A record crowd of more than 400 executives from around the world will attend the 8th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA on Friday, February 21.  Get your tickets now.

These are the world's top sales awards and customer service awards.  Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners will be announced, selected from the Finalists announced last month by the members of seven specialized final judging committees.

Here's the list of organizations that will be represented at next Friday's gala, as of earlier today:

(mt) Media Temple Culver City CA
60K Ltd. Sofia Bulgaria
Accenture BPO Services of BC Vancouver BC Canada
Access One Inc Chicago IL
Acquia Burlington MA
Actiontec Electronics Sunnyvale CA
Aditya Birla Minacs Moncton NB Canada
Adobe Systems Incorporated San Jose CA
Advanced Solutions Inc. Louisville KY
Ally Bank Detroit MI
AMD Sunnyvale CA
ARI Mount Laurel NJ
Assurant Solutions Atlanta GA
AVRS Petaluma CS
Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation Memphis TN
Best Western International Phoenix AZ
Blinds.com Houston TX
Bluebeam Software Pasadena CA
Bluegreen Vacations Indianapolis IN
Broadview Networks Rye Brook NY
Buildium Boston MA
Cars.com Chicago IL
CFS2 Tulsa OK
CGS New York NY
Chally Group / Sales Education Foundation Dayton OH
Clarizen San Mateo CA
Comcast Cable Philadelphia PA
Competence Call Center Vienna Austria
Constant Contact Waltham MA
CRMnext Noida India
Cross Country Home Services Fort Lauderdale FL
CSI Enterprises / globalVCard Bonita Springs FL
CubeSmart Malvern PA
DataCore Software Fort Lauderdale FL
Datapipe Jersey City NJ
Delta Air Lines Atlanta GA
DHL Express Mexico Distrito Federal
DHL Express Saudi Arabia
DHL Global Forwarding Bonn Germany
DHL Global Forwarding Miami FL
DHL Plantation FL
Discover Financial Services Riverwoods IL
DiscoverOrg Vancouver WA
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG Stuttgart Germany
Elephant Insurance Glen Allen VA
En Pointe Technologies Los Angeles CA
Enterprise Fleet Management St. Louis MO
ExactTarget Indianapolis IN
Experian Consumer Services Costa Mesa CA
Extreme Networks Salem NH
eZCom Software Inc. Englewood NJ
FastSpring Santa Barbara CA
FedEx TechConnect Memphis TN
Florida Blue BlueDirect Sales Center Jacksonville FL
Forrest Performance Group Fort Worth TX
FreshBooks Toronto ON Canada
General Cable Corp. Highland Heights KY
GoDaddy.com Scottsdale AZ
Great Wolf Resorts Customer Contact Center Madison WI
Haiku Learning Tucson AZ
HotelTonight San Francisco CA
HUB International- Business Development Team Westmont IL
I-Flow LLC Lake Forest CA
IHG Salt Lake City UT
Imparta Ltd London United Kingdom
Infinite Convergence Solutions Arlington Heights IL
InfoCision Management Corporation Akron OH
Informatica Corporation Redwood City CA
InsureMyTrip Warwick RI
IntelePeer San Mateo CA
iSpeak Inc. Round Rock TX
Jobvite Burlingame CA
John Hancock Portsmouth NH
KANA Software Inc. Sunnyvale CA
Kohl's Department Stores - Credit Division Menomonee Falls WI
Lennox Industries Richardson TX
Listen Up Espanol Portland ME
LocumTenens.com Alpharetta GA
Locus Telecommunications Inc. Fort Lee NJ
Marriott International Inc. Bethesda MD
Marriott Vacation Club International Orlando FL
MasterCard WorldWide O'Fallon MO
Merchant Warehouse Boston MA
Mercury Payment Systems Durango CO
MetLife Alico Life Insurance K.K. Osaka Japan
Moen Incorporated North Olmsted OH
Monitronics International Dallas TX
Mozy Corporation Seattle WA
MSA Pittsburgh PA
NCR Corporation Dayton OH
Netchex Mandeville LA
Network Alliance Reston VA
nFocus Solutions Austin TX
Nuance Communications Burlington MA
NYCM Insurance Edmeston NY
Offerpop New York NY
Oi Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro Brazil
OmniUpdate Camarillo CA
Opet Istanbul Turkey
OppenheimerFunds Inc. Englewood CO
OptumRx Costa Mesa CA
Outsell LLC Minneapolis MN
Parlant Technology Provo UT
Paycor Cincinnati OH
Phone.com Newark NJ
Photodex Austin TX
PJ Care Ltd Milton Keynes United Kingdom
PrimePay West Chester PA
Purchasing Power Atlanta GA
Rackspace Hosting San Antonio TX
Rapid7 Boston MA
RBS Citizens Providence RI
Reputation.com Redwood City CA
Safelite AutoGlass Columbus OH
Salesforce San Francisco CA
Salt Lake County Government Salt Lake City UT
Shell & Turcas Petrol AS Istanbul Turkey
ShopKeep POS New York NY
Single Digits Inc. Manchester NH
Sitel Nashville TN
SmartAction El Segundo CA
Sofica Group JSC Sofia Bulgaria
SolarCity San Mateo CA
SpareFoot Austin TX
Strategy to Revenue Buckinghamshire United Kingdom
Sundance Vacations Wilkes-Barre PA
SurePayroll Inc. Glenview IL
SYSPRO Costa Mesa CA
Telogis Aliso Viejo CA
Thismoment San Francisco CA
TradeKing Group Inc. Fort Lauderdale FL
Trifecta Communications Moore OK
TTNET Istanbul Turkey
TTNET Istanbul Turkey
United States Equestrian Federation Lexington KY
ValueSelling Associates Rancho Santa Fe CA
Verne Global Falls Church VA
Vestmark Wakefield MA
Vitacost.com Boca Raton FL
Vivint Inc. Provo UT
VIZIO Inc. Irvine CA
Vonage Holmdel NJ
Wells Fargo Bank - Treasury Management Client Services El Monte CA
Wheels Inc. Des Plaines IL
Zendesk San Francisco CA
ZoomInfo Waltham MA
Zuora Inc. Foster City CA

Final judging concluded on Wednesday for the 8th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, the world's top customer service awards and sales awards.  More than 260 professionals around the world participated in the preliminary and final judging process this year - a record number - and we thank all of the people who participated for their time, their interest, and their insights.

Two weeks ago in this space we acknowledged the 129 executives who participated in the preliminary judging process, which determined this year's Finalists.  Now it's time we thank the members of the seven specialized final judging committees, whose scores have determined the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award placements that will be announced at our gala awards banquet on Friday, February 21 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.  (Get your tickets here.)

All judges are also acknowledged on the awards' website, will be listed in the official program book that will be distributed at the awards gala and online, and will receive a certificate of appreciation, suitable for framing.

Interested in participating in the 2015 judging process?  Learn more here.

The members of the seven final judging committees were as follows.

Customer Service & Contact Center Achievement Categories Final Judges

Chair: George Orr, Vice President of Client Services at kCura in Chicago, Illinois, USA

Committee:
Steve Ankenbrandt, Cofounder & President
Milyli Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA

Bruce Blank, Director of Litigation Support
Foley & Lardner LLP, Westminster, Colorado, USA

Ye Chen, Founder
NexLP, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Ruth Diehl, Assistant Vice President
Harris Bank, Elmhurst, Illinois, USA

Anthony Digate, Senior Account Executive
SalesForce, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Jeff Gilles, Director, Product Solutions Group
Content Analyst Company, Reston, Virginia, USA

Tanya Glaser, Litigation Support Case Manager
Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart PC, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Joann Kay, Customer Care Director
GraduationSource, Port Chester, New York, USA

Jim LeMere, Director Customer Contact Center
Great Wolf Resorts, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

Kit Mackie, Founder
NexLP, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Alicia Orr, Corporate Bookkeeper
Waterton Associates, Elmhurst, Illinois, USA

Walter Pynas, COO
George Jon Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA

John Sanchez, Executive Vice President
Advanced Discovery, LLC, San Francisco, California, USA

Taffi Schurz, Vice President, Quality Assurance
LDiscovery, LLC, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Michael Senko, Partner
Wolf & Co LLP, Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois, USA

Christopher Terzich, Senior Vice President, Commercial Banking
Standard Bank & Trust Company, Lyons, Illinois, USA

Customer Service and Contact Center Individual Categories Final Judging Committee

Chair: Sanjeev Garg, Global Head of Customer Care, Commercial Vehicles Business Unit at TATA Motors in Mumbai, India

Committee:
Sumanth Badiga, Managing Director
Jasper Industries Limited, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India

Atul Bahel, Marketing Manager
Shell India Markets Private Limited, Gurgaon, Haryana, India

Bhavana Bindra, Vice President, Automotive Business
Cummins India Limited, Pune, Maharashtra, India

Angela Blevins, Vice President Customer Care
Bluegreen Corporation, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Saibal Choudhuri, Global Account Manager
Shell India Markets Private Limited, Gurgaon, Haryana, India

Anurag Gupta, Director
DGM-India, New Delhi, India

Phillip Horvath, Senior Vice President, Professional Services
Merchant Partners, Redmond, Washington, USA

Manish Jar, Group Managing Director
Sewells Group, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Shridhar P Joshi, Consultant Advisor
TATA Motors, Pune, Maharashtra, India

Achal Mehra, Director
Mahua Resorts Pvt Ltd, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Sanjay Passi, President & CEO
Pasco Motors, New Delhi, India

Mathew Sebastian, Managing Director
Strategic Learning Solutions Private Limited, Gurgaon, Haryana, India

Premanand Shenoy, Managing Director
Prerana Motors Private Limited, Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Vipul Tandon, Vice President, Distribution Business
Cummins India Limited, Pune, Maharashtra, India

Customer Service Department Categories Final Judging Committee

Chair: Kelly Thomas, Assistant Vice President, Client Relations at OppenheimerFunds, Inc., in Englewood, Colorado, USA

Committee:
Colleen Bolton, Client Officer
National Quality Review, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Glen Colthup, Senior Director
SRS|Acquiom LLC, Denver, Colorado, USA

Andrea Daigle, Marketing Director
HindmanSanchez, Arvada, Colorado, USA

Bethany Demeter, Sales Analyst
Inspirato, Littleton, Colorado, USA

Russ DiBlasi, Vice President, Operations & Customer Care
Zions Bancorporation, Houston, Texas, USA

Vickie Friece, Vice President, Operations & Customer Care
Zions Bancorporation, Kanab, Utah, USA

Eric Head, Senior Director of Sales
Foresee, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

Adam Ihrig, Business Analyst, Chase Customer Service Real Time Solutions-Card
JPMorgan Chase, Heathrow, Florida, USA

Scott Kozak, Founding Partner/CEO
KozakandAssociates, Highlands Ranch, Colorado, USA

Jason Morris, Release Manager
SRS|Acquiom LLC, Denver, Colorado, USA

Joann Orefice, Director-Human Resources
Ticketmaster, Greenwood Village, Colorado, USA

Jacque Plair, Director, Network & Corporate Services
IHG, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Tonya Plumer, Sales Assistant
Strategic Benefit Services, Rensselaer, New York, USA

Steven Puckett, Vice President, Retirement Plans
Strategic Benefit Services, Rensselaer, New York, USA

Soli Schwarz, Business Analyst
JPMorgan Chase, Heathrow, Florida, USA

Afton Semon, Director Customer Service-Support Service
Franklin Templeton, Rancho Cordova, Georgia, USA

Mike Twedt, Director Finance
Miller Heiman, Aurora, Colorado, USA

Vincent Vanden Bossche, Managing Director
Call Communications, Ottenburg, Belgium

Customer Service and Contact Center Team Categories Final Judging Committee

Chair: Ben Herkenhoff, Customer Interaction Center Manager at Outsell, LLC in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA 

Committee:
Teresa Allen, Owner
Common Sense Solutions, Shreveport, Louisiana, USA

Ken Amormino, Director of Call Center Operations
Time Warner Cable, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

Dmitry Aristarkhov, Executive Vice President
National Association of Contact Centers, Moscow, Russia

Leah Bowes, Senior Director, Customer Experience
PaySimple, Denver, Colorado, USA

Laura Fredrickson, Director of Marketing
NIC Technologies, Arlington, Virginia, USA

Peggy Heafey, Director, Intermediary Partner Care
Marriott Global Sales & Customer Care, Omaha, Nebraska, USA

Tunde Hubina, Customer Care Director
UPC DTH S.á r.l., Luxembourg

Molly Kapoor, Head of Marketing
Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Meltem Karateke, President
IMI Conferences, Istanbul, Turkey

Raymond Lohr, Customer Experience Program Manager
Kabel Deutschland, Den Haag, The Netherlands

Steve Mackie, Group Manager, Workforce Management
Target Corporation, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Mary Poynter, Senior Director Managed Services
Contact At Once!, Alpharetta, Georgia, USA

Randy Selleck, Senior Director, EPS Call Center Operations
Assurant Solutions, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Emily Truslow, Annuity Customer Service Manager
Securian Financial Group, St Paul, Minnesota, USA

Sales Achievement and Sales Individual Categories Final Judging Committee

Chair: Becky Johns, Vice President of MarketBridge in Bethesda, Maryland, USA

Committee:
James Brodo, Senior Vice President, Marketing
Richardson, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Nicky Brooker, Vice President
MasterCard, Purchase, New York, USA

Jason Brusa, Director, Partnership Brand Marketing
Capital One, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Jamie Clark, National Sales Coach
Forrest Performance Group, Fort Worth, Texas, USA

Dean Cowell, Senior Vice President, Marketing Strategy
Citi, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Fred Cremo, National Practice Leader
Humana, Tampa, Florida, USA

David deBuys, Associate Director
CEB, Arlington, Virginia, USA

Vincent DiCaro, Vice President, Development & Communication
National Fatherhood Initiative, Germantown, Maryland, USA

Christine Fludd, Loyalty Marketing Manager
Saks Fifth Avenue, New York, New York, USA

Kristi Kehr, Area Catering Sales Manager
Panera, LLC, York, Pennsylvania, USA

Howard Lewis, President
Family Heritage Life Insurance, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Kore McBride, Owner
Miss Fit, Encinitas, California, USA

April Mock, Manager, CEM & Loyalty
Panera, LLC, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA

Andrew Pyper, Senior Business Leader, US Merchant Marketing
MasterCard Worldwide, Purchase, New York, USA

Vicki Rollins, Vice President, Sales Operations
Angoss Software Corporation, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Matthew Smith, Program Manager
Qualcomm, Encinitas, California, USA

Melissa Steward, Vice President, Marketing
National Fatherhood Initiative, Germantown, Maryland, USA

Jason Stroot, Strategic Partner Lead
Google Inc, New York, New York, USA

Cindy Wen, Marketing Specialist-Credit & Gift Card Marketing
Saks Fifth Avenue, New York, New York, USA

Jaffer Zaidi, Head of Retail Partnerships
Google Inc, New York, New York, USA

Sales Team and Sales Department Categories Final Judging Committee

Chair: Mike Ortegon, Director of Global Sales Operations at HomeAway.com in Austin, Texas, USA

Committee:
Jeanne Conger, Certified Forrest PG Instructor
Forrest Performance Group, Fort Worth, Texas, USA

Michael Conley, Director Operations Mid Atlantic
Wyndham Vacation Ownership, N Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, USA

Daniel DiBona, Sales Manager
Elephant Insurance, Glen Allen, Virginia, USA

Robert Gillespie, Executive Vice President, Corporate Director Employee Development & Training
New York Community Bancorp, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Linden Ingram, Executive Vice President
Imparta Inc., Austin, Texas, USA

Fred Kessler, Founder
Sales Partnerships, Inc., Westminster, Colorado, USA

Scott MacGregor, Vice President of Sales and Marketing
FloTech, Middletown, Connecticut, USA

Jason Mathias, Vice President of Sales Operations
Living Social, Fairfax, Virginia, USA

Rowena Maxwell, Senior Principle-Customer Sales & Service
Accenture, London, United Kingdom

Gene McNaughton, President
Elite Concepts, Inc., Ladera Ranch, California, USA

Julie Thomas, President & CEO
ValueSelling, Rancho Santa Fe, California, USA

Solution Provider and New Product and Service Categories Final Judging Committee

Chair: Ansa Sekharan, Senior Vice President, Global Customer Support at Informatica Corporation in Redwood City, California, USA

Committee:
Jamal Ayyad, Vice President-Service Delivery
SurePayroll, Inc., Glenview, Illinois, USA

Deepak Chawla, Senior Director Global Technical Services
Nutanix, San Jose, California, USA

Andrew Curtis, Manager, Product Specialists
iCIMS, Hazlet, New Jersey, USA

Churchill Dass Prince, Founder & CEO
Sales Intellect Company, Chennai, India

David Fong, Vice President, Marketing
Accounting 4 Solutions, Inc, Los Angeles, California, USA

J Israel Greene, Director of Managed Services
Gorilla Group, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Jimmy Griffith, Director, Quality Assurance
Assurant Solutions, Forth Worth, Texas, USA

Julie Holmes, Product Manager
InsightSoftware.com, Greenwood Village, Colorado, USA

Scott James, Program Manager, Member Advisory Center
Arizona State Retirement System, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Eric Johnson, Senior Vice President & CIO
Informatica, Global Customer Support & Maintenance Renewals, Redwood City, California, USA

Jesintha Rajaratnam, Managing Partner
Joje India Consultants/Finance & HR, Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates

Mark Repkin, Chief Revenue Officer
iPromo.com, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Rahul Sheth, Lead Strategy and Marketing
CRMnext, Noida, India

David Vasquez, Customer Care Executive
Ally Bank, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

Carla Zachman, Director, Talent Acquisition and Talent Management
Insight Software, Greenwood Village, Colorado, USA

We have published the full-text of the Gold Stevie® Award-winning nominations in the 2013 Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and what a treasure-trove of inspiration, drama, and information they are!

SEE THE LIST OF STEVIE WINNERS HERE

The results of the 10th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business - the world's top honors for women entrepreneurs, executives, and the organizations they run - were announced in November in New York. The awards feature categories to recognize the achievements of individual executives, business owners, and employees; for-profit and non-profit organizations; and new products and services, marketing and public relations campaigns, and media created by or for women.

It's been our tradition to publish the full-text of Gold Stevie Award-winning entries (after the winners have the opportunity to redact any confidential information from them). Gold-winning entries are among the popular features on our web sites. They're vastly educational and entertaining, and they're great examples of entries that judges have scored highly, so they're models for future entries.

Here are some of the Gold Stevie-winning entries you'll find online now.

Frieda Caplan, founder or Frieda's, Inc. Frieda received a Lifetime Achievement Stevie, and one of the biggest cheers of the night, for her humble and inspiring acceptance speech.
Redicka Subrammanian, CEO of Interakt Digital Communications Redicka started her business at a table in a coffee shop in Singapore, and now is a Gold Stevie Award winner for Entrepreneur of the Year - Business Services.
Elizabeth Xu, Group VP-Engineering with Acxiom Corporation Big Data is a big topic these days, and Elizabeth was recognized for her achievements with a leader in big data.
Final Salute, Inc. Final Salute's mission is to provide homeless female U.S. veterans with affordable housing. They were recognized with two Gold Stevies in 2013, this one for Event of the Year for their Ms Veteran America Competition.
She Takes on the World Inc. Natalie McNeil's She Takes on the World has won won several Gold Stevies over the years for her web site that focuses on business and personal development for women entrepreneurs.

Read all of the Gold Stevie Award-winning entries in the 2013 Stevie Awards for Women in Business today!

Entries for the 2014 edition of the awards will open in May. Join the mailing list so that the entry kit is emailed to you as soon as it's available.

Submit your entries today at www.StevieAwards.com/Sales

Tuesday, January 14 is the final entry deadline for the 2014 (8th annual) Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. These are the world's top honors for contact center, customer service, business development, and sales professionals. All organizations and individuals worldwide are eligible to submit entries.

Review the entry kit now - you'll find it online, here. The entry kit contains all of the information you'll need to be able to prepare and submit entries to the 2014 awards.

There's a lot that's new and different for the awards this year, including our new Grand Stevie Award trophy.

Finalists will be announced on January 22.  All Finalists will ultimately be named Gold, Silver, or Bronze Stevie Award winners.  The winners will be announced during a gala banquet at the Bellagio in Las Vegas on Friday, February 21.  (Attendance isn't required to win.)

The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service feature categories to recognize achievement in every aspect of the worklife of sales, business development, contact center, and customer service professionals:

• Individual Sales Performers
• Sales Teams and Departments
• Sales Achievements
• Individual Customer Service and Contact Center Performers
• Customer Service/Contact Center Achievements
• Customer Service Departments
• Solution Providers to Sales and Customer Service Professionals
• New Products and Services used by sales and customer service professionals

Don't hesitate to contact us with your questions about how to participate in the 2014 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.

P.S.  Need a few extra days to enter?  Contact us.

The Stevie Awards, the world's premier business awards programs, have just published a brochure about our 2014 sponsorship opportunities.

READ THE BROCHURE HERE

The brochure outlines the opportunities associated with our six awards programs in 2014, including two new programs - the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards and the forthcoming German Stevie Awards.

Among the benefits that are available through Stevie Awards sponsorships are:

• The ability to submit an unlimited number of entries to the sponsored program without having to pay entry fees. This benefit can be extended to sponsors’ clients as well

• The right to name and confer one or more honorary Stevie Awards upon your customers

• A full-page ad in the official program of the event

• Up to 100,000 banner ad impressions on the sponsored program’s web site and in the weekly Stevie Awards Update e-newsletter

• Tickets for the sponsored awards banquet

• At least 10 minutes of stage time to present awards at the sponsored event

• Logo identification in all photographs and video clips of the sponsored event

• Hospitality and display privileges, before, during, and/or after the sponsored event

• Editorial coverage, in the form of an interview or profile, in the Stevie Awards blog and e-newsletter

We welcome the opportunity to customize sponsorship benefits to suit your needs.  Contact Stevie Awards president Michael Gallagher for details.

We've published the Gold Stevie Award-winning entries in The 2013 (10th Annual) International Business Awards, the world's premier business awards competition.

READ THEM HERE

Now you can read the full-text of the entries that nearly 300 judges around the world deemed to be the best in their categories.  They are a treasure trove of case studies about how organizations of all types around the world are innovating, growing, or operating at peak performance.  (If you plan to enter the IBAs in 2014 - entries open in late January, join the mailing list for the entry kit - they are great examples of entries that the judges scored highly.)

Here are some examples of the great stories of achievement you'll find among the 2013 IBA Gold Stevie Award winners:

• Finland's Rovio Entertainment, the people who addicted you to Angry Birds, the winners for Company of the Year in Media & Entertainment
  
  
• The impressive and innovative management team of Best Doctors, Inc., winners of a Gold Stevie for Management Team of the Year
  
  
• Globe Telecom of the Philippine's highly effective marketing campaign, a Gold Stevie winner in the marketing awards categories
  
  
• A groundbreaking technology by Spain's Jofemar, incorporated into their Gold Stevie-winning new product awards nomination
  
  
• The impressive entry in the HR awards categories by India's Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, a Gold Stevie winner for Human Resources Department of the Year
  
  
• The sparkling website of Korea's Hyundai Motor Company, Gold Stevie winner in the website awards categories.

What will you learn from reading Stevie Award winning entries?

1. You'll develop a sense of the types of entries that judges score highly

2. That Stevie Award-winning entries are compelling and well-written

3. That they aren't always about world-shaking or industry-changing innovations

4. If you win a Stevie Award you'll be in very prestigious company!

Join the mailing list now for The 2014 International Business Awards and you'll receive the entry kit by email as soon as it's issued in January.

What were we thinking??!  With the Thanksgiving holiday here in the U.S. and visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads, we forgot to announce that the video clips of the 2013 Stevie Awards for Women in Business presentations are available! 

Watch the videos here.

The 10th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business were presented in New York on Friday, November 8.   More than 400 women and their guests from around the world gathered to recognize the achievements of amazing women entrepreneurs, executives, and employees who won this year's Grand, Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Awards.  See the complete list of winners here.

What will you learn by watching these videos?  You'll learn that

1. Some women are able to tell their whole life stories in under 30 seconds

2. Women give much better speeches than men do

3. Winning a Stevie Award can be a transformative experience for many people

Next year's Stevie Awards for Women in Business will open for entries in May.  Join the mailing list so that you receive the entry kit as soon as it's available.  The program features executive awards categories, entrepreneur awards categories, marketing awards categories, PR awards categories, website awards categories, new product awards categories, and more.  All women and women-run or -owned organizations worldwide are eligible to be nominated.

Stevie Awards president Michael Gallagher visited Seoul, South Korea the week of December 2 (see related stories in the December 5 issue of Stevie Awards Update).  He was the interview subject on the daily half-hour program "After 10" on English-language Arirang TV on Thursday, December 5. 

Watch the program here.

Gallagher spoke about the Stevie Awards in general, about the new Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, and about the global competitiveness and reputation of Korean companies.

Lisa Tener of Saunderstown, Rhode Island, USA, a book-writing coach, won the Gold Stevie® Award for Marketer of the Year in the marketing awards categories of The 2012 American Business Awards, the top business awards program in America. (Entries for The 2014 American Business Awards are now being accepted. Learn more here.)  We asked Lisa to contribute this article about how writing and publishing a book builds your business or your credentials.

In the past eight years, I have served many clients, nearly all of them business owners. In that time, I’ve seen where business owners can go awry in their journeys to become successful authors. I’ve also seen where they go right; and I have guided them to write books that helped them market their services and grow their businesses—and themselves­­—significantly.

Here‘s what writing the right book can do for you and/or your business:

1. Bring in New Clients. You can use your book to target the audience(s) you want to reach in order to grow your business. For example, many of my clients use their books as an opportunity to shift to a more affluent or successful customer base.
   
   
2. Attract High End Sales. What do I see most of all when my clients write the right book? The book sells on the Internet and then–voilà!—a high-end sale follows. One of my authors later shared with me that many people who purchased her book on the Internet for $35 read it immediately and promptly signed up for her $3,500 business-based seminar.
   
   
3. Expert-ise Yourself. You may be an expert in your field, but if no one “out there” in the world of media knows it—and I’m talking blogs, newspapers, magazines, radio, and TV shows—what difference does it make business-wise? Guess what? Write the right book and you will have the “hook” to get big-time media results. CNN. ABC. NBC. My clients do it all. The same happened to me when I published the right book.
   
   
4. Raise your Excitement Level.  Write the right book and exciting opportunities follow.  I’ve seen it all: partnerships; high-paying speaking engagements; travel to destinations such as Hawaii, the Caribbean, and Bermuda to lead retreats.  What’s your dream?
   
   
5. Socialize with Celebrities. When I wrote the right book, I met authors, speakers, TV anchors, radio hosts, and many other influential individuals. I found their company stimulating and inspiring. Many are in my life as I write this. You can do the same if you haven’t already.
   
   
6. Increase Your Influence—online and off. If you want to influence larger numbers of people—especially if you have a message, be it a business one or a personal one—the right book is the best tool to achieve this.  Kathy LeMay, the founder and head of Raising Change, is a great example. An author-client of mine, LeMay used her book, The Generosity Plan, to make an impact on large numbers of people. After publishing The Generosity Plan, she trained high-powered financial planners at some of the biggest banks in the country on the often subtle and secretive art of discussing philanthropic investments with equally high-powered clients.
   
   
7. Double or Triple Your Income. I see new doors open for my clients all the time—attracting high-paying speaking engagements, new consulting gigs, research grants, and other lucrative opportunities. Write the right book and you can grow your income substantially.
   
   
8. Leave Your Day Job. One client, Pat Hastings, retired from her day job just nine months after publishing her first book, Simply a Woman of Faith. What more can I say?
   
   
9. Have Bigger Tax Write-offs. Ask any author and you’ll find out that there is a tax write- off around every writing corner.  These often include travel, research expenses, classes.  One writer I know—the author of a fashion-related book—was actually told by a tax specialist to be sure to write off her hair-styling appointments because that is when she has in-depth conversations about style trends. (The category is “research.”)
   
   
10. Remember The Ego Factor.  Yes, write the right book and you’ll feel wonderful about yourself! It’s quite the accomplishment. It’s no wonder that The New York Times reported that writing a book is on 80% of people’s “bucket lists.” My advice to you: Don’t wait. Do it now!

About Lisa Tener
Lisa Tener specializes in helping experts and enlightened entrepreneurs write and publish a compelling and marketable nonfiction book—taking them step-by-step through her unique process. She teaches on the faculty of Harvard Medical School’s CME publishing course and blogs on book writing and publishing for the Huffington Post.

You’ve seen Lisa Tener’s book writing clients on the Today Show, Oprah, CBS Early Show, Good Morning America, Fox News, CNN and in national publications. Her clients have signed 5- and 6-figure publishing deals with Random House, Simon & Schuster, Charles Scribner’s Sons, HarperCollins, New World Library, Yale University Press, and many other publishing houses. Lisa Tener has appeared on ABC World News and PBS, and her work has appeared in Glamour, USA Weekend, The Boston Globe, and the Providence Journal, among others. She blogs for the Huffington Post and at How To Write a Book.  Learn more at www.lisatener.com.

We have decided to change the schedule for the 2014 Asia-Pacific Stevie® Awards, to allow more time to solicit entries, recruit judges, and ensure that the first edition of these awards are a success.

The Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards are the first new Stevie Awards program to be launched in seven years.  The competition is open to all organizations operating in the 22 nations of the Asia-Pacific region.  The website at Asia.StevieAwards.com is available in seven languages, and entries may be submitted in, and will be judged in, all of those languages.  The competition features 18 categories.  Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners will be chosen on a national basis, and Grand Stevie winners on a regional basis.

Here is the revised schedule:

The entry deadline that was originally scheduled for December 4 has been changed to February 19.

The late entry deadline, originally scheduled for January 21, has been changed to March 31.

The first round of judging, to determine the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie winners by nation, will begin after the March 31 deadline.

The announcement of Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie winners by nation will be made on April 23.

The second round of judging, to determine the winners of the Grand Stevie Awards in each category, will begin the week of May 5.  Grand Stevie winners will be announced at the awards banquet.

The first Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards banquet will take place in late May in Seoul, South Korea, the date and setting to be determined.

Get your entry kit and full details on the competition at Asia.StevieAwards.com.

Questions about the competition?  We have representatives in a number of Asian nations to help you - check out the list of them here.