F&H Porter Novelli in Munich Germany won a Silver Stevie® Award and two Bronze Stevie® Awards in the Communications Awards, IR Awards, and Public Relations Awards categories of The 2014 International Business Awards.

Freiherr Helmut von Fircks, CEO of F&H Porter Novelli, is a regular judge for the International Business Awards. We talked to him about what winning a Stevie® Award means to him, and for his view on the upcoming German Stevie Awards.

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

On winning a Stevie® Award, Helmut von Fircks had this to say: “Winning an award is a big honor both for the client and for the account team. And it not only motivates the dedicated team, the whole agency also benefits from a real boost to morale.”

Raising Awareness
We asked Helmut for his thoughts on the new German Stevie® Awards.  “Having a German Stevie Awards program will attract even more German businesses to attend and be part of this wonderful awards program,” he commented. “Having a German Stevie Awards is recognition of the importance of the German market and its role in the communications world. It will raise the awareness of the Stevie Awards tremendously.”

Think Global-Act Local
For companies already operating, or considering expanding into the German market, Helmut offers the following advice: “We suggest companies adopt the rule: Think global–act local. Even though we are part of the EU, Germans expect a tailor-made personal approach. So a campaign that might work in the U.K. does not necessarily work here in Germany.”

A Bright Future
Helmut is optimistic about the future. “Communications is an evolving industry, always at the heart of future trends and innovation,” he told us. “Learning something new every day keeps us excited and motivated for future challenges.”

About Freiherr Helmut von Fircks:
Helmut von Fircks founded the F & H agency whilst studying economics. Even though he started his career in advertising, he soon discovered the power of public relations within the communications mix. He has built a team of creative strategists who love consulting for large global organizations as well as medium-sized businesses. His heart beats communications, especially in challenging situations, and he is a proven crisis-communications specialist.

In his private life this father of four enjoys long walks with his Labrador Lady Mercey.

About F&H Porter Novelli:
F&H Porter Novelli was founded in 1980 and currently employs 60 people in its Munich office. The agency is exclusive German brand partner of Porter Novelli. F&H is amongst the top 20 PR agencies in Germany. The full service agency offers all parameters within a modern communication mix from PR to advertising. F&H Porter Novelli is a strategic communications consultancy supporting com- panies, organizations, institutions, and people in a variety of communications needs. Areas of expertise include traditional and social media public relations, crisis, special situations and long-term stakeholder communications. F&H offers international communications consulting from creative strategists. Bold and pas- sionate, the F&H team develops successful high quality solutions. More information via http://www.fundh.de/

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.

Winners of Stevie Awards in The 11th Annual International Business Awards, the world's top honors for achievement in the workplace, will be celebrated and presented their prizes during a glittering banquet on Friday, October 10 at the Westin Paris – Vendôme Hotel in France.  Close to 400 executives from over 30 nations will attend.

The event will sell out.  Only 50 tickets remain, and by this time next week they will be sold.  Purchase your tickets now by first logging into your IBA entry submission account.

Here is a list of the organizations that have already purchased their tickets for the October 10 banquet.

ABS-CBN Corporation Quezon City Philippines
ADCO
Agency for Defense Development
Akbati Shopping Mall Istanbul Turkey
American Medical Response
Anadolu Efes Istanbul Turkey
ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller Dubai United Arab Emirates
ASTRO MALAYSIA HOLDINGS BERHAD
Azercell Telecom LLC Baku Azerbaijan
boogy the event company
Çalik Enerji Ankara Turkey
Cathay Century Insurance
Cisco Systems Inc. San Jose CA U.S.A.
City Health Care Partnership CIC Hull United Kingdom
DenizBank A.S. Istanbul Turkey
Designated Editor Newport RI USA
DHL Express Egypt Cairo
Diamantis Masoutis S.A. Thessaloniki Greece
Doha Bank
Domino's Pizza Istanbul Turkey
Dubai Electricity and Water Authority Dubai United Arab Emirates
ECOPAINT ANGOLA LDA Angola
Egyptian Steel
Entrepreneurial Business School
Eriksen Translations Inc.
FeatureCraft (FC Bilisim Iletisim LTD) Istanbul Turkey
Flytxt Dubai United Arab Emirates
Foresight Corporate Communications Inc. Toronto ON Canada
Freelancer.com
Garanti Pension and Life Istanbul Turkey
GetResponse Wilmington DE USA
Good Relations London United Kingdom
Graebel Companies Inc.
Grupo Máquina PR São Paulo Brazil
GSD® United Kingdom
HANAROADCOM
Hanwoo Board
HAVELSAN INC. Ankara Turkey
HomeAway Inc; Austin TX USA
Hooper Consulting
HR.com Aurora Ontario Canada
HRsmart Paris France
Hyundai Steel
iFinance Canada Canada
inVNT
iPai Shanghai China
ITOPF Limited London England
Jo Su Hee Photo Exhibition
Josiethomson.com Brisbane Australia
Kanyon/Istanbul Turkey
KEPCO KDN
KEPCO Nuclear Fuel Company(KNF)
Kim Hung Ki Mentor Team
Korea Student Aid Foundation
Korea Energy Management Corporation
Korea Gas Safety Corporation
Kosovo Energy Distribution and Supply Company
Land Department of Dubai Dubai United Arab Emirates
Lotte Department Store
Maras Group Adelaide SA Australia
Market Edge Limited Dhaka Bangladesh
MetaMoJi Corporation Tokyo Japan
Millward Brown London United Kingdom
MindZet Kolding Denmark
Ministry of Interiors Dubai United Arab Emirates
Movitel, SA
NATEL EMS Los Angeles CA USA
NNG LLC. Budapest Hungary
Nongshim Communications
Nord Stream AG Zug Switzerland
NU SKIN KOREA
Octavian Security Nottingham United Kingdom
Odea Bank A.S. Istanbul Turkey
Office of the Police Attaché United Arab Emirates Embassy London United Kingdom
Oi Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro Brazil
OMSAN Logistics Istanbul Turkey
Ooredoo Group Doha Qatar
Opet Petrolculuk Istanbul Turkey
other
Oxagile LLC New York NY USA
Oxford City Football Club Lake Worth FL USA
Pathways Community Interest Company Crewe United Kingdom
Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines Inc. Muntinlupa City Philippines
Portugal Telecom Lisbon Portugal
PS Communication Denmark ltd
PT. Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk Jakarta Indonesia
Quality Systems Inc. Irvine CA USA
Ryan LLC Dallas TX USA
sahibinden.com
Scale Focus AD Sofia Bulgaria
ShoreTel Australia
SK hynix
Soohyun
Strategic Public Relations Group Hong Kong
Synergy Hill+Knowlton Strategies Seoul Korea
TATA Consultancy Services Ltd
TELUS Communications Edmonton AB Canada
Teradata Corporation Dayton OH USA
Theresa Bradley-Banta Real Estate Consultancy Denver CO USA
Tmob Mobile Technology Istanbul Turkey
TRACCS
TranslateMedia London United Kingdom
TTNET Istanbul Turkey
Türkiye Garanti Bankasi A.S. Istanbul Turkey
Türkiye Is Bankasi A.S. Istanbul Turkey
Uijeongbu City
Unite Communications Ortakoy Istanbul
Velie Law Firm Norman OK USA
Viettel Group
Viettel Timor Leste Unipessoal
Vipnet Zagreb Croatia
Virtual Piggy Inc. Hermosa Beach CA USA
Virtusa Corporation Westborough MA USA
Vodafone Istanbul Turkey
Weber Shandwick

More than 23,000 votes were cast in this year's People's Choice Stevie® Awards for Favorite Companies, a feature of The International Business Awards, the world's premier business awards competition. All organizations honored in the IBA’s Company of the Year categories were included in People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite Companies voting, in which the general public voted for their favorite companies.

Winners of the crystal People's Choice Stevie Awards will be presented on stage at the 11^th Annual International Business Awards banquet at the Westin Vendôme Hotel in Paris, France on October 10^th.

Organizations worldwide are eligible to submit nominations to the IBAs – public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small.  More than 3,300 nominations were submitted to this year’s International Business Awards by organizations in over 60 nations and territories, for consideration in a wide variety of categories including New Product or Service of the Year, Most Innovative Company of the Year, Management Team of the Year, Best New Product or Service of the Year, Corporate Social Responsibility Program of the Year, and Executive of the Year, among others. 

With the most votes received in their respective categories, the following are the 2014 winners of the crystal People's Choice Stevie® Award trophies:

Advertising, Marketing & PR: HH Global
Banking / Financial / Insurance: Union National Bank                            
Business Services: Competence Call Center                
Computer Hardware / Electronics: Arvento Mobile Systems   
Computer Services / Internet: Quality Systems, Inc.                 
Computer Software: HRBoss Singapore             
Conglomerates: Virgin Group               
Construction / Manufacturing / Materials: Clearpath Robotics         
Energy & Utilities: ADCO
Food & Beverage:  Food Innovation Solutions             
Health Products and Services: NU SKIN Expo
Hospitality / Leisure / Retail: Diamantis Masoutis S.A.
Media & Entertainment: ABS-CBN Corporation                  
Non-Profit & Government Organizations: Abu Dhabi Police GHQ
Service Industries: iPai
Telecommunications: Globe Telecom, Inc.
Transportation: OMSAN Logistics


For more information about The International Business Awards, including a complete list of all Stevie Award winners in the 2014 IBAs, visit www.StevieAwards.com/IBA.

About the Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in six programs: The International Business Awards, The American 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 www.StevieAwards.com.

Sponsors of The International Business Awards include Competence Call Center, Egyptian Steel, and the Korea Business Communicators Association

Tore Claesson, a Director of U.S.-based creative agency TIO, has been sharing his time between the US and China since October 2013.  Tore was a judge for The 2014 International Business Awards, covering the Communications Awards, PR Awards, and Creative Awards categories.

The 2015 International Business Awards will open for entries in January. Join the mailing list and we'll email you once the entry kit becomes available.

We talked to Tore about his experience of judging for the Stevie Awards and were gratified by his enthusiasm. “I think I’ve learned more from judging the Stevie Awards than from any book on creativity!” he told us.

Tore sees judging as an opportunity to peek into other professionals’ brains. As he puts it: “To see how others have solved certain business and creative problems is invaluable. It’s like a secret peek behind the curtain.”

Why China?

Tore had a pithy response to why he has been in China for the past year. “To fill a void.”

Tore explained: “There are simply no agencies focused on small and medium-sized businesses and brands that can bridge the culture gap between the U.S. and China, or Europe and China. And that applies whether a Chinese brand is going west or a Western company is trying to penetrate China.

“You either get an agency that finds a ‘partner’ in China for adaptation work, or—if you’re a Chinese company—you may go to a Chinese agency, which most likely has no experience in the nuances of US communications.

“Nuance is key to all communication. Being on the ground in China, with a mixed Western and domestic team, means we master those nuances. With an agency in New York as well as an agency in China, both cultures are a daily part of our work.”

The Importance of Social Media

Tore stressed the importance of social media in China. “One has to immerse oneself in all social media in China such as Wechat, QQ, Weibo, Youku, etc.  China may have a long way to go before it is on a par with the US and Europe on branding and marketing communications—the industry is still young in China—but in social media, which is a much newer business, they are way ahead. The West can learn from China when it comes to using social media.”

Future Judging

The Stevie Awards recently introduced the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, and the 2015 competition opens this month. (For more information on how to participate, sign up to receive an Entry Kit.)   Tore is intrigued by the possibilities of this competition and has expressed interest in judging the newly revamped and expanded entry categories.

Life in China

Since October 2013, Tore has been working in China and is based in Chengdu, Sichuan.  Tore told us, “Chengdu is China’s fourth biggest city with 14 million people, a fantastic kitchen if you like spicy food, a world famous Panda park, and Geely, which makes Volvo cars.

“Chengdu is known as the Silicon Valley of China—a real tech-hub—and Chengdu Hi-Tech Zone (CDHT) is home to 33,237 hi-tech companies, of which 1,115 companies are foreign-invested enterprises, including over 120 Fortune 500 and world-renowned companies.”

When we asked Tore what kept him inspired or excited about the future, his apt response was: “In my case it’s a curiosity to see where the road leads. I can’t stand still. Petrification is for statues!”

You can read and see more of Tore’s adventures in China on his blog or view some of the work being done in China on his LinkedIn site. His profile page links to a showcase for a Swedish company, Sveba-Dahlen, that needed a Chinese name and more.

About Tore Claesson

Tore’s background at agencies such as Ogilvy and Anderson & Lembke McCann, based in Singapore, Tokyo, and Hong Kong in Asia, and Amsterdam in Europe, in addition to his many years in New York, means that TIO has a leader that knows the ins and out of cross culture communication better than just about anybody on this small planet.

About TIO Agency

TIO is a creative agency specializing in brand strategy, market communication, advertising, and design. TIO helps businesses communicate to their stakeholders with a unique, clear, and consistent voice. To be heard in today’s over-saturated media landscape, efficient brand communication must be designed holistically to convey a unified message to internal and external stakeholders, then transmitted via multiple media.By aligning to each client’s strategic vision, TIO ensures that its work is focused on concrete marketing objectives, rather than dictated by simple creative whims or technological indulgences.

TIO was founded in 2009 by designer Norman Rabinovich and brand strategist Michael Raisanen. Its team consists of 20 creative professionals across design, strategy, communication, technology advertising, public relations, and new media. The agency is headquartered in New Canaan, Connecticut, USA, with an office in Gothenburg, Sweden.

The Stevie® Awards have announced the winners of the Best of the IBA Awards in The 2014 (11^th Annual) International Business Awards, the world's premier business awards competition.

Nominees in the 2014 IBAs 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. This year's Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners in The International Business Awards were announced on August 13.

The winners of the Best of the IBA Awards will be presented with Grand Stevie Award trophies at The 11^th Annual International Business Awards banquet at The Westin Vendôme Hotel in Paris, France on October 10. 

Winners were determined by a points system based on the total number of awards won in the IBAs, with a  Gold Stevie win counting for 3 points, a Silver Stevie for 2 points, and a Bronze Stevie counting for 1.5.  The winners are:

Organization of the Year: Quality, Systems, Inc. Irvine, California, USA. With 68.5 total points, Quality Systems, Inc. is the most honored organization in the 2014 IBAs.

Public Relations Agency of the Year: MWW. MWW offices around the world won a total of 42.5 points.

Marketing Agency of the Year: Weber Shandwick. Weber Shandwick offices worldwide won a total of 39.5 points.

Interactive Services Agency of the Year: Plasenta Conversation Agency, Istanbul, Turkey (31.5 points)

Top 10: After the winners of the above prizes, the following entrants earned the most award points in the 2014 IBAs:

1. MSLGROUP, worldwide (35.5)
2. CallidusCloud, Pleasanton, California, USA (32.5)
3. Akbank TAS, Istanbul, Turkey (31.5)
4. Maras Group, Adelaide, Australia (31)
5. LLORENTE Y CUENCA, Madrid, Spain (27.5)
6. Odea Bank A.S., Istanbul, Turkey (26.5)
7. Ooredoo Group, Doha, Qatar (25.5)
8. Accenture, worldwide (24.5)
9. Oxford City Football Club, Lake Worth, Florida, USA (23)
10. ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (22)

The International Business Awards feature a wide variety of categories to recognize achievement in every facet of work life, including management awards, new product awards, marketing awards, PR awards, customer service awards, website awards, and more.

For more information about The International Business Awards, including a complete list of all Stevie Award winners in the 2014 IBAs, visit www.StevieAwards.com/IBA.

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