The following professionals participated in preliminary judging of The 2014 International Business Awards, the worlds top business awards program, in May-July.  Their average scores determined the entries that were eligible to be included in final judging.  We thank them for their time, insights and support.

Dr. Mamdooh Abdelmottlep, Founding President, International Police Sciences Association, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Nicole Y. Adams, Translator & Consultant, NYA Communications, Brisbane, Australia
Hazem Adawie Senior Manager-Corporate Performance Management Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Bora Aksoylu, Event Manager, NIKE Turkey, Istanbul, Turkey
Shadi Al Hroub, Creative Director, Freelance, Amman, Jordan
Ahmad Alhai, Drilling Services Automation Project Manager & RTOC Project Member, ADCO, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Mahmoud Alhayek, Quality Expert, Abu Dhabi Police, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Dr. Mohammed A. Alkhozai, Director, Bahrain Management Society, Manama, Bahrain
Amal Al-Najjar, HR Manager, Fluor Kuwait, Kuwait
Col. Mohammed Alreeh, Ministry of the Interior, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Ani Atanasova, CEOPixelhunters, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Dr. Christina Augustine, Global Strategic HR, Virtusa Corporation, Chennai, India
Heather Barton, Head of Human Resources, American Institute for Foreign Study (UK) Ltd, London, United Kingdom
Israel Bonequi, Creative Director, Birds Nest Foundation, Montreal, QC, Canada
Ted Bridgwater, President, Foresight Corporate Communications, Toronto, ON, Canada
Oana Bulexa, Managing Director, The Practice, Bucharest, Romania
Connie Bullock, Director, Marketing, NuCompass Mobility, Manassas, VA , USA
Mark Burton, CEO, International Armoring Corp., Centerville, UT, USA
Peter Bush, Doctor, Response Ambulance Services, Port Talbot, United Kingdom
Jorge Cachinero, Director Corporativo de Reputación e Innovación, Llorente y Cuenca, Madrid, Spain
Venkata Rajesh, Cheerla    Group Senior Manager - HR Strategy, Policies & Compliance, Etisalat Group, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Tore Claesson, Director, Tio Agency, New York, USA
Sally Clubley, Senior Consultant, IHRDC, Stourton, United Kingdom
Dorothy Crenshaw, CEO, Crenshaw Communications, New York, NY, USA
Kate Darcy Hohenthal, Founder, The Birthday Club, Manchester, CT , USA
Karla Davis, General Manager, Plantation Resort, Surfside Beach, SC, USA
Saraida De Marchena Kaluche, President and CEO, Markatel, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Lelanie de Wet, Web Content & Social Media Manager, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa
Teresa DeFelice, Account Executive, RCI, Orlando, FL, USA
Danielle Di-Masi, Managing Director, The Interactions Lab, Coogee, Australia
Richard Dixon, Owner/Administrator, Home Helpers and Direct Link of North Texas, Keller, TX, USA
Sheryl Dobson, Director of Customer Contact, J2 Global, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Michal Dunin, Managing Director, WebTalk, Warsaw, Poland
Stacey Edmonds, Founder and MD Lively, Lively Coogee, NSW, Australia
Rochelle Ekanayake, Managing Director UK/SRI LANKA, MrPierce Studios International Asia (PVT) Ltd, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Kristina Garcia, Managing Director, German State of Hessen U.S. Office for Economic Development, New York, NY, USA
Sergio García, Creative Director, Doctor Jekyll, Barcelona, Spain
Manoj Gautam, Om shiva, shakti herbal company pvt. Ltd, Kathmandu, Nepal
Constantinos Grivas, CEO and Founder, Swiss Nutraceuticals MIKE, Athens, Greece
Naresh Gupta, Associate Partner, IBM Global Business Services, Gurgaon, India
Danita Harn, VP of Operations, Harn & Associates Bookkeeping Firm, Woodstock, GA, USA
Robin Harris, Principal/Creative Director, Harris Design Inc., McLean, VA, USA
Aida Hernandez, New Business Development, Marco de Comunicación, Madrid, Spain
Jesse Hertstein, Senior CSR Specialist, Amway, Ada, MI, USA
Jamie K. Holt, MBA, President/CEO, JMK Notary And Services, Miami, FL, USA
Giles House, VP Marketing, CallidusCloud, Pleasanton, CA, USA
Yvonne Howie, CEO, NSW, The CEO Institute, Neutral Bay, NSW, Australia
Richard    Hu, Senior Editor, China Advertising, Beijing, China
Elif Ildeniz, Employer Branding Project Leader, TOFAS-FIAT, Istanbul, Turkey
Echo Ilott, Director, Boost Marketing, Bournemouth, United Kingdom
Leo Indarwahono, Public Health & Educational Executive, The Indonesian Business Coalition on AIDS (IBCA), Jakarta, Indonesia
Petr Jares, Member of the Board, Etnetera, Prague, Czech Republic
Parag Jaripatke, Senior Systems Administrator, AOL Inc., Dulles, VA, USA
Monika Jaslowska, Senior Head of Brand Public Relations Department, Polpharma Biuro Handlowe Sp. z o. o., Warsaw, Poland
Beverly Jensen, President/CEO, WomensMedicineBowl.com, Greeley, CO, USA
Özgür Karaçak, Managing Partner / Founder/ Creative Director, SesliHarfler Digital Advertising Agency, Istanbul, Turkey
Hakan Karamanli, IT Manager, GARANTI TEKNOLOJI, Istanbul, Turkey
Samitha Karunarathne, CEO, Aryans Engineering (Pvt) Ltd., Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka
Mazin Khoury, CEO, Middle East, AMEX (Middle East) B.S.C. (c), Manama, Bahrain
Elzbieta Krawczynska, Quality Specialist & Trainer, Bank Zachodni WBK S.A, Poznan, Poland
A.J.Lawrence, CEO, the JAR group, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Andreea Leonte, Senior PR Consultant, MCCANN PR, Bucharest, Romania
Chris Litherland, International Snr Director HR, Intermec by Honeywell Heinsberg, Germany
Ke Je Tony Liu, Greater China Partner, Creative Chairman, MC Saatchi aeiou, Shanghai,  China
Denis Looney, Vice President, Marriott Vacations Worldwide, Cork, Ireland
Anil Machado, Managing Director, Tnell, Sieradz, Poland
Morag Malloy, Managing Director, Fission Creative, Paisley, United Kingdom
Kristin Marcell, Vice President Public Relations, SmartMark Communications, Newtown, PA   USA
Wessam Massoud, Programme Delivery Manager, Abu Dhabi Systems & Information Center (ADSIC), Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Chris McConnell, Senior Manager, Accenture, Chicago, IL, USA
Colin McKillop, Chief Executive Officer, Butcher Enterprises, Windsor, ON, Canada
Jennifer, McQueen, Managing Partner, Ausnindo-Asia/Pacific, Croydon, VIC, Australia
Jeremy McWilliams, Managing Director, Bang TV, London, United Kingdom
Ronald Meske, President, Training Systems Design, Camarillo, CA, USA
Eric Mosely, CEO, Globoforce, Dublin, Ireland
Rajesh Kumar Mudiakal, SAP Project Manager, CMC Limited, Mumbai, India
Motomasa Murayama, Professor, Tokiwa University, Mito City, Japan
Rajiv Noronha, AVP, Location HR Leader & Head -Org., Effectiveness, Tata Consultancy Services, Bangalore, India
Charles Olsson, Managing Director, Stockfeed Purchasing Pty Ltd, Crestmead, Australia
Pierluigi Orati    Head of Country Analysis, SENEL SPA, Rome, Italy
Diego Otero Rodríguez, Creative Director, Suigeneris Communications SL (A Save Your Numbers Holding), Barcelona, Spain
Alper Afsin Özdemir, President, Krombera Digital Marketing Agency, Istanbul, Turkey
Cem Cabbar Özdemir, Creative Director, Project House, Istanbul, Turkey
Parveen Panwar, CEO, PMI 5, Media LLC, Los Altos, CA, USA
Anne Patterson, VP Client Delivery, FreeFlow, Kerry Ireland
Katarzyna Pawlikowska, Managing Partner, Garden of Words, Warsaw, Poland
Guy Perry, President, CEO & Founder, Salt Lake Running Company, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Donald Pillai, International Marketing Executive, Bumbo (Pty) Ltd, Rosslyn, South Africa
Churchill Dass Prince, Founder & CEO, Sales Intellect Company, Chennai, India
Rammesh Rajagopal, Senior Manager IT, Cisco Systems Inc., Morrisville, NC, USA
Fanjarivo Rakotonirina, President, Tropical Items Madagascar, LLC, Boulder, CO, USA
V.S. Ramachandran, Senior VP, Emarat, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Mohamed A. R. Rashed, Director of Strategic Planning, Ahlia University, Manama, Bahrain
Dennis Reno, Vice President, Customer Experience, New Relic, San Francisco, CA, USA
Pamela Robinson, CEO, Financial Voyages LLC, Atlanta, GA, USA
Linanne Sackett, Principal Investigator, Verizon Next Step Program, Albany, NY, USA
Prof. Dr. Mohamed Amr Sadik, VP - Curriculum Development, INTEX, Cairo, Egypt
Sasan Saeidi, Managing Director, FP7, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Göktug Sahin, Lecturer, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey
Hande Sarantopoulos, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Director, Kale Group, Istanbul, Turkey
Gauri Sharma, Head of Business, Modest Inc, Chicago, IL, USA
Keira Shein, Partner, WilkinsonShein Communications, Stevenson, MD, USA
Pelle Sjöqvist, Creative Director, Dahlheim & Sjöqvist, Stockholm, Sweden
Asuncion Soriano, Vice President, INFORPRESS, Madrid, Spain
Leslie Stretch, President & CEO, CallidusCloud, Pleasanton, CA, USA
Julian Stubbs, Senior Lecturer, Marketing (retired), The University of Greenwich, London, United Kingdom
Begum Susar, Digital Marketing and Design Assistant, Vice President, ING Bank Turkey, Istanbul, Turkey
Andrzej Szczepaniak, Deputy Director, Bank Zachodni WBK S.A, Srem, Poland
Pinar Tuba, Temizkan, HR Senior Consultant and Co-Active Coach, Elemental-Value (official provider of The Coaches Training Institute-CTI), Istanbul   
Meera Tenguria, Founder & Director, Aarrohan Communications, Mumbai, India
Wailaya    Tiningsih Bravyanto, Corporate Relations, PT Unilever Indonesia, Tbk, Jakarta, Indonesia
Han Tjan, VP Corporate Communications, Daimler, New York, NY, USA
Aigerim Tulepbergenova, Business Analyst, Morgan Stanley, Eugene, OR, USA
Noel Unciano, Research Specialist, Industrial Technology Development Institute, Taguig City, Philippines
Aykut Ustun, Group Manager - HR and Management System, Opet Petrolculuk, Istanbul, Turkey
Rob Vandenberg, President & CEO Lingotek, Draper, UT, USA
Kirti Vashee, Vice President, Enterprise Translation, Asia Online, Santa Monica, CA , USA
Nicole Vaughn, Account Supervisor, Fleishman-Hillard, Inc., St. Louis, MO, USA
Vincent Verdi, Art Director, CUNY-TV, Staten Island, NY, USA
Robyn  Vogels, Founder, Managing Director, Personnel Relocations, Cheltenham, SA, Australia
Mike Voznick, National Business Consultant, Harn and Associates, Smyrna, GA, USA
Clara H.Y. Wang, Account Director, KAI Communications (China&UK), Beijing, China
Floor Wijburg, CEO, W & I Consultants, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Silvana Xhaferi, General Secretary, Albanian-British Chamber of Commerce and industry, Tirana, Albania
Mimi Young, Principal, Behavior Design, New York, NY, USA
David Zapata, President, Zapwater Communications, Chicago, USA                            
Joseph Zitzelberger, Director of Manufacturing Development, PACCAR Inc., Chillicothe, OH, USA                                                                                                                          

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The following professionals participated in preliminary judging of The 2014 American Business Awards in April-May.  Their average scores determined the Finalists.  We thank them for their time, insights and support.

Ray Aldrich, Director, Development, Marketing & Communications, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, MI
Amal Al-Najjar, HR Manager, Fluor, Kuwait
Zainab Ansari, Director/CEO, Xenith PR (Pvt.) Ltd, Pakistan
Daniel Arenas, Creative Director, Sunday Morning NY, Astoria, NY
Cathy Baker, Competition Consultant, USEF, Lexington, KY
Jeff Bell, Partner, NCT Ventures, Kirkland, WA
Israel Bonequi Creative Director, Birds Nest Foundation, Canada
Deirdre Breakenridge, CEO, Pure Performance Communications, Marlboro, NJ
Daniel Burkholder, IT Solutions Advisor, Susan G. Komen, Frisco, TX
Tanya Candia, CEO, Candia Communications, Saratoga, CA
Susan Chait, VP, Creative Director, Lebowitz | Gould | Design, Inc., New York, NY
Dr. Kevin S. Chen, President/CEO, Business Methods Corporation, Mt Freedom, NJ
Irene Corpuz, Head of Planning & IT Security, Western Region Municipality, United Arab Emirates
Dave Craig, Vice President, HR Fazoli's Restaurants, Lexington, KY
David Crawford, Senior VP, Managing Group, Creative Director, GSD&M, Austin, TX
John Cushman, former VP - eSales & Service, AT&T, Dallas, TX
Karen Danielson, Marketing Communications & Brand Manager, US Water Services, Inc, St Michael, MN
Natalia Diaz Marketing Specialist, Forte Payment Systems, Dallas, TX
Brenda Dukart, Executive Account Manager, Managed Business Solutions, Colorado Springs, CO
Elizabeth Enselein, Director of Operations, Murthy Law Firm, Owings Mills, MD
Matt Finizio, VP, Creative Director, Slack and Company, Chicago, IL
Hüsniye Firat, Dr. Çanakkale Onsekiz, March University, Turkey
Kyle Forster, Co-Founder/President, Big Switch Networks, San Francisco, CA
Anthony Franco, President, EffectiveUI, Denver, CO
Jean Gea, Product Marketing Manager, Acumatica Kirkland, WA
Dawn Giesman, Marketing Manager PublicSchoolWORKS, Cincinnati, OH
Stephen Gill, President, Stephen Gill Associates, Thailand
Katharine Goldman, SVP, Executive Creative Director, Jack Morton Worldwide, New York, NY
Eddie Grant, Product Manager, Brodie Meter Co., LLC, Statesboro, GA
Donna Grare, VP Engineering, PHD Virtual, Morris Plains, NJ
Kristi Grigsby, VP Marketing, CSI Enterprises, Bonita Springs, FL
Bonnie Hackbarth, Senior Counselor, Guthrie/Mayes Public Relations, Louisville, KY
Eric Halvorson, Senior Vice President,Wells Fargo, Minneapolis, MN
Alexander Hannett, Manager, Corporate Strategy and Marketing, All Florida Paper, Inc., Medley, FL
Leslie Harstad, Director, Thought Leadership Strategy, Optum, Minneapolis, MN
Batul Hasan, CEO, BSH Consultants, Pakistan
Kevin Hegebarth, VP, Marketing & Product Management, HireIQ Solutions, Inc., Alpharetta, GA
Mary Ann Henker, President, The Henker Group, Easton, MD
Ann Hill, Chairwoman of the Board, Lancaster Chamber of Commerce, Lancaster, CA
Faith Jackson, PR Specialist, Lawler Computer Consultants, LLC, Birmingham, AL
Parag Jaripatke, Senior Systems Administrator, AOL Inc., Ashburn, VA
Stuart John, Senior Product Manager, Source Interlink Media, Santa Monica, CA
James Johnson, Chairman, The Standish Group International, Inc., Boston, MA
JP Jones, Owner, Collipsis Web Solutions, Lawrenceburg, TN
Craig Kavicky, Vice President, Lextant, Columbus, OH
Douglas Kelly, EVP Design, Imagination Publishing, Chicago, IL
Laura Kerr, Principal Business Analyst, Sabre Airline Solutions, Dallas, TX
Mike Kindle, VP, Information, HealthSouth, Birmingham, AL
Marylee Klinkhammer, Technology Director, DRG, Bernie, IN
Slade Kobran, CMO, Chief Outsiders, New York, NY
Claudia Koehler, Corporate Vice President, VOK DAMS Events, Germany
Roja Kolachina, CEO/President, Synerteq, Inc., Rockville, MD
James Koons, Chief Privacy Officer, Listrak, Lititz, PA
Nitin Kumar, Director, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Jersey City, NJ
Rick Kuwayti, Managing Director, Head of Marketing, BMO Capital Markets, Canada
John Lamb, VP, Group Head, Ebix, Atlanta, GA
Frank Laudo, Senior VP Creative Director, GES, Grapevine, TX
Erran Lawler, Owner, Lawler Computer Consultants, LLC, Birmingham, AL
Jason Lawson, Partner, Moss Adams LLP, Los Angeles, CA
Rob Leggat, Senior Vice President, Goddard Gunster, Washington, DC
Peter Levy, President, Corniche Productions, Brooklyn, NY
Nanxi Liu, CEO, Enplug, Inc., Los Angeles, CA
Lily Liu, CEO & Founder, PublicStuff, New York, NY
Juliana Lopez, Controller, Northern Technologies Group, Inc, Tampa, FL
Avinash Mainkar, Adjunct Professor of Management, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA
Jennifer Maldonado, Sr. Program Manager, Global Client Experience, Cornerstone OnDemand, Santa Monica, CA
Anne McCarthy, President and Founder, Westmeath Communications, Castle Rock, CO
Jeannine McHenry, Art Director, One17 Creative, Marina Del Rey, CA
Catherine McQuaid, Principal, Big Game Hunting, Canada
Kathy Menzie, Associate Professor & Chair, Washburn University, Topeka, KS
Feroz Merchhiya, CTO, California Insurance Guarantee Association, Diamond Bar, CA
Caroline Meyers, Director of Corporate Communications, MC2, Chestnut Ridge, NY
Andrea Michaels, President, EXTRAORDINARY EVENTS, Sherman Oaks,CA
Tamika Mikucki, Director of Human Resources, Westhab, Inc., Elmsford, NY
Carlos Minetti, President, Consumer Banking, Discover Financial Services, Riverwoods, IL
Jay Mitchell, President, Mereo LLC, Colorado Springs, CO
Judy Mod, Principal, Social Gastronomy, LLC., Atlanta, GA
Rajesh Kumar Mudiakal, SAP Project Manager, CMC Limited, India
Brian Mulvey, Vice President, Investor Growth Capital, New York, NY
Kirk Musselman, Director, Human Resources, Classified Ventures LLC, Chicago, IL
Eric Nash, Senior Director, Online Marketing, Stamps.com, El Segundo, CA
Madhusmita Nayak, Manager-Enterprise Performance, UAE Exchange, United Arab Emirates
Steve Nelson, Partner & CTO, AP42, San Ramon, CA
Michael Newman, Vice President International Sales & Global Marketing, Optical Cable Corporation, Roanoke, VA
Bruce Nicoll, ACD Copy, The Navicor Group, Westerville, OH
Ayelet Noff, Co-CEO and Founder, Blonde 2.0, Israel
Bob Older, President, Creative Travel Inc. dba Rainbow Charter Service, Wilmington, DE
Linda Olsan, Director, Customer Care, ACE, Rancho Mission Viejo, CA
Kirsten Osolind, CEO, re:invention marketing, San Diego, CA
Lori Owens, VP, Client Relations, PhoneWare, Inc., San Diego, CA
Ravi Padaki, Product Manager, Snapfish, San Francisco, CA
Parveen Panwar, CEO, PMI 5 Media LLC, San Francisco, CA
Paul Patton, Senior R&D/Regulatory Manager, Delta Faucet Co., Indianapolis, IN
Rob Peglar, CTO Americas, EMC Isilon, Wildwood, MO
Ken Phelan, CTO, Gotham Technology Group, Montvale, NJ
Churchill Dass Prince, Founder CEO, Sales Intellect Company, India
Dr. Steve Rajan, Vice Chancellor of Malaysia, IAEWP (NGO United Nations), Malaysia
Gillian Rawcliffe, Business Development Manager, Vérité, Sandy, UT
Kathleen Reddy, Copresident, McKinnon-Mulherin, Inc., Salt Lake City, UT
Dennis Reno, Vice President, Customer Portal Experience, New Relic, San Francisco, CA
Selena Rezvani, President, NextGenWomen, LLC, Elkins Park, PA
Tom Richard, Director of Organizational Development, Westpark Communications, L.P., Houston, TX
Avis Richards, President/CEO, Birds Nest Productions, Purchase, NY
Chris Risheill, Director of Sales, Marketing and Exhibits, Association for Middle Level Education, Westerville, OH
Colleen Rosso, Director of Communications, Hartland Township, Milford, MI
David Saef, EVP, MarketWorks & Strategy, GES, Hodgkins, IL
Viurniel Sanchez, Information Management, Infrastructure Technology Services, Miami, FL
Scott Sauder, Area Operations Consultant, The UPS Store,, Noblesville, IN
Harry Schechter, CEO & President, Temperature@lert, Boston, MA
Richard Schechter, VP Marketing, Medtech College, Atlanta, GA
Lisa Schweickert, VP of Training, Golden Corral Corporation, Raleigh, NC
Bill Shelton, Vice President, USHEALTH Advisors, Grapevine, TX
Tina Stafford, Senior Account Executive, Stafford Creative Inc, Edmonds, WA
Mahiette Tarrago, Creative Director, Tycoon Advertising Group LLC, The Woodlands, TX
Harmony Tenney, Senior Marketing Consultant, CRG, Charlottesville, VA
Lori Teranishi, Partner, IQ PR, Inc., San Francisco, CA
Michelle Thorsell, Principal, SMT Architects, P.C., Glen Ellyn, IL
Roger Thorstenson, Lead: Strategic Planning & Performance Measurement, Office of the DoD CIO, Arlington, VA
Han Tjan, Corporate Communications, Daimler, New York, NY
Richard Trombly, Editor / Senior Account Exec, Hill & Knowlton, China
Chikako Uchinami, CEO, Japan Translation USA, Sunnyvale, CA
Noel Unciano, Science Research Specialist, Industrial Technology Development Institute - DOST, Philippines
Vinny Verdi, Producer, CUNY-TV, New York, NY
Charles Kirby Wadsworth, Vice President of Global Marketing, F5 Networks, Wayland, MA
Maggie Wang, Service & Support Manager, Nolo, Pleasanton, CA
Edward Weisberg , Senior VP of Marketing and Business Development, GXT Green, Billerica, MA
Karen Weldon, Manager, Executive Communication & Strategic Collaboration (Office of the CIO), Consumers Energy, Jackson, MI
Hope White, CEO, Rise and Fly, Fort Worth , TX
Becky Wilson, President, WDS Marketing and PR, Overland Park, KS
Robert Wnuk, Regional Sales Director, Tax Care S.A., Poland
Gregory Wright, Communications Manager, AICPA, New York, NY
Ziad Ziadeh, National Customer Service Manager, DHL Express, Saudi Arabia
Matthew Zintel, President, Zintel Public Relations, Cypress, TX
Joseph Zitzelberger, Director of Manufacturing Development, PACCAR Inc, Chillicothe, OH
Chris Zoloth, Director, Global Customer Care, IHG, Salt Lake City, UT

Final judging concluded on Wednesday for the 8th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, the world's top customer service awards and sales awards.  More than 260 professionals around the world participated in the preliminary and final judging process this year - a record number - and we thank all of the people who participated for their time, their interest, and their insights.

Two weeks ago in this space we acknowledged the 129 executives who participated in the preliminary judging process, which determined this year's Finalists.  Now it's time we thank the members of the seven specialized final judging committees, whose scores have determined the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award placements that will be announced at our gala awards banquet on Friday, February 21 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.  (Get your tickets here.)

All judges are also acknowledged on the awards' website, will be listed in the official program book that will be distributed at the awards gala and online, and will receive a certificate of appreciation, suitable for framing.

Interested in participating in the 2015 judging process?  Learn more here.

The members of the seven final judging committees were as follows.

Customer Service & Contact Center Achievement Categories Final Judges

Chair: George Orr, Vice President of Client Services at kCura in Chicago, Illinois, USA

Committee:
Steve Ankenbrandt, Cofounder & President
Milyli Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA

Bruce Blank, Director of Litigation Support
Foley & Lardner LLP, Westminster, Colorado, USA

Ye Chen, Founder
NexLP, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Ruth Diehl, Assistant Vice President
Harris Bank, Elmhurst, Illinois, USA

Anthony Digate, Senior Account Executive
SalesForce, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Jeff Gilles, Director, Product Solutions Group
Content Analyst Company, Reston, Virginia, USA

Tanya Glaser, Litigation Support Case Manager
Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart PC, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Joann Kay, Customer Care Director
GraduationSource, Port Chester, New York, USA

Jim LeMere, Director Customer Contact Center
Great Wolf Resorts, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

Kit Mackie, Founder
NexLP, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Alicia Orr, Corporate Bookkeeper
Waterton Associates, Elmhurst, Illinois, USA

Walter Pynas, COO
George Jon Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA

John Sanchez, Executive Vice President
Advanced Discovery, LLC, San Francisco, California, USA

Taffi Schurz, Vice President, Quality Assurance
LDiscovery, LLC, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Michael Senko, Partner
Wolf & Co LLP, Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois, USA

Christopher Terzich, Senior Vice President, Commercial Banking
Standard Bank & Trust Company, Lyons, Illinois, USA

Customer Service and Contact Center Individual Categories Final Judging Committee

Chair: Sanjeev Garg, Global Head of Customer Care, Commercial Vehicles Business Unit at TATA Motors in Mumbai, India

Committee:
Sumanth Badiga, Managing Director
Jasper Industries Limited, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India

Atul Bahel, Marketing Manager
Shell India Markets Private Limited, Gurgaon, Haryana, India

Bhavana Bindra, Vice President, Automotive Business
Cummins India Limited, Pune, Maharashtra, India

Angela Blevins, Vice President Customer Care
Bluegreen Corporation, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Saibal Choudhuri, Global Account Manager
Shell India Markets Private Limited, Gurgaon, Haryana, India

Anurag Gupta, Director
DGM-India, New Delhi, India

Phillip Horvath, Senior Vice President, Professional Services
Merchant Partners, Redmond, Washington, USA

Manish Jar, Group Managing Director
Sewells Group, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Shridhar P Joshi, Consultant Advisor
TATA Motors, Pune, Maharashtra, India

Achal Mehra, Director
Mahua Resorts Pvt Ltd, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Sanjay Passi, President & CEO
Pasco Motors, New Delhi, India

Mathew Sebastian, Managing Director
Strategic Learning Solutions Private Limited, Gurgaon, Haryana, India

Premanand Shenoy, Managing Director
Prerana Motors Private Limited, Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Vipul Tandon, Vice President, Distribution Business
Cummins India Limited, Pune, Maharashtra, India

Customer Service Department Categories Final Judging Committee

Chair: Kelly Thomas, Assistant Vice President, Client Relations at OppenheimerFunds, Inc., in Englewood, Colorado, USA

Committee:
Colleen Bolton, Client Officer
National Quality Review, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Glen Colthup, Senior Director
SRS|Acquiom LLC, Denver, Colorado, USA

Andrea Daigle, Marketing Director
HindmanSanchez, Arvada, Colorado, USA

Bethany Demeter, Sales Analyst
Inspirato, Littleton, Colorado, USA

Russ DiBlasi, Vice President, Operations & Customer Care
Zions Bancorporation, Houston, Texas, USA

Vickie Friece, Vice President, Operations & Customer Care
Zions Bancorporation, Kanab, Utah, USA

Eric Head, Senior Director of Sales
Foresee, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

Adam Ihrig, Business Analyst, Chase Customer Service Real Time Solutions-Card
JPMorgan Chase, Heathrow, Florida, USA

Scott Kozak, Founding Partner/CEO
KozakandAssociates, Highlands Ranch, Colorado, USA

Jason Morris, Release Manager
SRS|Acquiom LLC, Denver, Colorado, USA

Joann Orefice, Director-Human Resources
Ticketmaster, Greenwood Village, Colorado, USA

Jacque Plair, Director, Network & Corporate Services
IHG, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Tonya Plumer, Sales Assistant
Strategic Benefit Services, Rensselaer, New York, USA

Steven Puckett, Vice President, Retirement Plans
Strategic Benefit Services, Rensselaer, New York, USA

Soli Schwarz, Business Analyst
JPMorgan Chase, Heathrow, Florida, USA

Afton Semon, Director Customer Service-Support Service
Franklin Templeton, Rancho Cordova, Georgia, USA

Mike Twedt, Director Finance
Miller Heiman, Aurora, Colorado, USA

Vincent Vanden Bossche, Managing Director
Call Communications, Ottenburg, Belgium

Customer Service and Contact Center Team Categories Final Judging Committee

Chair: Ben Herkenhoff, Customer Interaction Center Manager at Outsell, LLC in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA 

Committee:
Teresa Allen, Owner
Common Sense Solutions, Shreveport, Louisiana, USA

Ken Amormino, Director of Call Center Operations
Time Warner Cable, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

Dmitry Aristarkhov, Executive Vice President
National Association of Contact Centers, Moscow, Russia

Leah Bowes, Senior Director, Customer Experience
PaySimple, Denver, Colorado, USA

Laura Fredrickson, Director of Marketing
NIC Technologies, Arlington, Virginia, USA

Peggy Heafey, Director, Intermediary Partner Care
Marriott Global Sales & Customer Care, Omaha, Nebraska, USA

Tunde Hubina, Customer Care Director
UPC DTH S.á r.l., Luxembourg

Molly Kapoor, Head of Marketing
Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Meltem Karateke, President
IMI Conferences, Istanbul, Turkey

Raymond Lohr, Customer Experience Program Manager
Kabel Deutschland, Den Haag, The Netherlands

Steve Mackie, Group Manager, Workforce Management
Target Corporation, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Mary Poynter, Senior Director Managed Services
Contact At Once!, Alpharetta, Georgia, USA

Randy Selleck, Senior Director, EPS Call Center Operations
Assurant Solutions, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Emily Truslow, Annuity Customer Service Manager
Securian Financial Group, St Paul, Minnesota, USA

Sales Achievement and Sales Individual Categories Final Judging Committee

Chair: Becky Johns, Vice President of MarketBridge in Bethesda, Maryland, USA

Committee:
James Brodo, Senior Vice President, Marketing
Richardson, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Nicky Brooker, Vice President
MasterCard, Purchase, New York, USA

Jason Brusa, Director, Partnership Brand Marketing
Capital One, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Jamie Clark, National Sales Coach
Forrest Performance Group, Fort Worth, Texas, USA

Dean Cowell, Senior Vice President, Marketing Strategy
Citi, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Fred Cremo, National Practice Leader
Humana, Tampa, Florida, USA

David deBuys, Associate Director
CEB, Arlington, Virginia, USA

Vincent DiCaro, Vice President, Development & Communication
National Fatherhood Initiative, Germantown, Maryland, USA

Christine Fludd, Loyalty Marketing Manager
Saks Fifth Avenue, New York, New York, USA

Kristi Kehr, Area Catering Sales Manager
Panera, LLC, York, Pennsylvania, USA

Howard Lewis, President
Family Heritage Life Insurance, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Kore McBride, Owner
Miss Fit, Encinitas, California, USA

April Mock, Manager, CEM & Loyalty
Panera, LLC, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA

Andrew Pyper, Senior Business Leader, US Merchant Marketing
MasterCard Worldwide, Purchase, New York, USA

Vicki Rollins, Vice President, Sales Operations
Angoss Software Corporation, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Matthew Smith, Program Manager
Qualcomm, Encinitas, California, USA

Melissa Steward, Vice President, Marketing
National Fatherhood Initiative, Germantown, Maryland, USA

Jason Stroot, Strategic Partner Lead
Google Inc, New York, New York, USA

Cindy Wen, Marketing Specialist-Credit & Gift Card Marketing
Saks Fifth Avenue, New York, New York, USA

Jaffer Zaidi, Head of Retail Partnerships
Google Inc, New York, New York, USA

Sales Team and Sales Department Categories Final Judging Committee

Chair: Mike Ortegon, Director of Global Sales Operations at HomeAway.com in Austin, Texas, USA

Committee:
Jeanne Conger, Certified Forrest PG Instructor
Forrest Performance Group, Fort Worth, Texas, USA

Michael Conley, Director Operations Mid Atlantic
Wyndham Vacation Ownership, N Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, USA

Daniel DiBona, Sales Manager
Elephant Insurance, Glen Allen, Virginia, USA

Robert Gillespie, Executive Vice President, Corporate Director Employee Development & Training
New York Community Bancorp, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Linden Ingram, Executive Vice President
Imparta Inc., Austin, Texas, USA

Fred Kessler, Founder
Sales Partnerships, Inc., Westminster, Colorado, USA

Scott MacGregor, Vice President of Sales and Marketing
FloTech, Middletown, Connecticut, USA

Jason Mathias, Vice President of Sales Operations
Living Social, Fairfax, Virginia, USA

Rowena Maxwell, Senior Principle-Customer Sales & Service
Accenture, London, United Kingdom

Gene McNaughton, President
Elite Concepts, Inc., Ladera Ranch, California, USA

Julie Thomas, President & CEO
ValueSelling, Rancho Santa Fe, California, USA

Solution Provider and New Product and Service Categories Final Judging Committee

Chair: Ansa Sekharan, Senior Vice President, Global Customer Support at Informatica Corporation in Redwood City, California, USA

Committee:
Jamal Ayyad, Vice President-Service Delivery
SurePayroll, Inc., Glenview, Illinois, USA

Deepak Chawla, Senior Director Global Technical Services
Nutanix, San Jose, California, USA

Andrew Curtis, Manager, Product Specialists
iCIMS, Hazlet, New Jersey, USA

Churchill Dass Prince, Founder & CEO
Sales Intellect Company, Chennai, India

David Fong, Vice President, Marketing
Accounting 4 Solutions, Inc, Los Angeles, California, USA

J Israel Greene, Director of Managed Services
Gorilla Group, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Jimmy Griffith, Director, Quality Assurance
Assurant Solutions, Forth Worth, Texas, USA

Julie Holmes, Product Manager
InsightSoftware.com, Greenwood Village, Colorado, USA

Scott James, Program Manager, Member Advisory Center
Arizona State Retirement System, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Eric Johnson, Senior Vice President & CIO
Informatica, Global Customer Support & Maintenance Renewals, Redwood City, California, USA

Jesintha Rajaratnam, Managing Partner
Joje India Consultants/Finance & HR, Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates

Mark Repkin, Chief Revenue Officer
iPromo.com, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Rahul Sheth, Lead Strategy and Marketing
CRMnext, Noida, India

David Vasquez, Customer Care Executive
Ally Bank, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

Carla Zachman, Director, Talent Acquisition and Talent Management
Insight Software, Greenwood Village, Colorado, USA

The following seven executives have been appointed to head the final judging committees that will determine the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie® Award winners in the 2014 Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service.  (All the category groups can be viewed in more detail here.) The winners will be announced at the awards gala on Friday, February 21 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Becky Johns, Vice President of MarketBridge in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, is Chair of the Final Judging Committee for the Sales Achievement and Sales Individual categories.

Becky Johns works with clients to improve marketing and sales productivity by developing and executing integrated data-driven marketing and sales strategies. At MarketBridge, a global provider of digital marketing, sales enablement, and customer analytics solutions, her experience centers primarily on building brand loyalty through customer acquisition, engagement and retention programs and developing online and social media communities. Becky recently led her MarketBridge teams to win back-to-back Gold Stevie Awards for Sales Training Program of the Year in the 2012 and 2013 Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service Awards, as well as a Silver Stevie for Brand Experience of the Year in The 2013 American Business Award.

George Orr, Vice President of Client Services at kCura in Chicago, Illinois, USA, is Chair of the Customer Service & Contact Center Achievement Final Judging Committee.

George Orr is vice president of client services at kCura, a developer of web-based e-discovery applications for managing large volumes of electronic evidence during litigation or investigations.  A member of the kCura team since 2007, George’s department is responsible for much of the company’s client-facing activity. Over the past few years, George has helped the team’s processes evolve from “brute-force problem-solving” to a set of polished procedures that ensures a positive customer experience every time. Prior to taking the reins of kCura’s client services department, George worked as the messaging systems manager for Rotary International, a Chicago-based non-profit organization specializing in humanitarian funding programs.

George is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago. In addition to being a Relativity Certified Administrator, George also has extensive Microsoft and infrastructure training and is certified in both arenas.

 

Mike Ortegon, Director of Global Sales Operations at HomeAway.com in Austin, Texas, USA, Chairs the Final Judging Committee for the Sales Team and Sales Department categories.

Mike Ortegon joined HomeAway in March 2012. As the Director of Global Sales Operations, he is responsible for supporting sales leaders across the globe to help them make well-informed business decisions and to run effective and efficient teams while aligning to corporate strategy.  Throughout his career, Mike has been in management, operational, sales, and marketing roles in North America, EMEA, Latin America, and APAC. 

 

Sanjeev Garg, Global Head of Customer Care, Commercial Vehicles Business Unit at TATA Motors in Mumbai, India, is Chair of our Customer Service & Contact Center Individual Final Judging Committee.

Sanjeev Garg has been the Global Head of Customer Care for the Commercial Vehicle Business Unit of Tata Motors since December 2011. His customer care group is spread across four continents and supports more than 3 million Tata Motors vehicles through 2,300-plus service touch points and over 33,000 retail networks of spare parts. In 1996, Sanjeev joined General Motors Ltd and was instrumental in launching new initiatives for the customer satisfaction index and new Competitive Intelligence processes. His work at GM encompassed global geographies including South East Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). Under his leadership, GM was ranked No. 1 in customer satisfaction in the Middle East, ahead of Toyota, Honda, and Nissan.

The Chair of our Customer Service Department Final Judging Committee is Kelly Thomas, Assistant Vice President, Client Relations at OppenheimerFunds, Inc., in Englewood, Colorado, USA.

Kelly Thomas began working with OppenheimerFunds 29 years ago and currently is assistant vice president of Client Relations at its Denver Campus.   Her leadership philosophy is to act with integrity and pursue excellence.  She believes a leader should be able to take risks, to challenge the status quo, to inspire others, and to create a healthy work environment that will encourage and foster team collaboration. In addition to her leadership role within OppenheimerFunds, Kelly serves as the president of the City of Centennial Chapter for the National Association of Professional Women. 

Ben Herkenhoff, Customer Interaction Center Manager at Outsell, LLC in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, Chairs our Customer Service & Contact Center Team Final Judging Committee.

Ben Herkenhoff has been the manager of the Customer Interaction Center at Outsell for the past two years.  Outsell LLC is a digital marketing Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company that is transforming the way brands engage with consumers. Its Digital Engagement Platform offers clients the ability to consistently engage with consumers across distributed sales networks from the national to local level. Ben’s team at Outsell won the Stevie® Award for Contact Center of the Year in the 2013 Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service.

Ben tells us he is “excited to get started” on the final judging, and has worked hard to put together a great committee.

The Chair of our Final Judging Committee for the New Product & Service and Solution Provider categories is Ansa Sekharan, Senior Vice President, Global Customer Support at Informatica Corporation in Redwood City, California, USA

Ansa Sekharan is senior vice president of Global Customer Support at Informatica Corporation, an independent provider of data integration software and data masking technology. He is responsible for establishing Informatica as a trusted partner for customers worldwide by ensuring their success with Informatica's products.  Ansa has a very busy schedule, dividing his time between Redwood City, California and Bangalore, India, as well as other global Informatica locations.

 

Last week we announced the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners in The 2013 (10th Annual) International Business Awards, the world's premier business awards competition.  (See the lists of winners here.)

Earlier today we announced the winners of the Grand Stevie Awards - see that announcement here.

Now we'd like to name and thank the 179 executives around the world who participated on the 10 specialized final judging committees that determined this year's Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie winners in the final round of IBA judging.  (Earlier this month we thanked the 103 preliminary-round judges whose average scores determined the entries that were eligible to be included in final judging.)

You'll find the names of the committee members on the following pages:

Company / Organization Awards: Dr. Kim Ki-hak, CEO, KEPCO Nuclear Fuel Co., Ltd, Seoul, Korea, Chair
Corporate Communications, Investor Relations & Public Relations Awards: Kevin Read, Managing Director, Bell Pottinger Business & Brand, London, United Kingdom, Chair
Creative Media Awards: Egemen Ozcan, Director, Boogy The Event Company, Istanbul, Turkey, Chair
Customer Service Awards & Support : Angela Blevins, Vice President, Customer Care, Bluegreen Corporation, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, Chair
Human Resources Awards: Husam Mahmoud Abdallah, Senior Advisor, Organization Development, Dubai Airport Free Zone, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Chair
Information Technology Awards, New Product Awards & Product Management : Aslam Khan, CEO, Octaware Technologies Pvt Ltd, Mumbai, India, Chair
Management Awards: Mark F. Burton, CEO & President, International Armoring Corporation, Centerville, Utah, USA, Chair
Marketing Awards: Dr. Anwara Ali, Director of Public Relations. Lycamobile UK Ltd., London, United Kingdom, Chair
Korean Language Judging Committee: Hung Ki Kim, President, Korea Business Communicators Association, Seoul, South Korea, Chair
Spanish Language Judging Committee: Jorge Cachinero, Group Senior Director, Llorente y Cuenca, Madrid, Spain, Chair

This year's final judging was conducted online from July 29 through August 7. The final judges' average scores determined the Stevie Award placements, based on the IBAs' judging and awards process.

The awards will be presented to winners at the 10th annual awards banquet of The International Business Awards on Monday, October 14 at the W Hotel in Barcelona, Spain.  Tickets are now on sale.

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

Final judging of The 2013 (10th Annual) International Business Awards, the world's top business honors, is set to begin next week, and today the names of the chairs of the 10 final judging committees were revealed.

The IBAs recognize achievement in every facet of the workplace, and this year received a record-number of entries from organizations in more than 50 nations.  Final judging will begin on July 29 and conclude on August 7, and will determine the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie® Award winners who will then be announced on August 14.  The awards themselves will be presented on October 14 at the W Hotel in Barcelona, Spain.

Here are the chairs of this year's final judging committees:

Company / Organization Categories: Dr. Kim Ki-hak, CEO, KEPCO Nuclear Fuel Co., Ltd, Seoul, Korea

Corporate Communications, Investor Relations & Public Relations: Kevin Read, Managing Director, Bell Pottinger Business & Brand, London, United Kingdom

Creative Media: Egemen Ozcan, Director, Boogy The Event Company, Istanbul, Turkey

Customer Service & Support : Angela Blevins, Vice President, Customer Care, Bluegreen Corporation, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Human Resources: Husam Mahmoud Abdallah, Senior Advisor, Organization Development, Dubai Airport Free Zone, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Information Technology, New Products & Product Management : Aslam Khan, CEO, Octaware Technologies Pvt Ltd, Mumbai, India

Management: Mark F. Burton, CEO & President, International Armoring Corporation, Centerville, Utah, USA

Marketing: Dr. Anwara Ali, Director of Public Relations. Lycamobile UK Ltd., London, United Kingdom

Korean Language Entries Judging Committee:Hung Ki Kim, President, Korea Business Communicators Association, Seoul, South Korea

Spanish Language Entries Judging Committee: Jorge Cachinero, Group Senior Director, Llorente y Cuenca, Madrid, Spain

For more information about The International Business Awards visit www.StevieAwards.com/IBA.

The following professionals participated on the nine final judging committees of The 2013 (11th Annual) American Business Awards, the nation’s premier business awards program. Their average scores determined the 2013 Stevie® Award winners. We thank them for their time, insights, and support. (2013 winners will be announced at one of our two awards banquets: June 17th at the Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park Hotel in Chicago or September 16th at the Julia Morgan Ballroom in San Francisco. Click here to order tickets.)

2013 Company/Organization Awards Final Judging Committee
Chair:
Craig Lund, CEO, SecureAuth Corporation, Irvine, CA

Committee:
Jeff Bell, Partner, NCT Ventures, Kirkland, WA
Andrew Berman, VP Sales, BigTinCan, Boston, MA
Kevin S. Chen, President & CEO, Business Methods Corporation, Mt Freedom, NJ 
Fernando Chumentowski, CIO, Quick Bridge Funding, Orange, CA
John Everson, Chief Info Security Officer, Dish Networks, Englewood, CO
Jad Flewelling, VP Information Security, Elliott Health Systems, Manchester, NH   
Ben Gold, President, Quick Bridge Funding, Orange, CA
Eric Halvorson, SVP, National Services Group, Wells Fargo, Treasury Management Client Services, Minneapolis, MN     
William Holmes, Principal, Go-Trust, Lake Forest, CA     
Ed Jackiowak, VP Special Projects, Vordel, Newton, MA   
Toby Labelle, Sr. Vice President, Northland Security, Minneapolis, MN
Bob Markel, Director of IT and Operations, Virgin America, Burlingame, CA
Allen  Miner, CEO, Sunbridge, Sunnyvale, CA   
Kunal  Mittal, Executive Director, Enterprise Technologies, ADM, Sony Pictures, Hawthorne, CA
Don More, Managing Director Security Investment Banking, Signal Hill, New York, NY
Brett  Morgan, Manager Solution Architect, Russell Investments, Seattle, WA  
Johnny Munger, CISO, Trust Company of the West, Los Angeles, CA     
Carmen Parisi, CEO, Chicago Brick Oven, Chicago, IL      
Kevin Powell, Director of Sales, Egnyte, Mountain View, CA      
Bryan  Rigney, VP Operations, MarginPoint, Lake Forest, CA     
Linda  Shepard, CFO, Habitat for Humanity of Orange County, Mission Viejo, CA   
Robert  Thomas, President, MulliganFun, Torrance, CA 
Lee Weiner, Sr. Vice President, Rapid7, Boston, MA     

2013 Creative Awards Category Final Judging Committee
Chair:
Otto Bell, Creative Director, Ogilvy Entertainment, New York, NY

Committee:
Nick Barrios, Creative Director, Digitas, New York, NY   
Bill Davaris, Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy, New York, NY  
Rachel  Deutsch, Creative Director, The Design Channel, Chevy Chase, MD
Justin Havlik, Executive Producer, First Wave, New York, NY     
Sean Kapoor, VP, Global Brand Marketing, Harman International, Stamford, CT 
Craig  Kavicky, Director, Business Development-N. America, Fitch, Columbus, OH 
Kristen Lacy, Associate Creative Director, Slack and Company, Chicago, IL 
Andrew Ladden, Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy, New York, NY       
Rob Leggat, Senior Vice President, Goddard Gunster, Washington, DC
David Leider, CEO, Gas Station TV, Birmingham, MI       
Alex Louie, Creative Director, Wilshire Axon, Los Angeles, CA   
Jeannine McHenry, Art Director, One17 Creative, Marina Del Ray, CA   
Thomas Prevot, Senior Interactive Producer, Y&R, New York, NY  
Kate Reddy, Co-Owner/Co-President, McKinnon-Mulherin Inc., Salt Lake City, UT 

2013 Corporate Communications, Investor Relations and Public Relations Awards Final Judging Committee
Chair:
Michelle Gilbert, Public Relations Manager, Michigan/Indiana/Kentucky Region, Verizon Wireless, Southfield, MI
 
Committee:
Jennifer L. Cherry, SVP & Chief Digital Officer, Marx Layne & Company, Farmington Hills, MI     
Beth  Crivello-Wagner, Director of Marketing Communications, Core Creative , Milwaukee, WI
Misty Cruse, President, Cruse PR, Louisville, KY
Andi Ferguson, Account Supervisor, Wordsworth Communications, Cincinnati, OH  
Bonnie Hackbarth, Senior Counselor, Guthrie/Mayes Public Relations, Louisville, KY      
Mary Ann Henker, President, The Henker Group, Easton, MD 
Courtenay Higgins, Senior Partner, Winning Strategies, Newark, NJ       
Laura Merritt, Public Relations Manager, Verizon Wireless, Hilliard, OH
Andrea Meyer, Public Relations Manager, Verizon Wireless IL/WI Region, Schaumburg, IL 
Ann Murphy, SVP, O'Neill & Associates, Boston, MA    
Lori Riddle Eberenz, Associate Director of Public Relations, Bandy Carroll Hellige, Louisville, KY  
Colleen Rosso, Director of Communications, Hartland Township, Milford, MI    
David Samberg, Public Relations Manager, Verizon Wireless, Basking Ridge, NJ
Michael  Schmarak, Vice President, DKC Public Relations, Marketing & Government Affairs, Northbrook, IL       
Natalie Stavale, Account Supervisor, Marx Layne & Company, Farmington Hills, MI
Robin Vaitonis, SVP, Strategic Communications, Tanis Communications, San Jose, CA   
Chris Vasan, Communications Lead, Cisco Systems, Smart Web Technology Group, Research Triangle Park, NC
Danielle Waller, Associate Account Manager, Guthrie/Mayes Public Relations, Louisville, KY      
Becky Wilson, President, WDS Marketing and PR, Overland Park, KS     
Amanda Wisell, Marketing Manager, PAR Springer-Miller, Stowe, VT   
Julia Zamorska, VP of Corporate Communications, iolo technologies, Los Angeles, CA   

2013 Customer Service Awards & Support Awards Final Judging Committee
Chair:
Dawn Stevenson, Manager, Customer Retention, Customer Service & Inside Sales, Stamps.com, Los Angeles, CA

Committee:
Rebekah Clerk, National Customer Service Manager, Empire Today, Northlake, IL
Brian Giannini, VP Business Development, Network Direct, Inc., Phoenix, AZ    
David Gilman, President, Gilman Performance Systems, Inc., Brookfield, CT      
Stephen Henderson, Program Director, Alta Resources, Brea, CA
Billie K. Johnson, VP, Client Results, Incept, Canton, OH   
Lori Owens, VP, Client Relations, PhoneWare, Inc., San Diego, CA
Dave Shapiro, CEO, Dialogue Marketing, Troy, MI
Aaron Taylor, VP, Customer Care, MyLife.com, Westwood, CA
Joanne Wilkie, CEO, JessicaSimpson.com, Los Angeles, CA 
Kelli Williamson, Manager, Loyalty and Engagement, Rymax, Inc., Costa Mesa, CA
Vince Yanez, Customer Care Manager, Stamps.com, Los Angeles, CA  
Chris Zoloth, Director Global Customer Care, IHG, Salt Lake City, UT      

2013 Human Resources Awards Final Judging Committee
Chair:
Dave Craig, Vice President of Human Resources, Fazoli's Italian Restaurants, Lexington, KY

Committee:
Jerry Barbian, President, B & J Search Resources LLC, Brookfield, WI     
Jeff Bilot, VP, National Accounts, Wells Fargo Insurance, Fort Lauderdale, FL     
L Brigg Cochran, President/CEO, Benefit Insurance Marketing, Lexington, KY  
Mary Cuervo, Sr. Director of Comp & Benefits, VITAS Innovative Hospice Care, Miami, FL
Kim Davis, SVP, NFP HR Services, National Financial Partners, Austin, TX 
Samuel Faust, SVP, Willis of TN, Nashville, TN  
Becky Fine, COO, Honolulu Coffee Company , Honolulu, HI       
Vernessa W. Gates, Chief People Officer, BravoBrio Restaurant Group, Columbus, OH
Mary Golaboff, VP, NFP HR Services, National Financial Partners, Austin, TX
Kevin Hegebarth, VP, Marketing & Product Management, HIRE IQ, Atlanta, GA 
Carrie Kohn, VP, National Accounts, Allstate Benefits, Oviedo, FL 
John  Lamb, VP & Group Head, Ebix, Atlanta, GA
John C. Logan, Managing Director, Marsh, Louisville, KY
Krushnaprasad Mahapatra, HR Head, Tata Consultancy Services, Bangalore, India
Lisa D.  Morgan, President, Zenith Performance Group, LLC, Louisville, KY
Rodney Morris, Chief People Officer, Romano's Macaroni Grill, Dallas, TX 
Connie Paris, Vice President, The Elliot Group, Atkinson, NH     
Cabot Pollard Pyle, Director of Charitable Giving, Turner Family Foundations, Nashville, TN
Mary Roseman, Associate Professor & Hospitality Management Program Director, University of Mississippi, University, MS
Lisa Schweickert, VP of Training, Golden Corral Corporation, Raleigh, NC   
Patrick Sterling, Sr. Dir, Risk & People Administration, Texas Roadhouse, Louisville, KY  
 
2013 Information Technology Awards & New Products & Product Management Awards Final Judging Committee
Chair:
Jesse Rothstein, CEO and co-founder, ExtraHop Networks, Seattle, WA

Committee:
Vesselin Bakalov, CTO, SevOne Inc, Wilmington, DE     
Daniel Burkholder, IT Solutions Advisor, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Frisco, TX  
Tanya Bakalov, COO, SevOne Inc, Wilmington, DE
Jock Breitwieser, Director, Corporate Communications, TriNet, San Jose, CA     
Michael Brown, CTO, comScore, Inc., Reston, VA 
Alexander Castro, VP of Product, Electronic Arts, San Francisco, CA
Andrew Conry-Murray, Editor, Network Computing, Fair Oaks, PA
Julie Cullivan*, Chief Information Officer, FireEye, Inc., Milpitas, CA       
Kyle Forster, Co-Founder/President, Big Switch Networks, San Francisco, CA    
Bill Gossman, CEO, Marble Security, Sunnyvale, CA       
Donna Grare, VP Engineering, PHD Virtual, Morris Plains, NJ     
Connie Guglielmo, Technical Reporter, Forbes Magazine, Los Altos, CA 
Ed Horst, VP, Business Development, Perforce Software, Alameda, CA 
Jim Hutchins, CTO & EVP, T2 Systems, Inc., Indianapolis, IN
Mel Kemp, SVP of Operations, Pegasus Solutions, Inc., Seattle, WA
Mike Kindle, VP, Information, HealthSouth, Birmingham, AL           
Stephen Lavin, Vice President Infrastructure & Operations, Coinstar, Inc., Oakbrook Terrace, IL
Rene Lopez, VP of Platforms & Architecture, TriZetto Corporation, Denver, CO 
Steve McGee, Director, Hosting Operations, Tyler Technologies, Little Elm, TX 
Michael Mikuta, VP of Technology Strategy, Dynamics Research Corporation, Reston, VA
Judilynn Niedercorn, CEO, SysTactics, McClean, VA
Ken Phelan, CTO, Gotham Technology Group, Montvale, NJ     
Manny Rivelo, EVP, SP & Security Solutions, F5 Networks, Seattle, WA
Cindy Schumacher, SVP Infrastructure Services & Security , TriZetto Corporation, Denver, CO    
Milo Sprague, Head of Technology, Silicon Valley Bank, Santa Clara, CA
Leslie Stretch, President & CEO, CallidusCloud, Pleasanton, CA
John Trainor, CIO, Aaron's, Inc., Kennesaw, GA 
Wes Wright, SVP/CIO, Seattle Children's, Seattle, WA  
Markus Zirn, VP, Product Management, SPLUNK, San Francisco, CA      

2013 Management Awards Final Judging Committee
Chair:
Joe Gillette, Chairman & CEO, Stage 2 Networks, New York, NY 

Committee:
Karin Ajmani, President, Marwood Group, New York, NY 
Richard Barton, CIO, American Management Association, New York, NY   
Rob Basso, President, Advantage Payroll Services, Freeport, NY   
David J. Cuthbert, CEO & President, Alteva, Philadelphia, PA    
Brenda Dukart, Executive Account Manager, Managed Business Solutions, Colorado Springs, CO  
Andy Gutman, CFO, Farbman Group, Southfield, MI    
Arnie Herz, Esq, Attorney at Law, Law Office of Arnie Herz, Port Washington, NY  
Stephen A Jannetta, Partner, Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, Philadelphia, PA
Jay Kim, CFO, Stage 2 Networks, New York, NY      
Joseph Laezza, President, BSIMPLIFIED GROUP LLC, Monroe Township , NJ      
Norton W. Lazarus, Managing Director, OEM Capital Corp, New York, NY  
Mario Lopez-Alcala, Senior Analyst, Morgan Stanley Capital International, New York, NY
Tony Magliocco, COO, Empire Merchants, Astoria, NY    
Jay Mitchell, President, Mereo, LLC, Colorado Springs, CO 
Fabi Preslar, President, SPARK Publications, Matthews, NC       
Andy Pritchard, CEO, ThoughtBurst, Fort Wayne, IN     
Michael Quinn, Partner, Q Advisors LLC, Denver, CO     
Peter Raymond, CEO, Human Condition, Brooklyn, NY 
Lewis Schiff, Chairman and Executive Director, Inc Business Owners Council, New York, NY
Ricky Spike, CPA, Ives Sultan & Spike PLLC, Woodbury, NY
Manuel F. Valencia, Vice President of Strategy, Excelerant, Baton Rouge, LA   

2013 Marketing Awards Final Judging Committee
Chair:
Carmen Yazejian, President, Network9, New York, NY

Committee:
Allyn Bacher, Sole Proprietor, Bacher Design, Brooklyn, NY
Christopher Beesley, Graphic Designer, Christopher Beesley Design, Norwalk, CT
Mark Simon Burk, Creative Director/Content Chief, BRANDnv, New York, NY   
Tanya Candia, CEO, Candia Communications LLC, Los Gatos, CA 
Sandra de Novellis, Sr. Marketing Manager, Telehouse America, New York, NY 
Mary DiMaggio, President, HMA Associates, Inc., Washington, DC 
Julia  Forsyth, Senior Strategy Manager, Marketing , GSMA , Atlanta, GA  
Giles House*, Senior Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer, CallidusCloud, Pleasanton, CA    
Ariel Hyatt, Founder, Cyber PR, Brooklyn, NY   
Jo Ann Jacobsen, VP, Tinkerbelle Design, TinkerBelle, New York, NY     
Kimberly Joyce, Internet Marketing Consultant, ReachLocal, Newnan, GA 
Bob Kersten, Strategy Director, Landor Associates, San Francisco, CA   
Elliot Kreloff, Associate Publisher/Creative Director, Blue Apple Books/ Elliot Kreloff, Inc., New York, NY   
Charlotte Neuville, President, Fashion Chef, New York, NY
Gina Ray, Principal, Ray Public Relations, Mission Viejo, CA
Jennifer  Rose, Principal, Jennifer Rose Design, New York, NY  
Lamonda Williams, Cofounder & Chief Content Officer, Lamar’s Daughter, LLC, New York, NY   
Conrad Winter, Freelance Copywriter, Backpocket Copywriter, Metuchen, NJ 

2013 Website Awards Category Final Judging Committee
Chair:
Josh Kelly, Managing Partner, FINE Design Group, San Francisco, CA

Committee:
Jeremy Beckman, Instructional Designer, Lawroom, Walnut Creek, CA
Christy Belden, VP, Media + Marketing, Leapfrog Interactive, Louisville, KY
Suraya Bliss, Senior Director, Digital Communications, Walmart, Bentonville, AR       
Julien Brandt*, CEO, Organik SEO, Solana Beach, CA
Suraya Bliss, Senior Director, Digital Communications, Walmart, Bentonville, AR
Gina Cuff, Director, Digital Marketing, Pacific Bioscience Laboratories, Inc., Redmond, WA
Christopher Harmon, Principal & CEO, theBATstudio, Oakland, CA
Stafford Kendall, Principal, Covalent Logic, Baton Rouge, LA      
Patrick  King, Founder/CEO, Imagine, Inc., Manassas, VA  
Bill Leake, CEO, Apogee Results, Austin, TX       
David Siskin, Founder & Partner, Boomity, San Francisco, CA    
Robert Balog, Creative Director, Ogilvy, New York, NY  
Lori Teranishi, Partner, IQ PR, Inc., San Francisco, CA    
Danny Altman, CEO, A Hundred Monkeys, Mill Valley, CA
Maribel Castillo, AVP/ Director of Corporate Communications, T.Y. Lin International, San Francisco, CA 
Jeff Leaf, Creative Director, Ogilvy, New York, NY

*Statements and decisions by Judges are not made on behalf of their company and do not reflect any representations or endorsements by their company.

The following professionals participated in preliminary judging of The 2013 American Business Awards, the nation’s premier business awards program, in April-May. Their average scores determined the Finalists.  We thank them for their time, insights, and support.

Pam Abrahamsson, Vice President, Stephenson Group, Portland, OR, USA         
Amal  Al-Najjar, HR Manager, Fluor Kuwait, Kuwait       
Stewart Andrews, Owner, Noodlebox Design, Washington, DC, USA      
Zainab Ansari, Director/CEO, Xenith PR (Pvt.) Ltd, Karachi, Pakistan         
Alex Backer, Founder and CEO, Abinventio, Altadena, CA, USA   
Michele Baer, Founder and President, Baer Consulting Inc., New York, NY, USA
Nancy Bass, Lead Visual Artist, eLearning, Bytes of Knowledge, Nashville, TN, USA            
Jeremy Beckman, Instructional Design/Art Director, LawRoom, Walnut Creek, CA, USA 
Christy Belden, VP, Media and Marketing, LeapFrog Interactive, Louisville, KY, USA         
Jeff Bell, Partner, NCT Ventures, Kirkland, WA, USA       
Daniel Bharadwaj, Vice President Quality, Billtrust, Hamilton, NJ, USA    
Jill Blankenship, CEO, Frontline Call Center, Eastsound, WA, USA             
Israel Bonequi, Creative Director, Birds Nest Foundation, Montreal, Canada       
Jennifer Brand, Principal, Brand Solutions Group, Washington, DC, USA
Julien Brandt, CEO, OrganikSEO.com, Solana Beach, CA, USA      
Craig  Brown, Sr. Technology Consultant, STEM Resource Partners, Houston, TX, USA    
Heena Bulchandani, Specialist - Training & Development, Dubai Electricity & Water Authority, Dubai, UAE         
JL Cabrera, IT Program Manager, TRWD, Fort Worth, TX, USA     
Tanya Candia, CEO, Candia Communications, Saratoga, CA, USA
Lynne Cannavan, Global Channels Enablement Manager, IBM Corporation, Dedham, MA, USA 
George Cauttero, Producer, Cauttero & Assoociates, Bronx, NY, USA     
Susan Chait, VP, Creative Director, Lebowitz | Gould | Design, Inc., New York, NY, USA            
Kevin Chen, President/CEO, Business Methods Corporation, Randolph, NJ, USA               
Jason Childers, VP Brand Strategy, OneEighty, Seattle, WA, USA               
Pamela Clark, Founder/Director, New Heights Educational Group, Defiance, OH, USA    
Rebekah Clerk, National Customer Service Manager, Empire Today, Northlake, IL, USA 
Ken Collis, CEO, VIIVIIVII, Toluca Lake, CA, USA 
Travis Connors, Partner, Egan-Managed Capital, Boston, MA, USA           
Erin Craft, Principal, Nimble Bee, Washington, DC, USA 
David Craig, Vice President, Human Resources, Fazoli's Restaurants, Lexington, KY, USA               
Dan Davenport, VP Marketing, Adecco, Coopersburg, PA, USA 
Mary DiMaggio, President, HMA, Washington, DC, USA
Richard Dixon, Advertising Director, Dallas Business Journal, Keller, TX, USA        
Sue Dowd, Senior VP-Financial Services, Miller Zell, Atlanta, GA, USA     
Michael Drake, Instructional Designer, Frog Design, New York, NY, USA
Brenda Dukart, Executive Account Manager, Managed Business Solutions, Colorado Springs, CO, USA   
Whitney Duprey, Sales and Marketing Assistant, IAPP, Portsmouth, NH, USA     
Thomas Evansen, Portfolio Director, JM Family Enterprises, Deerfield Beach, FL, USA     
Corinna Fabre, Assistant Account Executive, Duo Public Relations, Seattle, WA, USA       
Marc Foelsch, Associate Creative Director, Fraser Wallace Advertising, Dulles, VA, USA 
Julia Forsyth, Senior Marketing Manager, GSMA, London, UK    
Steve Gallagher, Teacher, Truman High School, Bronx, NY, USA 
George Georgallides, Managing Partner, Curious Ventures, Los Angeles, CA, USA            
David Gilman, President, Gilman Performance Systems, Brookfield, CT, USA      
Katharine  Goldman, SVP, Executive Creative Director, Jack Morton Worldwide, New York, NY, USA       
Carolyn Goodman, President/Creative Director, Goodman Marketing Partners, San Rafael, CA, USA       
Connie Guglielmo, Technology Reporter, Forbes Magazine, Los Altos, CA, USA  
Eric Halvorson, Senior Vice President, Wells Fargo, Minneapolis, MN, USA           
Christopher Harmon, Principal & CEO, theBATstudio, Oakland, CA, USA 
Batul Hasan, CEO, BSH Consultants, Karachi, Pakistan     
Peggy Heafey, Director - Intermediary Partner Care, Marriott Intl, Inc., Omaha, NE, USA               
Mary Ann Henker, President, The Henker Group, Easton, MD, USA        
Brian Henrichs, Chief Business Development Officer, Actiontec Electronics, Sunnyvale, CA, USA
Johan Hernández, SEO & Web Developer, Swiss Travel Costa Rica, Santa Ana, Costa Rica               
Courtenay Higgins, Senior Partner, Winning Strategies, Newark, NJ, USA              
Brent Howison, President, Remi, Charlotte, NC, USA      
Susan Hudgins, Producer, Fourth Wall Events, New York, NY, USA           
Sumaiya Hussain, Assistant Manager, Compensation & Benefits, Dubai Electricity & Water Authority, Abu Dhabi, UAE    
Joe Jessen, Chief Solutions Officer, Gotham Technology Group, Montvale, NJ, USA        
Stuart John, CEO, SJ Strategy, Santa Monica, CA, USA    
James Johnson, Chairman, The Standish Group International, Inc., Boston, MA, USA      
David Johnston, President, Sales Resource Group Inc., Oakville, Canada               
Kim Jones, CEO, Verite, Inc., Sandy, UT, USA      
Anila Kalleshi, President, Kalleshi Center, Tirana, Albania              
Craig  Kavicky, Director, Business Development-North America, FITCH, Inc., Columbus, OH, USA               
Stafford Kendall, Principal, Covalent Logic, Baton Rouge, LA, USA             
Bob Kersten, Strategy Director, Landor Associates, San Francisco, CA, USA          
Patrick King, Founder/CEO, ImagineDesign, Manassas, VA, USA
Lesley Kirchman, Sr. Director of Corporate Marketing, Actiontec Electronics, Sunnyvale, CA, USA              
Slade Kobran, CMO, Chief Outsiders, New York, NY, USA             
Nitin Kumar, Director, PWC, New York, NY, USA               
Hao Kuo, Marketing Coordinator, Aurico, Arlington Heights, IL, USA        
Micah Laney, Sr. Digital Communications Manager, Walmart Global Associate Communications, Fayetteville, AR, USA    
Frank Laudo, Senior VP Creative Director, GES, Grapevine, TX, USA         
Robert Leggat, Senior Vice President, Goddard Global, Brussels, Belgium           
Robin Lenihan, Portfolio Director - JM&A PMO, JM Service Center, LLC, Deerfield Beach, FL, USA             
Peter Levy, President, Corniche Productions, Brooklyn, NY, USA              
Alex Louie, Creative Director, Wilshire Axon, Los Angeles, CA, USA          
Ginger Lynch, Outrageous Marketing Manager, PrintingForLess.com, Livingston, MT, USA           
Darren MacLennan, President, SureShip (a G&G Outfitters Company), Lanham, MD, USA            
Janice Maiman, Senior Vice President, Communications & Media Channels, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, New York, NY, USA             
Joseph Mangiaracina, Principal/Owner, SurfNet.Inc., Levittown, PA, USA             
Maggie Mayer, Founder, Mayer & Associates, CPA, LLC, Madison, CT, USA          
Anne McCarthy, President and Founder, Westmeath Communications, Castle Rock, CO, USA    
Sharon McGowan-Spinelli, Director, Corporate Communications, Avid, Burlington, MA, USA       
Colin McKillop, Chief Executive Officer, Butcher Enterprises, Windsor, Canada   
Stan Mendoza, President, Mendoza Media, Montclair, NJ, USA
Kathy Menzie, Associate Professor & Chair, Washburn University, Topeka, KS, USA        
Feroz Merchhiya, CTO, California Insurance Guarantee Association, Diamond Bar, CA, USA          
Carlos Minetti, President, Consumer Banking, Discover Financial Services, Riverwoods, IL, USA  
Jay Mitchell, Managing Director, Mereo, LLC, Irving, TX, USA      
Brian Mulvey, Vice President, Investor Growth Capital, New York, NY, USA         
Mark Murphy, Director of Content Management, Reliv International, Chesterfield, MO, USA     
Kirk Musselman, Director, Human Resources, Classified Ventures LLC, Chicago, IL, USA 
Steve Nelson, Partner & CTO, AP42, San Ramon, CA, USA            
Judi Niedercorn, President and CEO, SysTactics, McLean, VA, USA           
Cynthia Nustad, SVP, CIO, HMS, Irving, TX, USA
Bob Older, President, Creative Travel Inc., Wilmington, DE, USA               
Linda Olsan, Director, Operations & Customer, 3iCorp.com, Irvine, CA, USA        
Paul Patton, Senior R&D/Regulatory Manager, Delta Faucet Co., Indianapolis, IN, USA   
Don Pearce, New York, NY, USA             
Rob Peglar, CTO Americas, EMC Isilon, Wildwood, MO, USA        
Mary Pettersen, Director, Corporate Practice, Burson-Marsteller, Chicago, IL, USA          
Fabi Preslar, President, SPARK Publications, Matthews, NC, USA              
Jesintha Rajaratnam, Partner, Joje India Consultants-Finance & HR, Ras Al Khaimah, UAE
Daniel Recanati, CEO, Rhodium, New York, NY, USA        
Zev Remba, Creative Director, Unconformity, Alexandria, VA, USA          
Dennis Reno, Vice President, Customer Portal Experience, Oracle, San Francisco, CA, USA         
Julie Ridenour, Senior QA Specialist, Cigna, West Hartford, CT, USA         
Chris Risheill, Director of Sales, Marketing and Exhibits, Association for Middle Level Education, Westerville, OH, USA     
Randall Romberger, Principal, Advantage Healthcare Solutions, LLC, Greenville, SC, USA               
Viurniel Sanchez, Program Management Coordinator, NextEra Energy, Inc., Miami, FL, USA        
Luz Sanchez, Social Catering Manager, DoubleTree by Hilton Miami Airport Convention Center, Miami, FL, USA 
Scott Sauder, Area Operations Consultant, The UPS Store, Noblesville, IN, USA 
Jodi Sawyer, Director, John Hancock, Boston, MA, USA 
Harry Schechter, CEO/President, Temperature@lert, Boston, MA, USA
Lauren Selikoff, Managing Director, Selikoff+Company, Orange, NJ, USA              
Bill Shelton, Vice President, USHEALTH Advisors, Grapevine, TX, USA     
Lisa Sigler, Marketing Manager, Apptix, Herndon, VA, USA          
Erica Smith, Principal, Social Combustion Promotions, San Francisco, CA, USA     
Michael Spurlin, VP, Operations, Crystal Technologies Group, Inc., West Chester, PA, USA           
Michael Stephenson, Senior Director, Oracle Corp., New York, NY, USA
David Street, Owner, Street Works Studio, Boston, MA, USA    
Joe Thoma, President/CEO, Primary Source Press Inc., Oviedo, FL, USA 
Scott Thomas, CEO, Jake Records, Puyallup, WA, USA    
Lillian Valdes, President, At Your Service Hospitality, Miami, FL, USA             
Manuel Valencia, VP-Strategy, Excelerant, Baton Rouge, LA, USA            
Greg Van Dyke, SVP Marketing, PSAV Presentation Services, Los Angeles, CA, USA         
Lori Van Dyke, Manager Customer Care, Access One Inc, Chicago, IL, USA            
Chris Vasan, Communications Lead, Cisco Systems, Inc., Research Triangle Park, NC, USA             
Rajani Veeramachaneni, President, E Center, Inc., Newtown, PA, USA  
Vinny Verdi, Producer, CUNY-TV, New York, NY, USA    
Mary Verdin, Owner, Verdin Marketing Ink, San Luis Obispo, CA, USA       
Terry Waitzman-Bannister, Vice President, Corporate Development, C2 Solutions Group, Inc., Reston, VA, USA
Brian Ward, SVP Client Engagement, Stylesight, New York, NY, USA       
Jerry Weinberger, Sr. Director, Customer Service and Retention, Webs, Inc., Washington, DC, USA         
Daryl Wieland, Managing Director, Accenture, Arlington, VA, USA            
Sharon Wienbar, Partner, Scale Venture Partners, Foster City, CA, USA 
Kelli  Williamson, Manager, Loyalty and Engagement, Rymax, Inc., Orange County, CA, USA        
Becky Wilson, President, WDS Marketing and PR, Overland Park, KS, USA            
Gregory Wright, Communications Manager, AICPA, New York, NY, USA
Joseph Zitzelberger, Director of Manufacturing Development, PACCAR Inc, Chillicothe, OH, USA              
Chris Zoloth, Director, Global Customer Care, IHG, Salt Lake City, UT, USA            
Linda Zumstein, CEO, IntelliSales Training, Arden, NC, USA