The Stevie® Awards, organizers of the world’s premier business awards programs, announced today that Thought Leadership Leverage (TLL), a consultancy that helps individual experts and organizations take their ideas to scale through thought leadership, will sponsor its awards programs.

TLL will work with the Stevie Awards team to create and promote categories related to thought leadership in its eight national and international awards programs. The first fruit of the partnership is a new category in The 18^th International Business Awards® for communications or public relations campaigns that create or further the thought leadership credentials or reputation of an individual or organization. TLL will next help create a number of categories for the 18^th Stevie Awards for Women in Business, which will begin accepting nominations in May.

“We are very pleased that Thought Leadership Leverage has agreed to partner with the Stevie Awards to create new categories in our competitions as recognition of achievement in thought leadership that did not exist in any of our programs thus far,” said Maggie Gallagher, Stevie Awards president. “We think the addition of thought leadership-related categories will serve to bring attention to worthy achievements in thought leadership generation, exposition, and promotion.”

TLL CEO and founder Peter Winick thinks the partnership with the Stevies will be a win for his firm’s clients. “There is no prominent international awards program to recognize individual and team achievement in organizational thought leadership – certainly nothing of the prominence of the Stevie Awards. The Stevies will help us to bring a new level of recognition to the achievements of our clients and other organizations and individuals.”

ABOUT THOUGHT LEADERSHIP LEVERAGE
Thought Leadership Leverage specializes in taking ideas to scale through thought leadership--creating impact and generating revenue for individuals and organizations. Over the past two decades, their clients have included New York Times best-selling business book authors, Thinkers 50 recipients, and Heads of Thought Leadership at some of the world's most respected organizations. CEO, Peter Winick, and COO, Bill Sherman, co-host the podcast "Leveraging Thought Leadership"—which has been recognized as one of the top podcasts that explores the business of thought leadership. Learn more at http://www.thoughtleadershipleverage.com

• Cirrus consults with clients around the globe to create powerful behavioral and organizational change 
• Company-wide performance is boosted by positive leaders and positive culture
• During the pandemic, Cirrus implemented virtual learning to consistently lead leaders despite global uncertainty

About Cirrus

Cirrus is a talent and engagement consultancy that blends expertise in leadership, talent and engagement to assess, engage and develop people across organizations– creating powerful behavioral change that has a positive impact on performance. With offices in the UK and Australia, Cirrus has worked in partnership with over 200 international client organizations across 60 countries in 25 languages since it was founded in 2010.

Cirrus’ philosophy is that better leaders create better businesses and better lives. Their mission is to create powerful adjustments that boost performance and change culture. Cirrus’ core values (Connected, Courageous, and Creative) bring their goals to life. They consistently deliver success and innovation within their sector, including: 

• 200,000 leaders transformed across 200 organizations
• 11 industry awards in the past three years alone
• Publication of CEO Dr. Simon Hayward’s thought-leading business books, Connected Leadership (2016) and The Agile Leader (2018)
• Asia-Pacific operation since 2014
• Employing more than 65 global team members and 200+ associates in the past 10 years

Cirrus’ COVID-19 Response

When the pandemic lockdown began, Cirrus’ face-to-face learning (58% of their business) stopped immediately. While competitors were downsizing, furloughing en-masse, and struggling to survive, Cirrus chose to be ambitious instead. While keeping employees safe and engaged, and keeping customers satisfied, Cirrus reinvented the business by focusing on the virtual delivery of learning. Clients who attended Cirrus’ new virtual learning are giving an average satisfaction score of 4.1 - a substantial achievement given that Cirrus’ service was previously focused on classroom delivery. They have secured business with both new and existing clients. 

Cirrus’ business has grown year-on-year despite the sector being decimated by COVID-19. Their research and connections within the industry suggest they are the only major player to have achieved and maintained such growth. 

Cirrus won a Gold Stevie for Company / Organization Categories - Company of the Year - Business or Professional Services and a Bronze Stevie for COVID-19 Response Categories - Most Valuable Corporate Response in The 2020 International Business Awards®. 

Interested in The 2021 International Business Awards?

• MightyCall’s cloud-based phone system provides VoIP services to thousands of small businesses and entrepreneurs across North America
• The Contact Book Plus feature allows users to create contact lists and take notes on specific contact interactions for reference at any time

About MightyCall

MightyCall is a cloud-based virtual phone system, making it possible for solo entrepreneurs and even the smallest businesses to stay connected anywhere and anytime. MightyCall is a VoIP provider that started as part of the Infratel corporate group which ran the early version of the software for call centers. As VoIP took off in the greater business world, the technology was repackaged in a more manageable version accessible to small businesses. Ever since, MightyCall has consistently been building its user base, now serving more than 4,500 small businesses across North America. 

Since the beginning of 2019, MightyCall has made leaps and bounds in the quality of its service. More importantly, however, they’ve done so without a price hike, meaning their customers are getting more value for their money than ever before. The company has made the typical array of improvements that come with time, such as improved functionality of existing features, better call coverage and connections, and UI redesigns to continually take customer feedback into account. 

What is most revolutionary is MightyCall’s Contact Book Plus feature, which single handedly pulls a simple VoIP system in line with mini-CRMs, offering solopreneurs and small business owners an organizational tool at a much lower rate than they would normally have to pay. The Contact Book Plus lets customers create contacts and contact lists within the system, and it lets them take notes for each contact and each individual communication with each contact. 

The Contact Book Plus is significant in that this option hardly exists in the VoIP sphere. Expensive, high-functioning CRMs have featured VoIP features for years, but VoIP has not embraced CRM elements. Through committing to this route, MightyCall has distinguished itself as both a trailblazer and a champion for small businesses, who all too frequently have to pay for a CRM they cannot truly afford or juggle low-priced options that lack centralization. By creating a simple and affordable mini-CRM type system, even solopreneurs will now have an option that centralizes their business communications. 

MightyCall won the Gold Stevie for Company of the Year - Telecommunications - Small in The 2020 International Business Awards®. 

Interested in the 2021 International Business Awards? 

• Burkina Faso’s football teams provide sports, leisure, and education to children and adults
• The women’s football team was removed due to lack of material and funding, and Jaleo jumped in to help rebuild the women’s team
• Jaleo helped coordinate the complete and successful renewal of the women’s team 

About Jaleo! Sports & Human Events 

Jaleo is an event planning agency working around the globe. 

In Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, the Santos FC football club provides the city with sports, leisure, and education. However, due to the lack of material, logistics, and human resources, the Burkinabe club decided to remove all the women’s teams. When the situation reached the ears of Jaleo through their association with Burkinabe of Barcelona, Jaleo took it upon themselves to find a football club to help recover the women’s teams of Santos FC. 

After intense meetings between the two Burkinabe clubs, Jaleo organized a football tournament with FC Martinenc, the women’s football team. In March of 2019, Jaleo collected sports equipment and financial funds to send to the team with the goal of rebuilding the women’s team and providing them with essentials. 

Jaleo’s efforts resulted in:

• ½ ton of material sent to Burkina Faso
• €2,250+ raised by crowdfunding
• Valuable mass media appearances
• Barcelona City Council assistance
• Promotion of the event through the Catalan Football Federation

Jaleo! Sports & Human Events won a Silver Stevie for Company / Organization Categories - Company of the Year - Advertising, Marketing, & Public Relations - Small and a Bronze Stevie for Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, & Public Relations Categories - Communications Professional of the Year in The 2020 International Business Awards®. 

Interested in The 2021 International Business Awards? 

• Animation studio works to produce licensed products and content to consumers worldwide  
• Animaccord’s Masha and the Bear series boasts record-breaking success with over 39 language dubs, broadcasted in over 150 countries, and billions of YouTube views

About Animaccord

Animaccord is an international Media & Licensing company and studio that delivers the best animation across the world. They represent the exceptional attributes of their animated brands in partnerships with the global media and consumer goods companies to broadcast the content on leading TV and Digital channels and bring licensed products to retail shelves worldwide. Animaccord specializes in worldwide distribution of content, consumer products rights, and brand management. 

First established in 2008, Animaccord was the studio behind the animated series Masha and the Bear, created by Russian director Oleg Kuzovkov. The CG-animated series follows the adventures of a little mischievous girl, Masha, and her friend Bear. The cartoon gained worldwide popularity, has been dubbed in 39 languages, broadcasted in more than 150 countries by global media majors including Netflix, Google, Nick Jr., Sony, and Televisa. The series’ massive success paved the way for Animaccord to initiate considerable licensing activity. 

Since setting up as a licensing company, Animaccord has established itself as a hugely successful brand with more than 300 global partners including Fererro, Danone, Simba Dickie Group, Crayola, Clementoni, Penguin Random House, Hachette, and other market leaders. Animaccord manages one of the world’s largest children’s content networks on YouTube with more than 120 million subscribers and 43 YouTube Creator Awards, including 4 Diamond Play Buttons. 

As of 2019, Masha and the Bear episode “Recipe for Disaster” was included in the Guinness World Record Book as the most-watched cartoon on YouTube. With more than 4 billion views, the episode ranks in YouTube’s top 5 most viewed videos of all time. Animaccord is currently producing other seasons of Masha and the Bear as well as launching new projects and brand engagement activities such as promotions and live shows to bolster the property across all markets. 

Animaccord won a Bronze Stevie for Company / Organization Categories - Company of the Year - Media & Entertainment in The 2020 International Business Awards®. 

Interested in The 2021 International Business Awards? 

• - Telecommunications leader hosts millions of subscribers worldwide and pilots new network capabilities in Azerbaijan
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• - Azercell Telecom is an industry expert and the biggest investor in the country focused not only on company growth but individual/societal needs
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• - Azercell’s COVID-19 response helped individuals from all walks of life stay safe during the pandemic

About Azercell Telecom

Azercell Telecom is the leader of the mobile communication industry, the largest taxpayer, and the biggest investor of the non-oil sector in Azerbaijan. Over 4.5 million subscribers worldwide choose Azercell services.

Azercell was the first to pilot 5G network in the country and South Caucasia regions. As a pioneer in the industry, Azercell introduced a number of innovations in Azerbaijan, including GSM technology, advanced payment systems, mobile internet services, 24/7 call center service, and online customer care. 

Azercell’s 4G network covers nearly 60 regions of the country and is top-rated in mobile operators of Azerbaijan. They are the only company in the country to be awarded the Gold Certificate of International “Investors in People” Standard. 

Azercell’s COVID-19 Response

When the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic, Azercell uploaded 50 AZN to the balance of active roaming subscribers who were in countries with limited transportation in order to provide them with uninterrupted communications with their families and relatives. They also added 50 AZN to the balance of over 600 medical workers. In addition, calls to the State Agency were waived of charges for all Azercell subscribers. A 5GB internet package was presented to more than 25,000 teachers and staff who were forced to work online during the pandemic. Nearly 600 students of the Azerbaijan Technical University were provided with discounted internet packages. 

They donated 2 million manats to fund the Support Fight Against Coronavirus. Azercell’s preventative measures included caring for vulnerable people in society by giving nearly 6,000 product baskets to low-income families. During the month of Ramadan, 4,000 low-income families received food aid. Hundreds of Azercell employees joined the blood donation campaign to help children suffering from thalassemia, hemophilia, and other inherited blood diseases. The Children’s Hotline provided thousands of children with necessary psychological, legal, and social assistance during this time. 

Prioritizing subscribers’ health, Azercell has organized various campaigns to keep people safe at home while spending time productively. They offered 50% discounts for language-learning applications and free mobile internet music applications. 

Azercell Telecom won a Gold Stevie for Company of the Year - Telecommunications, a Bronze Stevie for Most Innovative Company of the Year, and a Bronze Stevie for COVID-19 Response Categories - Most Valuable Corporate Response in The 2020 International Business Awards®. 

Interested in The 2021 International Business Awards? 

• - Backwoods Promotions, Inc. provides staff and brand ambassadors to top-line outdoor and motorsport clients
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• - This staffing agency prides themselves on genuine relationships with companies through passionate, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic event staff who go above and beyond to promote products

Backwoods Promotions specializes in motorsports, outdoor, and automotive event staffing across North America. Founded in 2012 by Jessica Kline, the company provides ongoing service to a number of large corporations, primarily focused on supplying brand ambassadors and event staff to outdoor festivals, trade shows and more.

Since 2019, Backwoods Promotions has successfully trademarked its motto: Promote What you Love® and Enthusiasts First® to use in marketing and commerce. Backwoods Promotions was also certified as a Woman Business Enterprise by WBE Canada. In addition, its founder and CEO, Jessica Kline, was accepted into the Forbes Business Council. 

In terms of clients and services, Backwoods Promotions has demonstrated an ability to maintain its existing client base for years. This year, the company celebrates its sixth year providing service to Bombardier Recreational Product brands (i.e. Ski-Doo), its sixth year working with Fox Factory Inc., and now its second year working with Harley-Davidson Canada and Anheuser-Busch. In total, the company has provided thousands of event staff to work at 500 events across North America. 

What makes Backwoods Promotions unique is an emphasis on sourcing staff who are passionate about the companies, products, and services they represent at events and trade shows. While a number of staffing agencies and modeling agencies exist, none have successfully dominated the motorsports and outdoors industries with the same specialized approach that Backwoods Promotions has. Since the beginning, they have touted the fact that they are not a typical staffing agency, resulting in a rich niche of opportunity to supply skilled staff for motorcycle demo tours, off-road ride and drive events, corporate product launches, trade shows, and more. Backwoods Promotions’ unique approach to staffing is one that consistently adapts to North American motorsport and outdoor markets. 

Backwoods Promotions won three Stevie Awards for Company / Organization Categories: a Silver Stevie for Company of the Year - Diversified Services - Small, a Silver Stevie for Company of the Year - Business or Professional Services - Small, and a Bronze Stevie for Company of the Year - Hospitality & Leisure - Small in the 2020 International Business Awards®. 

Interested in entering the 2021 International Business Awards? 

• -HGC Global Communications is a telecom operator group that provided extensive COVID-19 relief to customers and communities
  
  
• -They distributed free face masks, refurbished computers, and cloud capabilities to thousands of people.

About HGC Global Communications

HGC Global Communications is a leading fixed-line operator that owns extensive infrastructure in Hong Kong and overseas and offers a wide portfolio of products and services. HGC provides other operators with telecoms infrastructure, while acting as service provider to corporations and households alike. 

HGC believes telecommunications operators should take one step further to contribute to society. Here’s how they do it. 

Managing Operations & Supporting Customers

As isolation from social distancing is increasing, so is internet data usage. HGC saw a double digit bandwidth consumption increase. Prior to this surge, HGC had increased their backbone capacity, network resilience, and reliability to support a skyrocket in usage. HGC is also well-prepared for the long-term by securing critical components as part of their supply chain management and planning They spontaneously created special teams to provide instant support, maintenance, and installations to customers.

Support for Staff at HGC Group

Apart from being the first telecom operator in Hong Kong to announce flexible work-from-home arrangements, HGC also introduced other safety measures including regular deep cleanings and sanitations of offices, remote monitoring across impacted offices via home/office IT systems, and delegating more authority to in-country staff to facilitate emergency support. HGC also arranged hotels within walking distance of operation centers to help essential service supporting teams to perform their important duties. They have also offered all staff (around 2,000 people) with four months supply of medical masks. 

Giving Back

HGC has offered meaningful assistance to the community by being the first telecom operator in Hong Kong to distribute free essentials to the public. This includes onsite delivery of masks to elderly citizens living alone and distribution of free refurbished computers to schools and students to support e-learning. HGC has delivered free unified communications and cloud connect services to corporate customers to help with extreme emergencies. 

HGC Global Communications won a Gold Stevie for Product & Service Categories - Business Technology Solutions - Infrastructure as a Service and a Silver Stevie for COVID-19 Response Categories - Most Valuable Corporate Response in the 2020 International Business Awards®. 

Interested in The 2021 International Business Awards®? 

Winners were announced today in the 2020 People’s Choice Stevie® Awards for Favorite Companies, a feature of The International Business Awards®, the world’s only international, all-encompassing business awards program which is now in its 17^th year.

The worldwide public vote was conducted the past two months, with the highest number of votes deciding the winners in a variety of industries. More than 43,000 votes were cast. All Stevie Award winners in the Company of the Year categories of this year’s International Business Awards were eligible to be included in voting for the People’s Choice Stevie Awards.

Winners of the crystal People’s Choice Stevie Awards will be honored for their awards at The International Business Awards virtual awards ceremony on Tuesday, 1 December. Tickets for the event are now on sale.

The winners of peer-adjudicated Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Awards will be presented with their awards along with the People’s Choice Stevie Awards. Stevie winners were selected from more than 3,800 nominations received from organizations and individuals in more than 60 nations.

The winners of the 2020 People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite Companies are:

-Advertising/Marketing/PR: Purpol Marketing
-Aerospace & Defense: Modest Tree
-Business or Professional Services: CAREERISTS AND TALENTANK
-Computer Services: KoçSistem
-Computer Software: VOMO
-Consumer Products: Makers Nutrition
-Consumer Services: Mayen
-Diversified Services: Backwoods Promotions Inc.
-Energy & Utilities: Dubai Municipality
-Financial Services: Cebuana Lhuillier
-Food & Beverage: Empire Eagle Food Co., Ltd.
-Health Products & Services: flowhub Software GmbH
-Hospitality & Leisure: Kindersley Hospitality Endeavors
-Insurance: USHEALTH Group
-Internet / New Media: SiyonaTech
-Manufacturing: Makers Nutrition
-Materials & Construction: Viettel Construction Joint Stock Corporation
-Media & Entertainment: STREET SCIENCE
-Non-Profit / Government: The Pahang State Foundation
-Other Industries: Makers Nutrition
-Real Estate: Filinvest Alabang, Inc.
-Retail: Georgio’s Bottega
-Transportation: Whale Logistics

Grand Stevie Award winners will be honored at an awards ceremony this December

The Stevie® Awards have announced the winners of the Best of the IBA Awards in The 2020 (17^th Annual) International Business Awards®, the world’s premier business awards competition.

Nominees in the 2020 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, with a Gold Stevie win counting for three points, a Silver Stevie win for two points, and a Bronze Stevie win for 1.5 points. 

This year’s Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Award winners in The International Business Awards were announced on 9 September. The winners of the Best of the IBA Awards will be presented with Grand Stevie Award trophies, and recognized during The 17^th Annual International Business Awards virtual ceremony on 1 December.

Winners of the 2020 Grand Stevie Awards are:

Most Honored Organization: The third largest private bank in Turkey, Yapi Kredi of Istanbul wins this honor with 43 points earned by Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie-winning entries for their website, mobile site, business technology solutions, and COVID-19 response.

Most Honored Public Relations Agency: LLYC, a global communications and public affairs consulting firm headquartered in Madrid, Spain, wins this honor with 42.5 points earned by Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie-winning entries for communication campaigns, videos, publications, and COVID-19 response. This is the third time in the past four years they have earned this honor.

Most Honored Marketing Agency: Magnet20, Istanbul, Turkey, which creates human experiences with products, services, and platforms to transform brands and grow businesses, wins with 9.5 points for Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevies on behalf of GSK Turkey & TOG. In 2019 they won the Grand Stevie for Most Honored Interactive Services Agency.

Most Honored Interactive Services Agency: mensemedia Gesellschaft für Neue Medien mbH of Düsseldorf, Germany earns this honor with 10.5 points for Gold and Bronze Stevie-winning nominations on behalf of Mercedes-Benz Buses Online.

Top 10: These are the top Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie winners among all other organizations honored in the 2020 IBAs, who will also receive Grand Stevie Awards:

1. Melissa Sones Consulting, New York, New York USA (41 points)
2. DP DHL, worldwide (37.5 points)
3. (tie) Jeunesse Global, Lake Mary, Florida USA (32)
   Ayala Group of Companies, Manila, Philippines (32)

5. (tie) Thai Life Insurance Plc., Bangkok, Thailand (31)
   PJ Lhuillier, Inc (PJLI), Makati City, Philippines (31)
   Ooredoo Group, Doha, Qatar (31)

8. PAIRELATIONS, Centennial, Colorado USA (29)
9. Türkiye İş Bankası, Istanbul, Turkey (29)
10. Makers Nutrition, Hauppauge, New York USA (25)

“Of all the outstanding organizations and achievements that were recognized among this year’s IBA nominations, these 14 organizations stand out as the ones with the widest breadth of achievement,” said Maggie Gallagher, president of the Stevie Awards. “The Best of the IBA Awards honor organizations that show an especially strong dedication to honoring the work of their employees, the projects they produce and execute, and their commitment to customers. After the uncertainty 2020 has brought upon the world, these honorees should be especially proud of their “best of” recognition. We look forward to celebrating Grand Stevie winners during our virtual awards ceremony on 1 December.”

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.

Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Award placements in the 2020 IBAs were determined by the average scores of more than 250 professionals worldwide in the three-month judging process.

For more information about The International Business Awards, including a complete list of all Stevie Award winners in the 2020 competition, visit www.StevieAwards.com/IBA.