The entry kit for The 2013 (11th annual) American Business Awards, the premier business awards competition in the U.S.A., is now available. Request your entry kit here.

All individuals and organizations in the U.S. are eligible to submit nominations – public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. The ABAs feature categories to recognize achievement in every facet of worklife, including:

• App awards,
• Company / organization awards,
• Customer service awards,
• HR awards,
• IT awards,
• Management awards,
• Marketing awards,
• New product awards,
• PR awards, and
• Website awards.

See the full list of business awards categories.

Nominations should cite achievements during our eligibility period: January 2012 through April 24, 2013, the last day that late entries will be accepted. There is no eligibility timeframe for web site entries - it does not matter when the web sites were first published.

November 16, 2012 is the first early-bird entry deadline and December 12, 2012 is the second early-bird entry deadline. March 27, 2013 is the entry deadline and April 24, 2013 is the last day that late entries will be accepted with payment of a late fee. Finalists will be announced on May 8, 2013. Entry details are available at www.StevieAwards.com/ABA. 

Don't hesitate to contact us with your questions about how to participate in The 2013 American Business Awards.

We are pleased to share that video clips from The 2012 American Business Awards' new product awards and technology awards banquet are now available to view on YouTube. Recognized as the premier business awards program in the U.S.A., the second of two 2012 American Business Awards galas was held on September 17 at the Julia Morgan Ballroom in San Francisco.

Watch the September 17th American Business Awards presentations here.

More than 250 entrepreneurs, executives, and their guests from around the country attended the September 17th gala. Our American Business Awards video clips from September 17 showcase business award acceptance speeches made by individuals and organizations from around the country, including:

AT&T, MWW Group, Winner of the Gold Stevie® Award for Best Travel App
Remi Zajac, Director of AT&T Labs, gives a modest speech thanking his app team for their dedication.

Brainshark, Inc, Winner of the Gold Stevie® Award for Best Mobile On Demand App
Joan Babinski, Vice President of Marketing, humbly dedicates the award to all Stevie Award finalists.

EMKAY Inc., Winner of the Gold Stevie® Award for Best Training Site
Chris Tepas, Executive Vice President, accepts the award on behalf of his leadership team and reminds the audience that it takes several departments to launch a successful website.

Janine Popick of VerticalResponse, Winner of the Gold Stevie® Award for Executive of the Year -  Internet/New Media
Janine's speech recognizes her staff and reminds the audience about the team effort behind all individual awards.

SecureAuth, Winner of the People's Choice Stevie® Awards for Favorite Software - Security Solution
Craig Lund, CEO, graciously accepts the award and thanks his product developer and customers for their support.

Want to see more from the September 17th  celebration? Watch all acceptance speeches and view photos from the event.

Top Overall Award Winners in The 2012 American Business Awards Are Named

Fairfax, VA, September 26, 2012 – The Stevie® Awards have announced the winners of the Best of the ABA Awards in The 2012 American Business Awards, the U.S.A’s premier business awards competition. This new addition to the ABAs' repertory of awards includes five best-of-competition prizes that are awarded to the organizations that submitted the best body of work to the competition, in their own name or in the names of one or more clients. 

The American Business Awards honors 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.

Nominees in The 2012 American Business Awards were not able to apply for the Best of the ABA Awards directly.  Winners were determined by a points system based on the total number of awards won in the ABAs, with a Gold Stevie Award win counting for 3 points, each Silver Stevie Award for 2 points, and each Bronze Stevie win counting for 1.5 points. 

The winners of the Best of the ABA Awards this year are:

Organization of the Year: LifeLock, Tempe, AZ.  With 61 total points, LifeLock is the most honored organization in the 2012 ABAs.

Public Relations Agency of the Year: MWW, East Rutherford, NJ.  MWW offices across the U.S.A. won a total of 32 points for nominations in their own name or in the names of their clients.

Marketing Agency of the Year: Slack and Company, Chicago, IL.  Slack earned 16 points, tops among all marketing services agencies in this year's ABAs.

Interactive Services Agency of the Year: BGT Partners, Miami, FL.  With 11.5 points, BGT Partners is the most honored of this year's field of interactive agency contestants.

Top 10: After the winners of the above prizes, the following organizations earned the most award points in the 2012 ABAs:

1. Quality Systems, Inc., Irvine, CA (49.5 points)
2. John Hancock, Boston, MA (36)
3. Nutricap Labs, Farmingdale, NY (32.5)
4. PetRays Veterinary Telemedicine Consultants, The Woodlands, TX (32.5)
5. VerticalResponse, San Francisco, CA (30)
6. iolo technologies, Los Angeles, CA (25)
7. Accenture, Chicago, IL (22)
8. Achievers, San Francisco, CA (10)
9. DRC, Reston, VA (18)
10. American Institute of CPAs, Durham, NC (16)

Best of the ABA winners have been granted the exclusive right to use a unique Best of the 2012 ABAs logo.

More than 3,000 entries were submitted to The 2012 American Business Awards and more than 270 executives nationwide participated in judging to determine this year’s Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners, who were honored during ceremonies in June in New York and September in San Francisco.

For a complete list of The 2012 American Business Awards winners in all categories visit: www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

Entries for the 2013 edition of The American Business Awards will be accepted starting this October 22.

About the Stevie® Awards

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

Sponsors and partners of The 2012 American Business Awards include American Support, Business TalkRadio Network, CallidusCloud, Citrix Online, Dynamic Research Corporation, iolo technologies, John Hancock Funds, LifeLock, PetRays, Primus Telecommunications Group, SoftPro, and VerticalResponse.

###

Apple, Cisco, PayPal, VerticalResponse Among Winners of Gold Stevie Awards

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, September 18, 2012 – The 10^th Annual American Business Awards^SM announced Stevie® Award winners last night at its first event to focus on outstanding new products and services and on achievements in technology industries.

For the first time, The American Business Awards were presented at two awards ceremonies this year.  The first ceremony took place in New York City on June 18 and honored winners in categories 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 and technology-related categories were announced at a new event in San Francisco last night.

The American Business Awards honors 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 250 executives attended last night’s awards banquet at San Francisco’s Julia Morgan Ballroom.  Stevie Awards were conferred in three levels of distinction: Gold, Silver and Bronze.

Notable Gold Stevie Award Winners announced last night include:

• ­New Telecommunications Product of the Year: ADTRAN’s Virtual Wireless LAN (vWLAN®) Solution
• ­Company of the Year - Computer Hardware: Apple Inc.
• ­New Cloud Application/Service of the Year: Carbonite Business and Business Premier
• ­Best Online Press Room: Cisco's Technology News Site
• ­Computer Software Website of the Year: HubSpot’s Marketing Grader
• ­Company of the Year - Internet/New Media: IAC/InterActiveCorp
• ­Tech Innovation of the Year: Life Technologies’ Ion Torrent semiconductor sequencing technology
• ­Tech Innovator of the Year: David Marcus, President, PayPal, Inc.
• ­Executive of the Year - Computer Services: Steven T. Plochocki, CEO, Quality Systems, Inc.
• ­Most Innovative Tech Company of the Year - Up to 2,500 Employees: FireEye, Inc. and Unity Technologies, Inc.
• ­Fastest Growing Tech Company of the Year - Up to 2,500 Employees: YouSendIt

VerticalResponse won three Gold Stevie Awards, more than any other organization last night. Winners of two Gold Stevie Awards are Acquity Group, Brainshark, Inc., Citrix, DRC, FireEye, Inc., LifeLock, Qualcomm Incorporated, Terralever, and ZAGG Inc. 

The ABA’s 2012 Difference Maker Award, an honorary Stevie Award, was presented to LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman.

Winners of the People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products, which were determined by more than 98,000 votes in July and August, were announced last week and presented their crystal People’s Choice Stevie Awards last night.

More than 3,000 entries were submitted to The 2012 American Business Awards and more than 270 executives nationwide participated in judging to determine this year’s Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners. 

For a complete list of The 2012 American Business Awards winners announced last night visit:  www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

Next week the Stevie Awards will announce its Best of the ABA prizes, which will be awarded to the organizations with the best overall showing across all categories in The 2012 American Business Awards.

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

Sponsors and partners of The 2012 American Business Awards include American Support, Business TalkRadio Network, CallidusCloud, Citrix Online, Dynamic Research Corporation, iolo technologies, John Hancock Funds, LifeLock, PetRays, Primus Telecommunications Group, SoftPro, and VerticalResponse.

Awards to Be Presented at Gala Ceremony on September 17 in San Francisco

Fairfax, VA – September 12, 2012 – More than 98,000 votes were cast in the 2012 People's Choice Stevie® Awards for Favorite New Products, part of The 10th Annual American Business Awards, the U.S.A.’s top business awards program. 

The nationwide public vote was conducted this summer, with the highest number of votes deciding the winners in 30 categories.  Among the winners, which will each receive the coveted crystal People's Choice Stevie Award at a gala ceremony in San Francisco on September 17, are:

-      Favorite Smartphone: Apple iPhone 4S

-      Favorite Business-to-Business Product: Humana Integrated Proposal System

-      Favorite Collaboration/Social Software: Mindjet Connect

-      Favorite Financial Service: FreeMonee

-      Favorite Media/Entertainment Product or Service: appsbar

The complete list of People’s Choice Stevie Award winners is available at www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

Nicknamed the Stevie® for the Greek word “crowned,” the awards will be presented to winners at The American Business Awards’ new product and tech awards banquet on Monday, September 17 at the Julia Morgan Ballroom in San Francisco.  Tickets for the event are now on sale.  More than 200 nominees and their guests are expected to attend.

All organizations honored 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.

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

Sponsors and partners of The 2012 American Business Awards include American Support, Business TalkRadio Network, Callidus Software, Citrix Online, Dynamic Research Corporation, iolo technologies, John Hancock Funds, LifeLock, PetRays, Primus Telecommunications Group, SoftPro, and VerticalResponse.

Honor Recognizes LinkedIn Co-founder’s Entrepreneurial Leadership

The Stevie® Awards today announced that Reid Hoffman, Executive Chairman of LinkedIn Corporation and a Partner at Greylock Partners, will be honored with its 2012 Difference Maker award at The 10th Annual American Business Awards new product and tech awards banquet on September 17 at the Julia Morgan Ballroom in San Francisco.

Hoffman will be just the second recipient of this honorary Stevie Award, which will be presented in recognition of his role in shaping social networking and entrepreneurship in the U.S.A.  DefJam Recordings founder and entertainment industry leader Russell Simmons received the ABA’s Difference Maker award in 2011.

“Reid Hoffman embodies the entrepreneurial spirit in America,” said Stevie Awards President Michael Gallagher.  “In addition to being an influential entrepreneur and venture capitalist, Reid devotes his energies to philanthropic and educational initiatives that work to inspire a new generation of startups in the U.S.A. and worldwide.  We’re honored to be able to recognize his achievements with an honorary Stevie Award.”

In 2003, Hoffman co-founded LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional networking service, in his living room.  LinkedIn has more than 175 million members in 200 countries and territories around the world.  He led LinkedIn through its first four years and to profitability as CEO and Chairman. 

Hoffman joined Greylock Partners in 2009 and currently serves on the boards of Airbnb, Edmodo, Mozilla (Firefox), Shopkick, Swipely, Wrapp, and Zynga and has co-led investments in Coupons.com, Groupon, and Viki.  He also leads the Greylock Discovery Fund, which invests in seed stage entrepreneurs and companies. 

He believes strongly in the ability for entrepreneurship and technology to improve the world.  Hoffman serves on the boards of Kiva.org, Endeavor.org, DoSomething.org, and StartupAmericaPartnership.org.  He also co-authored the best-selling book The Startup of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career. 

Widely recognized as the premier business awards program in the U.S.A, The American Business Awards honor organizations and individuals in a wide variety of categories -- from management and public relations to technology, human resources, new products and more.

The ABA’s September 17 banquet in San Francisco will feature the announcement of 2012 Stevie Award winners in categories for new products and services and achievements in technology industries.  Awards in other categories were announced in New York on June 18.

For more information about The American Business Awards or for press credentials to cover the September 17 ceremony, please contact Liz Dean at 703-547-8389 or by email at liz@thestevies.com.

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

Sponsors and partners of The 2012 American Business Awards include American Support, Business TalkRadio Network, CallidusCloud, Citrix Online, Dynamic Research Corporation, iolo technologies, John Hancock Funds, LifeLock, PetRays, Primus Telecommunications Group, SoftPro, and VerticalResponse.

The Stevie® Awards have announced the schedules for the 2013 editions of The American Business Awards, the USA’s premier business awards program, and The International Business Awards, the world's top business awards competition.

The 11th Annual American Business Awards will open to all organizations and individuals in the U.S.A. on October 10, 2012. The first early bird entry deadline will be November 14, and the second early-bird deadline will be December 12. The final deadline will be March 27, 2013. See the full 2013 ABA calendar here.

The 10th Annual International Business Awards will open to all organizations and individuals worldwide in January. The early-bird deadline will be April 10, and the final deadline will be May 15. See the full 2013 IBA calendar here.  

Want to be the first to receive the 2013 entry kits? Join the ABA mailing list and the IBA mailing list and we'll send you the entry kits as soon as they become available.

Voting for the 4th edition of the People's Choice Stevie® Awards for Favorite New Products, as part of The American Business Awards, the nation’s premier business awards program, opened today will go through August 29.

Vote now at http://peopleschoice.stevieawards.com.

This is a nationwide vote in which the general public will get to choose one favorite product in 30 categories including:

• Favorite New Smartphone
• Favorite New Tablet
• Favorite Consumer Product
• Favorite Media or Entertainment Product

All new products and services that are nominated in the new product awards categories of The 2012 American Business Awards are automatically included in the public voting for the People's Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products. Organizations will have the opportunity to win two awards: a Gold, Silver, or Bronze Stevie Award, as determined by professionals in the ABAs’ peer-review judging, and a crystal People's Choice Stevie Award, as determined by the public vote.

Winners of the crystal People's Choice Stevie Awards will be announced at the American Business Awards' new product and tech awards banquet at the Julia Morgan Ballroom in San Francisco on September 17.

Winners in the 3rd edition of the People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products were celebrated in New York on Monday, June 20, 2011. Past winners include Apple, Boost Mobile, Dow Jones, and Samsung, among others. 2011 results are summarized, at http://blog.stevieawards.com/new-product-awards/bid/55322/People-s-Choice-Stevie-Awards-for-New-Products-Award-Winners.

We are pleased to announce that video clips from the first of two award galas celebrating The 2012 (10th Annual) American Business Awards, the premier business awards program in the U.S.A. are now available to view on YouTube. (The second gala honoring the tech awards categories will be held on Monday, September 17 at the Julia Morgan Ballroom in San Francisco. Click here to order tickets.)

Watch the June 18th American Business Awards presentations here.

More than 525 entrepreneurs, executives, and their guests from around the country attended the first of two 2012 American Business Awards Banquets on Monday, June 18th at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. Categories celebrated at the June 18th ceremony included PR awards, live event awards, annual report awards, video awards, customer service awards, HR awards, support awards, and selected categories for company/organization awards, management awards and marketing awards.

Our American Business Awards video clips from June 18th showcase business award acceptance speeches made by individuals and organizations from around the country, including:

Kenny Rosenblatt of Arkadium, Winner of the Gold Stevie® Award for Executive of the Year - Media
Kenny's speech started the night off by recognizing the team effort behind all individual awards.

MWW Group, Winner of the Gold Stevie® Award for Marketing Campaign of the Year - Transportation
MWW Group's Account Supervisor for Corporate Communications graciously accepts the award and thanks his colleagues and partners.

Russell Sarder of NetCom, Winner of the Gold Stevie® Award for Executive of the Year - Diversified Services
Russell's speech reminded the audience that the American Dream is still possible through hard work and determination.

Fazoli's Italian Restaurants, Winner of the Gold Stevie® Award for Human Resource Department of the Year
Dave Craig, VP of Human Resources at Fazoli's Italian Restaurants, reminds the audience that small departments can achieve great outcomes.

Lisa Tener, Winner of the Gold Stevie® Award for Marketer of the Year
Lisa's humble speech brought to light the importance of her clients and team members.

Want to see more from the June 18th celebration? Watch all acceptance speeches and view photos from the event.

NASCAR, Chipotle Mexican Grill, and Blackboard Among Winners of Gold Stevie Awards; New Product and Tech-related Winners to Be Announced at Second Event in San Francisco on September 17

NEW YORK, NY, June 19, 2012 – Shining a spotlight on the best and brightest executives, organizations and employees in America, The 10^th Annual American Business Awards^SM announced Stevie® Award Winners last night at the first of two gala award ceremonies taking place this year.

For the first time, The American Business Awards are being presented at two awards ceremonies.  The first ceremony took place in New York City last night and honored winners in categories 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 and technology-related categories will be announced at a new event in San Francisco on Monday, September 17. 

The American Business Awards honors 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.

With more than 500 executives in attendance, last night’s awards banquet took place at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, and the emcee for the evening was Fox Business Network anchor Cheryl Casone. Also for the first time at the ABAs, Stevie Awards were conferred in three levels of distinction: Gold, Silver and Bronze. Previously, only overall category winners received Gold Stevie Awards.

Notable Gold Stevie Award Winners announced last night include:

­   Best Association Event or Meeting: NASCAR

­   Best New Company of the Year: Corkcicle

­   Communications or PR Campaign of the Year – Low Budget: Verizon Wireless

­   Company of the Year - Automotive: Ford Motor Company

­   Corporate Social Responsibility Program of the Year: Pioneer Financial Services

­   Customer Service Team of the Year: Stamps.com

­   Executive of the Year – Hospitality & Leisure: Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., Co-CEOs Steve Ells and Montgomery Moran

­   Fastest Growing Company of the Year: Dealer.com

­   Maverick of the Year: Peter Aquino, President and CEO of PTGi

­   Online Marketing Campaign of the Year: InterContinental Hotels Group

­   Support Team of the Year: Blackboard Incorporated

 MWW Group won four Gold Stevie Awards, more than any other organization last night, followed closely by Crispin Porter + Bogusky & Digitas, with three.  Winners of two Gold Stevie Awards are Achievers, BevMo!, Ford Motor Company, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, LifeLock, Makovsky + Company, MediaCom, National Association of Realtors, North American Power, Northwestern Mutual, Nutricap Labs, Overstock.com, Quality Systems, Inc., Resonate Pictures, Slack and Company, Staff Management, SynCardia Systems, Inc.,  Vertical Response, and Vivint.

More than 3,000 entries were submitted to The 2012 American Business Awards and more than 270 executives nationwide participated in judging to determine this year’s Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners. 

For a complete list of The 2012 American Business Awards honorees announced last night visit:  www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

Every new product or service nominated in The 2012 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 in July, and the winners will be honored at The American Business Awards ceremony in San Francisco on September 17.

The presentation was broadcast live by the Business TalkRadio Network (http://www.businesstalkradio.net), and the recording will be available online in the coming weeks.

About the Stevie® Awards

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

Sponsors and partners of The 2012 American Business Awards include American Support, Business TalkRadio Network, CallidusCloud, Citrix Online, Dynamic Research Corporation, iolo technologies, John Hancock Funds, LifeLock, PetRays, Primus Telecommunications Group, SoftPro, and VerticalResponse.