The Stevie Awards, the world's premier business awards programs, have just published a brochure about 2015 sponsorship opportunities.

READ THE BROCHURE HERE

The brochure outlines the opportunities associated with our six awards programs in 2015, including the newest program - the German Stevie Awards.

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

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

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

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

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

• Tickets for the sponsored awards banquet

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

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

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

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

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

Other Grand Stevie Winners Include AMD, Makovsky, MWW, and Slack and Company

The Stevie® Awards held one of its awards galas for its 12^th annual American Business Awards competition on Friday night, and announced the winners of its Grand Stevie Award trophies.

Quality Systems of Irvine, CA received the Grand Stevie for organization of the year, for earning the most award points in The 2014 American Business Awards.  Other top ABA Grand Stevie winners include Makovsky for interactive services agency of the year, Slack and Company for marketing agency of the year, and MWW for public relations agency of the year.  This is the second year in a row that Makovsky, Slack and Company, and MWW have won those awards.

The Grand Stevie Awards were presented to the organizations that submitted the best body of entries to The American Business Awards this year, in their own name or in the names of one or more clients.  The organizations with the most points won, with a Gold Stevie Award win counting for three points, a Silver Stevie win for two points, and a Bronze Stevie win counting for 1.5 points.

Besides Quality Systems, Makovsky, MWW and Slack and Company, Grand Stevies were also awarded to the 10 other organizations with the most points in the 2014 competition.  They are

1. AMD
2. USANA Health Sciences
3. AT&T
4. Accenture
5. CallidusCloud
6. Engility
7. PAN Communications
8. Lewis PR
9. Jeunesse Global
10. John Hancock Signature Services

Friday’s gala, focused on new product awards, website awards, and other tech awards, was the second of two American Business Awards ceremonies this year.  The first ceremony took place in Chicago on June 13 and honored winners in disciplines such as customer service, human resources, corporate communications, live events, publications, and selected categories for company/organization, management and marketing. 

The American Business Awards honor an all-inclusive spectrum of American business people and organizations -- from non-profits, emerging start-ups, major public companies and government agencies, to corner-office executives, product developers, marketers and web development teams.

More than 260 executives attended Friday’s event at San Francisco’s Palace Hotel.  Stevie Awards were conferred in three levels of distinction: Gold, Silver and Bronze.  See the blog post issued earlier today for a summary of the other Stevie Award winners.

For a complete list of all 2014 American Business Awards’ Stevie Award winners visit  www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

More than 3,300 entries were submitted to The 2014 American Business Awards and more than 240 executives nationwide participated in judging to determine this year’s Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners. 

Entries for The 2015 American Business Awards will be accepted starting in October.

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

Sponsors and partners of The 2014 American Business Awards include Biz Talk Radio, CallidusCloud, Citrix Online, Cvent, Engility, John Hancock, LycaMobile, PetRays, and Softpro.

AT&T Tops Gold Stevie® Winners; Quality Systems Wins Grand Stevie for Company of the Year

The 12^th Annual American Business Awards^SM announced Stevie® Award winners on Friday at its event focused on outstanding new products and services and on achievements in technology industries.

Friday’s gala was the second of two American Business Awards ceremonies this year.  The first took place in Chicago on June 13 and honored winners in disciplines such as customer service, human resources, corporate communications, live events, publications, and selected categories for company/organization, management and marketing.  Winners in all new product awards and technology-related categories were announced at the event in San Francisco on Friday.

The American Business Awards honor an all-inclusive spectrum of American business people and organizations -- from non-profits, emerging start-ups, major public companies and government agencies, to corner-office executives, product developers, marketers and web development teams.

More than 260 executives attended Friday’s awards banquet at San Francisco’s Palace Hotel.  Stevie Awards were conferred in four levels of distinction: Grand, Gold, Silver and Bronze.

The Grand Stevies were awarded to the organizations who received the most awards overall – Gold, Silver or Bronze – in the ABAs this year.  Quality Systems of Irvine, CA was presented with the Grand Stevie for Organization of the Year.  The winners of the other Grand Stevie Awards will be named in a followup press release today.

AT&T, Inc. was the top Gold Stevie winner on Friday, with four.  Winners of two Gold Stevies include Accenture, Agiliance, Akavit, Engility, Haneke Design, MarketLive, MicroStrategy, Spingo, VeriFone, Vimeo, and WillowTree Apps.

Notable Gold Stevie Award Winners announced on Friday include:

­   Information Technology Executive of the Year: Jake Dominguez, CIO of AMD

­   Company of the Year - Computer Software - More Than 250 Employees: Bigcommerce

­   Fastest Growing Tech Company of the Year - Up to 2,500 Employees: BrightRoll

­   Best Training App: Microsoft Corporation’s FY14 Standards of Business Conduct Training

­   Best Pharmaceuticals Website: The Navicor Group

­   Executive of the Year - Computer Software - Up to 500 Employees: Jahangir Mohammed, Founder & CEO of Jasper

­   Tech Innovation of the Year - At Organizations With Up to 100 Employees: Newlight Technologies commercial scale-up of carbon-negative plastic

­   New Health & Pharmaceuticals Service of the Year: Optum’s ACO Solutions Market Launch

­   New Peripheral Hardware Product of the Year: Epson America’s BrightLink Pro

­   New Industrial Product or Service of the Year: World Water Work's DEMON Process

­   New Content Management Solution of the Year: AirWatch’s Secure Content Locker

For a complete list of The 2014 American Business Awards winners announced Friday visit  www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

Winners of the People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products, which were determined by more than 57,000 votes in July and August, were announced in August and presented their crystal People’s Choice Stevie Awards on Friday.

More than 3,300 entries were submitted to The 2014 American Business Awards and more than 240 executives nationwide participated in judging to determine this year’s Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners. 

Entries for The 2015 American Business Awards will be accepted starting in October.

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

Sponsors and partners of The 2014 American Business Awards include Biz Talk Radio, CallidusCloud, Citrix Online, Cvent, Engility, John Hancock, LycaMobile, PetRays, and Softpro.

The second part of The 12th Annual American Business Awards, the premier business awards program in the U.S.A., will take place this Friday evening in San Francisco.  Tickets are still on sale.

A few years ago the ABAs were split into two ceremonies.  The first ceremony this year took place on June 13 in Chicago, where Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie® Awards were conferred in categories for human resources awards, customer service awards, most of the marketing awards, PR awards, video awards, live event awards, publication awards, and many of the management awards and company awards categories.

This Friday evening, September 12 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, we'll present Stevies in the categories for websites, apps, IT, new products and services, and for management and organizational excellence in all technology-related industries.

We're expecting more than 250 executives from nominated executives to attend.  Get a PDF of the awards banquet program book here.

The results will be published at www.StevieAwards.com/ABA late Friday night.  The ceremony will be taped for broadcast by the BizTalkRadio network on the following Friday, the 19th, at 8:00 pm ET.

So who's coming this to this Friday's awards gala?  Here's the confirmed list as of this moment.

Acxiom Corporation
Adgistics
ADTRAN
Agiliance
AKQA
Altitude Digital
AMD
American Express Global Business Travel
Anametrix
AOL Inc
Applause
Articulate
AT&T
Automotive Research and Design
Avention
Bloomberg BNA
Bloomberg LP
Blue Wheel Media
Boeing
BP Logix
Brainshark, Inc.
CallidusCloud
Capital One ShareBuilder
CD2 Learning
Celtra Inc
Cigna
Cisco Systems
Citrix
Cognizant Technology Solutions
Company
Connect2 Communications
Constant Contact
CoverMyMeds
Credit Sesame, Inc
CyrusOne
DataRPM
Dell Software
Digital Life Group / WillowTree Apps
DISYS LLC
Domo
Drawbridge Inc.
EffectiveUI
Engility
Experian
Fieldglass
FlightScope
General Electric
GPS Insight
Graco Inc.
Hospitality eBusiness Strategies DBA HeBS Digital
Innography
INSZoom.com
Interactions
Internap
Intrepid Learning
ion interactive
Jeunesse Global
John Hancock Signature Services
KEO Marketing Inc
KidoZen
Makovsky
MarketLive
Marvell Semiconductor
Merchant Warehouse
MicroStrategy Inc.
Mohu
Navicor Group
NetScout Systems, Inc.
NuCompass Mobility Services
OmniTI Computer Consulting Inc
One Eighty/Leisure Care
OrionVM
OrthoAccel Technologies, Inc.
Peel
PGi
Pluralsight
Prism Skylabs
ProcessPro
ProProfs.com
Protection 1
Qless, Inc.
Quality Systems, Inc.
QUEsocial
Responsys
Sales Intellect Company
SciQuest
SCRA
Secure Cloud Systems
Signet Interactive
SoftPro
Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC
SpinGo
Stoneware, Inc.
SunGard Availability Services
SYSPRO USA
Talari Networks
Tanis Communications
Telerik
Temperature@lert
The Hybrid Shop
ThinkTank
Thomson Reuters
TIAA-CREF
Tire Business / Crain Communications
Tollgrade
TriNet
UberConference
UBM Tech
UnitedHealthcare
USANA Health Sciences, Inc
VeriFone
VerticalResponse
Videology
Vinci Education Corp
wefi, inc.
Wheels Inc
Workiva
Workplace Answers
World Water Works, Inc.
Xora, a ClickSoftware Company
Zendesk Inc.

Questions about the ABAs?  Don't hesitate to contact us. 

The 2015 American Business Awards will open for entries in October.  Get the entry kit!Get the entry kit!

Awards to Be Presented at Gala Ceremony on September 12 in San Francisco

CD2 Learning is the top winner in the 2014 People's Choice Stevie® Awards for Favorite New Products, a feature of The American Business Awards, the U.S.A.’s top business awards program, which are now in their 12th year.

The nationwide public vote was conducted this summer, with the highest number of votes deciding the winners in 42 product categories. More than 57,000 votes were cast.

CD2 Learning, the Overland Park, KS –based developer of a cloud-based learning architecture, is the winner of People’s Choice Stevie Awards in four categories.  NetScout Systems, Inc., the Westford, MA –based provider of integrated computer network performance management products, won People’s Choice Stevie Awards in three categories.  Winners of two People’s Choice Stevie Awards include CardioVet, Dell Software, MicroStrategy, Inc., Other World Computing, and Telerik.

The crystal People’s Choice Stevie Awards will be presented to winners at The American Business Awards’ new product and tech awards banquet on Friday, September 12 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. Tickets for the event are now on sale. There, the winners of peer-adjudicated Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Awards will also be announced and presented their awards. More than 250 nominees and their guests are expected to attend.

All new products and services recognized as Finalists in the new product awards categories of this year’s American Business Awards were eligible to be included in voting for the people’s choice awards.

The winners of the 2014 People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products are:

Business-to-Business Product: NCR Small Business’s NCR Silver Small Business Platform
Business-to-Business Service: Dealer.com Unified Advertising Exchange
Consumer Electronics: Other World Computing's DIY Hard Drive Upgrade Kit for PlayStation 4
Consumer Product: LIMU's BLU FROG 2
Consumer Services: The Hybrid Shop
Financial Services: Engility's Secure Payment System for the U.S. Treasury
Hardware - Networking: NetScout Systems’ nGenius 3900 series packet flow switch
Hardware - Other: NetScout Systems’ nGenius InfiniStream 4500 series appliance
Hardware - Semiconductor: Marvell 88EM8187 LED Controller
Hardware - Storage: Other World Computing's Envoy Pro EX USB 3.0 Portable SSD Storage Solution
Health & Pharmaceutical Product: CardioVet
Health & Pharmaceutical Service: CardioVet
Industrial Product or Service: Graco Inc.'s InvisiPac® Tank-Free' Hot Melt Delivery System
Media & Entertainment: Signiant SkyDrop
Software - Asset Management: Raritan Asset Management DCIM Software
Software - Big Data: MicroStrategy Analytics Desktop
Software - Business Intelligence: MicroStrategy Analytics Desktop
Software - Cloud Application/Service: Rackspace DevOps Automation Service
Software - Cloud Infrastructure: OrionVM Wholesale Cloud Platform
Software - Cloud Platform: SDL Customer Experience Cloud (CXC)
Software - Cloud Storage: Bitcasa
Software - Collaboration/Social: CD2 Learning Collaboration Cloud
Software - Content Management: CD2 Learning’s Innovator Interaction Engine
Software - Financial Management: Thomson Reuters Checkpoint Pocket Assistant
Software - Governance/Risk: Dell Software's Change Auditor Compliance Solution
Software - Human Capital Management: CD2 Learning Toolkit
Software - Lead Generation: TIAA-CREF Annuity Cost Savings Tool
Software - Learning/Workforce Development: CD2 Learning’s Leadership - Blanchard Essentials Edition
Software - Marketing/PR: Acxiom Audience Operating System
Software - Mobile On-Demand: Brainshark's SlideShark 3.0
Software - Mobile Operations Management: Aternity for Mobile App Developers
Software - Other: Telerik Kendo UI
Software - Project Management: Upland Software’s Tenrox Cloud Project Management Solution
Software - Relationship Management: Experian Marketing Services' Cross Marketing Platform
Software - Security: Unisys Stealth
Software - Software Development: Telerik DevCraft
Software - Supply Chain Management: SYSPRO 7 Enterprise Resource Planning Software
Software - Systems Management: Dell Software's Recovery Manager for Active Directory Forest Edition
Software - Web Services: ion interactive's Marketing Apps Platform
Telecommunications Product: NetScout Systems’ nGeniusONE Unified Performance Management platform
Telecommunications Service: AT&T Mobile Security
Transportation: VeriFone's Way2ride

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

Today we've opened voting for the People's Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products, a feature of The American Business Awards in which the general public can vote for their favorite new products and services. 

Voting is now open at http://peopleschoice.stevieawards.com

Voting concludes on 11:59 pm on Friday, August 8. The winners of the crystal People's Choice Stevie Awards will be announced the week before the September 12 awards banquet in San Francisco, California and presented their awards at the event.

There are 42 categories in which the general public can vote for their favorite new products and services of the year. Some of the categories this year include:

Business-to-Business Products
Consumer Electronics
Health & Pharmaceutical Products
Software - Cloud Infrastructure
Software - Web Services
Business-to-Business Services
Consumer Products
Financial Services
Media & Entertainment
Software - Collaboration/Social
Software - Relationship Mgmt
Telecommunications Products
Transportation

Anyone can vote one time in any or all of the 42 categories.

Make your voice heard, vote now at http://peopleschoice.stevieawards.com

Suzanne McDonald is CEO of Designated Editor in Newport, Rhode Island, USA and winner of the Gold Stevie® Award for Upstart of the Year in the management awards categories of The 2014 American Business Awards, the top business awards program in the USA. 

(Join the mailing list for the 2015 ABAs and you'll be emailed the entry kit as soon as entries open again in October.)

We asked Suzanne McDonald to explain how she came to found her company. “When I started in the Social Media business, I had been a successful journalist. By 2006, with the looming end of print as we knew it in the form of magazines and newspapers, it was clear to me that print would ultimately coalescence with New Media. Even though it was early days for this trend, I chose to jump the journalism ship and set a course for the new world of Social Media, which is where I believed the future of journalism lay.

“Since then, I have become an expert in New Media—the area of marketing information, rather than brands themselves—that includes every aspect of social media, plus everything that is crucial to have a powerful and fully integrated marketing platform and results. This can include face-to-face networking or it can include branding. It all depends on the client.”

Bringing Social Media to Educators
Suzanne explained how she had started providing services in New Media to universities. “In the past year I have become one of the national leaders in the movement to bring social media—really New Media—into university settings. I have spearheaded this movement because I saw—and still see—what happens when young people use Facebook and Twitter and Pinterest and Instagram, but have no idea how to use these tools cohesively to become useful, usable, and effective in a business setting.”

Continues Suzanne: “I believe students must learn these key tools in college and/or graduate school, and then bring their tool-based skills and strategic know-how to the workplace. Doing this, I believe, will make finding jobs a lot easier. There’s nothing like results to prove your value in the workplace, big or small, and today’s metrics-linked communications and marketing makes this entirely doable.”

Top 10 Tips for Students & Businesses
Suzanne has some useful advice for both businesses and university students, the most fundamental of which is: Be sure to get the New Media guidance you need as you move along your online journey. Following are the ten areas where Suzanne feels both businesses and university students need help:

1. The Campaign Counts.  Whether you are a giant global company or a college student or administrator, you must build a comprehensive and consistent focus for your social media/New Media work—and that focus needs to be a “direct hit” with your target audience. 

2. Know your Target Audience.  Believe it or not, most companies—no matter their size—haven’t taken the time to pinpoint their actual target audience. Do it! An often-seen example: Your audience is B-to-B and you are posting some or all C-to-B. 

3. Share Cautiously. The number-one problem in the world of New Media—whether you are a business executive or a student learning the New Media ropes—is oversharing. If you are putting out too much information, some of it will ultimately be detrimental to your image or your cause. And once it’s up, it can be difficult to remove (although this is one of the fastest-growing areas in New Media jobs). If you’re not sure what to post and when, get the expert advice you need first.

4. Ask Yourself: “Are We Boring our Audience?” This may seem like part of the two items above, but in the world of New Media, it very much stands alone. Avoid putting information online that is not of interest to your target audiences. Do that and you risk losing them. Example: Many companies I work with pack their online arenas with press releases that few people care about. My constant advice: Revise those press releases to resonate with your target audiences.

5. Be Smart about SEO.  As noted above, before you post online, make sure that the post is a perfect fit for your target audience. Avoid posting just for search engines (e.g. the press releases). Have a perfect fit first. Then, if you get great SEO to boot, even better.

6. Know Where to Find Your Audience! Yes, you’ve already segmented your key target audiences, but after doing a nice job, you’ve fallen into the next big New Media trap: you’ve forgotten to find out WHERE your audience exists online. Example: Your audience is primarily female, and you really need to be on Pinterest (largely female) but you’re on only Facebook.

7. Know Your Metrics—and Metric Tools.  Are you analyzing what you have done so far and seeing where you succeeded and where you need to refocus or retool? Example: A participant in one highly successful university-based project I ran used Google and Twitter to analyze the results of a campaign and came up with very little. I stepped in and instead compared them to similar campaigns at other universities and— guess what—they came up near the top, which is where they belonged.

8. Know Your Top Influencers. Be sure you know—and know well—who is following you on Facebook; who is following you on Twitter; and who the influencers are on both. It’s easy to get this information, particularly on Twitter, so use it.  An influencer response can yield big results—if not the first time, then certainly over time—and it’s your job to know who the influencers are.

9. Build New Media Relationships. This is an adjunct of the item above, but it also stands on its own as a key aspect of New Media: build relationships with your top influencers and stick with it until you get New Media placements.

10. Be Pitch Perfect! Where do I see companies and university students/administrators miss the mark most often? Call it “off-pitching.” Example: You’ve found an influential fitness blogger who is vegan, and yes, he or she reaches millions—but you work for a snack food company. Don’t pitch that blogger. Instead, look for influencers who are a perfect match for your product or idea or point of view. One “off-pitch,” and the influencers may never work with you again.

According to Suzanne, these suggestions should be looked on as a tune-up for businesses and university leaders. As she puts it: “Be sure to get the help you need, even if you are working with an agency. You need to know all relevant aspects of New Media, and it is sometimes the case that so-called ‘experts’ give you what they know, not what you need to learn.”

Suzanne’s conclusion: “Whatever it is, take the time to learn the fundamentals in order to be able to ask good questions!”

About Suzanne McDonald
Suzanne McDonald is a revolutionary in New Media who started her company, Designated Editor, with the express purpose of educating clients on every aspect of New Media. This includes social media from Google+ to Twitter, as well as WordPress, blogger outreach/strategy, fully integrated marketing, and face-to-face events/networking.

McDonald’s objective is to combine all New Media into a consistent whole, and to do it affordably and thoroughly. By so doing, she has become the leading purveyor of New Media expertise in New England. McDonald's "techie" forum in Newport, Rhode Island, reaches nearly 1,000 business leaders, and her business has doubled in size each year since it began.

About Designated Editor
Designated Editor is New England's leading purveyor of New Media expertise at affordable rates, encompassing every aspect of New Media including Social Media. Founded in 2006 by Suzanne McDonald, Designated Editor is New England's leading source for techie forums, business-to-business networking for technology pros, and for global clients needing one-stop-shopping for a world that has become treacherous to navigate. As of 2013, Designated Editor is a leader in the movement to educate university students nationwide in New Media. For more information go to www.designatededitor.com.

Beats Electronics, SunTrust Bank, and Yahoo, Inc. Among Winners of Gold Stevie® Awards;New Product and Tech-related Winners to Be Announced at Second Event in San Francisco on September 12

The 12^th Annual American Business Awards^SM announced Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie® Award Winners last Friday night, June 13, at the first of two gala award ceremonies taking place this year.

Friday evening’s ceremony took place at the Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park Hotel and honored winners in categories for customer service, human resources, corporate communications, live events, publications, videos, and selected categories for company/organization, management and marketing.  Winners in all new product and technology-related categories, and other management, marketing, and company/organization categories, will be announced at an event at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco on September 12.

The American Business Awards, the top business awards program in the U.S., honor an all-inclusive spectrum of American business people and organizations -- from non-profits, emerging start-ups, major public companies and government agencies, to corner-office executives, corporate communicators, support staff and customer service teams.

Notable Gold Stevie Award Winners announced on Friday include:

­   Communications, IR, or PR Executive of the Year: Susan Johnson, AT&T Inc.

­   Marketing Department of the Year: Univision Communications Inc.

­   Public Relations Agency of the Year: PMK*BNC

­   Company of the Year - Food & Beverage: Checkers and Rally's Restaurants, Inc.

­   Executive of the Year - Advertising, Marketing, & Public Relations: Amanda Currie, Adconion Direct

­   Customer Service Department of the Year: Wells Fargo Treasury Management Client Delivery

­   Global Issues Campaign of the Year: Center for Climate and Energy Solutions

­   Support Team of the Year: Electric Insurance Company

­   Best Consumer Event: NASCAR, Inc.

­   Best Public Relations Video: Peabody Energy

­   Most Innovative Company of the Year - More Than 2,500 Employees: Yahoo, Inc.

­   Human Resources Team of the Year: UST Global

AMD won five Gold Stevie Awards on Friday, more than any other organization, while Quality Systems, Inc. took home four. Winners of three Gold Stevie Awards are Medtech College and MWW.  Organizations who took home two Gold Stevie Awards are Accenture, Angel MedFlight Worldwide Air Ambulance, AT&T, BDS Marketing, CapitalOne ShareBuilder, Engility, Hager Fox Heating & Air Conditioning Co., Home Instead Senior Care, Makovsky, NASCAR, Inc., Pacific Life, Renters Warehouse, SCRA, Slack and Company, and Univision Communications.

More than 3,300 entries were submitted to The 2014 American Business Awards, and 240 executives nationwide participated in judging to determine this year’s Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners. 

For a complete list of the Stevie Award winners in this year’s American Business Awards visit www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

Every new product or service nominated in The 2014 American Business Awards will automatically be included in voting for the People's Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products.  Voting will open to the general public on July 7, and the winners will be honored at The American Business Awards ceremony in San Francisco on September 12.

Last night’s presentations were taped and will be broadcast by Biz Talk Radio (www.biztalkradio.com) on Tuesday and Friday nights.

About the Stevie® Awards

Stevie Awards are conferred in five programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.  A sixth program, the German Stevie Awards, will debut later this year.  Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide.  Learn more about the Stevie Awards at www.StevieAwards.com.

Sponsors and partners of The 2014 American Business Awards include Biz Talk Radio, CallidusCloud, Citrix Online, Cvent, Engility, John Hancock, LycaMobile, PetRays, and Softpro.

The Stevie® Awards have announced the ten executives who will chair the specialized final judging committees for its 12th Annual American Business Awards, the top business awards competition in the USA.

All organizations operating in the U.S.A. - public and private, large and small, for-profit and non-profit - are eligible to submit nominations to The American Business Awards.

The ten committee selections are based on the categories that will be judged. Final judging begins this week.  Here are this year's final judging committee chairs.

CREATIVE AWARDS CHAIR - Apps/Live Events/Publications/Videos
Mark Shewmaker, Chief Experience Officer
SMITH, Seattle, Washington

Mark is an expert in user experience with an impressive portfolio of award-winning campaigns and digital solutions created for some of the planet’s most recognized brands. At SMITH, Mark leads UX, creative, and content teams on their mission to craft cutting-edge and revenue-driving brand experiences.

Prior to SMITH, Mark was Executive Creative Director at R/GA San Francisco. Throughout his nine-year relationship with R/GA, Mark worked with clients such as Microsoft, Nike, Verizon Wireless, Abercrombie & Fitch, L’Oréal Paris, Lowe’s, Wal-Mart, IBM, and Merck, overseeing the development of category-leading digital commerce, mobile, retail, marketing, and product design initiatives.

When he’s not traversing the planet on business, Mark finds his home in the Bay Area of Northern California, with his wife Wendy and two children.

WEBSITE AWARDS CHAIR
Gene Ehrbar, Managing Partner, Emerging Technology
ISITE Design, Portland, Oregon

A mobile developer and strategist, Gene has experience translating a wide variety of challenging client technical needs into elegant and durable online systems. As Managing Partner, Emerging Technology, at ISITE Design, Gene is responsible for agency direction and business development in the areas of mobile and emerging technologies, including connected experiences, wearables, and next-generation interfaces.
Gene works with an interdisciplinary team of strategists, experience designers, and engineers to create digital experiences in collaboration with both startups and enterprise innovation teams across a variety of industries.

Prior to ISITE, Gene founded and ran Portland-based Anomaly Incorporated, a firm specializing in web and mobile application development.

Gene is an avid outdoorsman. He enjoys skiing the Oregon backcountry and playing the electric guitar (though rarely simultaneously).

MANAGEMENT AWARDS CHAIR
David DiStefano, President & CEO
Richardson, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

David DiStefano is a seasoned executive with nearly three decades of successful senior management experience with both early-stage and global organizations. Over his career, David has managed finance, operations, sales, and demand generation functions. For the last 17 years, David has been instrumental in leading Richardson to its place as a premier global sales performance organization. He provides executive level support to Richardson’s clients bringing overall vision and guidance, sales performance expertise, and best practice insights to senior client management.

David has been a driving force in expanding Richardson’s products and services. In 1999, he played a significant role in the Company’s successful efforts in raising private equity to build Richardson’s eLearning platform, Richardson QuickSkills™, and in expanding the Company’s global footprint by launching its European operations based in the UK. In 2006, David played a prominent role in the Company’s successful acquisition by ClearLight Partners and became President and CEO immediately thereafter. Today David sits on the Board of Directors and leads an eight-person Executive Management team.

David is a recognized thought leader in the area of sales force development and performance and actively speaks at client and key industry conferences. In 2007, Training Industry named him a “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professional”. David has been an-eight time featured guest on Selling Power TV, speaking on a wide range of topics that include sales performance, sales coaching, sales force engagement, sales enablement, Sales 2.0 technologies, negotiation skills, and innovation. Prior to joining Richardson in 1992, David spent nine years with PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he was Senior Manager. At PwC, David was responsible for the overall client relationship and engagement management for his clients. David is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Drexel University.

COMPANY/ORGANIZATION AWARDS CHAIR
Carey Smith, Founder & Chief Big Ass
Big Ass Solutions, Lexington, Kentucky

Carey Smith’s professional life began in insurance. Dissatisfied with that work, he decided to start his own company. Carey spent more than a dozen years leading a firm that installed sprinklers on the roofs of industrial buildings to cool the interiors. He and his wife, Nancy, sold their house and quit their jobs to focus on the company, but the business never grew beyond $1.4 million in annual sales. In 1999, at the age of 46, Carey used its small profits to fund his venture into fans,

Carey had visited thousands of facilities while running his first start-up. He saw time and again how people turned to a relatively simple device—fans—in their quest for comfort. But traditional box-and-pedestal fans moved little air, took up valuable floor space, and used inefficient motors. The solution: a large ceiling fan that would use its size, not speed, to move high volumes of air across large spaces. With their incredibly efficient motors, Big Ass fans cost mere pennies per hour to operate. In 2013, the company started Big Ass Light, which offers energy-efficient lighting for industrial and commercial facilities.

Because he refused to lay off employees—and even hired—during the Great Recession, Inc. magazine named Carey Smith “Economy Hero” in 2011. That same year, Ernst & Young named him a regional Entrepreneur of the Year. Carey is now focused on how Big Ass Solutions can become a 200-year company: one that will always act in the best long-term interests of its customers, employees, and suppliers.

CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS/PR/IR AWARDS CHAIR
Nikki Tanis, President
Tanis Communications, Inc., San Jose, California

Nikki Tanis has had over 20 years experience creating and implementing a broad range of strategic communications, marketing, and PR programs. She has spent 12 of those years as the head of Tanis Communications, a respected and fast-growing Silicon Valley agency serving a diverse set of high technology companies with a breadth of marketing, communications, and PR services.

Previously, Nikki was corporate vice president, corporate marketing and communications at Spansion, Inc., a global, NASDAQ-listed semiconductor company with $2.5 billion in revenue and over 9,000 employees at that time. Prior to that, Nikki was director of corporate communications at S3, Inc., a NASDAQ-listed leader in graphics chips for the PC industry. She was also advertising and PR manager for NEC Electronics, the U.S. semiconductor subsidiary of NEC Corporation, and she has held communications positions at Precision Monolithics and Signetics.

Nikki holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism with a minor in psychology from San Diego State University.

CUSTOMER SERVICE/SUPPORT AWARDS CHAIR
Bridget Moscatello, VP of Customer Operations
Empire Today, Northlake, Illinois

Bridget Moscatello has over 23 years experience in the customer care industry. She has acted as Executive Consultant for, and partnered with, Fortune 500 CEOs and COOs on redefining organizational customer service models while improving business efficiencies. Since 2005, Bridget has been with Empire Today (Empire), the largest shop-at-home retailer in the U.S. Bridget is focused on driving customer service by leveraging people, processes, and technology, She ensures that customers always receive the right associate at the right time. Her commitment to providing excellent service is evident through her philosophy of treating every customer “like they are our only customer.”

In her company role, Bridget owns the entire customer service experience and ensures that thousands of working processes within Empire are consistent across its 70 U.S. markets and multiple product lines. She developed Net Promotor Score (NPS), a metric for tracking customer loyalty that has revolutionized the company. In addition, she wanted to ensure that the servicing experience was exactly the same across the country and worked with an outside partner to custom design a 24-month computer-based training course dubbed Customer Service University™. This course ensures that, regardless of location, all servicing personnel are working under the same expectations regarding how to deliver the best possible experience for Empire customers.

Bridget has led Empire to winning the prestigious Gold Stevie® Award for Best Customer Service in The 2013 American Business Award, having earned Silver in 2012, and Bronze in 2011 and 2010. Bridget also sits on the Board of Directors for the Better Business Bureau® in Chicago, and participates in the Bureau’s Standards and Ethics Committee. She is a three-time graduate of the Harvard Business School for Executive Education.

HUMAN RESOURCES AWARDS CHAIR
Bob Nicoson, Chief Human Resources Officer
Constant Contact, Inc., Waltham, Massachusetts

Bob joined Constant Contact® in June of 2008 and has more than 25 years of experience in human resources leadership and general management. In his current role, he oversees all human resources programs, practices, and policies that govern Constant Contact's business needs and culture. Bob also drives executive, cross-functional team, and management leadership and development; strategic workforce planning and staffing; and compensation, performance management, and recognition and reward systems for the company.

Prior to joining Constant Contact, Bob served as vice president at Gather Inc., a social networking site for adults. Before Gather Inc., he was the director of human resources and change management consultant at Weston Jesuit School of Theology and the director of human resources and administration at CertaLogic Inc. He also held executive leadership positions in global human resources at Scala Business Solutions, The Pioneer Group, Inc., and Lotus Development Corp. (now Lotus Software).

Bob holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Indiana State University.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AWARDS CHAIR
Ted Studwell, Vice President of Engineering and Operations
Virtela, Greenwood Village, Colorado

Ted is one of the founding team members of Virtela and is responsible for designing, delivering, and supporting superior managed information technology services to Virtela’s customers. This includes responsibility for the company's network and security architecture, engineering, service implementation, and Virtela’s relationships with network vendors and carriers around the globe. He is also responsible for Virtela’s 24x7 Global Operations Centers in Denver, Mumbai, and Manila that provide network, security, and telephony support globally.

Ted was previously with Qwest (now CenturyLink) where he led the planning and engineering of the company's data products. He drove the design and construction of Qwest's data services and networks while having Qwest gain significant market share with major corporate customers. Before that, Ted was responsible for designing, planning, and engineering Sprint's data networks while leading the company into new data and Internet service markets. He led the effort to grow Sprint's data networks, managed the rapid growth of the company's Internet network SprintLink, and the first widespread use of packet over SONET. Ted was also responsible for building the first private IP network used for Intranet services. Prior to joining Sprint, Ted worked in communications systems at Aeronautical Radio, COMSAT, and General Electric.

Ted served in the U.S. Navy in active and reserve capacities as a submarine officer for over 25 years. He completed Naval Nuclear Power training, was certified by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as a Chief Engineer on a naval nuclear power plant, and achieved the rank of Captain. Ted has a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy, a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from The George Washington University, and is a licensed Professional Engineer.


MARKETING AWARDS CHAIR
Scott Cullather, Global Managing Partner
inVNT, New York, New York

Scott Cullather has over 20 years of experience in brand communications and is the founder and Global Managing Partner of inVNT, a brand communications agency that collaborates with brands and organizations around the world to create remarkable moments that challenge convention, mindsets, competitors, and the market. Scott is an industry leader who has helped shape and define the way organizations communicate to their employees, partners, customers, members, investors, journalists, and consumers.

Under Scott’s leadership and vision, the inVNT team has executed highly successful and impactful brand experiences that change the way people think, feel, behave, and perform. inVNT’s clients include PepsiCo, Merck, Grant Thornton, General Motors, Subway, ESPN, Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA) and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). inVNT has designed and produced award-winning campaigns in more than 60 countries on 6 continents from offices in the US and Europe.

Scott regularly speaks at industry events and expositions, and has been published in Brand Republic, The Guardian, SmartCEO Magazine, Expo, and Successful Meetings. He was also nominated for an Emmy Award for his role as creative director and producer of “AMC in Concert at the Rainbow Room.” When he’s not working, Scott enjoys spending time with his children, surfing, playing Scrabble®, and collecting vintage eyewear.

“The Stevie Awards are the World's Premier recognition for business achievement and it is an honor to Chair the final judging of the Marketing categories in The 2014 American Business Awards.” Scott Cullather, Global Managing Partner, inVNT

NEW PRODUCT & PRODUCT MANAGEMENT AWARDS CHAIR
Alex Bäcker, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer
QLess, Inc., Pasadena, CA

Alex Bäcker is the chief executive officer, co-founder and inventor of QLess. In this role, he drives the overall vision and strategy for the company, thus leading the charge on eliminating lines worldwide. Bäcker also currently serves on the board of advisors for the California Institute of Technology Information Sciences and Technology.

Prior to QLess, Bäcker worked with a number of companies in the science industry including the Center for Computation, Computers, Information, and Mathematics of Sandia National Labs and Caltech while also conducting business at McKinsey & Co. In addition, Bäcker founded and co-founded several companies including Adept Technologies, CafeThink, Whozat? and abInventio.

Throughout his career, Bäcker has been honored with several awards including the 2010 40 Under 40 for M&A Advisor Recognition Awards as well as The 2013 International Business Awards' Gold Stevie for IT Executive of the Year, and a Silver Stevie for Innovator of the Year.

Missed your chance to enter this year's American Business Awards?  Enter The International Business Awards - the categories are almost identical to those of the ABAs.

We've just published a 6-minute film featuring an overview of the Stevie® Awards, the host of the world's premier business awards programs, and interviews with Stevie Award winners.  

Watch the video here. 

The film provides an overview of all six Stevie Awards programs.

• The International Business Awards
• The Stevie Awards for Women in Business
• The Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards
• The American Business Awards
• The Stevie Awards for Sales and Customer Service
• The German Stevie Awards

The entry deadline for The International Business Awards is May 14. Now in their 11th year, the IBAs typically receive nominations from organizations in more than 50 nations and territories. The IBAs are the world's only completely international business awards competition. All organizations and individuals worldwide are eligible to submit entries.

The International Business Awards recognize achievement in every facet of the workplace -- from annual report awards, app awards, company/organization awards, customer service awards, human resources awards, information technology awards, marketing awards, and more. See all of the awards categories here.

The Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the world’s top honors for women entrepreneurs, executives, employees, and the organizations they run, will begin accepting entries Monday, May 19. Enter before July 24 for discounted entry fees.

Have questions regarding The Stevie Awards? Don't hesitate to contact us by email or at
+ 1 703-547-8389.