Vote Now for Your Favorite New Products of the Year

Posted by Maggie Gallagher on Tue, May 03, 2016 @ 11:47 AM

People’s Choice Stevie Awards Voting Open Through June 3

The Stevie® Awards, organizers of the world’s premier business awards programs, today opened public voting at http://peopleschoice.stevieawards.com for the People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products, an annual feature of its American Business Awards.

votenowpcsafnp.jpgAll, worldwide, are welcome to vote for their favorite new products and services in 38 categories, from consumer products and services to B2B software solutions.  Voting will close on June 3, and the top vote-getter in each category will be presented with a crystal People’s Choice Stevie Award trophy in New York on June 20 at The 14th American Business Awards gala.

All new product and service nominees in The 2016 American Business Awards were eligible to be included in people’s choice voting. 

All organizations operating in the U.S.A. – large and small, public and private, for-profit and non-profit - are eligible to submit nominations to the ABAs in a wide range of categories, honoring achievement in every aspect of work life, from customer service and management to public relations and product development.  More than 3,400 nominations were reviewed in the judging process this year by more than 250 professionals, whose average scores determined the winners.

Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners in the peer-review judging were announced yesterday.  For a complete list of the Stevie Award winners announced yesterday, visit http://www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

2016 Stevie winners will be celebrated and presented their awards during a gala event on Monday, June 20 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York.  Tickets are now on sale.  The presentations will be broadcast live via Livestream.

About The Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in seven 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, the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, and the new Stevie Awards for Great Employers. 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.

Topics: American business awards, product of the year, new product awards, best new products, peoples choice voting, voting

Stevie Winners Announced in 2016 American Business Awards

Posted by Maggie Gallagher on Mon, May 02, 2016 @ 11:00 AM

Winners to be Celebrated in New York on June 20
(see summary of major winners by major MSA below)

The Stevie® Awards, organizers of the world’s premier business awards programs, today announced the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie winners in The 14th Annual American Business AwardsSM.

ABA16_Stevie_Winner_Distribution.pngAll organizations operating in the U.S.A. – large and small, public and private, for-profit and non-profit - are eligible to submit nominations to the ABAs in a wide range of categories, honoring achievement in every aspect of work life, from customer service and management to public relations and product development.  More than 3,400 nominations were reviewed in the judging process this year by more than 250 professionals, whose average scores determined the winners.

2016 Stevie winners will be celebrated and presented their awards during a gala event on Monday, June 20 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York.  Tickets are now on sale.  The presentations will be broadcast live via Livestream.

CallidusCloud (Dublin, CA) is the leader among Stevie Award winners, with 40 wins in a wide range of categories, including six Gold.  CallidusCloud is sure to be among the winners of the Grand Stevie Award trophies, the top overall winners in this year’s ABAs, who will be announced next week.

Winners of four Gold Stevies include CAS (Columbus, OH), Jeunesse Global (Orlando, FL), and MWW (East Rutherford, NJ). 

Notable Stevie winners include:

  • 11-year-old Max Ash of MAX'IS Creations (Boston, MA), winner of the Gold Stevie for Product Developer of the Year and the youngest-ever Stevie winner
  • TiVo's BOLT, Silver Stevie winner for Best New Consumer Electronics Product. Last week TiVo announced that it would be acquired by Rovi
  • Lakeshore Recycling Systems (Morton Grove, IL), winner of 14 Stevies
  • TextRecruit (San Jose, CA), winner of three Gold Stevies including B2B Startup of the Year

For a complete list of the Stevie Award winners announced today, visit http://www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

This is the first year in which Stevie winners in The American Business Awards are announced before the awards gala.  In the ABAs’ first 13 years, finalists were announced in advance of the awards gala, but the Stevie winners weren’t revealed until the night of the presentations.   

Every new product or service nominated in The 2016 American Business Awards will automatically be included in voting for the People's Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products, a worldwide public vote. Voting will open tomorrow and conclude on June 3.  People’s Choice Stevie winners will be announced the week of June 6, and will be honored during the June 20 presentations.

About The Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in seven 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, the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, and the new Stevie Awards for Great Employers. 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.

 

Key Stevie winners in some major metropolitan statistical area include, among others:

Atlanta: Arketi Group, Liaison Technologies (Alpharetta), CATMEDIA, Citi Retail Services, MessageGears, One Vision Productions, LLC (Clarkston), Panasonic Automotive Systems (Peachtree City), and QASymphony

Austin: AgileCraft, Dell (Round Rock), Epicor Software Corp, Magnitude Software, mindWireless, and Workplace Answers

Boston: Centage Corporation (Natick), Curriculum Associates (North Billerica), Enquiron, Fiksu, Fleetmatics (Waltham), Globoforce (Southborough) Harvard Business Publishing, HubSpot (Cambridge), John Hancock, MAX'IS Creations, Inc., PAREXEL International (Waltham), Progress (Bedford), Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Ve Interactive, VirtusaPolaris (Westborough), and ZipCar (Cambridge)

Chicago: Accenture , Applied Systems (University Park), BMO Capital Markets, Empire Today (Northlake), Endurance (Northbrook), Lakeshore Recycling Systems (Morton Grove), Peapod (Skokie), SIM Partners, and Wheels, Inc. (Des Plaines)

Dallas: ACTIVE Network, AT&T, Monitronics Security (Farmers Branch), Omnitracs, LLC, Texas Wesleyan University (Fort Worth), and USHEALTH Advisors (Grapevine)

Denver & Boulder: EffectiveUI (Denver), Level 3 Communications (Broomfield), SolidFire (Boulder), and Theresa Bradley-Banta Real Estate Consultancy (Denver)

Detroit: Critical Signal Technologies (Novi), Farbman Group (Southfield), George P. Johnson (Auburn Hills), Great Expressions Dental Centers (Bloomfield Hills), and Shinola (Detroit)

Houston: Effex Management Solutions, Gorilla Safety, PROS, Inc., Signet Interactive, and TopSpot Internet Marketing

Los Angeles: Christmas in Hollywood (Hollywood), Dollar Shave Club (Venice), Ixia (Calabasas), j2 Global® Cloud Services (Hollywood), PMK*BNC (Los Angeles), and ZipRecruiter (Santa Monica)

Miami: Coastal Risk Consulting (Plantation), DCR Workforce (Boca Raton), Future Energy Solutions (Ft. Lauderdale), Lion Agency (Miami), MONAT Global (Doral), ScribeAmerica (Ft. Lauderdale), and TEAM Enterprises (Ft. Lauderdale)

Minneapolis: Ceridian, Deluxe Corporation (Shoreview), Renters Warehouse (Minnetonka), RiverSource Annuities, and RiverSource Life Insurance Company

New York: Broadstreet, Datapipe, Inc. (Jersey City, NJ), Diligent Corporation, Fidelity Investments (Jersey City, NJ), Hudson Group (East Rutherford, NJ), Kaplan Test Prep, Makovsky & Co, MASS Communications, Momentum Worldwide, MWW (East Rutherford, NJ), ProSight Specialty Insurance (Morristown, NJ), Radware (Mahwah, NJ), Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America (Mahwah, NJ), SocialCode, Squarespace, Swiss Post Solutions, Thomson Reuters, TouchBistro, TransPerfect, VertaMedia LLC, and W Magazine

Philadelphia: Broadview Networks (King of Prussia), GetResponse Inc. (Wilmington, DE), Karma Agency, LCG, Ltd. & H.E.L.P.® Legal Plan (Bala Cynwyd), Nutrisystem (Fort Washington), and Worldwide Clinical Trials (King of Prussia)

Phoenix: Allbound (Scottsdale), Beyond20, Casino Arizona (Scottsdale), Digital Air Strike (Scottsdale), Isagenix International (Gilbert), The James Agency (Scottsdale), KEO Marketing Inc., Talking Stick Resort (Scottsdale), and Yeager Marketing

Salt Lake City: 4Life Research (Sandy), 97th Floor (Lehi), IHG, Morinda, Inc. (American Fork), SnappConner PR (South Jordan), and USANA Health Sciences

San Diego: AMN Healthcare, Amobee, The Control Group, PACIFIC, Qualcomm, Red Door Interactive, and RippleNami, Inc. (Cardiff)

San Jose: Cisco Systems, Electric Cloud, EMC, Malwarebytes, PayPal, RiseSmart, TextRecruit, TiVo Inc., and Zoom Video Communications, Inc.

San Francisco: Blueshift Labs, ClearSlide, CoreOS, Demandbase, DocuSign, Godfrey Q, Grow Marketing, Scality, SquareTrade, STRV, Teridion, and Wells Fargo Treasury Management

Seattle: Avalara, Capital One Investing, Microsoft Corporation (Redmond), Talking Rain Beverage Company, and T-Mobile US, Inc. (Bellevue)

Silicon Valley: Actiontec Electronics (Sunnyvale), BDNA (Mountain View), Clinovo (Sunnyvale), Cloudinary (Palo Alto), Host Analytics (Redwood City), Intuit (Mountain View), Jasper (Santa Clara), Nexenta Systems, Inc., (Santa Clara), RiskSense (Sunnyvale), Robin Systems (Milpitas), Simility (Palo Alto), SnapLogic (San Mateo), Tanis Communications (Mountain View), Tintri (Mountain View), TriNet (San Leandro), Vendavo (Mountain View), and WebAction, Inc. (Palo Alto)

Washington, DC: Applied Predictive Technologies (Arlington, VA), Bloomberg BNA Software (Arlington, VA), Clarabridge (Reston, VA), CSC (Falls Church, VA), Cvent (Tysons Corner, VA), Deltek (Herndon, VA), GTT Communications (McLean, VA), ICMA-RC, Lockheed Martin (Bethesda, MD), Meals on Wheels America (Arlington, VA), Merkle (Columbia, MD), Milk Processor Education Program, Neocate (Rockville, MD), Transurban USA (Alexandria, VA), U.S. Green Building Council, and Vistaprint Digital Services (Silver Spring, MD)

Topics: website awards, marketing awards, PR awards, American business awards, stevie awards, ABAs, new product awards, management awards, company of the year

American Business Awards 2016: Management Awards Judging Committee

Posted by Maggie Gallagher on Wed, Apr 13, 2016 @ 04:05 PM

We invite you to meet The 2016 American Business Awards Management Awards judging chair and committee.

Now through the end of April, the professionals listed below will determine the Stevie Award winners in more than 40 categories for executives, management teams, and more. See the full list of categories they will be reviewing at the end of the post.

It's not too late to submit your 2016 American Business Awards nominations - the entry deadline was extended to April 19. All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations -- public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. The 2016 awards honor achievements since the beginning of 2015.

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

Meet the judging chair and committee:

Chair:

Jay Starkman, CEO
Engage PEO, Hollywood, Florida, USA

16_ABA_MGT_Chair-2.pngIn 2011, after more than two decades marked by substantial achievement within and outside the Professional Employer Organization (PEO) industry, Jay set out to build a new kind of PEO where quality service would be the driving focus of everything. That PEO is Engage. Today, Engage is one of the fastest-growing companies in the country.

Before forming Engage, Jay was president and CEO of AlphaStaff, a PEO, which he grew from a small player to a top-five industry leader. Jay sold the company in 2008 to a private equity group. Prior to AlphaStaff, Jay was president and CEO of OneChem, a software application provider to the chemical industry.  He also was managing partner of his own successful law firm, which specialized, in employment and commercial law. Among his numerous leadership awards, Jay most recently received the Gold Stevie® Award for Executive of the Year in the 2015 American Business Awards, and the Gold Award for Chief Executive Officer of the Year in the 2015 Golden Bridge Awards.

Jay is a previous member of the board of directors of the Employee Services Assurance Corporation (ESAC), the accrediting body for the PEO industry; and the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (NAPEO).

Committee:

Christine Barney Christine Barney, CEO
rbb Communications, Coral Gables, Florida, USA
Christine Barney is CEO of rbb Communications, a four-time national Agency of the Year winner and Champion of Breakout Brands (TM). Barney develops marketing/communications programs for brands including DHL Express, Hilton, Mrs. Butterworths and Thomson Reuters. Barneys employee-driven workplace philosophy makes the firm a repeated best-place-to-work company.

Dr. Kevin ChenDr. Kevin Chen, President & CEO
Business Methods Corporation, Randolph, New Jersey, USA
Dr. Kevin S. Chen is currently the President / CEO of Business Methods Corporation (A Management Consulting and Promotional Marketing/Advertising Specialties firm). Dr. Chen is currently the First Vice-Chair of the Better Business Bureau of New Jersey and a member of several academic business advisory councils. He also teaches Master and Doctoral level courses at several colleges.

Drew DippolitoDrew Dippolito, President
Active Leadership, LLC, New York, New York, USA
Drew Dippolito is the founder of Active Leadership LLC - a recent start-up focused on leadership development and the acquisition, development and retention of talent. The Management Feedback System is our flagship product. Drew was VP-HR at Deutsche Post DHL - one of the largest 15 employers in the world. Drew has an MBA from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.

Monica Eaton-Cardone Monica Eaton-Cardone, COO & Co-Founder
Chargebacks911, Clearwater, Florida, USA|Monica Eaton-Cardone is an author, speaker, and international entrepreneur. She specializes in creating agile, innovative products and technology systems to help merchants minimize risk and optimize profitability. Currently, Monica serves as COO of one of her recent business developments, Chargebacks911, a chargeback prevention and friendly fraud remediation firm.

Carlos Hakim Carlos Hakim, President
CLH Corporation, Miami, Florida, USA
Dr. Carlos Hakim is a neuroscientist and biomedical engineer who is dedicated to the study of the hydraulic aspects of the cranial cavity. He has co-developed micro-implantable devices for the treatment of hydrocephalus and Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus, a treatable type of dementia, which is frequently misdiagnosed as Alzheimers Disease. His company is presently working towards a better understanding of these medical problems as well as developing more advanced systems for their treatment.

Danita Harn Danita Harn, CEO & Founder
Harn and Associates Back Office Solutions, Woodstock, Georgia, USA
Danita Harn, founder and CEO of Harn And Associates, has many years of experience in business across various market verticals from the gaming industry to SaaS and Commercial Real Estate. She has an extensive portfolio of hands-on experience and expertise in both ongoing operations management and rapid corporate growth. Danita served in executive positions tasked with financial turn-around tactics within a complex professional employer organization and a gaming casino. She was also the owner of 3 small companies simultaneously.

Gilvy Hernandez Gilvy Hernandez, Customer Service Training Coordinator
DHL Express Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
+10 years of Customer Service Experience in Retail / Contact Center / Customer Care environments and +5 years experience in staff training. Focused in continuous improvement and also in developing my team so they can unlock their maximum potential and keep growing personal and profesionally. Truly passionate about being centered in our customers and working as one to exceed their expectations.

Jared Kaplan Jared Kaplan, President & CEO
OppLoans, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Prior to joining Opportunity Financial as President & CEO, Jared was Executive Vice President at Insureon, the leading online agency for small business insurance. As the #2 executive at the company, he has played a number of senior operating roles including the development of its product platform and online marketing initiatives. He has also served as the company's CFO during this rapid growth phase.

Ralph LabartaRalph Labarta, Chief Technology Officer
Engage PEO, Tampa, Florida, USA
In his role as Engage PEO’s Chief Technology Officer, Ralph oversees the company’s technology and process innovation, including all customer-facing technology services. Ralph is a highly experienced senior technology executive. He has led technology operations and strategy and major product development initiatives for a national PEO as well as for leading companies in the chemical and energy industries.

Rob LeggatRob Leggat, Senior Vice President
Goddard Gunster, Washington, D.C., USA
Rob Leggat is a senior strategist for Goddard Gunster. Throughout his more than thirty-year career, Rob has managed communication and public policy campaigns for companies like General Motors Asia Pacific, and Walmart International. Prior to joining Goddard Gunster, Rob oversaw all areas of corporate communication, government and public affairs, crisis communication, and strategic philanthropy for Walmart’s fifteen international markets as vice president of Walmart International corporate affairs.

Martha Lera Martha Lera, Principal
Lera Consulting Group, Inc., Miami, Florida, USA
Ms. Lera is the Principal of LCG, Inc., established in 1997. Martha has over twenty years experience of coaching organizations and individuals to reach peak performance and new altitudes. She holds a M.S. HRD, is a certified iPEC coach and served as a faculty member at FIU. Leras clients include but are not limited to Royal Caribbean Cruises, Embraer, Ryder Systems, Master Card, Santander, Marine Harvest, Komatsu, etc.

Stuart Lindeman Stuart Lindeman, President & CEO
Mission Health Communities, Tampa, Florida, USA
Mr. Lindeman is President and Chief Executive Officer of Mission Health. Prior, he was a Senior Vice President for Revera Health Systems, where he was responsible for overall financial, clinical, operational management and direct P&L oversight for the U.S. division of Revera Inc., a 1.2 billion dollar Canadian-owned healthcare company that is a leading provider of senior care and has been in operation for over 50 years. Mr. Lindeman brings 27 years of senior housing experience to Mission.

Lloyd Lofton Lloyd Lofton, President
7 Figure Sales Tools, Marietta, Georgia, USA
Lloyd is a successful business leader with 30+ years of sales experience. He has led large sales distributions that produced $50 million or more a year in sales, and recruiting efforts that resulted in hiring over 2,000 sales professionals in one year. He has trained hundreds of managers, from field sales to executive-level leaders.

Jeremy Moore Jeremy Moore, Principal, Senior Client Manager
Mercer, Kingwood, Texas, USA
Jeremy Moore is a Principal and Sr. Client Manager for Mercer based in Houston, Texas. His primary role is business development for Mercer by providing clients with solutions to their complex needs. Jeremy brings his experience of over 20 years of sales leadership in the human resource solutions and business process consulting fields.

Judilynn NiedercornJudi Niedercorn, CEO
SysTactics, McLean, Virginia, USA
Over 30 years in technical, infrastructure and operations consulting in the Washington DC area to multi-million dollar commercial and Government organizations. Also engaged in rural economic development, consulting, and community organization. Film Producer. Stevie Award in 2001. B.S. degree from Ohio University.

Doug Nyberg Doug Nyberg, Senior Manager, Sales Excellence
Herman Miller, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
Extensive background is sales and sales leadership with the last decade focused on Sales Process and Sales Productivity.

 

Richard Ramlall Richard Ramlall, President & Principal
Ramlall Partners LLC, Ashburn, Virginia, USA
Ramlall Partners LLC provides investor relations, financial and regulatory advice & due diligence (including FCPA Compliance & Monitoring), corporate development, and strategic planning services to public and private organizations. Operational Expertise as a former/current C-Level Executive and Board Member and past winner of several ABA national and international awards.

Margaret Roth Margaret Roth, CMO, SVP of Performance Technologies
Yet Analytics/EdTechWomen, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
At Yet Analytics, a software company that builds a data analytics platform that puts the power of connected data into the hands of decision makers, Margaret focuses on development and design of connected environments. She is a Johns Hopkins University graduate, working to develop leadership opportunities for women in tech.

Rachel Sapoznik Rachel Sapoznik, President & CEO
Sapoznik Insurance, North Miami Beach, Florida, USA
Rachel Sapoznik is the CEO of Sapoznik Insurance, an industry leader in employee benefit and wellness solutions serving clients nationwide since 1987. She is recognized as a leading healthcare reform expert and a voice for corporate wellness. She recently authored a book, A Passion for Wellness, Healthy Employees, Healthy Bottom Line, which was on Amazon's new releases best seller list for four straight weeks.

Steve Scott Steve Scott, President/GM and SVP of Operations
CoAdvantage, Inc., McDonough, Georgia, USA
Steve Scott serves as President/GM Central Region & SVP of Operations for CoAdvantage. His responsibilities include all aspects of operations, inclusive of six sigma methodology and continuous process improvement.Scott holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance, is a Certified Project Manager and is a Certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt.

Sushrut ShrotriSushrut Shrotri, Managing Partner
Novus Global Solutions, Novus Films, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, USA
Sushrut has over 21 years of consulting experience spread over 4 continents and 12 countries. He specializes in ERP, Analytics' launching successful ventures and reviving sick companies. Sushrut launched Novus Global Solutions in 2010, a unique consulting firm that delivers onsite consulting cheaper than offshore with an operating model that boasts a paperless and plastic free model. Sushrut also launched Novus Films in 2015 which has been nominated for 12 awards for its first documentary Unfathomable Reality.

Denise StefanDenise Stefan, National Account Partner Head, PEO Vertical
Aetna, Tampa, Florida, USA

 

Tiffany Stiller Tiffany Stiller, Vice President Carrier Relations
Management Development Solutions, West Chester, Pennsylvania, USA
Tiffany Stiller has been with the Carrier Relations team at BenefitMall since 1999, and was named Vice President of Carrier Relations in 2004. In her current role, Stiller is responsible for negotiating carrier contracts and maintaining strong relationships with BenefitMall's carrier partners nationwide. She is also heavily involved with new product design and implementation.

Glen Waldman Glen Waldman, Founding & Managing Partner
Heller Waldman, P.L., Coconut Grove, Florida, USA
With more than 25 years of experience, Glen Waldman has built his boutique law firm to focus on the trial of complex business, commercial and probate litigation matters in areas such as contracts, fraud, fraudulent transfers, partnership disputes, will contests, construction and real estate, insurance, trademark infringement and banking.

Chris Zoloth, Director, Customer Experience Optimization - Service
IHG, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
I'm accountable for IHG's contact center customer service experience strategy. I lead a team of highly experienced process and curriculum developers, who are responsible for the guest contact process design and training curriculum development. I also direct IHG's Contact Center Quality Assurance Team, Customer Care Executive Liaison Team, Guest Relocation Support Team, Insurance and the Customer Care Hotel Liaison Team.

Management categories include:

A35. Management Team of the Year
  a. Business Products Industries
  b. Business Services Industries
  c. Consumer Products Industries
  d. Consumer Services Industries

Executive of the Year (e.g. CEO, President, COO) 
A01.    Accounting
A02.    Advertising, Marketing, & Public Relations
A03.    Aerospace & Defense    
A04.    Automotive & Transport Equipment
A05.    Banking
A06.    Business Services
A07.    Chemicals
A08.    Computer Hardware
A09.    Computer Software
  a. Up to 500 Employees
  b. More Than 500 Employees
A10.    Computer Services
A11.    Conglomerates
A12.    Consumer Products - Durables
A13.    Consumer Products - Non-Durables
A14.    Diversified Services
A15.    Electronics
A16.    Energy
A17.    Financial Services
A18.    Food & Beverage
A19.    Health Products & Services
A20.    Hospitality & Leisure
A21.    Insurance
A22.    Internet/New Media
A23.    Legal
A24.    Manufacturing
A25.    Materials & Construction
A26.    Media & Entertainment
A27.    Metals & Mining
A28.    Non-Profit or Government Organizations
A29.    Real Estate
A30.    Retail
A31.    Pharmaceuticals
A32.    Telecommunications
A33.    Transportation
A34.    Utilities

A36. Maverick of the Year: recognizing the individual who's affected the most positive change on his or her company and/or industry since the beginning of 2015
  a. Business Products Industries
  b. Business Services Industries
  c. Consumer Products
  d. Consumer Services

A37. Tech Innovator of the Year (recognizing the individual who's contributed most to innovation, within their organization and/or industry, in the U.S.A. since the beginning of 2015)

A38. Woman of the Year: recognizing the achievements of women in the workplace since the beginning of 2015

Topics: American business awards, management awards, executive of the year, maverick of the year, management team of the year

American Business Awards 2016: Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, and Public Relations Awards Judging Committee

Posted by Maggie Gallagher on Mon, Apr 11, 2016 @ 03:34 PM

We invite you to meet The 2016 American Business Awards Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, and Public Realtions Awards judging chair and committee.

Now through the end of April, the professionals listed below will determine the Stevie Award winners in 24 categories for communications campaigns, professionals, innovations, and more. See the full list of categories they will be reviewing at the end of the post.

It's not too late to submit your 2016 American Business Awards nominations - the entry deadline was extended to April 19. All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations -- public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. The 2016 awards honor achievements since the beginning of 2015.

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

Meet the judging chair and committee:

Chair:

Jock Breitwieser, Head of Corporate Communications
TriNet, San Jose, California, USA

J16-ABA-PR-Chair-2.gifock Breitwieser runs corporate communications at TriNet, a strategic partner to small and medium-sized businesses for HR, payroll, employee benefits, employment law compliance, and risk mitigation. He drove the company’s communications during its IPO and is responsible for TriNet’s external communications and social media strategy.

Prior to TriNet, Jock spearheaded global public relations, customer references, and social media for Dell SonicWALL in 17 countries. He drove positioning and communications when the previously public company went private with Thoma Bravo in 2010 and during SonicWALL’s acquisition by Dell in 2012. Before that, he was global head of corporate communications and web marketing at CallidusCloud, a provider of cloud-based sales and marketing solutions.

Committee:

Zainab Ansari Zainab Ansari, Director & CEO
Xenith PR (Pvt.) Ltd, Karachi, Pakistan
A Corporate Image professional, Public Relations specialist with over forty years of high profile and successful career in large multinationals and reputable organizations; extensively exposed to Television, Radio and the literary circles; established writer, poet and a free lance journalist. In 1999, established Xenith PR in affiliation with Fleishman Hillard of USA.

Linda AshmoreLinda Ashmore, Vice President, Corporate Communications
Rambus Inc., Sunnyvale, California, USA
Linda Ashmore is the vice president of Corporate Communications at Rambus where she is responsible for developing and executing campaigns and strategies to clearly communicate value propositions across the company. At Rambus, Linda oversees global communications, public relations, digital marketing, global events, analyst relations, internal communications, and develops messaging in support of investor relations.

Norman Birnbach, President
Birnbach Communications, Marblehead, Massachusetts, USA

Deirdre BreakenridgeDeirdre Breakenridge, CEO
Pure Performance Communications, Marlboro, New Jersey, USA
Deirdre Breakenridge is an author, entrepreneur and the CEO of Pure Performance Communications. A 25+ year veteran in PR and marketing, she has five books published by Prentice Hall and FT Press including her latest title, Social Media and Public Relations: Eight New Practices for the PR Professional. Breakenridge is also an adjunct professor at NYU and UMASS at Amherst. She blogs at PR Expanded and is the host of the podcast show, Women Worldwide.

Lauran Cacciatori Lauran Cacciatori, Senior Director, Corporate Marketing & Communications
Deltek, Herndon, Virginia, USA
Lauran is responsible for global PR, Social Media and Analyst Relations at Deltek. Since joining Deltek, she has launched its social media program and created training for her colleagues. She also led communications to media & analysts surrounding several acquisitions and earned numerous accolades through the company's awards program.

Cindy Campbell Cindy Campbell, Director of Communications
AARP Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Cindy Campbell has more than 25 years’ experience in communications and is Director of Communications for AARP Massachusetts. Campbell worked as the morning SmartRoutes TV traffic reporter for Channel 5’s “Eyeopener” newscast for 15 years and worked as an award-winning anchor, reporter and video producer in the cable industry prior to joining Smartroutes. After Smartroutes, Campbell managed communications efforts for various federal and state highway safety initiatives. Campbell has a Bachelors’ degree in Journalism from Suffolk University and a Masters degree in Communications from Emerson College.

Brian Cronkhite Brian Cronkhite, Managing Director
Burson-Marsteller, San Francisco, CA, USA
Brian Cronkhite is a senior communications counselor with two decades of experience building teams and advising clients in the US and across Asia, on brand development, positioning, reputation management and media strategy.

Adam Dalezman Adam Dalezman, Communications Manager
Synthesio, New York, New York, USA
Adam Dalezman is the Communications Manager at Synthesio, the leading global Social Intelligence platform. There he runs the day-to-day for external communications, including PR, AR, content marketing, social media and much more. Born and raised in Natick, MA, Adam currently resides in Teaneck, NJ with his wife, son and daughter.

Miles Daniels, Director of Communications
Everwise, San Francisco, California, USA

Saraida De Marchena Kaluche Saraida De Marchena Kaluche, President & CEO
Markatel, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, has a degree in Advertising and Media and a minor in Public Relations. Outstanding professional with extensive experience in both Dominican Republic and international markets (US, Latin America and Europe), with 30 years of practice in communications and wide recognition as a consultant and strategist. Founder and President of Markatel, firm Strategic Corporate Communications, Public Relations and Event Management, seminars, conferences and conventions, both nationally and internationally, founded in 1999.

Sarah DudleySarah Dudley, Marketing Strategist
IBM, Austin, Texas, USA
With an MBA in Marketing, I have found my passion in the digital landscape: social media, blogging, content creation, & infusing personality into products and services online. There is no such thing as a boring topic if you are creative enough and understand your audience! Experience in varied industries including IT, Aerospace, Toys, & Hospitality and currently based in Austin, TX working as a Marketing Strategist for IBM Cloud.

Jennifer EdelstonJennifer Edelston, Vice President
Ruder Finn, New York, New York USA
Jenny Edelston has more than 7 years of experience developing, managing and executing effective communications programs for clients within the consumer and technology industries, including McDonald's, PepsiCo, Mondelēz International and Infor, among others. She currently serves as Vice President at global communications firm Ruder Finn.

Joe EscobedoJoe Escobedo, Head of Communications
Happy Marketer; Future Marketer, Singapore
Joe has nearly of decade of marketing and communications experience in Asia (China and Singapore). He has been featured in Forbes and Chinese national television. Joe is proficient in spoken Mandarin Chinese and is an award-winning public speaker. He holds an MBA in International Business & Finance.

Jim Fanucchi Jim Fanucchi, Managing Director
Darrow Associates, Los Gatos, California, USA
For nearly 20 years I have managed the day-to-day investor relations activities for micro- to large-cap companies as an investor relations consultant, focusing primarily in the technology area. My experience includes guiding companies for their IPO, working with debt ratings agencies through the ratings review process and acting as the day-to-day investor relations lead for several companies.

Lise FengLise Feng, Director, Corporate Communications
CipherCloud, San Jose, California, USA
As CipherCloud's first director of corporate communications, Lise Feng built the program strategy and oversees execution for all things PR and AR. During her three year tenure, she helped CipherCloud establish its leadership in the cloud access security broker (CASB) space. At Weber Shandwick, Feng helped launch the tech media team, which provided media strategy and support to the agency's national Technology Practice.

Venancio FigueroaVenancio Figueroa III, Director of Communications
Schneider Electric, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong, China
A communications veteran experienced in developing, implementing and measuring strategic internal communications programs. Capable of designing and orchestrating global leadership and employee communications initiatives related to organizational and cultural transformation, turning employees into brand evangelists, and supporting mergers & acquisitions and consolidations. Skilled at media relations and the use of social media to advance business agendas that achieve desired results with multiple stakeholders.

James FogulJames Fogal, Professor of Business Administration
Notre Dame de Namur University, School of Business Management, Belmont, California, USA
James Fogal PhD is a professor specializing in graduate courses covering the spectrum of management in regards to technology, organizational behavior, systems and decision sciences. Professional background with 25 years managing supply chain and systems integration development projects and internationally recognized scholar. 2014 recipient of the national TEACHING EXCELLENCE AWARD by Accreditation Council for Business Schools & Programs.

Cecelia Fresh Cecelia Fresh, Marketing Communications & PR Specialist
Trimble Navigation Ltd., Westminster, Colorado, USA
Cecelia Fresh works in the Geospatial Division at Trimble Navigation Ltd. – managing a global public relations strategy. She has over 15 years marketing and communications experience and possesses a Master of Arts degree in Applied Communications from the University of Denver.

Holly Gilthorpe Holly Gilthorpe, VP Communication and Public Affairs
Johnson and Johnson Medical Devices, New Brunswick, New Jersey USA
Holly Gilthorpe serves as vice president of communication and public affairs for Johnson & Johnsons Medical Devices business. In this role, Holly oversees global stakeholder engagement from media relations, issues management, and employee engagement, to brand reputation. Holly holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of California, Davis.

Melody Kean Haller Melody Kean Haller, Principal
Joule Strategic Communications, San Jose, California, USA
MKH has worked been a principle/owner in the public relations industry since 1990, focusing on emerging technology and entrepreneurial ventures. In 1993 she was CEO of the first firm to focus on the Internet. In 1996 she founded Antenna Group, Inc., which she sold in 2010.

Lisa Helfer ElghaziLisa Helfer Elghazi, President
Celesta Marketing and Public Relations, Needham, Massachusetts, USA
Lisa Helfer Elghazi is the President and Founder of Celesta Marketing & Public Relations. She has worked with numerous companies to develop content, branding initiatives, and public relations and social media strategies in the B2B and consumer sectors. Helfer Elghazi has expert-level team skills and works successfully in groups or independently.

Barbara Hernandez Barbara Hernandez, President
BCH OnPoint, Inc., Marshall, Wisconsin, USA
Barbara specializes in crisis management and public relations. With 35 years of experience in all aspects of public relations and crisis management, she has developed and implemented award-winning strategic communications campaigns for many challenging industries, including technology, healthcare, mining, chemicals, oil corporations, as well as non- service organizations and non-profits.

Anthony Herrling, Managing Director
Brainerd Communicators, Inc., New York, New York, USA

Talisha Holmes Talisha Holmes, Public Relations Associate
Fareportal, New York, New York, USA
Talisha Holmes possess 5 years of experience in Public Relations, most recently at travel tech company Fareportal and previously at Edelman Public Relations working on lifestyle brands AXE and Dove. as an Account Executive, Talishs clients included Consumer Marketing. Currently specializing in corporate communications and overall branding, Talisha holds a B.S. in Public Relations from North Carolina A&T State University.

Svein Inge Leirgul, Head of Global Media Relations
DNV-GL, Oslo, Norway

Aishwarya IyerAishwarya Iyer, Director of Communications
Whisper, Venice, California, USA
Aishwarya Iyer is the Director of Communications at Whisper, where she oversees all corporate and consumer communications, and media relations strategy. Aishwarya was previously at an early stage venture capital firm in New York City, and before that, was at SecondMarket and L'Oreal.

Vasu Jakkal, Vice President, Corporate Marketing
Brocade, San Jose, California, USA

Jenny Kassis Jenny Kassis, Strategic Communications and Content Manager
InBusiness.ae, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Jenny Kassis is a Lebanese journalist based in Dubai. She recently co-founded inbusiness.ae, an online media platform and is working towards developing strategic communications and contents. Previously, she occupied senior positions in leading publications in the UAE and Qatar. Jenny has a BA in journalism and a Maters1 degree in Mass Communication.

Robin Kim Robin Kim, Practice Head, Global Technology & Innovation
Ruder Finn, San Francisco, California, USA
Robin heads Ruder Finn’s global technology & innovation practice. She is a 20 year technology communications veteran with a track record for promoting and protecting brand and corporate reputation for high-growth startups and Fortune 50 leaders at all stages of their life cycle. She has lived and worked in nine markets across five countries in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East.

Corey Kinger Corey Kinger, Managing Director
Brainerd Communicators, Inc., New York, New York, USA
Corey Kinger is a Managing Director at Brainerd Communicators, an independent full-service strategic communications consultancy. Her areas of expertise include best practice investor relations program development and implementation, strategic messaging, and crisis and issues management. She is an officer of the New York Chapter of the National Investor Relations Institute.

Jennifer Leonard, Professor, Public Relations Advanced Diploma Program
Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Kristina Levsky Kristina Levsky, Director of Public Relations
Dollar Shave Club, Venice, California, USA
Kristina heads up Corporate and Consumer Communications at Dollar Shave Club which also includes Trade, Internal, and Issues Management. She has been in the industry for over 16 years, previously leading Comms internally for brands like Match.com, ShoeDazzle and Comcast's G4 network, and on the agency side working on accounts like Best Buy, Red Bull, TurboTax and others.

Melanie LombardiMelanie Lombardi, Senior Communications Manager
Intermedia, Mountain View, California, USA
Melanie Lombardi is a seasoned public relations professional with 12+ years of experience, both in-house and agency-side, leading B2B and consumer brands in growing their profile and elevate their media message. She currently drives outbound communications and corporate strategy at cloud IT company, Intermedia.

Anne McCarthy Anne McCarthy, President and Founder
Westmeath Global Communications, Denver, Colorado, USA
Most of Annes career has been spent communicating the business of business. From restructuring announcements to CEO succession plans, from thought leadership platforms to issues management initiatives, Anne has a passion for business and a mandate for crisp and clear communications.In 2010, she founded Westmeath Global Communications, a virtual consulting firm, which offers services that help organizations accelerate performance.

Eric McKeeby Eric McKeeby, Director of Community Engagement
American Board of Internal Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
As Director of Community Engagement at the American Board of Internal Medicine, Eric brings more than 15 years of communications, engagement, public affairs, marketing and grassroots action experience with an emphasis on education, health, science and urban renewal.

Chris McKie Chris McKie, Director of Public Relations
Gigamon, Sunnyvale, California, USA
Leveraging more than 20 years in-house and agency experience, Chris McKie has consistently crafted award winning thought leadership and awareness campaigns that have propelled start-ups to industry standouts.

Dana Mellecker Dana Mellecker, Principal
Mellecker Communications, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Dana Mellecker is a senior communications professional with more than 15 years of experience in communications and marketing. He has provided strategic public relations and communications training to Fortune 500 companies & start-ups, politicians, and even astronauts. Before launching Mellecker Communications, Dana directed global public relations for iCrossing, a unit of Hearst Magazines. For his work at iCrossing, Dana received the Stevie Award for Best Corporate Communicator.

Kathy Menzie Kathy Menzie, Chair, Washburn Mass Media Dept. and Chair, Communication Studies Dept.
Washburn University, Topeka, Kansas, USA
Kathy Menzie is an associate professor at Washburn University. She has been Chair of the Mass Media Dept. for five years and Chair of the Communication Dept. for two years. This is her 18th year at Washburn and she primarily teaches writing, PR and advertising. Before coming to Washburn, Kathy held jobs as: public relations director for Midland Hospice in Topeka, assistant editor for the Topeka Metro News, and senior information specialist for the Learning Research Network in Manhattan. She has a bachelors degree from Baker University, masters from Kansas State University and a PhD from The University of Kansas.

Jessica Moskowitz Jessica Moskowitz, Freelance Writer & Communications Specialist
Self-Employed, Greater NYC Area, Hudson Valley, New York USA
Writer, journalist, and communications specialist with 10+ years of achievements in corporate communications, public relations/outreach, and award-winning content creation. NY native with coast-to-coast experience (NYC, San Francisco, Boston) currently freelancing and living in New York's historic Hudson River Valley. M.S. in Media from The New School. B.S. in Communications and Journalism from SUNY Fredonia.

Ann MurphyAnn Murphy, Senior Vice President
O’Neill & Associates, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Ann Murphy is a senior vice president in the communications practice at O’Neill and Associates. She brings to her role more than 25 years of experience with the media including professional roles in print and broadcast media as well as government, political and corporate public relations.

Rowen Nadia Rowen Nadia, Account Director
Andarakis Advisory Services, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Rowen is a well-networked and informed, marketer and moderator with a flair for creative writing. As Account Director at boutique management consultancy Andarakis Advisory Services, she is adept at developing practical go-to-market strategies, managing campaign deliverables and content for large scale government, semi- government and private projects and is also an independent contributor to numerous digital and print publications with sector specialism in real estate & finance.

Lindsay NahmiacheLindsay Nahmiache, Co-Founder & Partner
Jive PR & Digital, Los Angeles, California, USA
Insatiably curious and results driven, Lindsay is co-founder and partner of Jive PR + Digital, an award-winning Social PR and Digital Marketing agency in LA, Toronto and Vancouver. Lindsay was recently named Top 100 Most Powerful Women by the Financial Post and a global Enterprising Women of the Year winner.

Niki NaskaNiki Naska, Communications Manager
Eureka, Brussels, Belgium
Experienced strategic communications professional. Proven ability to manage people, budgets and clients, build partnerships and secure new business in public and private sectors. Multilingual, creative, organised and committed with excellent networking and interpersonal skills.

Rebecca Noriega, Sr. Manager, Public Relations
SGI, Milpitas, California, USA

Tor Odland Tor Odland, Vice President, Communications
Telenor Group, Oslo, Norway
Tor Odland is a Vice President of Group Communications at Telenor Group, a top 10 global mobile carrier. He is a senior communications professional with significant experience from managing global technology brands, stakeholders, political relations and issues.

Nick Olsson, Communications/Marketing Consultant
Olsson Consulting, Seattle, Washington, USA

Emily Passer Emily Passer, Director of Communications
Quartz, New York, New York, USA
Emily Passer is Quartzs director of communications. Based in NYC, she oversees all media relations and public relations for Quartz, its staff and events. Previously Passer worked in communications at the Financial Times, and before that was with Fleishman-Hillards Marketing-Communications group in New York. Originally from Kansas City, she attended Columbia University, graduating with a degree in International Relations.

Linda Quach Linda Quach, Marketing Communications Manager
Immersion, San Jose, California, USA
Linda Quach has 15+ years of experience running communication programs for small and large technology companies. Currently, Linda the manager of marketing communications for Immersion, the leader in haptics. Linda was previously at Rovi, a digital entertainment company. She holds a bachelor in communication from the University of the Pacific.

Barbara Riordan, Senior Director, Corporate Communications
Limelight Networks, Burlington, Massachusetts, USA

Sandip Kumar RoySandip Kumar Roy, Manager, Corporate Communications
Societe Generale, Bangalore, Karnataka, India
I help organizations communicate and engage with their most important asset - their people. My passion for storytelling is hardwired into my DNA and I have scripted and directed more than 150 videos to communicate complex concepts through simple narratives and powerful imagery to convey the brand message across the organization.

Ron Sereg Ron Sereg, Assistant Professor, Public Relations (retired)
Louisiana State University, Shreveport, Louisiana, USA
Ron Sereg has extensive international experience as a consultant in the areas of media and public relations for non-governmental organizations. He is a retired professor of public relations at Louisiana State University in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Simran Singh SethiSimran Singh Sethi, Communications Lead - Education & Philanthropies, Asia
Microsoft, Singapore
Simran currently leads communications and storytelling for Microsoft's Education and Philanthropies initiatives across the Asia time zone.He is also the Editor of the Asia Pacific Citizenship blog which shares inspiring stories of people and communities throughout the region who are creating a real impact for a better tomorrow. Simran is an MBA from the Indian Institute of Planning and Management and has an undergraduate honors degree in biotechnology.

Lisa Sigler Lisa Sigler, Content Marketing Manager
Clarabridge, Reston, Virginia, USA
Lisa Sigler is a Content Marketing Manager at Clarabridge. Her writing tells the Clarabridge story, educating the market about the importance of listening to customers and putting their feedback to work. Prior to joining Clarabridge, she held brand development and product marketing roles across technology industries including cloud services and telecommunications.

Dara Sklar Dara Sklar, Senior Vice President
MSL Group, San Francisco, California, USA
Since joining MSLGROUP in 1999, Dara Sklar has driven communications programs for a variety of emerging-growth companies and played an active role in the growth of the agency’s consumer technology, IT security and renewable energy practice groups. Over the years, she has focused on helping innovative companies build brand awareness, increase demand generation and achieve their business goals.

Te SmithTe Smith, Vice President, Marketing
Recurly, Inc., San Francisco, California, USA
Experienced software marketing professional, specializing in PR. Expertise in variety of market segments, including online commerce, Internet and network security, enterprise software, desktop productivity and entertainment. Well-versed in the ways of start-ups and established enterprises.

Chris Sorek, EMEA Director, Marketing & Communications
Habitat for Humanity International, Bratislava, Slovakia

Sherry Sorensen, Executive Communications Consultant
NetApp, San Jose, California, USA

Adriana Suharto, Manager, Sustainability & Public Affairs
Neste Singapore Pte Ltd., Singapore, Singapore

Angela TanAngela Tan, Senior Manager, Communications & Partnerships
ASEAN CSR Network, Singapore, Singapore
A strategic and seasoned corporate and marketing professional with experience in the IT and telco, financial services, agri-resources industries and who's passionate about Corporate Social Responsibility.

Han Tjan, Head of Corporate Communications NAFTA
Daimler, New York, New York, USA

Michelle ToscasMichelle Toscas, Executive Vice President, Health
Edelman Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA

 

Robin Vaitonis Robin Vaitonis, Executive Vice President
Tanis Communications, Mountain View, California, USA
Robin Vaitonis has 20 years of corporate marketing and communications experience in enterprise software, networking, cloud/big data, bio tech and semiconductor markets. Her work with Tanis clients involves developing brand positioning and messaging, orchestrating global communication initiatives and defining financial and investor communication strategies to support clients’ business objectives and goals. She is also responsible for the agency’s creative services and content development team which focuses on bringing together compelling content and visual storytelling to amplify clients’ brand.

Chris Vasan Chris Vasan, Senior Communications Lead
Cisco Systems, Platforms Automation & Customer Enablement, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
Chris Vasan is a communications strategist, filmmaker, instructional designer and writer. For eight years he has served as Communications Lead for Cisco Digital Support, which helps customers self-solve technical issues using web, mobile and API services. Before joining Cisco Mr. Vasan ran his own strategic communications firm.

Jennifer Villarreal Jennifer Villarreal, Corporate Communications Manager
Reputation Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Jennifer Villarreal is Corporate Communications Manager at Reputation Institute overseeing public relations as well as employee and external communications to develop proactive communications campaigns and public relations programs. Jennifer previously worked for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Research & Technology based out of the Volpe National Transportation System Center, which is a unique federal agency that is funded by sponsor projects. In that role, she consulted for federal government agencies including the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the Federal Highway Administration, and the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, to name a few.

Mickie WagnerMickie Wagner, Strategic Internal Communications
Hitachi Data Systems, Santa Clara, California, USA
Mickie Wagner is a highly accomplished, results driven strategic communications professional with more than 15 years of combine public relations, internal and executive communications experience. She is an impactful storyteller, writer, and strategizer with a knack for quickly learning business intricacies, audiences, technologies and individual executive needs to effectively educate, inform and excite internal and external stakeholders.

Richard WahlRichard Wahl, Social Media Techno-Strategist
DimensionalAlternatives.com, San Jose, California, USA
Richard F. Wahl, B.A., is an expat and a US Navy Veteran who in 2009 founded his consulting company, Dimensional Alternatives. It is focused on social media and online marketing and shepherds small businesses through the ever-changing methods of building community, engaging users and improving brand awareness.

Peter YoungPeter Young, Professor of New Media Technologies
San Jose State University, San Jose, California, USA
Concurrently serve as a professor of new media technologies and Assoc Director for the Silicon Valley Bigdata & Cybersecurity Research Center @SJSU

The awards categories include:

C01. Public Relations Agency of the Year

C02. Communications Department of the Year

C03. Communications Team of the Year

C05. Communications or PR Campaign/Program of the Year
         a. Arts & Entertainment: campaigns/programs undertaken to promote or raise awareness of an artistic or entertainment endeavor, event, or program.
         b. Community Relations: campaigns/programs that aim to improve relations with communities in which the sponsoring organization has an interest, need or opportunity.
         c. Crisis Communications: campaigns/programs undertaken to deal with an unplanned event and requiring immediate response.
         d. Events & Observances: campaigns/programs that generate awareness of or document commemorations, observances, openings, celebrations, and other types of events.
         e. Global Issues: campaigns/programs that demonstrate effective global communications implemented in at least two countries, one of which must be the United States.
         f. Internal Communications: campaigns/programs undertaken to inform or educate an internal audience, such as employees or members.
         g. Investor Relations: campaigns/programs undertaken to communicate information to a company's investors and the investment community and/or to manage the company's relationship with investors.

...and more. see all of the PR Campaign/Program of the Year categories here.

C06. PR Innovation of the Year: this category will recognize singular innovations in communications practice, research, technology, or management since the beginning of 2015.

C07. Communications, Investor Relations, or PR Executive of the Year

C08. Communications Professional of the Year: for non-executive communications, PR, and IR professionals.  There is no entry fee for this category.

Topics: PR awards, American business awards, public relations awards, investor relations awards, ir awards, corporate communications awards

American Business Awards 2016: Annual Reports and Publications Judging Committee

Posted by Maggie Gallagher on Fri, Apr 08, 2016 @ 04:31 PM

We invite you to meet The 2016 American Business Awards Annual Reports & Publications Judging Chair and Committee.

Now through the end of April, the professionals listed below will determine the Stevie Award winners in five categories for annual reports, e-books, sales kits, and more. See the full list of categories they will be reviewing at the end of the post.

It's not too late to submit your 2016 American Business Awards nominations - the entry deadline was extended to April 19. All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations -- public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. The 2016 awards honor achievements since the beginning of 2015.

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

Meet the judging chair and committee:

Chair:

Justin Bell, CEO
Lion Agency, Miami, Florida, USA

16-ABA-PUB-Chair-1.gifJustin Bell is an experienced marketing executive and brand strategist residing in Miami, Florida. Justin is CEO of Lion Agency, a multinational digital agency with offices in Buenos Aires, Miami and São Paulo. Lion Agency is an award-winning agency (earning five American Business Awards in 2015), and works with leading brands including American Express, Celebrity Cruises, Elizabeth Arden, FANIA Records, Tío Gazpacho, and the University of Miami.

Justin joined Lion Agency in 2015 when Lion Agency acquired Arc+Arrow Creative Group. Justin founded Arc+Arrow in 2013 after working his way through various senior leadership roles at Omnicom Group where he worked with brands including Best Buy, Costco, Motorola, Wal-Mart, and Samsung, as well as Carphone Warehouse, Dixons Retail, and John Lewis in Europe.

Justin is a graduate of The Ohio State University and Ashland University with degrees in marketing.

Committee:

Alex Breitman Alex Breitman, Marketing Director
National LGBTQ Task Forc, New York, New York, USA
As Marketing Director for the National LGBTQ Task Force, I handle awareness efforts including advertising, branding, merchandise and event production Lead on all marketing aspects of our annual events, ranging from the annual Creating Change Conference, a skill-building conference for the LGBTQ community in January, to Winter Party Festival, a weekend of dance and social events, in March. Oversee various campaigns within the organization to raise awareness around issues affecting the LGBTQ community.

Jessica Fish Jessica Fish, Senior Strategist
Leader Networks, Amherst, New Hampshire, USA
Jessica Fish is a skilled community and social media marketing practitioner. At Leader Networks she develops focused and actionable social business strategies for clients with a keen eye to both their needs and the capacity for their products and services to make the most impact possible. Jessica often teaches, facilitates workshops, and speaks on the areas of inclusion, social justice, and mindfulness.

Kyle Johnson, Principal & Creative Director
BlkMrkt. Cr8tiv Labs, Houston, Texas, USA

Jeannine McHenry, Art Director
One17 Creative, Marina Del Ray, California, USA

Ruth Moyte Ruth Moyte, Wordmaker
Red Dandelion Creative, Temecula, California, USA
Ruth Moyte has over 23 years of experience in the global event and marketing industry, writing for and producing events for many of the world’s leading brands. She is a past member of the International MarCom Committee for the International Special Events Society and the Advisory Board of Special Events Magazine.

Fabi Preslar Fabi Preslar, President
SPARK Publications, Matthews, North Carolina, USA
Fabi Preslar is president of SPARK Publications, a creative firm specializing in publication design for magazines, books, and catalogs in print, digital, and interactive media for niche and professional audiences.

Marilyn Schultz Marilyn Schultz, President & Publisher
Big Deal Media/Marketing Projects, Inc., Barrington, Illinois, USA
Founder, president and publisher of Marketing Projects, Inc. and Big Deal Media, with a 35+ year track record in educational publishing and marketing. During her career, Marilyn has worked with hundreds of companies in the education market including technology companies, textbook publishers, supplemental materials publishers, equipment manufacturers and service providers, for which she has developed award-winning materials and content-driven websites.

Tim Smith, Partner
Eagle Print Dynamics, Orange, California, USA

Marilyn Schultz Michelle Thorsell, President
SMT Architects, P.C., Lombard, Illinois, USA
Michelle is president and owner of SMT Architects in Lombard, Illinois established in 1994; client base consists of public and private with a special interest in public housing. Activities include LWV Board member; past activities include Village Trustee, County Stormwater Committee member, Environmental Commission Chairman, Children's Ministry Director, youth leader.

Annual Report and Publications categories include:

F01. Best Annual Report
            a. Online/Electronic
            b. Print

F02. Best Marketing or Sales Brochure or Kit
            a. Online/Electronic
            b. Print

F03. Best Newsletter or House Organ/Publication
            a. Online/Electronic
            b. Print

F04. Best E-Book: All e-books published by persons or organizations in the U.S.A. since January 1 2015, dealing with a subject related to business - finance, careers, professional education, training, business journalism, corporate history, personal growth, etc. - are eligible to be nominated.

F05. Best Business Book: All books published by persons or organizations in the U.S.A. since January 1 2015, dealing with a subject related to business - finance, careers, professional education, training, business journalism, corporate history, personal growth, etc. - are eligible to be nominated.

Topics: American business awards, annual report awards, best annual reports, best business book, best e-book

American Business Awards 2016: New Product and Service / Information Technology Awards Judging Committee

Posted by Maggie Gallagher on Wed, Apr 06, 2016 @ 02:43 PM

The New Product and Service awards categories in The American Business Awards are some of the most competitive. Not only will they be judged by the committee below, many of the categories will also be included in a worldwide public vote for the People's Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products. The categories include all product management, product development, product engineering, manufacturing, etc. functions. New products and services released in the U.S.A. since January 1, 2015 are eligible to be nominated.

The Information Technology awards categories include all information technology, software, and web development,  teams, departments, and professionals.

Today we would like to thank the New Product and Service / IT Awards judging commitee. Their review will determine the Stevie Award winers in these categories.

It's not too late to submit your 2016 American Business Awards nominations. All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations -- public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. The 2016 awards honor achievements since the beginning of 2015.

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

Meet the judging chair and committee:

Chair:

Derek Gerry, Director, Strategic Accounts
C-4 Analytics, Saugus, Massachusetts, USA

16-ABA-NP_IT-Chair-1.gifDerek Gerry is Director, Strategic Accounts at C-4 Analytics, a provider of customizable full service digital marketing solutions in Boston. A skilled content and search optimization strategist with a deep appreciation for Saul Bass, Ken Nordine, and the fundamentals of marketing communication, Derek has been part of the team at C-4 Analytics since 2010. In his capacity as Director of Strategic Accounts, Derek has developed and implemented campaigns in the health care, consumer retail, energy, and automotive sectors.

Derek has spent nearly 20 years creating content and marketing campaigns for online audiences, working for some of the United States’ top companies, including Standard & Poor’
s, Harcourt Brace, and IAC.

Derek is also an accomplished broadcaster who hosts a weekly news and commentary show in Boston, and he has appeared on several talk stations in the Boston area.

Committee:

Pamela Clark Pamela Clark, Founder & Executive Director
New Heights Educational Group, Defiance, Ohio, USA
Pamela Clark is the Founder/Executive Director of the New Heights Educational Group (NHEG). NHEG is an educational 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization located in Defiance, Ohio. Ms. Clark has been assisting families with their educational needs for 12 years. She is married and has two grown married children and one grandchild, all of whom reside in Defiance, Ohio. Throughout the years, the NHEG organization and Ms. Clark have received several business awards and other forms of recognition from the Stevie Awards. Ms. Clark is honored and happy to help judge this year's American Business Awards.

Michael Gale Michael Gale, Partner
Pulsepoint Group, Austin, Texas, USA
Michael is a partner at PulsePoint group. He is a recognized industry expert in integrated technology marketing, having founded Strategic Oxygen in 2001, which is widely seen as one of the technology industry’s primary data toolset for marketers. The company was sold to Forrester Research in 2009. He has worked directly on over 500 global programs and campaigns for major technology brands since 2001. The long-term engagements covered marketing re-structuring architectures, a scorecard, and a marketing audits process (with industry norms), as well as marketing thought leadership initiatives.

Stuart John Stuart John, CEO
SJ Strategy, Santa Monica, California, USA
Strategic Product Management Leader with experience of launching global products in the mobile industry, extensive team mentoring experience and a software architecture background.

Stephen Lavin Stephen Lavin, Senior Vice President Corporate Information Technology
Outerwall Inc., Bellevue, Washington USA
Stephen and his teams innovate, develop, and operate performance driven, low cost business products and technology service solutions for the Outerwall family of companies; redbox, Coinstar, and ecoATM. Stephen also drives corprorate technology R&D, strategy, and execution for new adjacencies.

George Lin George Lin, Chief Information Officer
CallidusCloud, Dublin, California, USA
George Lin currently serves as the Chief Information Officer of CallidusCloud, the global leader in cloud based sales, marketing, learning and customer experience solutions. Previously, George was CIO of Dolby Laboratories, Advent Software, EMC Software Group, a Division of EMC and Documentum. George is a recipient of three industry awards.

Ajoy Mallik Ajoy Mallik, SVP, Emerging Tech and Innovation at SYNTEL
Follow[the]seed, Saratoga, California, USA
I co-founded Follow[the]seed, a set of funds using data driven technology to invest in consumer and enterprise grade disruptions across Australia, US, Israel, and China. I am also involved in an ambitious project at a mid cap company, setting up a Business Unit in Innovation, to take the company to its next level in growth and prominence.My large cap public company senior executive roles have covered companies from India’s premier brand (TATA), to Cognizant. Each of my public company roles involved being the "map"? between the entrepreneurs and innovators.

Bruce MastersonBruce Masterson, CEO & Co-Founder
Respect Care, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA
Bruce has 20 years experience growing multiple start-up and early stage ventures on top of 12 years experience as a senior executive with the Reuters Group, Plc in Chicago, London and New York. Bruce earned an MBA from the University of Chicago, w and a BA in Economics from MSU.

Catherine McQuaid Catherine McQuaid, Consultant
CMassociates, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Catherine Mcquaid is a Big Game Hunter in the Urban Jungle. Her clients are business services firms who want to become suppliers to the Fortune 1000.

Feroz Merchhiya Feroz Merchhiya, CTO -Director of Technology
CIGA, California Insurance Guarantee Association, Glendale, California, USA
Mr. Merchhiya is an accomplished award winning technology leader with over eighteen years' experience; He has a strong interest in business and enterprise technology. A practitioner of integrated program and portfolio management approach that looks at infrastructure rationalization road maps aligned to application consolidations, process standardization and efficiency improvement strategies.

Carlos Minetti Carlos Minetti, President, Consumer Banking
Discover Financial Services, Riverwoods, Illinois, USA
Carlos Minetti is the President of Consumer Banking for Discover Financial Services and has also served as the Chief Risk Officer and EVP, Cardmember Services. Prior to Discover, Mr. Minetti was the SVP of Card Operations for American Express. An engineering graduate of Texas A&M and Booth School of Business.

Judy Mod Judy Mod, Founder, CEO, Chief Adoption Officer
RevenueSphere, LLC., Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Today, as the Founder, CEO and Chief Adoption Officer of RevenueSphere and Social Gastronomy (for-profit) and the Founder and President of the Social Executive Council and futurewired (non-profit), Judy is helping senior executives understand and address the new complexities this is creating and the foundational changes that are needed to bridge the widening gap between the innovation and the adoption. Judy has 30+ years of experience in driving top line revenue in multiple areas (CEO, sales, business development, channel, strategic alliances, marketing, consulting).

Rajesh Mudiakal Rajesh Mudiakal, Senior Consultant
Ernst & Young India, New Delhi, India
Rajesh Kumar Mudiakal is a Senior Consultant in IT Advisory with Ernst & Young, India. He has an overall Experience of 19 years in areas like IT, Manufacturing and Project Management. He has completed M.S in Mechanical Engineering from University of Bristol in UK and an Executive Certification in Strategy Consulting (Driving Strategic Impact) from Columbia Business School, US and was a commonwealth Scholar. He has expertise in the areas of Project Management, Program Management, Strategy Consulting, Risk Management, Agile project Management and SAP Consulting.

Govindraj Muthyaly Govindraj Muthyaly, CEO
Cashpundit Inc., Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Govindraj is a CPA and has more than 25 years of finance, accounting, and IT experience. He has worked as a controller and a CFO of many multi-million dollar companies. He is the CEO of Cashpundit Inc., a startup that he founded to help businesses manage their cash flows.

Paul Patton Paul Patton, Senior Manager, R & D and Regulatory
Delta Faucet Co., Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
As a voice of the customer, he ensures products brought to market offer relevant innovations for end-users. Products developed under his guidance have received prominent industry awards including ADEX and Stevie Awards. He also actively interacts and works to influence legislation for federal, state and 40,000+ local jurisdictions.

Ken Phelan Ken Phelan, CTO
Gotham Technology Group, New York, New York, USA
Ken Phelan is a founding partner and Chief Technology Officer of Gotham Technology Group. Founded in 2001, Gotham has grown to 87 million dollars in annual revenue, and serves many of the world’s largest organizations with integrated solutions in virtualization and security. Ken's blog can be found at: http://blog.gothamtg.com/author/kenphelan/.

John Sidell John Sidell, Managing Principal
SCApath LLC, University Place, Washington USA
John Sidell is an award winning entrepreneur and Supply Chain technology pioneer. Since the late 80's he's be a leader in the application software and Management Consulting market. He has build and sold multiple companies over the last 15 years and is a recognize speaker for conferences and industry events.

Wayne Sleight Wayne Sleight, COO
97th Floor, Lehi, Utah, USA
Wayne Sleight is the COO of 97th Floor, an award-winning, full-service digital marketing agency with locations in Utah and California. He has been a featured speaker at marketing conferences in North America and Europe. In 2015, Utah Business Magazine recognized Sleight as a '20 in their 20s' business leader.

Milo Sprague, Chief Technology Officer
Silicon Valley Bank, Santa Clara, California, USA

Shoab Syed, Systems Support Management
SJS Solutions, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Rajani Veeramacha, President
E Center, Inc., Newtown, Pennsylvania, USA

Daryl Wieland Daryl Wieland, Risk Management Practice Lead
IT Cadre, Ashburn, Virginia, USA
Daryl Wieland is IT Cadre’s Customer Financial and Risk Management Practice Lead where he provides trustworthy insights by helping organizations move their risk exposure within their risk appetite.

Kirsten Wilkinson Kirsten Wilkinson, EDI Analyst
AmerisourceBergen, Frisco, Texas, USA
I have been honored to have had a successful career in Customer Service Management and IT in the consumer goods manufacturing industry. I have recently entered the pharmaceuticals industry which I have found to be very challenging and exciting. I am happily married and we have a seven year old son.

New Product and Service categories include:

Products & Services

P01. Business-to-Business Products
P02. Business-to-Business Services      
P03. Consumer Electronics
P04. Consumer Products
P05. Consumer Services
P06. Financial Services
P07. Hardware - Computer
P08. Hardware - Networking
...and many more. See all of them here.

Software

P30. Software - Asset Management Solution
P31. Software - Big Data Solution
P32. Software - Business or Competitive Intelligence Solution
P33. Software - Cloud Application/Service
P34. Software - Cloud Infrastructure
P35. Software - Cloud Platform
P36. Software - Cloud Storage & Backup Solution
P37. Software - Collaboration/Social Networking Solution
P38. Software - Content Management Solution
P39. Software - Corporate Learning/Workforce Development Solution
P40. Software - Electronic Commerce Solution
P41. Software - Financial Management Solution
...and many more. See all of them here.

Content
These categories recognize products, technology and services created by, or for, Media, Publishers and Information Services Providers.

P65. Content - Advertising or Campaign Management Platform
P66. Content - Aggregation Platform
P67. Content - Business Directory
P68. Content - Business Information Solution
P69. Content - Content Analytics Solution
P70. Content - Content Marketing Solution
P71. Content - Content Rights and Delivery Solution
P72. Content - Crowd Sourced Information Solution
P73. Content - eCommerce & Billing Platform
P74. Content - Financial & Market Data Information Solution
...and many more. See all of them here.

Education
These categories recognize applications, products and services from developers of educational software, digital content, online learning services, and related technologies across the K-20 sector.

S01. Education - Arts & Creativity Solution
S02. Education - Career and Workforce Readiness Solution
S03. Education - Classroom Management Solution
S04. Education - Collaborative Social Media Solution for Educators
S05. Education - Cross-Curricular Solution
S06. Education - Education Cloud-based Solution
S07. Education - ELL/World Language Acquisition Instructional Solution
S08. Education - Game-based Curriculum Solution
...and many more. See all of them here.

Information Technology categories include:

N01. Information Technology Department of the Year

N02. Information Technology Team of the Year

N03. Information Technology Executive of the Year

N04. Technical Professional of the Year: for non-executive technical professionals including software developers, web developers, technical writers, etc.  There is no entry fee for this category

Topics: American business awards, it awards, best new products, IT department of the year, best services

American Business Awards 2016: Marketing Awards Judging Committee

Posted by Maggie Gallagher on Tue, Apr 05, 2016 @ 05:07 PM

The Stevie Awards would like to thank the 2016 American Business Awards Marketing Awards judging chair and committee.

Now through the end of April, the professionals listed below will determine the Stevie Award winners in over 50 categories for marketing campaigns and professionals. See the full list of categories they will be reviewing at the end of the post.

It's not too late to submit your 2016 American Business Awards nominations. All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations -- public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. The 2016 awards honor achievements since the beginning of 2015.

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

Meet the judging chair and committee:

Chair:
16-ABA-MARKET-Chair-2.gif
Gina Ellis-Strother, Director of Marketing
Charleston County Park & Recreation Commission, Charleston, South Carolina, USA

Gina Ellis-Strother has been Director of Marketing for Charleston County Park & Recreation Commission since 2013.  She has had more than 20 years of experience in travel and technology marketing, and previous employers included American Airlines, SABRE, Worldspan, and Verizon Wireless. 

In 2015, the American Marketing Association of Charleston awarded Gina the Spark! Award for Marketer of the Year for her innovative rebranding and advertising work for Charleston County Parks. That same year, she was presented with the Gold Stevie Award for Marketer of the Year at the American Business Awards in Chicago. She is a member of the American Marketing Association, serves as an officer of the board at the Charleston Collegiate School, and continues to use her marketing expertise to support the nonprofit organization, The Parklands Foundation. 

Gina graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor Degree from
Hunter College at The City University of New York, and received a Master of Business Administration at The Citadel Military College of South Carolina. She presently lives in Charleston, SC with her husband Troy and daughter Gabrielle.

Committee:

Sana Baig, Vice President, Global Digital Marketing
Worldwide Clinical Trials, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, USA

Debra Bergevine Debra Bergevine, SVP, Marketing and Sales Operations
DCR Workforce, Inc., Boca Raton, Florida, USA
As Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of DCR Workforce, Debra is responsible for overseeing the company’s global marketing activities, driving sales excellence and go-to-market effectiveness. She has consulted with dozens of Fortune 500 companies, helping to shape their indirect procurement and workforce management programs.

Richard Black Richard Black, Managing Director
Momentum Worldwide, New York, New York, USA
With 25 years of experience in the integrated marketing industry, Richard is the General Manager of the NYC headquarters of Momentum Worldwide. He sets the vision for the leadership teams and is accountable for their development. A catalyst for innovation, Richard is a driving force behind Verizon, American Express, Porsche, Google and other businesses as well as business development within Momentum.

Deirdre Blackwood, Global Media & Analyst Relations
Accenture, Washington, D.C., USA

Julien Brandt Julien Brandt, CEO
OrganikSEO.com, Solana Beach, California, USA
Julien Brandt is the Founder & CEO of Organik SEO, a San Diego-based online marketing company that harnesses the power of SEO, social media and content marketing to help businesses increase their online exposure. Julien and his team of specialists manage search engine optimization projects, social media campaigns, web development projects and content marketing campaigns.

Leslie Cozatt Leslie Cozatt, CEO
Optum, Eden Prairie, Minnesota, USA
Director of Marketing, Provider - Thought Leadership & Content Strategy at Optum. Lead strategist in developing Optum's award-winning thought leadership & content strategy. Authored eBook on best integrated content marketing practices utilized throughout Optum.

Natalia Diaz Payton Natalia Diaz Payton, Marketing Specialist
Forte Payment Systems, Allen, Texas, USA
Natalia obtained a B.A. in Speech Communications with a minor in Ethnic Studies from Colorado State University. Her adaptability has enabled her to work in various fields including film, education, finance, sports and live entertainment. She has worked in tandem with some of the biggest event producers including Clear Channel Radio, The Grammy Museum at L.A. LIVE, Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE, STAPLES Center, JW Marriott Los Angeles L.A. LIVE, Los Angeles Clippers, LA Galaxy and the LA Kings.

Mary DiMaggio-Finley Mary DiMaggio-Finley, Senior Vice President
BioCentric Inc., Collingswood, New Jersey, USA
Ms. DiMaggio has more than 25 years of experience in a complete range of strategic multi-media health communication services for government programs, consumer awareness and health education, social marketing, partnership development and brand management. Ms. DiMaggio is the Senior Vice President of Government Relations for BioCentric Inc. a medical communications company.

Toby Eckhardt Toby Eckhardt, President
Focused Image, Falls Church, Virginia, USA
Toby Eckhardt is the founder of Focused Image, a communications firm that helps clients realize their business potential and growth opportunities through brand development, marketing, advertising and PR. Toby has developed strategic plans, award-winning designs, and highly creative campaigns brands such as Airbus, Bechtel, Black & Decker, CACI, CSC, Spirit Aerosystems and many others.

Christopher Faust Christopher Faust, Chief Marketing Officer
Qvidian, Chelmsford, Massachusetts, USA
Christopher Faust is an accomplished global marketing executive with deep domain expertise in the technology sector, and a proven track record with startup, venture-backed, and private equity based high growth companies. Mr. Faust is a thought leader presenting and writing on best practices in successful marketing and sales execution.

Jean Gea Jean Gea, Product Marketing Strategist
ESRI, Kirkland, Washington, USA
Experienced software marketer, passionate about tech and its ability to make positive, disruptive change in lives and livelihoods. Positioned products toward the cloud and SaaS licensing models. Lived, worked and studied on 3 continents. Effective, efficient and adaptable, honed through years of high-pressure marketing agency experience. INSEAD alumna.

Deanna Harms Deanna Harms, Executive Vice President
Greteman Group, Wichita, Kansas, USA
Clients naturally seek Deanna Harms counsel. Maybe its her solid background in journalism, public relations and account management. Or the smarts she brings to every challenge. She rolls up her suit-jacket sleeves, works with terrier-like tenacity and loves every moment. Deanna guides clients through choppy waters, from new-product rollouts in fiercely competitive markets to leveraging interactive media for brand building. Sonia and Deannas yin-yang creates a force that breaks down barriers and drives projects forward. Deanna ensures that we think through every project with equal attention to quality and outcomes, creating a responsive, resourceful, client-first team.

Gordon Hochhalter Gordon Hochhalter, Head of All Creation
Art Of It, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Gordon started life as a copywriter.Today he is the "Head of All Creation" at the Art Of It, a creative consultancy. Along the way he has been a Creative Director, Director Creative Development, Vice President Creative Director, Group Director / Integrated Marketing Communications Creative, Partner Creativitystrategyconnectivity, and Managing Partner.The proud owner of more than 450 creative awards from the likes of The One Show, Clio, Art Directors Club, Addy, Andy, New York Festivals, International Titan, Telly, CEBA, and Ace Awards, Gordon has also reinvented a very successful integrated branding firm not once but four times.

Chris Hook, Director, Global Marketing
AMD, Austin, Texas, USA

Erik Huberman Erik Huberman, CEO & Founder
Hawke Media, Santa Monica, California, USA
As the founder and CEO of Hawke Media, Erik Huberman is a serial entrepreneur and brand marketing consultant who founded, grew and sold three startups in the last eight years.

Allen Jernigan, President & CEO
My Marketing Department, Inc., Seminole, Florida, USA

Sean Kapoor Sean Kapoor, Vice President, Global Marketing
Harman International, Stamford, Connecticut, USA
Sean Kapoor serves as Vice President of Global Marketing at Harman International (NYSE:HAR). He leads the definition, expression and implementation of the company’s brand portfolio strategy across all customer touch points. In his role, he spearheads the conceptualization, development and execution of innovative and disruptive marketing strategies that drive consistent profitable growth for Harman's industry defining audio brands - JBL, Harman Kardon, Infinity and AKG.

Patrick King Patrick King, Founder & CEO
Imagine, Inc., Manassas, Virginia, USA
Patrick’s experience in branding, graphic design, website development, marketing technology and doodling has helped him win the company dozens of industry awards, including those from the Prince William County Chamber of Commerce, VEMA, Marcom and W3. Patrick serves on several boards of directors including those of Historic Manassas, Inc., Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) and the Manassas City Public Schools Education Foundation. He is on the advisory boards of the Greater Prince William Food Council and The New School.

Hao Kuo Hao Kuo, Marketing Manager
Aurico, Arlington Heights, Illinois, USA
Hao Kuo is the Marketing Manager for Aurico, a global leader in background screening and drug testing services. He has been with Aurico for 5 years developing marketing strategies to further the growth of the company leading to its recent acquisition by CareerBuilder.

Dan Lobring Dan Lobring, Managing Director, Communications
rEvolution, Chicago, Illinois, USA
A communications professional with more than 15 years of experience in public relations, sports and marketing, including work with leading global and national brands such as the America's Cup World Series Chicago, Continental Tire, ESPN, EA SPORTS and Travelers, as well as the Chicago Fire Soccer Club.

Acacia Mace Acacia Mace, Communications Specialist
OptumRx, Overland Park, Kansas USA
Acacia Mace is a communications specialist with a natural ability to promote ideas through written, verbal and nonverbal types of communication. She has a bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in marketing and is skilled in project management, internal communications and overcoming challenges with ease.

Ashley Mayhew Ashley Mayhew, Employer Brand Specialist
TD Bank, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Graduated with a Masters of Industrial Relations and Human Resources from U of T while working in the Employer Brand space- a true hybrid between HR and Marketing. Specialize in Branding, Online Marketing and Social Media strategy. Passionate about developing company brands and storytelling.

Diane Seay McNulty Diane Seay McNulty, Associate Dean for External Affairs and Corporate Development
Jindal School of Management, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas, USA
Dr. McNulty coordinates the marketing/pr, community, and corporate relations strategies at the Naveen Jindal School of Management, UT Dallas. She is editor-in-chief of MANAGEMENT and the Jindal School's eNewsletter, and teaches in the executive MBA and undergraduate programs for corporate governance and ethics. Dr. McNulty serves on the boards of several charitable and professional organizations nationwide.

Bruce D. Murdy Bruce D. Murdy, President
Rawle Murdy Associates Inc., Charleston, South Carolina, USA
Bruce Murdy is president of Rawle Murdy, a full service integrated marketing firm in Charleston, SC. Bruce started his career at top tier advertising firms in Tampa and Chicago before moving to Charleston in 1987. The digitally-savvy agency focuses on strategic development, with a vision of creating ideas that can change the future for their clients.

Beth Nathan Beth Nathan, Assistant Director of Marketing & Sales
South Carolina Aquarium, Charleston, South Carolina, USA
Beth began her career in the for profit space more than 15 years ago. Currently thriving in the non-profit world, Beth joined the South Carolina Aquarium for a second-stint in 2013 to run the marketing and sales teams implementing creative, results driven products that move the audiences of today and tomorrow.

Christopher Risheill Christopher Risheill, Senior Director of Communications and Events
Ohio AEYC, Westerville, Ohio, USA
A previous American Business Award winner himself, Chris works with the best for profit and non-profit organizations in the country because he is good enough, smart enough and gosh darn it, people like him!

David Rockenbaugh David Rockenbaugh, Senior Writer and Creative Director
AbbVie, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Award-winning people persuader and client delighter. Over 30 years in marketing communications as a creative director and writer for boutique and megatique agencies such as Ogilvy, Wunderman and Della Femina McNamee. Published four kudos-conferred family games and wrote a musical about Alfred Hitchcock wooing his blonds in Heaven.

Jean Romano Jean Romano, Marketing Specialist
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA
With 30+ years of advertising and marketing experience for industries such as telecommunications, pest control, tourism and healthcare, Romano has worked in both corporate and agency settings. She’s currently Marketing Specialist at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, where she develops and implements brand advertising and other marketing initiatives.

Vishal Sapra Vishal Sapra, Growth & Innovation
MRY, New York, NY, USA
Sitting at a quirky and awesome intersection of Madison Avenue, Wall Street, and Silicon Valley, I helped lead global new business and innovation efforts at MRY (formally Mr Youth), working with brands to assess their business needs and deploy digital and social media infrastructure, strategy, analytics, and content services.

Susan Saurage-Altenloh Susan Saurage-Altenloh, President & Chief Insights Officer
Saurage Research, Inc., Houston, Texas, USA
Susan employs creative research methodologies that deliver the "big ideas" for successful marketing strategies for planning and brand development. Susan surfs the early adoption curve of new techniques and methodologies and has won several national and regional awards for clever, unique research approaches to securing critical information for clients.

Tina Stafford Tina Stafford, Principal & Client Services Director
Stafford Creative Inc., Edmonds, Washington, USA
As agency principal and client services director, Tina is the lead project manager for all Stafford Creative projects and the primary client contact. Stafford Creative’s groundbreaking work for Seattle-based senior living management company, Leisure Care, has led to seven ABA Stevie Awards.

Nichole Stevens Nichole Stevens, Director of Marketing
Roper St. Francis, Charleston, South Carolina, USA
Nichole Stevens is Director of Marketing at Roper St. Francis, Charleston’s only private, not-for-profit health system. Nichole oversees Marketing, Corporate Communications/PR and the system’s Contact Center. Prior to Roper St. Francis, Nichole worked for Southern Regional Medical Center and Wellstar Health System both based in Atlanta, GA.

Scott Thomas, CEO
Exegan Music Group, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Molly Waring Molly Waring, Director of Media Relations
Explore Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina, USA
Molly Waring is the Director of Media Relations at the Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. During her four years with the CACVB, the Charleston area has won numerous awards, including Condé Nast Traveler Readers Choice #1 U.S. City Award for five consecutive years as well as Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best #1 U.S. City Award for three consecutive years. Throughout the year, Waring works with scores of editors, producers, photographers, and freelancers affiliated with publications worldwide.

Jake Wengroff Jake Wengroff, Founder/Director
JXB1 Social Business, West Palm Beach, Florida USA
Jake Wengroff is the founder of JXB1 Social Business and advises clients on the full spectrum of paid, owned and earned media strategies, including content marketing, social media, and analytics. Jake also reports on tech news and trends on Overnight America on CBS Radio.

Becky Wilson Becky Wilson, President & Chief Visibility Officer
WDS Marketing and PR, Overland, Kansas, USA
Becky S. Wilson is the Chief Visibility Officer at WDS Marketing & Public Relations, a boutique agency that uniquely utilizes media, accolades, awards, milestones, events and other prime public relations opportunities to help clients get known in the most positive, dynamic, profitable and highly enjoyable ways. Becky is a 2014 Kansas City Influential Women and Stevie Awards for Women honoree. Contact Becky Wilson @bwilson@wdspr.com. www.WDSPR.com

Gregory Wright, Gregory Wright, Director, Content Marketing
Association of National Advertisers, New York, New York, USA
Gregory Wight is a skilled marketing technologist with more than 12 years of experience in marketing, communications and advertising. He has an MBA in Marketing and a BS in Political Science and Geography. Currently with the Association of National Advertisers leading their marketing procurement and brand management events and content areas, he has extensive experience with marketing across a wide range of industries.

Didi Yunginger Didi Yunginger, CMO
LM Wolper Information Delivery, Easton, Pennsylvania, USA
Didi Yunginger plans and executes content marketing and social media for LM Wolper Information Delivery, a provider of subscriptions and related information services to academic and medical institutions, corporations, public and government libraries. Her prior experience includes B2B marketing for Rodale, Inc. sports magazines and magazine and newspaper writing.

Marketing Awards categories:

Marketing Campaign of the Year - Industry Categories

E01. Agricultural / Industrial / Building: for all related products, materials, tools and services.
E02. Automotive - Aftermarket: gasoline, motor oil, tires, batteries, paint, quick-lube, oil change, muffler, transmission, windshield wipers, enhancements, etc.
E03. Automotive - Vehicles: cars, trucks, motorcycles, both brand and model advertising.
E04. Beauty: cosmetics, fragrances, hair products, nail products, beauty services such as salons, spas, etc.
E05. Beverages - Alcohol: beer, champagne, liquor, wine, wine coolers, after dinner drinks, etc.
E06. Beverages - Non-Alcohol: diet and non-diet soda, coffee, tea, juices, milk, milk substitutes, bottled water, sparkling water, etc.
E07. Breakfast Foods: cereals and other foods intended primarily for breakfast consumption.
E08. Corporate Reputation/Professional Services: includes sponsorships, image & identity, communications to promote corporations, not exclusively their products. Includes business/professional services such as consulting, accounting, legal, employments, etc.
E09. Culture & The Arts: plays, museums, music organizations, concert series, cultural festivals, theater festivals, etc.
E10. Electronics: audio and/or video devices such as TVs, radios, mobile devices, home entertainment (DVD/Blu-ray players), cameras, computer hardware, game consoles, laptops, tablets, sound systems, etc.

...and many more.

Marketing Campaign of the Year - Specialty Categories

E40. Brand Experience of the Year - Business-to-Business: recognizing work that reaches out to business audiences to establish meaningful relationships, memorable, engaging experiences, and unique connections with their brands.
E41. Brand Experience of the Year - Consumer: recognizing work that reaches out to consumer audiences to establish meaningful relationships, memorable, engaging experiences, and unique connections with their brands.
E42. Mobile Marketing Campaign of the Year: for campaigns targeted to consumers' mobile devices.
E43. Branded Content Campaign of the Year: recognizing work that has used branded content - original or sponsored - to reach out to audiences to establish meaningful relationships, memorable, engaging experiences, and unique connections with their brands.
E44. Online Marketing Campaign of the Year: for campaigns that were conducted in their entirety online.
E45. New Product or Service Introduction of the Year: for campaigns conducted to introduce a new product or service to the U.S. market.
E46. Small-Budget Marketing Campaign of the Year (<$3 million)
E47. Viral Marketing Campaign of the Year: for campaigns that used word-of-mouth, video stunts, and other viral tactics as their primary means of communication.
E48. Youth Marketing Campaign of the Year: for campaigns that targeted the youth market (up to age 24).

Marketing Professional Categories

E50. Marketing or Advertising Agency of the Year
E51. Marketing Department of the Year
E52. Marketing Team of the Year
E53. Marketing Executive of the Year
E54. Marketer of the Year: recognizing non-executive marketing professionals.  There is no entry fee for this category

 

Topics: The American Business Awards, business awards, marketing awards, American business awards, marketing campaign of the year, best marketing, award marketing, best marketing campaign

American Business Awards 2016: HR Awards Judging Committee

Posted by Maggie Gallagher on Thu, Mar 31, 2016 @ 04:06 PM

Today's American Business Awards judging chair and committee spotlight is for the HR Awards committee. This team of 8 will determine who takes home Stevie Awards in the three Human Resources Awards categories.

Speaking of human resources, have you heard about the Stevie Awards for Great Employers yet? Check it out here. More details to come soon.

If you are interested in submitting your HR team, department, or executive in The American Business Awards, you still have time. The final deadline has been extended to April 19.

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

HR Awards Chair:

16-ABA-HR-Chair-1.gifNarasimhan Srinivasan, Vice President & Head of Human Resources
Tata Consultancy Services, Edison, New Jersey, USA

Narasimhan Srinivasan (Narsi) is the Vice President and Head of Human Resources for Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in North America. He has been with TCS for the last 22 years. Narsi’s career spans 27 years, and during that time, he has played multiple roles in Delivery, Business Development and Human Resources areas in the IT Industry. He has been working in Human Resources for the last 9 years. His key roles at TCS include Global Head of Learning and Development, Head of Organizational Effectiveness, HR Director– APAC, Regional Manager–Bristol, UK, and Client Partner for Standard Chartered Bank, Target, AXA, and Nedcor Relationships.

Narsi graduated from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India, with a Master of
Science (Hons.) Chemistry, and a Master of Science (Technology) Computer Science in 1985. Narsi is very much interested in sports and plays cricket and golf.

Committee:

John Christian, Director, Human Resources
Tata Chemicals North America Inc., Rockaway, New Jersey, USA

Minerva GarciaMinerva Garcia, Vice President of Human Resources
Accordant Media, New York, New York, USA
Minerva M.Garcia is the Vice President of Human Resources at Accordant Media. She is responsible for all human resource functions for Accordant Media. Her areas of responsibility include recruitment and staffing, benefits, leadership development, performance management, training, and employee relations.

Meghan Hill Meghan Hill, Director of Human Resources
Builder Homesite, Austin, Texas, USA
Progressive and dynamic Human Resources Leader with 16 years of experience.

Robert Klein Robert Klein, President
Robert Klein and Associates & DeSales University's MBA Program, Harleysville, Pennsylvania, USA
Bob is an adjunct professor at the DeSales University's MBA School. He has served as an adjunct professor at Philadelphia University, California State University and UCLA. He has also served as Director of Global Training for Pfizer and Director of National Training for Nabisco. He earned an MBA from California State University. At Pfizer, he trained more than 5,000 executives in 40 different countries in a dozen different languages.

Rodney Morris Rodney Morris, Senior Vice President
The Elliot Group, San Francisco, California, USA
Executive leader with extensive expertise in the vision, design, and implementation of human capital strategy from emerging concepts to high-growth corporations and from quick service restaurants to polished casual dining working across the private, private equity, and public company domains.

Kirk Musselman Kirk Musselman, Director, Human Resources
Cars.com, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Kirk provides HR leadership and services that help fuel the continued growth of one of the Internet's premier, original digital media companies.

Tracy Tran Tracy Tran, Sourcer and Social Media Specialist
The HR SOURCE, Fairfax, Virginia, USA
Tracy has been in the recruiting/HR field for twelve years. Tracy currently works for The HR Source.

Topics: human resource awards, Human Resources Team of the Year, Human Resources Executive of the Year, American business awards, Human Resource Department of the Year

American Business Awards 2016: Website and App Awards Judging Committee

Posted by Maggie Gallagher on Tue, Mar 29, 2016 @ 05:13 PM

The Stevie Awards would like to thank the 2016 American Business Awards Website and App Awards judging committee. Now through the end of April, the professionals listed below will determine the Stevie Award winners in over 55 categories for websites and apps.

It's not too late to submit your 2016 American Business Awards nominations. All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations -- public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. The 2016 awards honor achievements since the beginning of 2015.

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

Meet the judging chair and committee:

Chair:

Eric Farr, Principal
BrainStorm, Inc., American Fork, Utah, USA

16-ABA-WEB-Chair1-1.gifEric Farr is a Principal at BrainStorm, Inc., a leading provider of end-user adoption and change management solutions. BrainStorm’s mission is to change the way the world works. On top of changing the way the world works, BrainStorm is known for being one of the best places to work in the country. BrainStorm was named to Outside’s Best Places to Work for the fourth consecutive year, three time Utah Business Best Companies, and was featured twice on Fortune.com for being one of the 100 best places to work for both women and camaraderie in the nation. Corporate culture isn’t the only award-winning aspect of the company: BrainStorm has also been recognized by Microsoft, Zip Recruiter, and, of course, the Stevies for their outstanding products and services.

Eric, recently named one of the Ten Coolest Entrepreneurs by Utah Valley Business Q Magazine, has over 20 years of experience in entrepreneurship and business leadership, and has been instrumental in building BrainStorm’s unique relationships with its customers and partners. 
In Eric’s free time you can find him exploring each corner of the world, often on a motorcycle.

Eric was thrilled to have BrainStorm honored in the 2015 Stevie Awards and is looking forward to being the Chair of the committee judging the Website and App Awards for the 14th annual American Business Awards.

Committee:

Radhika Alla, Mobile Channel Manager
Cigna, Austin, Texas, USA

Bruce MastersonChristy Belden, Director of Digital Marketing
Norton Healthcare, Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Christy Belden is Director of Digital Marketing at Norton Healthcare in Louisville, Kentucky. Christy has worked in digital marketing for 10 years working across all things digital – SEO, PPC, Social Media, Email, Display Advertising, and Mobile. She speaks, writes and teaches courses on all matters of digital marketing. Christy has a MBA and a MS from the University of Louisville. Connect with Christy at @christy_belden

Stephen Berner Stephen Berner, SVP, New Business & Corporate Marketing
The Biondo Group, Stamford, Connecticut, USA
30 years in marketing and publishing has allowed Stephen Berner the opportunity to lead high-profile marketing programs, ranging from visual identity, brand development and retail environmental to magazine relaunches, major consumer events, as well as product packaging programs and a range of interactive initiatives for an exceedingly diverse client list.

Lee Caswell Lee Caswell, Vice President, Product, Solution & Services Marketing
NetApp, Sunnyvale, California, USA
Lee Caswell is vice president of Product, Solutions and Services Marketing at NetApp, where he leads a team that speeds the customer adoption of new products, partnerships, and integrations. Lee joined NetApp in 2014 and has extensive experience in executive leadership within the storage, flash and virtualization markets. Lee holds a bachelor of arts degree in economics from Carleton College and a master of business administration degree from Dartmouth College.

Suzanne Darmory Suzanne Darmory, Executive Creative Director
Acxiom Impact, New York, New York, USA
Suzanne has over 20 years of international, award-winning experience creating groundbreaking integrated solutions for highly recognizable clients at world-class agencies. Suzanne is currently Executive Creative Director at Acxiom, responsible for setting the overall strategy of Acxiom Impact creative agency, advising clients on creative strategy, and leading business development for the agency while strengthening the creative offering and growing the creative business.

Joy Deep Nath Joy Deep Nath, Co-Founder
Splash Math, Mountain View, California, USA
Joy Deep Nath is a computer science engineer turned entrepreneur who believes in harnessing the power of mobile and web technologies to create useful products and profitable businesses. Having founded two edtech startups, Joy has taken up roles from writing code to, marketing to biz dev and partnerships to successfully grow his companies.

Frankie DiCarlantonio III Frankie DiCarlantonio III, Director of Business Operations
Scaffidi Restaurant Group, Steubenville, Ohio, USA
Frank is the Director of Business Operations for the Scaffidi Restaurant Group, overseeing four divisions of an ever-expanding food service corporation. He is also involved multiple community and civic organizations as well as attends school full time to further his education with graduate studies.

Frances McCutchonFrances McCutchon, Director of Marketing
PFL.com, Bozeman, Montana, USA
Passionate about data driven marketing that creates relevant, compelling customer experiences and drives top line revenue.

Ananda Jagoda Ananda Jagoda, Chief Creative Officer
Smart Media, The Annual Report Company, Singapore
Ananda Jagoda is Chief Creative Officer at Smart Media The Annual Report Company. Over the past twenty years he has led creative and strategic teams on numerous award-winning projects in the field of Corporate Communications.

JP Jones JP Jones, Co-Founder
Collipsis Web Solutions, Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, USA
Creative Director + Freelancer + Web Designer + Graphic Artist + Teacher = Never a Dull Moment! JP Jones is a serial entrepreneur with four successful start ups under her belt. Author of several books, JP utilizes her experiences in business to teach and mentor others. Staying on top of business is her job, teaching it to others is her passion.

Joseph Kennedy Joseph Kennedy, Director: Architecture, Integration & Mobile Development
PwC, Boston, Massachusetts USA
Joe leads Architecture, Integration and Mobile Development capabilities serving PwC's Financial Services clients

Frank Laudo Frank Laudo, Creative Director
Independent Creative Director, Dallas, Texas, USA
Frank is an International award-winning Creative Director, creative leader with 35 years of innovation and success in brand building and bottom-line results through general, direct and experiential marketing.

Mia Mabanta Mia Mabanta, Direct of Marketing and Revenue Products
Quartz, New York, New York, USA
Mia Mabanta is Quartz’s director of marketing and revenue products. Mia has spent her career bringing innovative business strategies to different industries, first at the Brookings Institution, where she advised private and public sector leaders on underserved markets, and later by helping to start HelloWallet, an award-winning financial guidance service that was acquired by Morningstar. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, Harvard Business Review, and others. Mia has a BA from Colgate University and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Andrea Meyer Andrea Meyer, PR & Corporate Communications
Chicago, Illinois USA
Andrea Meyer has worked on both the agency and client side of PR with internal communications and marketing in the mix. Andrea has had the privilege to work on a host of stellar brands including Cartier, Lucasfilm, Montblanc, Sony (the North American launch of the PlayStation), Verizon, Weber and Toyota.

Ursula Milan Ursula Milan, E-commerce Manager, Technology and Operations Initiatives
MoMA, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York, USA
Ursula Milan leads E-Commerce Technology & Operations Initiatives at The Museum of Modern Art. She was recently involved in MoMA Store redesign work that involved content and Javascript optimization, building new UI that attracts sales, bug fixing as well as third-party software integration.

Sarah Miller Sarah Miller, CEO
Axis PR & Entertainment, Los Angeles, California, USA
Sarah Miller is the CEO of Axis PR & Entertainment, a high profile PR and Event firm for the Entertainment and Technology Industry. Sarah is one of th most influential leaders in tech and entertainment. Axis has won numerous industry awards for its work with start ups and brands alike. Axis also owns and produces the Mobile Excellence Awards, now in its 9th year, MEA Europe and Hute-Tech Runway show.

Nick Padley Nick Padley, Director of Training
C2D Learning, Overland Park, Kansas, USA
Serving as Director of Learning, Nick works with and trains new clients for success with implementing their online learning courses.

Jessica Puchala Jessica Puchala, Communications Manager
GED Testing Services, Washington, D.C., USA
I'm an award winning social media strategist with 17 years of professional communications experience. I've worked in various industries including television news, crisis management and state government.

Barry Reicherter Barry Reicherter, SVP-Partner, Director of Insights
Finn Partners, Washington, D.C., USA
With more than 20 years experience in digital marketing, Barry leads Finn Partners’ Insights team focusing on online and social media research, analytics, planning and measurement for clients operating in consumer, healthcare, education, government, public affairs, travel and technology sectors. Holding positions at AOL, Porter Novelli, Active.com, Sage Software, Widmeyer Communications and Finn Partners, Barry’s body of work has been focused in the digital strategy and measurement for clients such as Hyundai, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Steelcase, Rosetta Stone, HP, Nestlé, Pfizer, Chase, Pearson, and Reed-Elsevier.

John Richards John Richards, Founder/CEO
FirstStep Capital, LLC, Provo, Utah, USA
Entrepreneur (multiple multi-million dollar exists including a IPO), angel investor (hundreds of investments), educator (BYU), and mentor. Expert in lean startup and startup companies.

Cory Taylor Cory Taylor, Customer Experience, Senior Manager
Cory Taylor, Brooklyn, New York, USA
Over the past decade, Cory Taylor has led customer experience teams within leading startups and products. Companies include Webs, Squarespace and Vistaprint. He's implemented organizational structures, processes, channel development and metrics for two core goals - product feedback and operational efficiency.

Matthew Toren Matthew Toren, Co-Founder
YoungEntrepreneur.com, Scottsdale, Arizona USA
Matthew Toren is an award winning Author, Serial Entrepreneur, Mentor & Investor. Co-Founder of iSmallBusiness.com and YoungEntrepreneur.com which was acquired by Entrepreneur Media in 2011. Adam, along with his brother Matthew currently own and operate a successful media company which includes several online companies. The brothers are the authors of the award winning book: Kidpreneurs.org. Their latest book is called Small Business BIG Vision - Lessons on How to Dominate Your Market from Self-Made Entrepreneurs Who Did it Right - SBBV.com.

Karri Van Dell Karri Van Dell, Vice President & Director, Sales & Marketing
Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, New York, New York, USA
Karri is responsible for strategically growing the business by nurturing relationships with new clients and partnerships interested in tailored and flexible services and by spearheading Continental Stock Transfer & Trust’s brand and marketing efforts. She has more than 28 years of service in the industry, most notably 23 years with a Fortune 500 financial institution.She is a member of NASPP, SSA and NIRI and President of Midwest Securities Transfer Association.

Marie Wiese Marie Wiese, President & Founder
Marketing CoPilot, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Marie Wiese is founder of Marketing CoPilot, a leading Canadian digital marketing agency that helps companies’ increase sales using digital and content marketing. She is an entrepreneur, keynote speaker, mother and writer. Marie has spoken at industry events for the Canadian Marketing Association and Marketing Sherpa in the United States.

Stafford Wood Stafford Wood, Principal & Founder
Covalent Logic, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA
Stafford Wood works at the intersection of technology, design and PR as founder of Covalent Logic. The digital public relations firm recently won 17 awards from the AAF including three Best-In-Show awards for Copywriting, Integrated Campaign, and Interactive. She was also named Junior Achievement’s Young Businessperson of the Year.

Website Awards categories:

F07.    Accounting
F08.    Advertising, Marketing, & Public Relations
F09.    Aerospace & Defense
F10.    Automotive & Transport Equipment
F11.    Banking
F12.    Business Services
F13.    Chemicals
F14.    Computer Hardware
F15.    Computer Software
F16.    Computer Services
F17.    Conglomerates
F18.    Consumer Products - Durables
F19.    Consumer Products - Non-Durables
F20.    Diversified Services
F21.    Electronics
F22.    Energy
F23.    Financial Services
F24.    Food & Beverage
F25.    Health Products & Services
F26.    Hospitality & Leisure
F27.    Insurance
F28.    Legal
F29.    Manufacturing
F30.    Materials & Construction
F31.    Media & Entertainment
F32.    Metals & Mining
F33.    Non-Profit Organizations
F34.    Pharmaceuticals
F35.    Real Estate
F36.    Retail
F37.    Telecommunications
F38.    Transportation
F39.    Utilities

Specialty Categories

F40. Best Interface Design
F41. Best Web Software Programming/Design
F42. Best Web Writing/Content
F43. Best Home/Welcome Page
F44. Best Investor Relations Site
F45. Best Overall Web Design
F46. Best Online Press Room
F47. Best Training Site
F48. Best Use of Video or Moving Image
F49. Best Facebook Page
P50. Best Use of Instagram
P51. Best Twitter Feed

App Awards categories:

F55. Business/Government
F56. Education & Reference
F57. Entertainment
F58. Events
F59. Experimental & Innovation
F60. Games
F61. Guides/Ratings/Reviews
F62. Integrated Mobile Experience
F63. Lifestyle
F64. Marketing
F65. Music
F66. News
F67. Professional Education
F68. Shopping
F69. Social
F70. Sports
F71. Training
F72. Travel
F73. Utilities & Services

Topics: Best Apps, app awards, website awards, American business awards, best websites

American Business Awards 2016: Customer Service and Support Awards Judging Committee

Posted by Maggie Gallagher on Mon, Mar 28, 2016 @ 05:50 PM

The Stevie Awards would like to recognize The 2016 American Business Awards Customer Service and Support Awards judging committee. These category groups are small but mighty. Learn a bit more about the professionals in these categories who will determine the Stevie Award winners.

There is still time to submit your nominations in the customer service and support awards categories. The final  entry deadline has been extended to Tuesday, April 19.

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

Judging Chair:

Steve Fulmer, Senior Vice President of Government Guaranteed Lending
First GREEN Bank, Orlando, Florida, USA

16_ABA_CS_Chair-1.jpgSteve Fulmer is the Senior Vice President of Government Guaranteed Lending at First GREEN Bank, a “local bank with a global mission” that endeavors to do the right thing for the environment, and the company’s people, community, and shareholders. Steve oversees all Small Business Administration and US Department of Agriculture Business Lending in Florida for the bank.

Steve has over 8 years experience in banking in Central Florida. He currently serves on the executive board of the Oviedo/Winter Springs Chamber and the steering chairman for Future Leaders of CREW Orlando. 

Steve has a Master’s Degree of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix and is a US Army veteran.

Judging Committee:

Ricardo Barreras, Senior Manager of Efficiency and Effectiveness
Locus Telecommunications, LLC, Fort Lee, New Jersey, USA
Proud veteran of our U.S. Armed Forces and 25+ year veteran of the support industry, to include both front-line [retail sales] and back-office [administrative, operational and bi-lingual customer relations].

Emilia DAnzica Emilia DAnzica, Senior Director, Customer Success
WalkMe, San Francisco, California, USA
Emilia DAnzica is the VP of Customer Engagement at WalkMe, the worlds first enterprise guidance and enablement platform. Her primary goal is to ensure customer success and to share customer stories.

Ana Degani Goes, Regional Director of Customer Service, Americas Region
DHL Express, Plantation, Florida, USA

Sandra Finn Sandra Finn, President
Cross Country Home Services, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA
Sandra Finn has been awarded numerous Stevie and other awards during her 15 year tenure as President of Cross Country Home Services, a national home services company. The companys success reflects her expertise in Marketing, Customer Experience, and development and execution of significant new products, clients, and technologies.

Vernessa W. Gates, Chief Compliance Officer
V & W Compliance Group, Columbus, Ohio, USA

Lisa GregovichLisa Gregovich, Manager, Vendor Operations
Prime Therapeutics, Irving, Texas, USA
Lisa Gregovich is an experienced call center/customer service leader who has held leadership positions at a diverse selection of contact centers over the last 10 years, including Prime Therapeutics, Paychex (ePlan Services) and Time Warner Cable. Lisa has over 15 years of contact center and customer service experience. In addition, she has a MBA, serviced on the Board of Directors for CSAE and has been a judge for the Stevie awards since 2010.

Seth Hall Seth Hall, Vice President, Customer Service
Philadelphia Insurance Companies, Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania USA
Experienced Service Operations leader with deep expertise in navigating change, leading larger service operations while realizing significant and sustainable results.

Batul Hasan Batul Hasan, CEO
BSH Consultants, Karachi, Pakistan
Started my career as a Clinical Psychologist, taught at University of Karachi. With training in Business Management, moved to Unilever Pakistan and continued for 17 years. In 2004 started own Consultancy firm for Marketing Research which is growth to success.

Kevin Hegebarth Kevin Hegebarth, Vice President, Marketing
HireIQ Solutions, Inc., Alpharetta, Georgia, USA
Kevin is experienced in marketing technology solutions to improve the recruiting, hiring, performance, and quality of customer service professionals. He has held executive marketing, product management and business development roles with leading companies serving the customer contact market. He is a frequent contributor to industry publications and is a sought-after speaker at industry events.

Parag Jaripatke Parag Jaripatke, Senior Systems Administrator
AOL, Inc., Ashburn, Virginia, USA
Result oriented professional equipped with 19 years of core Ecommerce, B2B and B2C domains. Background includes managing extensive critical top notch high end applications and systems spread across global infrastructures.

Deb Matthews Deb Matthews, Vice President, Customer Experience
nexVortex, Herndon, Virginia, USA
Deb has extensive experience in both the telecommunications industry and customer care and helpdesks. Prior to joining nexVortex, she oversaw BAEs service desk, which was responsible for serving the needs of 53,000 employees all day, every day. She has worked at multiple telecom organizations including Neustar, Startec Global, and Teligent.

Thomas Moor Thomas Moor, Global Director, Strategy and Planning
Sartomer, Exton, Pennsylvania, USA
With over 20 years of experience, developing strategy and leading global business teams in specialty chemicals, Tom brings a unique perspective to the judging process. Tom holds an MBA from Villanova University and has spent post-graduate time in executive education at Harvard Business School.

Lou Reinemann Lou Reinemann, Director, Customer Care and Documentation
SmartBear Software, Somerville, Massachusetts, USA
Lou has run service organizations with technology companies in the Boston area for over 25 years. With companies ranging in size from startups to Fortune 500 companies, he has built and lead pre- and post-sales technical service teams focused on outstanding customer service.

Kim Seney Kim Seney, Marketing Operations Excecutive
CSAA Insurance Group, San Francisco, California, USA
Kim Seney leads the Marketing Operations team at CSAA, a AAA company. Prior to AAA, she was Director of Operations at APS, responsible for the customer service needs of one million electric customers throughout Arizona, where her team received the 2005 Stevie Award for excellence in Customer Service and Communications.

Sunil Wadhwa, Vice President, Customer Success
Druva, Sunnyvale, California, USA

Teresa Waller Teresa Waller, Broker / Owner
Blue Sky Telecom Brokers, Bakersfield, California, USA
Teresa is the Broker-Owner of Blue Sky Telecom Brokers, a company that takes a consultative approach to helping businesses choose the right Telecom or Cloud provider for their business. With over 30 years in the industry Teresa prides herself on making things a little easier for her clients.

The customer service awards categories to be judged are:

J01. Customer Service Department of the Year

J02. Customer Service Team of the Year

J03. Customer Service Executive of the Year

The support awards categories to be judged are:

R01. Support Department of the Year

R02. Support Team of the Year

R03. Support Staffer of the Year: recognizing non-executive support personnel, including office managers, administrative assistants, secretaries, maintenance professionals, etc.  There is no entry fee for this category

See the listing of all 2016 American Business Awards judging committees here.


 

Topics: support awards, best customer service, customer service awards, American business awards, customer service department of the year, support team of the year