Consumers the world over now have an opportunity to tell the world’s best providers of customer service just how much they love them, by voting at https://peopleschoice.stevieawards.com in the People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite Customer Service.

This worldwide public vote is open through February 12, with the highest number of votes deciding the winners in 13 industry categories. All organizations honored in the Customer Service Department of the Year categories of this year’s Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service are candidates for the people’s choice awards.

Winners will receive the coveted crystal People’s Choice Stevie Award at a gala ceremony in Las Vegas on March 4. Industry categories include:

• Computer Hardware and Services
• Computer Services
• Computer Software (<100 employees)
• Computer Software (100+ employees)
• Distribution & Transportation
• Financial Services (<100 employees)
• Financial Services (100+ employees)
• Healthcare / Pharmaceuticals
• Leisure & Tourism
• Public Services & Education
• Retail
• Telecommunications.
• All Other Industries

All customers, employees, fans, and followers of the nominated organizations are invited to vote.

Nicknamed the Stevie® for the Greek word “crowned,” the awards will be presented to winners at the 10^th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service on Friday, March 4 at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tickets for the event are now on sale. More than 450 executives from around the world are expected to attend.

The organizer of the world’s leading business awards programs invites you to submit nominations to the 2016 (second annual) German Stevie Awards. Welcoming nominations from all organizations with operations in Germany, the final entry deadline is five days away on Tuesday, January 26.

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

The German Stevie Awards is the second national Stevie Awards program, after the 14-year-old American Business Awards.  The first German Stevie Awards was a great success. “In 2015 we received a great variety of compelling entries from organizations all over Germany. We look forward to even more companies and individuals being recognized for their innovations this year”, said Michael Gallagher, the president and founder of the Stevie Awards.

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

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

New categories this year include Best E-Book and Best Business Book.  The Startup of the Year and Technology Startup of the Year categories have a small fee of only 35 Euros.

Judging for the competition will be conducted in two rounds.  The first round will determine Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners in each category.  Those winners will be announced on February 24 at a press conference.  All of the Gold Stevie Award winners will then compete in the second round of judging for the right to be named the Grand Stevie Award winner in their category groups.  Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie winners will be honored, and Grand Stevie Award winners announced, at a gala awards banquet in Munich at the Hotel Vier Jahrezeiten Kempinski on April 8, 2016.

Applications to judge the German Stevie Awards are still being accepted.  Those interested in participating in the judging process may also apply at http://www.StevieAwards.com/Deutschland. If your application is accepted, you will be assigned to a category based on your experience. As a judge you'll see how individuals and organizations are achieving success, and you'll receive a certificate of appreciation suitable for framing

Some of last year’s German Stevie Award winners included Black Lane GmbH, CCC, JUNIQE, Feingold Technologies GmbH, Emanate PR, Coca-Cola Germany, Sky Germany, SATTLER, and MID GmbH, among others.

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

About the Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in six programs: The American Business Awards, the German Stevie Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, and the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at www.StevieAwards.com, and follow the Stevie Awards on Twitter @TheStevieAwards.

Finalists in the 10th Annual Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service, an international competition recognizing excellence in disciplines that are crucial to business success, were announced today.    

A diverse group of organizations and individuals around the world are among those recognized in the customer service awards, contact center awards, business development awards, and sales awards categories. Organizations with five or more Finalist nominations include Carbonite, Inc., Cisco Systems, Delta Air Lines, DHL Express, Digital Risk, eMoney Advisor, LLC, GuideWell Connect, HomeServe USA, Human Resources Development Fund, iHeartMedia, Inc., John Hancock Financial Services, Lennox Industries, Inc., LiveWatch Security LLC, Marriott Vacations Worldwide, MTM Inc., Nuance Communications, Odeabank, Revana, Sales Partnerships, Inc., SoftPro, SurePayroll, Inc., Turkiye Is Bankasi A.S., Visualize, VIZIO, Inc., Wells Fargo, WePay Inc., and Wyndham Vacation Ownership. For a full list of Finalists by category, visit www.StevieAwards.com/Sales.

Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners will be announced during a gala banquet on Friday, March 4 at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tickets are now on sale.

The awards are presented by the Stevie Awards, which organizes several of the world’s leading business awards shows including the prestigious International Business Awards and American Business Awards.

More than 2,100 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were evaluated in this year’s competition, an increase of 11% over 2015. Finalists were determined by the average scores of 115 professionals worldwide, acting as preliminary judges. Entries were considered in 59 categories for customer service and contact center achievements, including Contact Center of the Year, Award for Innovation in Customer Service, and Consulting Practice of the Year; more than 50 categories for sales and business development achievements, ranging from Senior Sales Executive of the Year to Business Development Achievement of the Year; and categories to recognize new products and services and solution providers.

More than 60 members of seven specialized judging committees will determine the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award placements from among the Finalists during final judging, to begin January 25.

Beginning today through February 12, the general public may vote for their favorite providers of customer service in the People’s Choice Stevie® Awards for Favorite Customer Service. Voting is open at http://peopleschoice.stevieawards.com. Winners of the People’s Choice Stevie Awards in multiple industries will be determined in mid-February and honored at the awards gala in Las Vegas on March 4.

Sponsors of the 10th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service include Sales Partnerships and ValueSelling Associates.

The following professionals participated in preliminary-round judging of the 10th annual Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service from November 2015 to January 2016.  Their average scores determined the Finalists in the sales awards, contact center awards, business development awards, and customer service awards categories.  We thank them for their time, insights and interest.

Finalists will be announced tomorrow (January 21), and the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award placements from among the Finalists announced during a gala banquet at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas on Friday, March 4.  Tickets are now on sale.

Asburche Adalan, Sr. Manager, Business & Sales Development, DHL Express USA, Plantation, FL USA
Maryam Alhashmi, Deputy Representative of Quality, Fujairah Police GHQ, Fujairah, United Arab Emirates
Amal Al-Najjar, HR Manager, FLUOR / FDH JV, Ahmadi, Kuwait
Yeshiyah Amariel, Executive Consultant, Initiated Marketing, Chicago, IL USA
Tirupathi Anand, Strategy Advisor, Motivaluate Consulting & Training, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
David Araujo, DP DHL, DHL Express, São Paulo, Brazil
Heather Arthur, Director, Business Care, Rogers Communications Inc., Brampton, ON, Canada
David Ashton, Chief Revenue Officer, Jonckers, Boulder, CO USA
Tristan Averett, Associate Manager, Allscripts, Salem, OR USA
Jamal Ayyad, Vice President- Service Delivery, SurePayroll, Glenview, IL USA
Stuart Bankey, Manager, Community Management, Rackspace, Windcrest, TX USA
Nick Broadbent, VP Global Support, DataCore Software, Reading, GA USA
Steve Butler, Vice President, CXACT, Arlington, VA USA
Pembe Candaner, Founder, President, Pro-To-Cool, Istanbul, Turkey
Lucia Caron, Manager, Customer Support, Verint Systems Inc., Herndon, VA USA
Beth Castro, AVP - Commercial Enablement, AT&T, Energy Business Solutions, Dallas, TX USA
Deepak Chawla, Vice President of Worldwide Support, Nutanix, Fremont, CA USA
Lebin Ebru Cokisler, Head of Corporate Communications, ANADOLU GROUP, Istanbul, Turkey
Jeanne Conger, Senior VP of Sales and Marketing Operations, Rausch Coleman Homes, Fayetteville, AR USA
Jason Copeland, Vice President - Sales, SurePayroll, Inc., Glenview, IL USA
Tom Cross, CEO, TECHtionary, Boulder, CO, USA
John Cushman, Vice President & Chief Business Strategist, Tech Mahindra, Dallas, TX USA
Amjad Daoud, Program Coordinator - Archival Program, Higher Colleges of Technology, United Arab Emirates
Churchill Dass Prince, Founder & CEO, Sales Intelligence Services, Inc, Silver Spring, MD USA
Karla Davis, General Manager, Plantation Resort, Surfside Beach, SC USA
Robyn Davis, Owner, When I Need Help, Columbia, SC USA
Luis Deza, General Manager, Canto Rodado Consulting, Miraflores Lima, Peru
Brent Dierking, Director, Business Development/Strategic Planning, NorthStar EMS, Birmingham, AL USA
Liliya Dimitrova, Customer Service Manager, Provident Financial Bulgaria, Bulgaria
Sheryl Dobson, Director of Customer Support, J2 Global Cloud Services, Customer Support, Ottawa, ON Canada
Teresa Dos Santos, Director, Business Interiors, Pensacola, FL USA
Alan Dowler, Operations Manager, Hamilton Jewelers, Princeton, NJ USA
Eve Dumovich, Publisher, Snowline Publishing, Ashford, WA USA
Laura Edgerton, Director, US Marketing, Manulife Asset Management, Boston, MA USA
Jessica Eker, Senior VP, Global Life Sciences Practice, Transperfect, New York, NY USA
Ed Ellsasser, President, PrimeGroup Insurance, Tampa, FL USA
Andrew J. Filipowski, Executive Chairman & CEO, SilkRoad Technology, Winston Salem, NC USA
Osman Firat, Customer Lifecycle Management Director, B/S/H Turkey, Istanbul, Turkey
Mark Fleming, Performance Manager, Delta Air Lines, Sales Support, Minneapolis, MN USA
William Garrick, Vice President, OptumRx, Costa Mesa, CA USA
Stephen Gill, President, Stephen Gill Associates, Derby, United Kingdom
Allison Golsby, CEO, ConsultMine, Brisbane, QLD Australia
Jeanine Greer, Inside Sales Representative, En Pointe Technologies, Chicago, IL USA
Robert Gregory, Senior Director - Hosting Support, GoDaddy, Scottsdale, AZ USA
Ankush Gupta, Vice President - Marketing, QEDBaton Enabled Services Pvt Ltd, Pune, India
Nabyl Hassain, Director Telesales Americas, DHL Global Forwarding, Miami, FL USA
Mary Henson, Membership Care Coordinator, United States Equestrian Federation, Customer Care Center, Lexington, KY USA
Phillip Horvath, Senior VP - Professional Services, Merchant Partners, Redmond, WA USA
Ozan Hunler, Senior Account Manager, AkzoNobel Coatings, Automotive and Aerospace Coatings Izmir, Izmir, Turkey
Linden Ingram, Executive VP Sales, Imparta Inc, Austin, TX USA
Jaimon Jacob, Associate Director - Customer Service & Business Excellence, UAE Exchange Centre LLC, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Mary Beth Jenkins, Senior Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, UPMC Health Plan, Pittsburgh, PA USA
Becky Johns, Senior Vice President, MarketBridge, Bethesda, MD USA
Rod Jones, Chairman, Strategy to Revenue, Farnham Common, Bucks, United Kingdom
JoAnn Kay, Customer Care Director, GraduationSource, Port Chester, NY USA
Umut Kececioglu, Mobile Services Manager, Yapi Kredi Bank, Turkey
Joshua Kelley, Supervisor, Leadership Operations Training, MTM, Inc., West St Paul, MN USA
Lynn Kiser, Manager, Customer Service, MedCost, Winston-Salem, NC USA
Sandra Lynch, Account Manager, John Hancock, Boston, MA USA
Scott MacGregor, Founder & President, SomethingNew, LLC, Madison, CT USA
David Madacsi, Senior Technical Customer Support Engineer, GrassValley, Lakewood, CO USA
Omar Martínez, Human Resources Manager, DHL Express, Mexico
Wessam Massoud, Programme Delivery Manager, Abu Dhabi Systems & Information Center (ADSIC), Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Rowena Maxwell, Senior Manager, Accenture, London, United Kingdom
Serkan Memisoglu, Manager, Forte Consultancy Group Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Altug Merhap, Senior VP, DenizBank Turkey, DenizBank Genel Müdürlügü, Istanbul, Turkey
Judy Mod, Founder, CEO, & Chief Adoption Officer, RevenueSphere, Atlanta, GA USA
Thomas Moor, Global Director, Strategy and Planning, Sartomer (a business unit of Arkema), Exton, PA USA
Heather Moreland, Commercial Services Executive, Brett Martin, Newtownabbey, Antrim, United Kingdom
Ann Moreth, Sr. Customer Service Engagement Manager, UPMC Health Plan, Pittsburgh, PA USA
Zine Moufakir, Global Sales & Key Account Development Manager, 3M Global Sales Operations, Maplewood, MN USA
Pat Mussieux, Founder, Steps2Happiness Inc., London, ON Canada
Tracy Neiser, Customer Service Manager, Active Exhaust Corp, Toronto, ON Canada
Leticia Padilla, Corporate Recognition and Citizenship, Concentrix, Fremont, CA, USA
Tracy Parco, Director of Training, East West Bank, El Monte, CA USA
Leslie Phillips, Channel & Product Support Manager, GoDaddy, Customer Care Center, Scottsdale, AZ US
Dennis Reno, Senior VP, Customer Service, Proofpoint, Inc., Customer Services, Sunnyvale, CA USA
Peter Rifkind, VP, Client Services, UltraLinq Healthcare Solutions, Inc, New York, NY USA
Bruce Rosenblatt, Senior Housing Consultant, BR Consulting Group, Bonita Springs, FL USA
Sharon Rudd, Organisational Development & Sales Consultant, TNT, Mascot, NSW Australia
Jeremy Santiago, Senior Manager, Cisco, Global Virtual Sales Organization, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Paula Seeger, Information Support Specialist Sr, ASU Libraries, Tempe, AZ USA
Randy Selleck, Sr. Director, Call Center Operations, Assurant Solutions, Atlanta, GA USA
Priyanka Shah, Vice President, BNY Mellon, Albridge, USA
Dr. Shih Wei Sheu, China Zhi Gong Party:Jiangsu Explore Award, New Taipei City, Taiwan
Karishma Singh, Manager - Business Analyst, Fareportal, Gurgaon Haryana, India
Bella Slade, Consultant, Accenture, Financial Services, London, United Kingdom
Calvin St Juste, Customer Care Executive, CapitalOne, Retail Banking, Ellicott City, MD USA
Alec Stern, Founding Team, Vice President Strategic Innovation, Constant Contact, Waltham, MA USA
Michel Stevens, Senior Consultant, Futurelab, Willebroek, Belgium
Manfred Stockmann, President, Call Center Verband Deutschland e. V., Berlin, Germany
Joshua Strahler, Support Center Manager, Network Alliance, Parkersburg, WV USA
Lori Sullivan, Senior Director, Planning & Logistics, Phoenix Brands, Stamford, CT USA
Rochelle Sutton, Specialist, Customer Experience Management, Accenture, Financial Services, Tarvin, Chester, England
Kate Talbot, Director of Communications, Klick Communications, Santa Monica, CA USA
Anika Tannebaum, Head of Customer Service, Brands4friends, eBay inc., Berlin, Germany
Will Tarrant, Managing Partner, Service Metrics Group, Plano, TX USA
Özge Tekalp, Director, Türk Ekonomi Bankasi A.S - Alternative Sales Channels, Istanbul, Turkey
Rachael Thomas, Consultant, Accenture, Scotland, United Kingdom
Julie Thomas, President and CEO, ValueSelling Associates, Rancho Santa Fe, CA USA
Thomas Thuerling, Customer Service Consultant, Serviceberatung Thuerling, Germany
Emily Truslow, Annuity Customer Service Manager, Securian Financial Group, St Paul, MN USA
Irem Tüzünalper, Founder & CEO, EXTRA Loyalty Solutions Co. Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey
Richard Tyrrell-Ead, Director, Grass Valley Customer Services, Lakewood, CO USA
Lori Van Dyke, Manager, Customer Care, Access One Inc, Chicago, IL USA
Patrick Van Tolhuyzen, Independent Consultant, Antwerp, Belgium
Naveen Venkat PV, Director - Support Services, Replicon Inc., Bangalore, Karnataka India
William Wade, VP Business Operations, Synapse Group Inc., Stamford, CT USA
Sunil Wadhwa, VP - Customer Success, Druva, Sunnyvale, CA USA
Jim Wagstaff, Managing Director, Jam Factory, Pte. Ltd., Singapore
Charles White, Principal Administrator, International Relations Officer (retired), European Commission, Brussels, Belgium
Lisa Woods, Product Manager, WIN, Madison, WI USA
Leanne Yenush, Non-Cash Compensation Manager, MFS Investment Management, Sales Compliance, Boston, MA USA
Claudia Zacharias, President & CEO, BOC, Pompano Beach, FL USA
Tarek Ziadeh, Customer Service Manager, DHL Express, DP DHL, Beirut, Lebanon

Jim Wagstaff is the Managing Director of Jam Factory Pte. Ltd., a Singapore-based consulting and education technology firm. He is also an active judge for the 2016 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. In 2015, he participated in judging for the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards.

The 2016 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards is currently accepting entries. Find out how to enter here.

We asked Jim about the Stevie Awards judging process, what it is like running a business in Singapore, and for his insight into the contrasts between working in Asia-Pacific and the West.

A Strong Endorsement

Jim would most definitely recommend being a Stevie Awards judge to others. As he told us: “I was initially invited to be a judge by someone who is a friend and colleague. The judging process really gives you a sense of the variety and creativity in how companies are approaching business challenges and opportunities in various parts of the world.”

Jim Wagstaff has called Singapore home since 2007. He had been living and working in Shanghai for a number of years when an opportunity to relocate to Singapore with Hewlett-Packard came up. Since 2010, he has been the Managing Director of Jam Factory in Singapore. We asked him about his decision to relocate to Singapore.

“There were a number of professional reasons I chose to move to Singapore,” Jim explained. “The job, the breadth of the role, and a promotion … but also, from a personal perspective, I really enjoy the quality of life in Singapore: the year-round warm weather, the food, the location, and the concentration of so many businesses’ regional headquarters in one city.”

The Asian Century

Jim is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in business administration with a research emphasis on cross-cultural leadership and organizational development. We asked him if he could provide us with some insight into differences between the ways companies operate in the Asia-Pacific region that Western businesses should be aware of (and vice versa).

Commented Jim: “As an American who has spent half my career in various cities in Asia, the need for cultural intelligence and cross-cultural leadership skills has been close to my heart for quite some time.”

“As a source of research, study, and practice during my doctoral studies, there are a few important points for anyone looking to do business internationally … but especially in Asia, or moving out from Asia,” continued Jim. “The twenty-first century has often been characterized as the ‘Asian Century.’ Rapid economic growth in East Asia has created opportunities and challenges for multinational corporations, particularly Western multinationals. Western businesses have largely been predisposed to using a “one-size-fits-all” approach to management in their international locations. This strategy can pose a number of particular cultural contradictions for team members in East Asia.”

Working Outside the Cultural Comfort Zone

“My research has uncovered a number of specific areas that can be used as a model for leadership development by local, regional, and global managers,” Jim explained. “The model centers on the knowledge, skills, and behaviors required to align, relate, and communicate more effectively by anyone who needs to work within and outside their own cultural ‘comfort zone’ in a multinational environment–particularly as a local subsidiary of a Western multinational company.”

Solving the Tough Issues

With the start of a new year, we asked Jim what he most looked forward to in the year ahead. “I love working with my clients,” he told us. “Since moving out of HP, I have become an entrepreneur and an active board member in a number of companies. The variety of work and its challenges really keeps me motivated. I am constantly looking for opportunities to help my clients solve their toughest issues … cost, complexity, process, organization, leadership … and to put them in a better position to be successful in their markets.”

About Jim Wagstaff:

Jim Wagstaff is the Co-Founder, Managing Director, and Content Guru of The Jam Factory in Singapore. Jim leads the consulting part of the business, and has a wealth of experience in executive roles in various companies. He loves working with clients to help them identify their learning needs and map their plans so as to positively impact their business. He also leads content development, and has designed many training programs for different customers and industries.

Jim also serves as Managing Director of Renewtrak Asia, a fully managed, white-label renewals platform-as-a-service where the business model is 100% focused on helping clients increase their service contract renewals at no additional operational cost to the client. In addition, Jim is an active board member at Up 2 Speed Pte. Ltd., a Singapore-based organization focused on crafting customized learning and development approaches for multinational and global companies.

Jim was previously Vice-President and General Manager of the StorageWorks Division for Hewlett Packard in Asia Pacific and Japan. His responsibilities while leading this business unit encompassed all aspects of the organization including sales, marketing, finance, operations, public relations and analyst relations, delivering around $800 million in revenue annually.

Prior to HP, Jim was at Dell in Shanghai, where he was General Manager of the server and storage business for China and Hong Kong. Jim was also responsible for Dell's alliance with EMC across Asia Pacific and Japan.

Jim has a BSc, an MBA, and is currently a doctoral researcher in the management school at the University of Liverpool with emphasis on the practical application of cross-cultural leadership approaches in multinational corporations. He is a runner and loves to travel.

About Jam Factory:

The Jam Factory enables businesses to enhance their workforce through training and development. Jam Factory provides learning and enablement solutions to businesses and professionals. The company believes in an integrated learning approach that is interactive and engages learners. It enables businesses to leverage technology to enable employees to learn, experience and engage. For more information, go to: www.jamfactory.net

I Change Her Life, a social business enterprise that is creating phenomenal changes in the lives of women in conflict-ridden regions of Pakistan and among the refugees in Turkey, won the Stevie Award for Community Involvement Program of the Year in the Company/Organization Awards categories of the 2015 Stevie Awards for Women in Business.

Dr. Ambreen Zaman Riaz, the founder of I Change Her Life, was in New York for the gala awards presentations at the Marriott Marquis on November 13, 2015. Just before the presentation, however, she gave a talk at TEDxKinnaird, Lahore, Pakistan, outlining her beliefs and motivations.   She has shared the official link to this presentation with us, and you can view it at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYb2TtEmSdc

The objective of I Change Her Life is to create positive change in the lives of disadvantaged women by employing and training them. The induction program has been updated over the past year to include a breakthrough “Life Coach” training manual that helps women overcome their suffering and enables them to become productive contributors to their communities.

In Pakistan, the outreach and visibility of I Change Her Life increased tremendously thanks to a collaboration with local non-profits and sister organizations. As a result of relentless efforts to improve the socio-economic conditions of vulnerable and weak women, the organization was able to increase the scope of positive social impact from 20 to 85,849 women in Pakistan.

Dr. Ambreen Zaman Riaz, the founder of I Change Her Life, tells us that this expansion was the direct result of collaboration with many organizations already working in the region such as Nida Pakistan, Blue Veins, and Sawera Pakistan.

“We are also in the process of initiating a joint program with the prestigious Agha Khan Foundation to work alongside their organization CIQAM to increase the scope of social impact,” added Dr. Zaman.   “In Pakistan, we have increased our presence and visibility, and managed to penetrate into the heart of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) region in the Northwest, by establishing close ties and creating relationships based on mutual trust and a strong belief in the process of positive social change.”  

Continued Dr. Zaman: “In Turkey, we have formed key alliances with Women Entrepreneurship group Kadiger Turkey, and with Macka and Flying Bloom. The vision and goals of these organizations are closely aligned with our own values and beliefs.”  

I Change Her Life is using these platforms to fight against gender violence in Pakistan. “We are actively involved in the process of drafting a legislature to modify the bill against honor killings and Sharia law in Pakistan that demeans the status of women in society and constricts their rights and civil liberties,” Dr. Zaman told us. “We are now actively involved in the process of social and legal change to create a positive atmosphere for women to flourish. Through our cooperation with WEF (Women Empowerment Forum) in Pakistan, we have been able to bring about subtle changes in the network of Pakistani society and institutions. The subject of gender violence is our priority, but it must be handled very delicately so as to not offend certain segments of society.”

“We have learned to create small but meaningful changes through our workshops, to create awareness against gender violence, and to focus on gender development,” concluded Dr. Zaman. “Our unique approach has helped us win over critics as well as conservative members of the institutions that we want to change. This is an unprecedented accomplishment: most other organizations have failed because they could not negotiate and ended up being attacked or abolished by fundamental groups. By combining good negotiation skills with open dialog, rather than pushing our agenda in the face of rigid opposition, we have managed to dissolve the boundaries of gender discrimination, leading to an overall change in the perception of the general population.”

I Change Her Life is also using its platform to voice concerns about the violation of the rights of minorities living in Pakistan.

About Dr. Ambreen Zaman Riaz:

Dr Ambreen Zaman Riaz is a medical doctor, social entrepreneur, renaissance scholar, and polymath. She left her successful career as a cosmetic dermatologist to help disadvantaged women because she firmly believed that educated people needed to get actively involved in the social-service sector. Dr Zaman has worked as a volunteer for non-profits both in Pakistan and Turkey. This has further enhanced her enthusiasm to serve vulnerable and weak women.

Dr Zaman is an active advocate of women's rights and participates in highlighting the rights of Christian, Agha Khani, and non-Muslim minorities in Pakistan. Her commitment to change the lives of underprivileged women has enabled her to achieve the status of "change maker" in international circles.

About I Change Her Life:

I Change Her Life is a Social Business Enterprise committed to changing the lives of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Pakistan and refugees in Turkey. The organization creates positive social impact in the lives of the vulnerable and weak. Its aim is to create awareness about issues such as gender violence and the rights of minorities. To find out more, go to: www.ichangeherlife.com

The countdown is on. The final entry deadline of the 10th annual Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service is less than a week away. Organizations and individuals worldwide have only a few days left in which to compete for the Stevie, the highest honor in the business world. The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service attract more than 1,100 nominations from organizations in more than 30 nations and territories each year.

All companies, organizations and individuals worldwide may participate: public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. Participants may choose from a wide variety of categories for excellence in sales, business development, contact centers, and customer service.  “The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service offer more than 100 awards categories,” explains Stevie Awards president Michael Gallagher. There are several new categories this year. “For example, we have an entirely new set of categories to recognize organizations that provide great customer service yet don't have a formal customer service department.  We've named these Customer Service Success categories.  We also have a new set of Sales Distinction categories.”

Gallagher emphasizes that it’s possible to create high-quality nominations in the time remaining to entrants. Interested organizations may get the entry kit and other details at www.StevieAwards.com/Sales and select the categories suitable to their achievements. “The heart of each entry is an essay of up to 650 words, describing the nominee’s achievements since the beginning of July 2014. The more precise and compelling the story of those achievements, the better.” advises Gallagher. 

Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners will be selected during the judging process by more than 200 professionals worldwide. Finalists will be notified the week of January 18, and the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie winners will be announced on March 4, during a gala awards ceremony at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas. The Stevie Award trophy, designed by the same company that manufactures the Oscar, is one of the world’s most coveted prizes.

Learn more about Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service and the benefits of entering in a short video interview with Michael Gallagher.

Categories are available in the awards to recognize

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

About The Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in six programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 10,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 60 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.StevieAwards.com.

Mireille Gillings, Ph.D., President, Chief Executive Officer, and Executive Chairman of HUYA Bioscience International in San Diego, California, USA, won a Gold Stevie Award in the Management Awards categories of The 2015 American Business Awards. HUYA Bioscience International also won the Bronze in the Company/Organization Awards categories of the 2015 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards.

We asked Mireille what winning her Stevie Awards has meant to her and her company.

“Winning a Stevie Award was a resounding endorsement of HUYA’s business model,” Mireille told us. “Our aim is to enable and accelerate global development of innovative biopharmaceuticals originating in China.”

“This prestigious award, with its recognition of outstanding performance in the workplace, came at a pivotal point in HUYA’s evolution,” added Mireille. “Our novel anticancer therapy, HBI-8000, had entered clinical trials in Japan, plus it had been approved as Epidaza^® by the Chinese FDA. HUYA’s drug has immunomodulatory properties, which are important to the clinical development of immuno-oncology therapeutics. The Stevie award was a much-appreciated affirmation for our team, and represented another stepping stone towards HUYA’s future success.”

The 2016 American Business Awards will be accepting entries through February 18 and late entries (with payment of a late fee) through March 16. Find out how to enter here.

The 2016 Asia-Pacific Awards is now open and will be accepting entries through March 23. Find out how to enter here.

The Benefits of Additional Exposure

Mireille was also appreciative of the broader awareness a Stevie Award can provide. “As we continue to build our presence in the Asia-Pacific region, the additional exposure that the Stevie award has given HUYA continues to be extremely helpful,” she told us. “Since receiving the award, HUYA has opened new offices in South Korea, taking our proven business model to that country. The recent agreement between HUYA and the Korean Drug Development Fund (KDDF) will facilitate partnerships with local companies and research institutions to accelerate the development and commercialization of Korean pharmaceutical discoveries for global markets.”

“This expansion into South Korea adds to our presence in the U.S., Japan, and eight strategic locations throughout China,” continued Mireille. “This builds on HUYA’s overall strategy to be the partner-of-choice for innovative pharmaceutical companies in emerging centers of excellence worldwide.“

Wellspring of Innovation

We asked Mireille what new areas of biopharma innovation her company would be working on in the coming year. “Looking ahead, we see China and other Asia-Pacific countries as a wellspring of innovation. In the coming year, HUYA will continue to implement its uniquely cost-efficient, reduced-risk model for drug development to advance promising molecules from this region,” she explained. “This model includes using preclinical and clinical results from tests carried out in China to create the most time, cost, and risk efficient therapies to be brought to the United States and other major markets. We will also continue to expand our activities in other Asian centers of biopharma research excellence, including South Korea and Japan, to source and add value to promising molecules.”

Continuing Success

In addition to her successes at the beginning of the year, Mireille went on to win two Silver and one Bronze Stevie Award in the 2015 International Business Awards, presented in Toronto, Canada, in October; and two Silver and one Bronze Stevie Award at the 2015 Stevie Awards for Women in Business in November.

“Warmest congratulations to Mireille on this well-deserved recognition," said Clem Gingras, HUYA’s Chief Technology Officer & Chief Operating Officer Asia. “As the first person to identify China’s potential to meet global demand for innovative medicines, Mireille founded HUYA to increase the speed of development and value creation for China sourced innovations in worldwide markets. These awards acknowledge several major recent milestones that have been achieved by HUYA.”

Accelerating & Streamlining Global Development

Mireille founded HUYA to accelerate development and value creation for China-sourced innovations worldwide. Many such compounds have been validated through a rigorous discovery, selection and development process in China, so this model streamlines and accelerates development globally, while lowering risk. HUYA has:

• A database of ~14,000 China-sourced compounds–the world’s largest;
• 110 agreements with Chinese academic & commercial organizations;
• 80 scouts in China, more than top 5 global biopharma firms combined;
• Access to 55% of the biopharma innovation in China;
• Eight strategically located offices across China (Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, China Medical City [Taizhou], Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, and Wuhan);
• Joint headquarters in Shanghai and San Diego, California.

HUYA opened an office in Japan in September 2014 to support future expansion in that country.

The Value of Cooperation

Looking ahead, Mireille will lead HUYA’s efforts to continue building relationships to make candidate compounds more accessible internationally, bringing value for both innovators and developers. Mireille and HUYA aim to be recognized as a main driving force that brings out the value of the Tripartite Cooperation between China, Japan, and South Korea in developing novel therapeutics to benefit patients in the three countries and worldwide.

Building Momentum in the Asia-Pacific Region

“I am inspired every day by the talented people who surround me, including HUYA’s dedicated employees and the world-class advisory boards who share their passion and talents,” explained Mireille. “In future, it will be exciting to watch as biopharma R&D continues to build momentum in the Asia-Pacific region. The HUYA teams in San Diego, Tokyo, Seoul and our eight China offices remain committed to globalizing Asian innovation.”

Concluded Mireille: “By building relationships and employing approaches such as in-licensing, alliances, co-development, research funding, and creative financial partnerships, HUYA is poised to bring pharmaceutical discoveries to benefit patients around the world.”

About Mireille Gillings:

Mireille Gillings, Ph.D., a visionary leader with 22 years of scientific and operational experience in the biotech sector, has been the driving force in establishing HUYA Bioscience International. At Quintiles, a Fortune 500 company, she was the first woman to be appointed to the Board of Directors since the company’s privatization and subsequent IPO. Mireille is Co-founder of GHO Capital, a private equity fund specializing in global health opportunities. She serves on the Board of Senté Inc., a science-based skincare company, and is a member of the U.S. Pasteur Foundation Board. Mireille has a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands, and has held post-doctoral fellowships at Bordeaux University and Scripps Research Institute. She speaks fluent English, Dutch, French and Spanish.

About HUYA Bioscience International:

HUYA Bioscience International is a leader in enabling and accelerating the global development of novel biopharmaceutical product opportunities originating in China. HUYA has established extensive collaborations with Chinese biopharmaceutical, academic and commercial organizations to speed development and value creation in worldwide markets for China-sourced product candidates. With the largest Chinese compound portfolio covering all therapeutic areas, HUYA has emerged as the partner of choice for building and maximizing the value of biopharmaceutical innovation in China. HUYA has offices in the U.S., Japan, and eight strategic locations across China, with joint headquarters in San Diego and Shanghai. With the largest team of scientists working with Chinese innovators, HUYA identifies and advances promising drug candidates globally. For more information, go to www.huyabio.com.

Does your organization do a great job of addressing customers concerns in a timely manner, but doesn’t have a formal customer service department? The 2016 (10th Annual) Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service has created a category group just for you – Customer Service Success.

These new categories have been designed to complement the longstanding Customer Service Department of the Year categories. Rather than focus on the performance of a named customer service department, the customer service success categories recognize customer service-related achievements across your entire company or organization. You choose the successes you wish to highlight.

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service are the top awards for customer service, contact center, business development, teams and professionals worldwide. All organizations are eligible to be nominated, in addition to the new products and services used by those professionals.

Complete details are available at http://www.StevieAwards.com/Sales.

CUSTOMER SERVICE SUCCESS CATEGORIES

If your organization doesn't have a formal customer service function - if "everyone here works in customer service" is your motto - then these are the categories for you. If your organization has a formal customer service function, don't enter these categories - enter the Customer Service Department categories instead.

Information required for entries in these categories include:

(a) An essay of up to 650 words describing your organization's customer service-related accomplishments since July 1, 2014.

(b) Optional (but highly recommended), a collection of supporting files and web addresses that you may upload to our server to support your entry and provide more background information to the judges. At the very least you should provide a link to the organization's website.

140. Customer Service Success - Business Service Industries
141. Customer Service Success - Financial Service Industries
142. Customer Service Success - Other Service Industries
143. Customer Service Success - Technology Industries
144. Customer Service Success - All Other Industries

We make changes to every Stevie Award program every year: categories are added or dropped, fees are raised (and occasionally lowered), entry requirements are tweaked, the schedule is adjusted, and so on.

It's rare, though, that monumental changes are made.  But we've made some really important changes to The American Business Awards for their 2016 (14th annual) edition, and if your organization is in the U.S.A. and you're considering submitting nominations to the ABAs, you need to be aware of these changes.

The American Business Awards are the premier business awards program in the U.S.A., with categories to recognize achievement in every facet of work life, from management to marketing, human resources to new products and websites.  There are two early-bird entry deadlines for the 2016 edition - November 19 and December 16, 2015.  The final deadline for submissions is February 18, but late entries will be accepted through March 16 with payment of a late fee.  Get your entry kit here.

That schedule itself is one of the big changes for the 2016 ABAs, because it's significantly different from entry deadline schedules of the past.

Here's a summary of all of the changes, large and small, we've instituted for The 2016 American Business Awards.  Contact us if you have any questions about any of these topics.

Eligibility Timeframe

• Eligibility for the 2016 ABAs extends from January 1 2015 through March 16 2016, the last day that late entries will be accepted.  Nominations should cite achievements during this eligibility window. Videos, publications, live events, and other media premiered since that date are eligible to be entered.  There is no eligibility timeframe for app and web site entries - it doesn't matter when apps and web sites were first published.

New Categories

• There are several new categories for 2016 including Minority-Owned Business of the Year and Veteran-Owned Business of the Year.  See the entire list of categories here.

Late Fee Increased

• Entry fees have not been raised from 2015, but the late fee charged for entries submitted after the final deadline has been raised from $45 to $55 per entry.

Shipping Fees Lowered

• The shipping fees which are payable if awards won are not accepted at the awards banquet (see the explanation in the terms and conditions of entry here) have been lowered: to $30 per Gold Stevie Award trophy, and $7.50 per shipment of Silver or Bronze medals, regardless of the number of medals won.

Schedule Changed

• The ABAs again feature four entry deadlines, including early-bird deadlines in November and December 2015.  But the two deadlines in 2016 have been moved up to earlier in the year.  While those deadlines used to be in late March and late April, the final deadline for 2016 will be February 18, and the last day that entries will be accepted with payment of a $55 late fee is March 16.

Pre-Announcement of Awards

• The most significant change for the ABAs in 2016 is that we will announce all of the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award placements before the awards banquet.  In the past we pre-announced Finalists, and Finalists did not know whether they had won Gold, Silver or Bronze until the evening of the awards banquet.  In 2016, we will announce all of the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie winners on May 2, and then present the awards during a gala banquet in New York on June 20.

Format of Awards Banquet

• Because we will now pre-announce all Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners in the ABAs, all Stevie-winning organizations that attend the June 20 awards banquet in New York will be called to the stage to accept their awards and make an acceptance speech.  In the past, only Gold Stevie Award winners were called to the stage.  As in the past, attendance of the banquet is not required to win.

Number of Awards Banquets

• There will be only one ABA awards banquet in 2016, on June 20 in New York.  In 2012-2015 there had been two banquets each cycle.

New Websites

• We have a new mobile website for the ABAs, and we invite you to check it out at mobile.stevieawards.com/ABA.  A new desktop website will debut in January 2016.  Among the features of the new site will be the ability to schedule text-alert reminders about the entry deadlines, and the ability to add multiple points of contact to your entry-submission account.

Again, contact us if you have any questions about these changes to The American Business Awards for 2016.