We're expecting more than 300 executives from organizations in more than 25 nations to attend The 10th Annual International Business Awards banquet at the W Hotel in Barcelona, Spain on October 14. Tickets are still available.

The IBAs are the world's premier business awards program, with categories to recognize the achievements of professionals in every facet of the workplace.  Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie® Awards will be conferred.  The IBAs feature categories for management awards, marketing awards, overall business excellence, customer service awards, HR awards, IT awards, PR awards, app and website awards, new product awards, and more.

Our guest room block at the W Hotel in Barcelona has sold out.  Any rooms still available at the W for the night of the 14th and adjacent nights will be at market rates.  There are plenty of other fine hotels in Barcelona within a short taxi ride of the W. Among them are the AC Hotel Barcelona Forum and the Hotel Arts Barcelona. See this article for a list of other hotels in the area.

Here's the list of organizations that have already booked their places for The 2013 International Business Awards:

Abu Dhabi Police GHQ Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates
Accenture Chicago IL USA
ADCO  Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates
ADTRAN Inc. Huntsville AL USA
AECOM New York NY USA
Ajman Police GHQ Ajman United Arab Emirates
Akbank TAS Istanbul Turkey
ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller Dubai United Arab Emirates
AstraZeneca Middle East & Africa
Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd (Astro) Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
AVL Emission Test Systems GmbH Neuss Germany
AYGAZ Istanbul Turkey
Bahrain National Gas Company Manama Bahrain
Bakkavor Group Ltd Spalding Lincolnshire United Kingdom
Best Doctors Inc. Boston MA
CallidusCloud Pleasanton CA USA
CEZ Bulgaria EAD Sofia
Cisco Systems Inc. San Jose CA U.S.A.
Coca-Cola HBC Croatia Zagreb Croatia
Codan Insurance Copenhagen Denmark
Creative Virtual Ltd London United Kingdom
Daimler AG Stuttgart Germany
DANI Communications Seoul South Korea
Dell Bratislava Slovakia
Diamantis Masoutis S.A. Thessaloniki Greece
ECIJA Abogados Madrid Spain
Everything Everywhere London United Kingdom
Firmex Toronto ON Canada
Forests to Protect Lives Tohoku Association Miyagi Japan
Freelancer.com Sydney Australia
Garden Centre Dhaka Bangladesh
GDC Technology Limited Hong Kong
GeiserMaclang Marketing Communications Manila Philippines
GINGERS s.r.o. Bratislava Slovakia
GLOBAL EVENTS ID Corporation SL Madrid Spain
Global Leaders in Law Beaconsfield United Kingdom
Goyang City South Korea
GreenBulb PR Inc Metro Manila Philippines
GUBRETAS Istanbul Turkey
HANAROADCOM Seoul South Korea
Hanwoo Board Seoul South Korea
Heaven by Deborah Mitchell Shifnal Shropshire United Kingdom
Home Retail Group - Contact Centre (Model Office) Warfield United Kingdom
Hutchison Telecommunications (Hong Kong) Limited
Hzo Inc. Draper UT USA
Implix sp. z o.o. Gdansk Poland
Inovex Inc. Oakville ON Canada
inspiria event service GmbH Salzburg Austria
International Armoring Corporation Centerville UT USA
Jeju Free International City Development Center Jeju City South Korea
Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Council Jeju City South Korea
KEPCO Nuclear Fuel Company Seoul South Korea
Koç Holding Istanbul Turkey
Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology Seoul South Korea
Korea Marine Environment Management Corporation Seoul South Korea
Korea Southern Power Co., Ltd Seoul South Korea
Korea Transportation Safety Authority Seoul South Korea
KOROAD Seoul South Korea
KW Digital Stockholm Sweden
LLORENTE & CUENCA Madrid Spain
Maras Group Adelaide Australia
Marketing Services Press Agency  Siegburg Germany
M-CAT Enterprises LLC Austin TX USA
McCain Foods London United Kingdom
Mediafon Vilnius Lithuania
Mercedes-Benz Istanbul Turkey
MetaMoJi Corporation Tokyo Japan
Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources of Singapore
Nu Skin Enterprises (China Hong Kong Taiwan)
Nunwood London United Kingdom
Ooredoo  Doha Qatar
OPET Istanbul Turkey
other London United Kingdom
OTTOGI Corporation Seoul South Korea
Partner of Promotion Sp. z o.o. Warsaw Poland
promio.net GmbH Bonn Germany
PT Adaro Energy Tbk Jakarta Indonesia
PT Bank Permata Tbk. Jakarta Indonesia
Quality Systems Inc. Irvine CA USA
Reading Room Singapore
REN Lisboa Portugal
Riverbed Technology Reston VA USA
RTR Rete Rinnovabile Rome Italy
Ryan LLC Dallas TX USA
Salalah Free Zone Company Dhofar Oman
SAS Paradise Rescued Cardan Bordeaux France
Seznam.cz Prague Czech Republic
Shell & Turcas Petrol A.S. Turkey
Siemens AG Healthcare Sector Erlangen Germany
Smart Cookie Guildford United Kingdom
SmartSite LLC La Plata USA
SNAS - DHL Express Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Strategic Public Relations Group Hong Kong
SUNGWOOADCOM Seoul South Korea
Telecom Development Company Afghanistan LTD [Roshan] Kabul Afghanistan
TELUS Burnaby BC Canada
TELUS Communications Edmonton AB Canada
The General Directorate of Residence and Foreigners Affairs Ras Al Khaimah United Arab Emirates
The Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency Seoul South Korea
The Korea Student Aid Foundation Seoul South Korea
Tmob Mobile Technology Istanbul Turkey
Torres y Carrera Consultores de Comunicación SL Madrid Spain
TRACCS Dubai United Arab Emirates
translate plus London England
TTNET Istanbul Turkey
Türk Ekonomi Bankasi AS Istanbul Turkey
Türkiye Is Bankasi A.S. Istanbul Turkey
Unilever Domestos Turkey
Uskudar Municipality Istanbul Turkey
Verne Global Falls Church VA USA
Virtusa Corporation Westborough MA USA
Weber Shandwick London United Kingdom
WebTalk and Live Warsaw Poland
Zyncro Tech Barcelona Spain

Join them in Barcelona on October 14 - reserve your tickets now!

Top Overall Winners in The 2013 International Business Awards to Receive Grand Stevie Awards in Barcelona on 14 October.

The Stevie® Awards have announced the winners of the Best of the IBA Awards in The 2013 (10th Annual) International Business Awards, the world’s premier business awards competition. This new addition to the IBAs' 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 International Business Awards honor an all-inclusive spectrum of 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. This year’s IBAs received more than 3,300 entries from organizations in more than 50 nations and territories.

Nominees in The 2013 International Business Awards were not able to apply for the Best of the IBA Awards directly.  Winners were determined by a points system based on the total number of awards won in the IBAs, 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. This year’s Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners in The International Business Awards were announced on August 14.

The winners of the Best of the IBA Awards will be presented with the new Grand Stevie Award trophy at The 10th Annual International Business Awards banquet at the W Hotel in Barcelona, Spain on October 14.  The winners are:

Organization of the Year: Accenture, Chicago, IL USA.  With 29.5 total points, Accenture is the most honored organization in the 2012 IBAs.

Public Relations Agency of the Year: Burson-Marsteller.  Burson-Marsteller offices around the world won a total of 26 points for nominations in their own name or in the names of their clients.

Marketing Agency of the Year: Plasenta Conversation Agency, Istanbul, Turkey.  Plasenta earned 28.5 points, tops among all marketing services agencies in this year's IBAs.

Interactive Services Agency of the Year: Reading Room, Singapore.  With 17.5 points, Reading Room is the most honored of this year's field of interactive agency contestants.

Top 10: After the winners of the above prizes, the following individual entrants earned the most award points in the 2013 IBAs:

1. Quality Systems, Inc., Irvine, CA USA (24.5 points)
2. Jack Morton Worldwide, USA and United Kingdom (23)
3. LLORENTE & CUENCA, Madrid, Spain (21.5)
4. Maras Group, Adelaide, Australia (20)
5. Strategic Public Relations Group, Hong Kong (18.5)
6. MWW, East Rutherford, NJ USA (17.5)
7. Nu Skin Enterprises (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan) (17.5)
8. Finansbank A.S., Istanbul, Turkey (17)
9. Save Your Numbers, Barcelona, Spain (17)
10. CallidusCloud, Pleasanton, CA USA (16)

Best of the IBA winners will also be granted the exclusive right to use a unique Best of the 2013 IBAs logo.

More than 250 executives worldwide participated in the judging process to determine this year’s Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners.

For a complete list of Stevie Award winners in The 2013 International Business Awards in all categories visit www.StevieAwards.com/IBA.

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.  A fifth program, the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, will open for entries next month.  Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide.  Learn more about the Stevie Awards at www.StevieAwards.com, and follow the Stevie Awards on Twitter @TheStevieAwards.   

As we get ready to wrap up the final round of judging for The 10th Annual International Business Awards tomorrow, we want to acknowledge the contribution of the 103 professionals worldwide who participated in the preliminary round of judging for the 2013 IBAs.

The International Business Awards are the world's top business accolades, recognizing achievement in every facet of the workplace.  The IBAs feature categories to recognize achievements in management, new product development, marketing, public relations, creative media such as websites and apps, customer service, human resources, and more.

The preliminary round of judging, conducted from early May through mid-July, determined the entries in this year's IBAs that were eligible to be considered in the final round of judging, which began on July 29 and concludes on August 7.

This year's Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie® Award winners will be announced on August 14, and celebrated at a gala banquet on October 14 at the W Hotel in Barcelona, Spain.  Learn more about the IBAs at www.StevieAwards.com/IBA.

We thank the following professionals around the world who participated in this year's preliminary judging.

Dr. Mamdooh Abdelmottle, Founding President, International Police Sciences Association, Sharjah Police, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Mohammad Al Dweiri, Training Specialist, Abu Dhabi Police, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Abdulla Al Neyadi, Research and Study Analysis, Al Ain Muncipality, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
Abdulrahman Alblooshi, Strategic Planning & Performance Management, Al Ain City Municipality, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
Mahmoud Alhayek, Quality Expert, Abu Dhabi Police, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Juan Paolo Arao, HR Senior Supervisor, Bahrain National Gas Company, Bahrain
Kari Baker, Director, Account Management, Phizzle, San Francisco, CA, USA
Sriram Bakthisaran, CEO, Mercuri Media Limited, Pune, Maharashtra, India
Nagabhushan Balaji, Head Internal Control, Legal & Compliance, Dubai First, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
W. Nicole Barclay, Senior Copywriter & Fashion Editor, Fashion, Luxury, Identity., New York, NY, USA
Victoria Barnett, Senior Marketing Executive, Royal College of Nursing, London, United Kingdom
Donald Batting, Senior Creative Design Consultant, Ernst & Young Enterprise Support Services, New York, NY, USA
Israel Bonequi, Creative Director, Birds Nest Foundation, Montreal, Canada
Jane Bryant, Director, Spire Communications, Potomac Falls, VA, USA
Benito Castro, Co-organizer, Evento Blog España, Madrid, Spain
Venkata Rajesh Cheerla, Group Senior Manager - HR Strategy, Policies & Compliance, Etisalat Group, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Dongyul Cho, Executive Director, Cheil Worldwide, Seoul, South Korea
Kate Darcy-Hohenthal, Founder, The Birthday Club, Manchester, CT, USA
Rachel Deutsch, Creative Director, The Design Channel, Chevy Chase, MD, USA
Danielle Di-Masi, Managing Director, The Interactions Lab, Coogee, Australia
Jon Dobinson, Executive Creative Director, Other Creative Limited, London, United Kingdom
Alexander Dourchev, CEO, All Channels Communication, Sofia, Bulgaria
Michal Dunin, Managing Director, WebTalk, Warsaw, Poland
Stacey Edmonds, Head of Films & Digital, Be Learning, Moore Park, Australia
Mahdi El Horchi, Consultant, Blue Ocean Consulting JLT, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Waleed Farag, Telecom Supervisor, Mafraq Hospital, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Lauren Gertzman, Owner, Inside Minds, LLC, Washington, DC, USA
Laura Gosse, Founder, lrgworks, McLean, VA, USA
Dr. Adel Hamad, CEO, Gulf Aluminium Rolling Mill Company (GARMCO), Manama, Bahrain
Robin Harris, Principal/Creative Director, Harris Design Inc., McLean, VA, USA
Deanna Hart, Operations Manager, IHG - InterContinental Hotels Group, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Jesse Hertstein, Senior CSR Specialist, Amway, Ada, MI, USA
Leo Indarwahono, Public Health & Educational Executive, Unilever Indonesia Tbk, Jakarta, Indonesia
Petr Jares, Sales Manager, Et netera a.s., Prague, Czech Republic
Monika Jaslowska, Senior Head of Brand Public Relations Department, Polpharma Biuro Handlowe Sp. z o. o., Warsaw, Poland
Beverly Jensen, President/CEO, WomensMedicineBowl.com, Grecia, Alejuela, Costa Rica
Jane Johnson, Director of Content Development, Pivot Communications, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Sinta Kaniawati, Director, Unilever Foundation, Unilever Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia
Hakan Karamanli, IT Manager, Garanti Teknoloji, Istanbul, Turkey
Joe Kay, Senior Business Transformation Consultant, London, United Kingdom
Faiz Kermani, PhD, Senior Communications Manager, SFL Regulatory Affairs & Scientific Communications Ltd., Basel, Switzerland
Norbert Kilen, Strategy Director, Think Kong, Warszawa, Poland
Ellen Kim, President & Creative Director, GRAPHEK, Great Falls, VA, USA
Andreea Leonte, PR Director, McCann PR, Bucharest, Romania
Chris Litherland, International Senior Director HR, Intermec, Düsseldorf, Germany
Tony Liu, Founder, Creative Chairman, aeiou, Shanghai, China
Petro Lymar, Regional Business Development, Yandex, Odessa, Ukraine
Anil Machado, Managing Director, T Nell, Sieradz, Poland
Graeme MacKenzie, Director of Industry Affairs, Adlens Ltd., Oxford, United Kingdom
Dr. Kanak Madrecha, Advisor-Corporate Excellence Division, Municipality of Abu Dhabi City, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Connie Maina Nkatha, Corporate Communications, Kenya Wildlife Service, Nairobi, Kenya
Melek Manisali, Founder, M3 Public Relations, Istanbul, Turkey
Margaret Manning, CEO, Reading Room, London, United Kingdom
Maciej Maslak, Head of Strategy, WebTalk, Warsaw, Poland
Wessam Massoud, Programme Delivery Manager, Abu Dhabi Systems & Information Center (ADSIC), Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Chris McConnell, Senior Manager, Global Capability, Accenture, Chicago, IL, USA
Karen McFadzen, Vice President Technical Services, Cisco Systems, Chatswood, NSW, Australia
Colin McKillop, CEO, Butcher Enterprises, Windsor, ON, Canada
Jeremy McWilliams, Managing Director, Bang TV, London, United Kingdom
Ronald Meske, President, Training Systems Design, Camarillo, CA, USA
Eliza Misiecka, Founder and CEO, GENESIS PR Poland, Warsaw, Poland
Steve Morgan, Senior Web Designer, Foxtons, London, United Kingdom
Motomasa Murayama, Professor, Tokiwa University, Mito City, Japan
Ozgur Mutlu, Director of Financial and Administrative Affairs, Ankara Natmon AS, Ankara, Turkey
Tamara Nall, President & CEO, The Leading Niche, New York, NY, USA
Deane Nettles, Creative Director, Deane Nettles Associates, Baltimore, MD, USA
Angela Nielsen, President, One Lily Creative Agency, Barstow, CA, USA
Rajiv Noronha, AVP, Location HR Leader & Head of Org. Effectiveness (BPO), Tata Consultancy Services, Bangalore, India
Gail Oring, Partner, GO! Creative, Kensington, MD, USA
Mark O'Toole, Managing Director, Public Relations & Content Marketing, H|B, Newton, MA, USA
Katarzyna Pawlikowska, Managing Partner, Garden of Words, Warsaw, Poland
Donald Pillai, International Marketing Executive, Bumbo (Pty) Ltd, Rosslyn, South Africa
Churchill Dass Prince, Founder & CEO, Sales Intellect Company, Chennai, India
Rosaline Raj, Principal, Creative Chaos Communications, Milpitas, CA, USA
V.S. Ramachandran, Senior Vice President, Emarat, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Mohamed A. R. Rashed, Director of Human Resources, Ahlia University, Manama, Bahrain
Emma Real, Specialist, Corporate Communications, AECOM, Chicago, IL, USA
Dennis Reno, Vice President, Customer Experience, Oracle Global Customer Support, San Francisco, CA, USA
Linanne Sackett, Principal Investigator, Verizon Next Step Program, Albany, NY, USA
Sasan Saeidi, Managing Director, FP7, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Hande Sarantopoulos, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Director, Kale Group, Istanbul, Turkey
Susan Savage, General Manager, MICROS Fidelio Australia, South Turramurra, NSW Australia
Lauren Selikoff, Managing Director, Selikoff+Company, Orange, NJ, USA
A.K.M. Sharma, Group General Manager, RITES LTD., Gurgaon, India
Peter Siggaard-Andersen, Owner, Siggaard-Consulting, Heiligenhaus, Germany
Manu Singh, Manager - Contact Center, Dubai First, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Pelle Sjöqvist, Creative Director, Dahlheim & Sjöqvist, Stockholm, Sweden
Brenda South, Executive Vice President, West Coast Technology Practice, Weber Shandwick, Seattle, WA, USA
Kiichiro Suda, CEO, TECNET Inc., Tokyo, Japan
Shoab Syed, Principal Consultant, Sovnex, Brampton, ON, Canada
Jacqueline Teo, General Manager, Programme Management Office, FOXTEL, Putney, Australia
Victoria Thorpe, Vice President, Client Services, Trapeze, Toronto, ON, Canada
Eugene Tiah, President, Phoenix Park Gas Processors, Trinidad and Tobago
Han Tjan, Vice President, Corporate Communications, Daimler AG, New York, NY, USA
Ryan Tweedie, Managing Partner, Sapien LLC, Morristown, NJ, USA
Vinny Verdi, Producer, CUNY-TV, New York, NY USA
Helmut von Fircks, CEO, F & H Public Relations GmbH, Munchen, Germany
Tzyy Wang, Marketing Director, MSL China, Beijing, China
Brian Ward, SVP Client Engagement, Stylesight, New York, NY, USA
Paddy Weerasekera, Head of Marketing, Corporate Communications and CSR, Expolanka Holdings PLC, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Carolyn White, Senior Vice President, Marketing & Public Relations, Graebel Companies, Inc., Aurora, CO, USA
Floor Wijburg, CEO, W & I Consultants, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Katarzyna Wilczewska, Public Affairs Manager, Kompania Piwowarska SA, Poznan, Poland
Debra Woodfork, Production and Design Manager, Association of Corporate Counsel, Washington, DC, USA
Nevine Younes, Art Director, Catalone Design Co., LLC, Bethesda, MD, USA
David Zapata, President, Zapwater Communications, Chicago, IL, USA
Rebecca Zhao, Director/Designer, www.zstudioca.com, GuangZhou City, China
Joseph Zitzelberger, Director of Manufacturing Development, Kenworth Truck Company, PACCAR Inc, Chillicothe, OH, USA

The Stevie® Awards are pleased to announce the winners of the Best of the IBA Awards in The 2012 International Business Awards, the world's premier business awards competition. This new addition to the IBAs' 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. 

These awards cannot be applied for directly. Winners were determined by a points system based on the total number of awards won in the IBAs, 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. 

Congratulations to the winners of the first Best of the IBA Awards:

Organization of the Year: Quality Systems, Inc., Irvine, CA, USA.  With 52 total points, Quality Systems is the most honored organization in the 2012 IBAs.

Public Relations Agency of the Year: Weber Shandwick, worldwide.  Weber Shandwick offices around the world won a total of 34.5 points for nominations in their own name or in the names of their clients.

Marketing Agency of the Year: Slack and Company, Chicago, IL, USA.  Slack earned 22.5 points, tops among all marketing services agencies in this year's IBAs.

Interactive Services Agency of the Year: eWIDEPLUS, South Korea.  With 13.5 points, eWIDEPLUS 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 IBAs:

1. LifeLock, Tempe, AZ, USA (47)
2. Accenture, worldwide (31)
3. MWW, East Rutherford, NJ, USA (30)
4. VerticalResponse, San Francisco, CA, USA (26)
5. Türk Telekom, Istanbul, Turkey (25.5)
6. iolo technologies, Los Angeles, CA, USA (23.5)
7. Burson-Marsteller, worldwide (22)
8. MSLGROUP, worldwide (20.5)
9. Akbank, Istanbul, Turkey (20)
10. PetRays, The Woodlands, TX, USA (20)

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

Learn more about the Best of the IBA Awards.

Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners in The 2012 International Business Awards were announced last week.  Here's a summary of the results.

Business Awards Program to Celebrate Excellence Worldwide at Seoul Event

Fairfax, VA U.S.A. – August 15, 2012 – Organizations and individuals in more than 40 nations have been announced as Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie® Award winners in The Ninth Annual International Business Awards, the world’s only international, all-encompassing business awards program.

Nicknamed the Stevies from the Greek word “crowned,” the awards will be presented at a gala event on Monday, 15 October at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Seoul, South Korea. Tickets for the event are on sale now at www.StevieAwards.com/IBA.    

Winning 69 Gold Stevie Awards this year, organizations and individuals in the United States made the best showing.  Host nation South Korea came in second place with 59 Golds, while Turkey earned an impressive 19 Gold Stevies.  The United Kingdom earned 16 Gold followed by the United Arab Emirates with 11, Canada with 10 and India with eight.

Some notable Gold Stevie winners include Accenture (India and USA, four Gold), Advanced Bionics (USA, three Gold), AKBANK TAS (Turkey, three), Etisalat Group (United Arab Emirates, four), Kanyon (Turkey, four), iolo technologies (USA, three), Jack Morton Worldwide (USA, three), HANAROADCOM (South Korea, three), eWIDEPLUS (South Korea, four), LifeLock (USA, five), Quality Systems (USA, five), Shinhan Card (South Korea, four), and Slack and Company (USA, four).

A complete list of all 2012 Gold, Silver and Bronze International Stevie Award winners by category is available at www.StevieAwards.com/IBA.   

Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie winners were selected from more than 3,200 entries received from organizations and individuals in more than 50 nations.  All organizations worldwide are eligible to compete in The International Business Awards, and can nominate in a wide range of categories, including management awards, company/organization awards, marketing awards, public relations awards, customer service awards, human resources awards, new product awards, IT awards, web site awards, and more.  

Business professionals around the world participated in preliminary judging in May-July.  Their average scores determined the entries that were eligible to be considered in final judging, which was performed earlier this month by the members of 10 specialized committees.  In total, nearly 300 executives around the world participated in the judging process. 

For high-resolution photos of the Stevie Award or International Business Awards logo, visit http://www.stevieawards.com/pubs/iba/press/172_701_3120.cfm. Other information and resources for press are available at http://www.stevieawards.com/pubs/iba/press/172_701_3121.cfm. 

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/, and follow the Stevie Awards on Twitter @TheStevieAwards.   

16 May Is Entry Deadline for 2012 International Business Awards; Ceremony to Take Place in Seoul, South Korea

Fairfax, VA – 9 May, 2012 – Organizers of The Ninth Annual International Business Awards, the world’s premier business awards competition,  are reminding businesses and individuals that the entry deadline is on 16 May. While the competition is on track to receive a record number of entries, there are still many opportunities for aspiring entrants.

All individuals and organizations worldwide – public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small – may submit nominations to The International Business Awards.  The entry deadline is Wednesday, 16 May, and late entries will be accepted until 27 June with an additional fee.  Entry details are available at www.stevieawards.com/iba. 

The International Business Awards recognize achievement in every facet of the workplace.  Categories include:

• Management Awards
• Company of the Year Awards
• Customer Service Awards
• Human Resources Awards
• Information Technology Awards
• Marketing Awards
• New Product Awards
• Public Relations Awards
• Web Site Awards, Smartphone and Tablet App, and other media awards

The 2012 International Business Awards will include the Second Annual People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite Companies, in which the general public worldwide will vote for their favorite companies. Each company honored with a Gold, Silver or Bronze Stevie Award in The International Business Awards’ company of the year categories will automatically be included in people’s choice voting, which will open in late July.

Winners of the competition will be celebrated at the ninth annual awards banquet on Monday, 15 October at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Seoul, South Korea. 

The 8^th Annual International Business Awards were presented in October 2011 in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates.  Honorees included American Express, Bombardier, Inc., Etisalat, Everything Everywhere, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, Siemens AG, TATA Motors, Tesco Poland, Toyota Motor Corporation, Turk Telekom, and Unilever N.V., among others.  2011 results are summarized at http://www.stevieawards.com/pubs/iba/awards/408_2219_21081.cfm. 

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/, and follow the Stevie Awards on Twitter @TheStevieAwards. 

All individuals and organizations worldwide – public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small – may submit nominations to The International Business Awards.  The early-bird entry deadline, offering discounted entry fees, is 11 April.  The final entry deadline is 16 May.  Late entries will be accepted through 27 June, and results will be announced in late July.  Entry details are available at www.stevieawards.com/iba. 

New in 2012, Stevie Awards will be conferred at three levels of distinction: gold, silver and bronze.  Previously, only overall category winners have received Gold Stevie Awards. The Stevie Award trophy, made by the company that makes the Oscar and other major international awards, is one of the world’s most coveted prizes. Stevie Award winners will be selected by an international judging panel of more than 200 executives.

The International Business Awards recognize achievement in every facet of the workplace.  Categories include:

For a full list of categories visit the IBA web site.

The 2012 International Business Awards will include the Second Annual People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite Companies, in which the general public worldwide will vote for their favorite companies. Each company honored with a Gold, Silver or Bronze Stevie Award in The International Business Awards’ company of the year categories will automatically be included in people’s choice voting.  Voting will open in late July and winners will be announced at the Seoul, South Korea awards ceremony on 15 October.

2012 Stevie Award winners will be celebrated at the 9^th annual awards banquet on Monday, 15 October at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Seoul, South Korea.

The 8th Annual International Business Awards were presented in October 2011 in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates.  Honorees included American Express, Bombardier, Inc., Etisalat, Everything Everywhere, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, Siemens AG, TATA Motors, Tesco Poland, Toyota Motor Corporation, Turk Telekom, and Unilever N.V., among others.  2011 results are summarized at http://www.stevieawards.com/pubs/iba/awards/408_2219_21081.cfm.  

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/, and follow the Stevie Awards on Twitter @TheStevieAwards. 

More than 35,000 votes were cast in the first People's Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite Companies, from 28 July through 9 September, and here are the top vote-getters in the 25 categories, and thus the winners of the crystal People's Choice Stevie Awards:

2011 Advertising, Marketing & Public Relations: BrainJuicer Group PLC            

2011 Aerospace, Defense & Transportation: Gulftainer Company Limited                      

2011 Automotive & Transport Equipment: International Armoring Corporation                       

2011 Banking: National Bank of Abu Dhabi

2011 Business Services: ActionCOACH

2011 Chemicals: SABIC

2011 Computer Services: Quality Systems, Inc.

2011 Computer Software: SYSPRO

2011 Conglomerates: Siemens AG

2011 Consumer Products: Beiersdorf AG

2011 Electronics: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing 

2011 Energy & Utilities: Abu Dhabi National Oil Company                 

2011 Financial Services: Union National Bank

2011 Food & Beverage: Al Ghadeer Water Factory LLC 

2011 Health Products & Services: PetRays

2011 Insurance: PlanSource

2011 Manufacturing: Joseph Group

2011 Materials & Construction: GS Engineering & Construction                       

2011 Media: British Sky Broadcasting

2011 Metals & Mining: African Rainbow Minerals

2011 Non-Profit & Government: Abu Dhabi Police General Headquarters                      

2011 Real Estate: CTP Company

2011 Retail: Ross Stores

2011 Services: African Access Holdings

2011 Telecommunications: Türk Telekom

This worldwide public vote was conducted as part of The 8^th Annual International Business Awards, the only global, all-encompassing business awards program honoring great performances in business.

Nicknamed the Stevie® for the Greek word “crowned,” the awards will be presented to honorees at the IBA awards banquet on Tuesday, 11 October in the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.  Tickets for the event are now on sale.

All organizations honored in the Company/Organization awards categories of this year’s International Business Awards were eligible to be included in voting for the people’s choice awards, which was open to the public for more than five weeks this summer.

How did your favorites fare in the voting?

For the past week we've been recognizing the participation of the more than 200 judges in The 2011 International Business Awards, the world's premier awards program honoring achievements of all sorts in the workplace.  Today we look at the members of the panel whose scores determined this year's honorees in the Company/Organization categories.

Panel members included

Rene Co, General Manager, Corporate Communications & Reputation, Procter & Gamble Asia, Singapore
Sangmin (Eddy) Hong, CEO, Nextrans Inc., Seoul, South Korea
Sinta Kaniawati, Director, Unilever Foundation, Unilever Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia
Steve Keum, CEO & Creative Chairman, UK Creative Group, Seoul, South Korea
Ilchul Kim, Professor, Dongeui University (Dept. of Marketing Communications), Busan City, South Korea
Stephen Midgley, VP-Global Marketing, Absolute Software, Vancouver, Canada
Eunjoo (Stephanie) Song,  CEO & President, Culture Bank Inc., Seoul, South Korea

The committee was chaired and formed by Shin Sung-In, CEO, KPR & Associates Inc., Seoul, South Korea.

Among the categories judged by this committee were

• 33 industry-specific Company of the Year categories
• Most Innovative Company of the Year
• CSR Program of the Year
• Environmental Responsibility Program of the Year
• New Company of the Year
• Fastest Growing Company of the Year

Among the honorees in these categories this year are Bombardier Inc., Tata Motors Limited, Agricultural Bank of China, Quality Systems, ING Group, and Bertelsmann AG, among many others.

What do you think of the selections by this judging committee?

This week we've been recognizing the contributions of the more than 200 professionals worldwide who participated in the judging process for The 8th Annual International Business Awards, the world's premier business awards program, and today we acknowledge the participation of those on the Management Awards judging committee, which included

Allyson Stewart Allen, Director, International Marketing Partners, London, United Kingdom
Esther Oh, Deputy Director, Commercial Services, CITIC Pacific Mining Management Pty Ltd, South Perth, WA Australia
Valerie Ondes, CFO, High Frequency Economics, Valhalla, NY USA
Janine Popick, CEO & Founder, VerticalResponse, San Francisco, CA USA
Jacqueline Teo, General Manager, Programme Management Office, FOXTEL, Putney, Australia
Han Tjan, VP-Corporate Communications, Daimler, New York, NY USA

The committee was chaired and formed by Yvonne Howie, CEO, The CEO Institute, Neutral Bay, NSW Australia.

The average scores of the members of this committee determined the 2011 Stevie Award winners in categories such as Management Team of the Year, Executive of the Year, and Chairman of the Year.  The full list of honorees in these categories is online, but some notable Stevie Award winners this year include:

• The management team at iolo technologies, Los Angeles, CA USA
• Fujio Cho, Chairman, Toyota Motor Corporation, Aichi, Japan
• Catherine A. Lesjak, Chief Financial Officer and Executive VP, Hewlett-Packard Company, Palo Alto, CA USA
• Mukesh D Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries Limited, Mumbai, India
• Jose Ignacio Sanchez Galán, CEO, Iberdrola SA, Bilbao, Spain
• Mugheer Al Khaili, Director General, Abu Dhabi Education Council, Abu Dhabi, UAE