood Suites by Hilton  Memphis  TN
Hubspan  Inc  Seattle  WA
Humana, Inc., Louisville, KY
IBM Netezza
iCrossing, Scottsdale, AZ
IFDS Canada, Toronto, Canada
Incredimeal.com
Infogroup
Information Builders  New York  NY
INSZOOM.COM INC.  San Ramon  CA
Integrate.com  Denver  CO
InterContinental Hotels Group, Atlanta, GA       
Internap Network Services  Atlanta  GA
International Checkout Inc  Van Nuys  CA               
Investor Growth Capital              
iolo technologies                                   
IQMS, Paso Robles, CA               
Isagenix International, LLC. Chandler, AZ              
ISOdx                          
John Hancock Funds  Boston  MA                    
Kelly Services
KPMG LLP, Montvale, NJ
Kwittken & Company             
L-com Connectivity Products, North Andover, MA       
Legacy, Washington, DC              
LifeLock                             
LiveOps  Santa Clara  CA
LivePerson  New York  NY
LPS SoftPro
MailerMailer  Rockville  MD                       
Makovsky + Company, New York, NY
Marriott Intermediary Partner Care  Omaha  NE           
MASERGY Communications  Inc.  Plano  TX
MBX Systems  Wauconda  IL
McKinley Marketing Partners  Inc.  Alexandria  VA        
McKinney Rogers  New York  NY
MediaCom Search  New York  NY
MediaMind  New York  New York
Merisel
Microsoft  Redmond  WA
MicroTech, Vienna, VA            
Millennial Media  Baltimore  MD
Modern Technology Solutions, Inc., Alexandria, VA    
MonaVie, South Jordan, UT               
Mondial Assistance USA  Richmond  VA
Moreover Technologies  Reston  VA
MOST Brand Development + Advertising
Motorola
MWW Group  East Rutherford  NJ
NIIT Technologies, Inc., Atlanta, GA
nlyte Software  Menlo Park  CA
Noetix Corp.  Redmond  WA
Nutricap Labs  Farmingdale  NY
Overstock.com, Salt Lake City, UT
Overture Networks  Morrisville  NC
Pegasystems Inc.  Cambridge  MA
PeopleMetrics
Percussion Software, Woburn, MA               
PetRays Veterinary Telemedicine Consultants, The Woodlands, TX                         
PHH Arval                      
PlanSource  Orlando  FL                   
Prescription Solutions/UnitedHealth Group  Irvine  CA                     
Procter & Gamble  Cincinnati  OH
QAD
Quality Systems  Inc.  Irvine  CA                 
Reliv International  Inc.  Chesterfield  MO                   
Rethink Autism  Inc.  New York  NY
RF|Binder  New York  NY
Richardson                                        
Rio Tinto
RiseSmart  Inc.  San Jose  CA
Rising Medical Solutions, Chicago, IL
Rovi Corporation, Santa Clara, CA
Rush Communications
Saba, Redwood Shores, CA
SAP Marketing, New York, NY
SCRA  Charleston  SC                             
SDL
Signature HealthCARE  Louisville  KY
SoftPro                                 
Spend Radar  Chicago  IL
Staff Management, Chicago, IL
SteelHouse  Los Angeles  CA                      
Summit Medical Group  Berkeley Heights  NJ          
Sun Life Financial Inc., Wellesley Hills, MA               
SunGard                                
SuperMedia                               
SurePayroll  Glenview  IL                         
SYSPRO
Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare  Inc.          
TelecityGroup, New York, NY
Tellago  Inc.  Schaumburg  IL
Temperature@lert
The Knowland Group  Lewes  DE
The Lincoln Electric Company  Cleveland  OH              
The Receivables Exchange  New Orleans  LA               
thebigword  New York City  NY                              
Thinking Phone Networks
TIBCO Software Inc. Palo Alto  CA                             
Travelex Global Business Payments, Washington DC          
USANA Health Sciences Inc. West Valley  UT              
uTest, Southborough, MA
Valassis
ValueClick  Inc.  Westlake Village  CA             
Vemma Nutrition Company, Scottsdale, AZ        
Venda  Inc.  New York  NY
Vérité, Inc.                  
VerticalResponse  San Francisco  CA                    
Viverae  Dallas  TX
Voices Heard Media
Weather Trends International                         
Webs, Inc, Silver Spring, MD
Webtrends  Portland  OR                              
WMS Gaming
WowWe Inc.  The Woodlands  TX                       
Xcelus  LLC  Provo  UT                             
Zayo Group, Louisville, CO
Zeno Group  New York  NY      

The other day we published the names of the 80 professionals who participated in the preliminary judging round of The 2011 American Business Awards. The preliminary round determined this year's Finalists. Here now are the rockstars who participated on the 10 final judging committees of the 9th annual ABAs. Their average scores determined this year's Stevie Award winners who will be announced at the ABA's awards banquet next Monday, June 20 in New York. Thank you so much to all them of them for their participation!

2011 Company/Organization Awards Final Judging Committee
Chair: Christopher W. Cabrera, Founder, President & CEO, Xactly Corporation, San Jose, CA
Phil Fernandez, President and CEO, Marketo, Inc, San Mateo, CA
Eric Groves, Senior VP, Strategy, Corporate Development & Innovation, Constant Contact, Waltham, MA
Mike Maciag, CEO, Electric Cloud, Sunnyvale, CA
Nick Mehta, CEO, LiveOffice, Torrance, CA
Umberto Milletti, CEO, InsideView, San Francisco, CA
Cary Rosenzweig, President & CEO, IMVU, Inc., Palo Alto, CA
Treb Ryan, CEO, Opsource, Inc., Santa Clara, CA

2011 Corporate Communications, Investor Relations and Public Relations Awards Final Judging Committee
Chair: Kenneth D. Makovsky, President, Makovsky + Company, New York, NY
Kristen Bihary, VP, Communications, Aleris International, Inc., Beachwood, OH
Robert DeFillippo, Chief Communications Officer-Global Communications, Prudential Financial, Inc., Newark, NJ
Mike Fernandez, Corporate VP, Corporate Affairs, Cargill, Inc., Wayzata, MN
William Hughes, Senior VP, Corporate Communications, CA, Inc., New York, NY
Richard L. Nelson, VP, Corporate Communications, ACCO Brands Corporation, Lincolnshire, IL
Carol Schumacher, VP, Investor Relations, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Bentonville, AR
Richard Woods, Senior VP, Corporate Affairs, Capital One Services, Inc., McLean, VA

2011 Creative Awards Category Final Judging Committee
Chair: Suraya Bliss, Senior Director of Digital Strategy and Communication, Walmart, Bentonville, AR
Anne Beléc, VP & CMO, Navistar, Inc., Warrenville, IL
Jeff Bell, Partner, NCT Ventures, Westerville, OH
Kim Burke, Senior Director, Brand & Member Community Marketing, Sam's Club, Bentonville, AR
Colleen DeCourcy, CEO & Founder, Socialistic, New York, NY
Lura Lee, CEO, L2 Ideas, Del Mar, CA
Robert B. Leggat, Senior Advisor, Goddard Claussen Global, Washington, DC
David Leider, CEO, Gas Station TV, Birmingham, MI
Laura E. Maniccia, Principal, Interactive Marketing Solutions, South Lyon, MI
Andrew Mansinne, President, Aveniu Brands, Baltimore, MD
Elise Mitchell, President/CEO, Mitchell Communications Group, Fayetteville, AR
Brendan O'Connell, Contemporary Artist, West Cornwall, CT

2011 Customer Service Awards Final Judging Committee
Chair: Art Gairo, Senior VP-Operations, Broadview Networks, Rye Brook, NY
Maureen Davis, VP Global Service Assurance, Verizon, Basking Ridge, NJ
Kelley DeSantis, Executive Director, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Newark, DE
Kate Feather, Executive VP, PeopleMetrics, Inc., Philadelphia, PA
Joseph Mangiaracina, Principal/Owner, SurfNet Inc., Levittown, PA
Stas Pietrucha, VP, Product Management - E-commerce & Loyalty, Wyndham Hotel Group, Randolph, NJ
Vivek Sawhney, CIO, YAI, New York, NY
Michael Spurlin, VP Operations, Crystal Technologies Group, Inc., West Chester, PA

2011 Human Resources Awards Final Judging Committee
Chair: Jim Gillece, Senior VP of Human Capital Management, Chief People Officer, AlliedBarton Security Services, Conshohocken, PA
Tom Capizzi, Executive VP, Global HR CHRO, DJO Global, Vista, CA
Carole Dalton Slover, Vice President, Human Resources, Yell Adworks, King of Prussia, PA
Nancy Grycewicz, Director of Human Resources, CJs Tire and Automotive, Phoenixville, PA
Robert Madonna, Principal and Executive VP Sales & Marketing, McCoy Enterprises, West Chester, PA
Mark Spool, President, Management Development Solutions, West Chester, PA
Doug Trainor, Principal, Leadership Vanguard, Pearl River, NY

2011 Information Technology Awards Category Final Judging Committee
Chair: Sheri Thureen, VP, Enterprise Business Transformation, CSC, Marlton, NJ
Simone Acha, CEO, iLuMina Solutions Inc., Alexandria, VA
David W. Coker, Senior VP Technology Services & Solutions, MicroTech, Vienna, VA
Soren Hastrup, CEO, Telesto Group LLC, Princeton, NJ
Darren L. MacLennan, President, Sureship (a G&G Outfitters Company), Lanham, MD
Samvit Raina, Senior VP, Patni Americas Inc., Fremont, CA
David L. Sentman, Jr., Senior VP - Change Management, Bank of America, Newark, DE
Jack L. Stem, Senior VP, Maritime and Defense Agencies, CACI International, Ashburn, VA
Rajani Veeramachaneni, President, E Center, Inc., Newtown, PA

2011 Company/Organization Awards Final Judging Committee
Chair: Reggie Aggarwal, Founder & CEO, Cvent, McLean, VA
Jonathon Aberman, Managing Director, Amplifier Ventures, McLean, VA
Mirza Baig, CEO, Legal Advantage LLC, Bethesda, MD
Tony Florence, Managing Director, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Chevy Chase, MD
Amir Hudda, Entrepreneur (previously Chairman of the Board for Brickstream, CEO of Apptix, and CEO of Entevo)
Anjali Kataria, Entrepreneur, Washington, DC
Brian Mulvey, Vice President of Technology, Investor Growth Capital, New York, NY
John Rothenberger, CEO, SE Solutions, Reston, VA
Vijay Suri, President & CEO, InferX Corporation, Sterling, VA
Patrick Sweeney, CEO, ODIN, Ashburn, VA

2011 Marketing Awards Final Judging Committee
Chair: Ivan Koon, CEO, YouSendIt, Inc., Campbell, CA 
Ryan Azus, VP, Worldwide Sales, RingCentral, San Jose, CA
Keri Brooke, VP, Marketing, Host Analytics, Redwood City, CA
Ranjith Kumaran, Founder, PunchTab, Inc., San Jose, CA
Erin (Mack) McKelvey, Senior VP Marketing, Millennial Media, Baltimore, MD
Eugene Lee, CEO, Socialtext, Palo Alto CA
Anthony Nemelka, CEO, Teleplace, Inc., Redwood City, CA
Lynn Vojvodich, CMO, Terracotta & CEO, Take3, Mill Valley, CA

2011 New Products & Product Management Awards Final Judging Committee
Chair: Noah T. Rowles, CEO, iolo technologies, LLC, Los Angeles, CA
M. Brian Cotter, VP Business Development - Technical Solutions Group, Quatrro BPO Solutions Pvt Ltd, Glendale, CA
Jim Fowler, Founder, Jigsaw, San Mateo, CA
Melody Haller, President & Founder, Antenna Group Inc., San Francisco, CA
Bob Graves, President, Green Technology, Pasadena, CA
Peter Justen, CEO, My Biz Home Page, Inc., Middleburg, VA
Joel Makower, Chairman & Executive Editor, GreenBiz Group Inc., Oakland, CA
Marc Parrish, VP Marketing, Barnes & Noble, New York, NY
David Steinberg, CEO, SnappCloud, Washington, DC

2011 Support Awards Category Final Judging Committee
Chair: Todd Crowder, Senior Director of Services, Scale Computing, Indianapolis, IN
Mark R. LeClair, Senior Vice President, Volt Consulting Group, New York, NY
Steve Marfisi, Product Manager, Flex Services, Vision Solutions, Inc., Indianapolis, IN
Scott Sauder, Area Operations Director, The UPS Store, Nobelsville, IN
Lynn Shourds, President & CTO, HEROware, Inc., San Clemente, CA

What do you think of this year's final judging committees?

The following professionals participated in preliminary judging of The 2011 American Business Awards in April-May.  Their average scores determined the Finalists.  The 9th annual ABAs couldn't take place without them!

In total more than 200 judges participated in this year's ABAs. Tomorrow we'll publish the lists of final judges.

Alexsis Stephens, HR Manager, Assurant Solutions, Lawton, OK
Ananda Jagoda, Creative Director, Smart Media - The Annual Report Company, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Andrew Filev, CEO, Wrike, Inc., San Jose, CA
Avis Richards, CEO, Birds Nest Foundation, New York, NY
Barbara Zenz, President and CEO, The Stephenz Group, Inc., San Jose, CA
Behfar Jahanshahi, CEO, InterWorks, Inc., Stillwater, OK
Beth Castro, Sales Center VP, AT&T, Washington, DC
Beth Ready, Senior Associate, Gensler, Washington, DC
Brent Almond, Creative Director, Design Nut LLC, Bethesda, MD
Bridgette Ridgeway, President & CEO, Taylorfield, Brown Deer, WI
Carole Holden, Founder & CEO, Gelmtree Advertising, Howey in the Hills, FL
Chris Risheill, Director of Sales, Marketing & Exhibits, NMSA - The Association for Middle Level Education, Westerville, OH
Chris Rodengen, Sales and Marketing Coordinator, Amerilab Technologies, Plymouth, MN
Christopher DeYoung, Managing Partner, The DeYoung Financial Group, Cherry Hill, NJ
Christopher Erb, Vice President - Brand Marketing, EA SPORTS, Orlando, FL
Craig Kaiser, Product Manager, Wireless, Qwest Communications, Denver, CO
Dave Rockenbaugh, VP, Executive Creative Director, Robinson & Maites, Chicago, IL
David Johnston, President, Sales Resource Group Inc., Oakville, ON Canada
David Powers, VP-Marketing, Thinking Phone Networks, Cambridge, MA
David Street, Marketing Manager, Technica Corporation, Clifton, VA
Denise Clancey, President, Teledirect Partners, Boston, MA
Dennis Reno, VP-Customer Experience, Oracle Corporation, San Francisco, CA
Didi Yunginger, Director of Strategy & Development, Wolper Subscription Services, Easton, PA
Fabi Preslar, President, SPARK Publications, Matthews, NC
Frank Laudo, Senior VP Creative Director, GES, Grapevine, TX
Fred Cannizzaro, Creative Director, nVision, New York, NY
Gabrielle Medecki, Principal, MEDECKI, San Francisco, CA
Georgiana Comsa, Managing Partner, Silicon Valley PR, San Jose, CA
Gordon Hochhalter, Managing Partner, creativitystrategyconnectivity, mobium, Chicago, IL
Harshad Natu, Associate VP, Core Accounts & Business Development, MphasiS, New York, NY
Israel Bonequi, Creative Director, Birds Nest Foundation, Montreal, PQ Canada
Jacqueline Gay, Marketing Services Manager, Quincy Compressor, Bay Minette, AL
Jake Wengroff, Global Director, Corporate Communications, Frost & Sullivan, San Antonio, TX
Jamie Holt, President/CEO, JMK Notary & Services, Miami, FL
Jean Simmons, Marketing Coordinator, MailerMailer, Rockville, MD
Jeannine McHenry, Senior Graphic Designer, CCS, Los Angeles, CA
Jennifer Fisher, Director of Sales Operations, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Washington, DC
Joe Thoma, President/Chief Planner, Awareness Campaign, Inc., Oviedo, FL
John Gorelski, Marketing Strategist, Red Letter Partners, Arlington, VA
Jon Baer, President, Wakefly, Westborough, MA
Judilynn (Judi) Niedercorn, President and CEO, SysTactics, McLean, VA
Julia Zamorska, VP of Corporate Communications, iolo technologies, Los Angeles, CA
Kabir Shahani, CEO, Appature Inc., Seattle, WA
Kathy Menzie, Associate Professor & Chair, Mass Media Department, Washburn University, Topeka, KS
Kent Morris, Director of Customer Service, GameStop Corporation, Grapevine, TX
Kevin Chen, Ph.D., CMC, President/CEO, Business Methods Corporation, Randolph, NJ
Kirsten Osolind, CEO, re:invention marketing, Chicago, IL
Lauren Selikoff, Chief Marketing Officer, Allison & Partners, New York, NY
Lauri Flaquer, Marketing & Branding Specialist, Saltar Solutions, St. Paul, MN
Leslie Yeransian, Creative Writer, Rising Medical Solutions, Chicago, IL
Lisa Gregovich, VP - Customer Service, ePlan Services, Inc., Denver, CO
Lloyd Lofton, VP Sales, American Eagle Consultants, Inc., Marietta, GA
Mark Geiger, Associate Director of Marketing & Communication, Georgia World Congress Center Authority, Atlanta, GA
Mary Ann Henker, President, The Henker Group, Easton, MD
Marylee Klinkhammer, Web Development Director, DRG, Bernie, IN
Matthew Toren, Co-founder/President, YoungEntrepreneur.com, Scottsdale, AZ
Michael Berman, Executive Vice President and Chief Client Officer, Merisel, New York, NY
Michael Jernigan, Lead Instructional Designer, CM Group, Bellevue, WA
Michelle Manuel, President, Manuel Communications, Inc., Kansas City, MO
Nye Word, Director of Public Relations, Good Samaritan Society-Lake Forest Village, Denton, TX
Patrick King, Founder, ImagineDesign, Manassas, VA
Peter Byer, Freelance Graphic Designer/Illustrator, Arlington, VA
Peter Levy, President, Corniche Productions, Brooklyn, NY
Rachel Deutsch, President/Principal Creative Director, Biondi LLC, McLean, VA
Ravinder Paul Singh, Director - Strategy and Online Marketing, Kulwant Advisory, Nairobi, Kenya
Rebekah Clerk, National Customer Service Manager, Empire Today, Northlake, IL
Rob Davis, CEO and Founder, Akavit, Denver, CO
Robyn McNeely, Process Improvement Coordinator, Cigna Government Services, Nashville, TN
Roja Kolachina, CEO/President, Synerteq, Inc., Rockville, MD
Seth Hall, VP Customer Service, Philadelphia Insurance Companies, Bala Cynwyd, PA
Stan Mendoza, Managing Partner, Mendoza Media LLC, Montclair, NJ
Stephen Gallagher, Independent Producer, Bronx, NY
Stewart Andrews, Creative Director, Noodlebox Design, LLC, Arlington, VA
Susan Hein, Creative Director, Office of Communications/Marketing, Export-Import Bank of the U.S., Washington, DC
Tina Stafford, Senior Account Executive, Stafford Creative Inc., Edmonds, WA
Tracy Tran, Founder and CEO, Tran Recruiting, LLC, Fairfax, VA
Vaughn Mootoo, Global Category Analyst, Chevron, San Francisco, CA
Vincent Verdi, Director of Photography, CUNY-TV, New York, NY
Yvonne Sotomayor, Assistant to the Executive Director, CUNY-TV, New York, NY
Zainab Ansari, Director/CEO, Xenith PR (Pvt.) Ltd., Karachi, Pakistan

We're so excited that The 9th Annual American Business Awards gala is just a week and a half a way.  Have you gotten your tickets yet for the June 20 event in New York? 

The following organizations have already confirmed their attendance.  If you're a nominee and would like to join them, login to your account at www.stevieawards.com/aba.  If you're not a nominee but would like to be part of one of the business world's top events, contact us for ticket details.

ABS Associates, Inc. Rolling Meadows, IL           

Accenture, Chicago, IL                      

Acorda Therapeutics, New York, NY            

adBrite  San Francisco  CA               

AECOM Technology Corporation  New York  NY   

Aegis Electronic Group Inc.  Gilbert AZ

Affinnova, Waltham, MA

Agiliance  Inc.

Allen Interactions Inc., Mendota Heights, MN

AlliedBarton Security Services

AmberMcGown.com

American Express Business Travel  New York  NY   

American Support

Americas' SAP Users' Group  Chicago  IL

Approva Corporation  Herndon  VA

Assurant Solutions, Atlanta, GA

A-T Solutions Inc., Vienna, VA

AXA Distributors, LLC

Berkshire Associates Inc.  Columbia  MD

BlackLine Systems                      

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, Durham, NC                                         

BOXLIGHT, Belfair, Washington             

Braces By Burris  Jonesboro  AR                

BrainStorm Inc.  American Fork  UT             

Brendan O'Connell

Broadview Networks

Buckeye Partners  L.P.

Business TalkRadio Network

Cabell Huntington Hospital  Huntington  WV       

CACI International, Inc.

Cambium Learning Technologies  Natick  MA         

Capital Access Network, Scarsdale, NY

Cartus Corporation  Danbury  CT

Catapult Technology  Bethesda  MD

CIGNA Corporation

CitiusTech Inc.

Citizens Financial Group  Providence  RI           

CME Group  Chicago  IL                   

Content Master                           

Coverall Health-Based Cleaning System  Boca Raton  FL                   

Creative Lodging Solutions, Lexington, KY   

Definition 6, Atlanta, GA    

Dell  Inc.  Round Rock  TX

DeVry University

DHL Express  Tempe  AZ

DYMO Endicia

DYMO/Mimio Inside Sales & Sales Operations      

E Center, Inc.

eHarmony

Electric Insurance Company

Eloqua  Vienna  VA

EMKAY Inc.  Itasca  IL

Empire Today  Northlake  IL

EmpowHER Media  Scottsdale  AZ

Epic Media Group

Epicor Software Corporation  Irvine  CA

EXIT Realty Corp. USA  Woburn MA

F5 Networks  Seattle  WA

Flextronics International  Milpitas  CA

Fox Business Network

Gas Station TV

GPS Capital Markets  Salt Lake City  UT           

Groupon, Inc. Chicago, IL

Harris Corporation, Melbourne, FL

High Performance Technologies Inc.

Hilton Hotels & Resorts, McLean, VA

Homewood Suites by Hilton  Memphis  TN

Hubspan  Inc  Seattle  WA

Humana, Inc., Louisville, KY

IBM Netezza

Incredimeal.com

Infogroup

Information Builders  New York  NY

INSZOOM.COM INC.  San Ramon  CA

Integrate.com  Denver  CO

InterContinental Hotels Group, Atlanta, GA      

International Checkout Inc  Van Nuys  CA              

Investor Growth Capital             

iolo technologies                                  

John Hancock Funds  Boston  MA                  

KPMG LLP, Montvale, NJ

L-com Connectivity Products, North Andover, MA  

Leadership Vanguard 

Legacy, Washington, DC

LifeLock                            

MailerMailer  Rockville  MD                      

Makovsky + Company, New York, NY

Marriott Intermediary Partner Care  Omaha  NE          

MASERGY Communications  Inc.  Plano  TX

MBX Systems  Wauconda  IL

McKinley Marketing Partners  Inc.  Alexandria  VA     

Merisel

Microsoft  Redmond  WA

MicroTech, Vienna, VA

Modern Technology Solutions, Inc., Alexandria, VA

MonaVie, South Jordan, UT

Mondial Assistance USA  Richmond  VA

Moreover Technologies  Reston  VA

MOST Brand Development + Advertising

NIIT Technologies, Inc., Atlanta, GA

Noetix Corp.  Redmond  WA

Nutricap Labs  Farmingdale  NY

Overture Networks  Morrisville  NC

PeopleMetrics

Percussion Software, Woburn, MA

PetRays

PHH Arval

PlanSource  Orlando  FL

Prescription Solutions/UnitedHealth Group  Irvine  CA        

Quality Systems  Inc.  Irvine  CA

Reliv International  Inc.  Chesterfield  MO            

Richardson                                       

Rovi Corporation, Santa Clara, CA

Rush Communications

SCRA  Charleston  SC                            

SDL

SoftPro                                

SteelHouse  Los Angeles  CA                     

Summit Medical Group  Berkeley Heights  NJ         

Sungard

SurePayroll  Glenview  IL

Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare  Inc.         

TelecityGroup, New York, NY

The Knowland Group  Lewes  DE

The Lincoln Electric Company  Cleveland  OH             

The Receivables Exchange  New Orleans  LA              

thebigword  New York City  NY                     

TIBCO Software Inc. Palo Alto  CA                        

Travelex Global Business Payments, Washington DC   

USANA Health Sciences  Inc . West Valley  UT             

uTest, Southborough, MA

ValueClick  Inc.  Westlake Village  CA     

Vérité, Inc.      

VerticalResponse  San Francisco  CA                   

Voices Heard Media                         

Weather Trends International                        

Webs, Inc, Silver Spring, MD

Webtrends  Portland  OR                             

WowWe Inc.  The Woodlands  TX                      

Xcelus  LLC  Provo  UT                            

Zayo Group, Louisville, CO

Zeno Group  New York  NY     

We have extended the final entry deadline for The 2011 International Business Awards to 30 June, at the request of the Minister of Foreign Trade of the United Arab Emirates, our host for this October's IBA awards event.

You'll find the 2011 English-language entry kit online at http://thestevies.com/EntryKits/IBA11EntryKit.html.

No additional late penalties or fees will be charged in association with the deadline extension.

The International Business Awards are the world's premier business awards. The competition is open to all organizations and individuals worldwide. Last year's competition attracted entries from 40 nations.

There are many awards categories to choose from in the IBAs , for

Overall Organizational Performance
Executive Management
Public Relations
Marketing
New Products & Services
Human Resources
Information Technology
Customer Service
Web Sites, Advertising, Video, Live Events, Smartphone and Tablet Apps, Annual Reports, & Other Media

When you're ready to enter, begin here.

Final results of this year's IBAs will now be announced on 27 July, and the awards presented in Abu Dhabi, UAE on 11 October. (Honorees are encouraged but not required to attend the event.)

Don't hesitate to contact us with your questions about how to choose categories, prepare and submit entries to The 2011 International Business Awards.