We've just published a 6-minute film featuring an overview of the Stevie® Awards, the host of the world's premier business awards programs, and interviews with Stevie Award winners.  

Watch the video here. 

The film provides an overview of all six Stevie Awards programs.

• The International Business Awards
• The Stevie Awards for Women in Business
• The Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards
• The American Business Awards
• The Stevie Awards for Sales and Customer Service
• The German Stevie Awards

The entry deadline for The International Business Awards is May 14. Now in their 11th year, the IBAs typically receive nominations from organizations in more than 50 nations and territories. The IBAs are the world's only completely international business awards competition. All organizations and individuals worldwide are eligible to submit entries.

The International Business Awards recognize achievement in every facet of the workplace -- from annual report awards, app awards, company/organization awards, customer service awards, human resources awards, information technology awards, marketing awards, and more. See all of the awards categories here.

The Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the world’s top honors for women entrepreneurs, executives, employees, and the organizations they run, will begin accepting entries Monday, May 19. Enter before July 24 for discounted entry fees.

Have questions regarding The Stevie Awards? Don't hesitate to contact us by email or at
+ 1 703-547-8389.

What were we thinking??!  With the Thanksgiving holiday here in the U.S. and visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads, we forgot to announce that the video clips of the 2013 Stevie Awards for Women in Business presentations are available! 

Watch the videos here.

The 10th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business were presented in New York on Friday, November 8.   More than 400 women and their guests from around the world gathered to recognize the achievements of amazing women entrepreneurs, executives, and employees who won this year's Grand, Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Awards.  See the complete list of winners here.

What will you learn by watching these videos?  You'll learn that

1. Some women are able to tell their whole life stories in under 30 seconds

2. Women give much better speeches than men do

3. Winning a Stevie Award can be a transformative experience for many people

Next year's Stevie Awards for Women in Business will open for entries in May.  Join the mailing list so that you receive the entry kit as soon as it's available.  The program features executive awards categories, entrepreneur awards categories, marketing awards categories, PR awards categories, website awards categories, new product awards categories, and more.  All women and women-run or -owned organizations worldwide are eligible to be nominated.

The following professionals participated in the preliminary round of judging for the 10th Annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business during September-October 2013. Their average scores determined the 2013 Award Finalists. The awards judging process is now moving into the final judging phase. We thank the preliminary round judges for their interest, time, and insights. For more information about the program, including a complete list of all award categories, visit www.StevieAwards.com/women.

2013 STEVIE AWARDS FOR WOMEN IN BUSINESS PRELIMINARY ROUND JUDGES:

Husam Mahmoud Abdallah, Sr. Specialist Strategy & Business Excellence, Dubai Airport Free Zone, Dubai, United Arab Emirates             
Amal Al-Najjar, Human Resources Supervisor, Fluor Corporation, Ahmadi, Kuwait            
Eline Altenburg-van den Broek, Director, Quid Novi Foundation, The Hague, Netherlands            
Amy Anda, Director, Credence Management Solutions LLC, Washington, DC, United States         
Kausar Asif, Sr. Manager Mktg. Services, Cupola Pakistan Limited, Karachi, Pakistan        
Ani Atanasova, CEO, Pixelhunters, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Tyrone Bachus, Sr. Director, Communications and Quality, Trowbridge & Trowbridge, McLean, VA, United States             
Rashi Bajaj, Founder, Carpet Couture by Rashi, Delhi, India         
Ishrat Bano, Doctor, Harvard University, Brookline, MA, United States   
Victoria Barnett, Senior Marketing Director, Royal College of Nursing, London, United Kingdom
Michelle Bart, President, CEO, National Women's Coalition Against Violence & Exploitation (NWCAVE), Vancouver, Canada               
Deepa Barve, Sr. Recruitment Leader, SSOE, Portland, OR, United States             
Janet Beale, Managing Director, Sytor Enterprises Pty Ltd, East Lindfield, NSW, Australia               
Maxim Behar, CEO, M3 Communications Group, Inc., Sofia, Bulgaria       
Sherry Bellamy, Website Designer, JZ Consulting, Centreville, VA, United States               
Sheri Benjamin, Silicon Valley Chair, Vistage International, Saratoga, CA, United States  
Denise Blasevick, CEO, The S3 Agency, Boonton, NJ, United States          
Erin Bolton, VP, Pivot Communications, Salt Lake City, UT, United States               
Tya Bolton, CEO / Business & Event Strategist, Exceptional Business Solutions, LLC, Waldorf, MD, United States 
Jennifer Braun, Owner & CEO, Type A Events | Festivities, Medina, MN, United States  
Emily Brown, Journalist Blogger, The Career Pioneer, Washington, DC, United States      
Jane Bryant, Director, Spire Communications, Potomac Falls, VA, United States 
Estee Buaron, MBA, Previous RBC, Ontario, Canada        
Peter Bush, Chief Executive, New Swansea Bay, Port Talbot, United States         
Bev Campbell, Employee Advocate, Western Wireless, Eastport, ID, United States          
Annie  Castellano, Chief Creative Officer, Switch: Liberate Your Brand, St. Louis, MO, United States       
Etta Cohen, Founder, Forward Ladies, Leeds, United Kingdom  
Camilla Colegrave, Independent Consultant, New York, NY, United States        
Kimberly Cooley, Communications Director, Henderson Hutcherson & McCullough, Chattanooga, TN, United States       
Churchill Dass Prince, Founder & CEO, Sales Intellect Company, Chennai, India  
Robyn Davis, Owner, When I Need Help, Columbia, SC, United States    
Danielle Di-Masi, Business Etiquette Expert, Click! Training & Consulting, Sydney, Australia          
Gail D'Silva, President & COO, JAUST Consulting Partners, San Jose, CA, United States   
Christine Dunn, Founder, Savoir Media, Belmont, MA, United States     
Diane Emo, VP Marketing, Coverall North America Inc., Boca Raton, FL, United States    
Lori Ericson, Product Planning and Development, Epicor Software, Denver, CO, United States    
Joy Lynn Fields, President, Joy Lynn, Inc., Atlanta, GA, United States      
Kharma Finley-Wallace, Business Operations Manager, AAA Mid-Atlantic, Washington, DC, United States            
Rachel Fishman Fedderson, Editorial Director, Parenting.com, New York, NY, United States         
Julia Forsyth, Senior Global Marketing Manager, GSMA, Atlanta, GA, United States        
Allison Freeland, PR Director, iAcquire, Minneapolis, MN, United States               
Heisha Freeman, Executive Vice President, The Move Management Center, Dallas, TX, United States    
Jaclyn Frenzel, Vice President, AFM, Inc., Stockton, CA, United States   
Patricia Garcia, Experience Architect, Critical Mass, Aurora, IL, United States       
Lorretta Gasper, Owner/Principal, Wind Rose Communications, Atlanta, GA, United States         
Dale Gerstenslager, GM PR & Communications, Doosan, Quang Ngai, Vietnam  
Pamela Gharaibeh, Child and Family Therapist, Main Street Therapy for Children and Families, Livonia, MI, United States               
Barb Girson, President, My Sales Tactics, New Albany, OH, United States             
Marilyn Glazier, Social Media Director, Helen Doron Ltd., Misgav, Israel 
Regina Glick, Director of Marketing, Summit Business Media, New York, NY, United States          
Marina Go, Publishing Director, Private Media, Surry Hills, NSW, Australia            
Audrey Godwin, Fearless Financial Mastery Expert, The Godwin Group, Bellevue, WA, United States     
Keith Goggin, Partner, Integral Derivatives LLC, New York, NY, United States      
Suzanne Harrison, Director, Strategy, Planning & Analysis, Allstream, Toronto, Canada   
Leslie Harstad, Director of Marketing, Optum, St. Paul, MN, United States           
Renda Hawwa, Corporate Communications, IntelligentMDx, Boston, MA, United States               
Barb Hendrickson, President, Visible Communication.com, Livonia, MI, United States    
Deborah Herman, President, Fabric Innovations, Miami, FL, United States           
Jill Heron, Director, Marketing & Client Relations, AMAXRA, Seattle, WA, United States 
Robyne Highsmith, Founder, Teen Dare To Dream Program, Zionsville, IN, United States              
Yvonne Howie, Chief Executive, The CEO Institute, Sydney, Australia     
Jennifer  Hrycyszyn, VP, Greenough Communications, Boston, MA, United States           
Clara HY Wang, Founder & President, KAI Communications, Beijing, China          
Nicol Jameson, Director of Marketing & PR, Lisa Hoffman Beauty, Los Angeles, CA, United States             
Anne Jefferies, Vendor Compliance Manager, AT&T Global Vendor Management, Biggar, United Kingdom         
JP Jones, Owner, Paige1Media, Lawerenceburg, TN, United States         
Rebecca Jones, Owner, bScene Marketing Solutions, Miami, FL, United States  
Sheryl Jones, Managing Director, Ozuro Fine Fewelry, New York, NY, United States        
Rose Jurczewski, Owner, Funxion Fuzion, Roselle, IL, United States        
Kathryn Kavicky, Owner/Director, Parachute Communications, Stamford, CT, United States        
Jennifer Keller, Director of Client Services, The James Agency, Scottsdale, AZ, United States       
Patricia Marie Kelly, Owner, Marie Kelly Unlimited, Algonquin, IL, United States
Laura Kerr, Principal Business Analyst - Interact, Sabre Airline Solutions, Dallas, TX, United States              
Lesley Kirchman, Senior Director of Corporate Marketing, Actiontec Electronice, San Francisco, CA, United States            
Roja Kolachina, CEO, Synerteq, Inc., Washington, DC, United States        
Shamina Krishna, Manager, Training Department, Smart Reader® Worldwide Sdn. Bhd., Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia              
Iwona Kubicz, President of the Board, Procontent, Warsaw, Poland       
Mary Anne Lanier, Trustee, Ray C. Anderson Foundation, Marietta, GA, United States  
Jill Liberman, Founder, Videoglobetrotter, Inc., Boca Raton, FL, United States    
Sarah Lippincott, PR Executive, zcomm, Washington, DC, United States 
Amy Lurier, CEO, TechFind, Inc., Natick, MA, United States         
Anil Machado, Managing Director, Tnell, Sieradz, Poland              
Morag Malloy, Managing Director, Fission Creative, Paisley, United Kingdom     
Jessica  Manna, VP & Chief Marketing Officer, Residential Finance, Columbus, OH, United States             
Margaret Manning, CEO, Reading Room, London, United Kingdom          
Lynne Marcus, President, Marcus + Company, Albuquerque, NM, United States              
Carol Marx, Past President, American Agri-Women, Rickreall, OR, United States               
Karen McFadzen, VP Technical Services, Cisco Systems, Chatswood, Australia    
Laura McIntosh, President, M Entertainment, Lodi, CA, United States    
Colin  McKillop, CEO, Butcher Enteprises, Brownstown, MI, United States          
Elaine Metlin, Senior Partner, Dickstein Shapiro, Washington, DC, United States               
Jon Michail, CEO, Image Group International, South Yarra, Victoria, Australia      
Stephen Moore, CEO, Petrochase, Scottsdale, AZ, United States              
Sarah Musgrove, Owner, Musgrove Productions, Playa Del Rey, CA, United States          
Patricia Neal, President, Heartland Inc., Minneapolis, MN, United States              
Karen Nicholas, Director, Learning Options, Manuka, Australia   
Elizabeth Ojeda, Manager of Strategic Partnerships, City and County of Denver, Denver, CO, United States         
Erica Olsen, COO/Co-Founder, M3 Planning, Reno, NV, United States    
Lorraine O'Neill, Director, The EPI Centre Pty Ltd, Parrearra, QLD, Australia         
Jill Osur, President, Save Your Do LLC, Walnut Creek, CA, United States 
Donna Oulton, Managing Director, Planet Heaven PR, Liverpool, United Kingdom            
Kaan Özsoken, Owner, K-Tex Sourcing & Buying Agency, Istanbul, Turkey            
Nikki Parker, Regional Director, North America and Oceania, Freelancer, Sydney, Australia          
Christine Pietryla, Senior Vice President of Public Relations, Walker Sands Communications, Chicago, IL, United States   
Harish Pillai, COO, Indus Health Plus Pvt. Ltd., Pune, India            
Jacqueline Plair-Rushin, Director, Global Customer Care, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Alpharetta, GA, United States 
Julie Pond, CEO, Sage Environmental Services, Inc., Seattle, WA, United States 
Lauren Prisco, Executive Vice President, Navis Learning Corporation, Canton, MA, United States              
Jesintha Rajaratnam, Managing Partner, Joje India Consultants - Finance and HR, Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates               
Ariadna Randall, Independent Beauty Consultant, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Burlington, Ontario, Canada       
Sonu Ratra, President, Akraya, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, United States            
Shenan Reed, Chief Media Officer / Founder, Morpheus Media, New York, NY, United States   
Maria Reitan, Senior Principal, Carmichael Lynch Spong, Minneapolis, MN, United States              
Christina Robinson, Patient Care Representative, Group Health Coop, Seattle, WA, United States            
Jessica Rovello, Founder, Arkadium, Las Vegas, NV, United States           
Gyan Saxena, Member of Board of Advisor, DatamanUSA, LLC, Centennial, CO, United States   
Amy Scarlino, President & CEO, Catchpole Corporation, Boston, MA, United States         
Katja Schroeder, President, Expedition PR, Brooklyn, NY, United States
Mark Schroeder, Senior Vice President, M Booth & Associates, New York, NY, United States     
Bae Seog Bong, Managing Director, KCU, Seoul, South Korea     
Keira Shein, Partner, WilkinsonShein Communications, Stevenson, MD, United States   
Julie Sheppard, General Counsel, Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition (IHMC), Pensacola, FL, United States               
Ravinder Singh, Director - Strategy and Online Marketing, Kulwant Advisory, Kenya      
Michelle Smith, VP, Digital Networks, Inc., San Francisco, CA, United States        
Carla Spain, Communications Specialist, Patelco Credit Union, San Francisco, CA, United States  
Carolyn Sparano, Vice President, Client Services, Bronto Software, Durham, NC, United States  
Michael Spink, Communications Manager, LGFCU, Raleigh, NC, United States    
Mindy Statz, Director, Aravo, Irving, TX, United States   
David Stein, President & General Manager, Inman News, Alameda, CA, United States   
Kim Stiglitz, Director of Lifecycle Marketing, VerticalResponse Inc., San Francisco, CA, United States        
Natalie Sudina, Chief Executive, Best4Kid LTD, United Kingdom              
Heena Sunil Bulchandani, Specialist-Training & Development, HR Training, DEWA, Dubai, United Arab Emirates  
Letty Swank, Founder, Giftwrapperz, Los Gatos, CA, United States         
Deborah Sweeney, CEO, MyCorporation.com, Calabasas, CA, United States       
Veronique Topping, Owner and Web Developer, WomanOwnedNewYork.com, Rockville Centre, NY, United States       
Susan Tripathi, Change Champion, SimFrost Consulting, Mumbai, India 
Linda Varrell, President, Broadreach Public Relations, Portland, ME, United States           
Anne Walker, Founder & CEO, International Dance Supplies Ltd, Newton Abbot, United Kingdom            
Ann Wead Kimbrough, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, FL, United States   
Joyce Weiland, President, SoftPro, Raleigh, NC, United States   
Charlene Weisler, CEO, Weisler Media, LLC, New York, NY, United States             
Kelly Wels, CEO, GreenTeamDistribution.com, South Paris, ME, United States   
Floor Wijburg, Co-founder, Yes We Care, Rotterdam, Netherlands          
Polly Willson, Director of Digital Engagement, Reading Room, London, United Kingdom 
Becky Wilson, President, WDS Marketing and Public Relations, Overland Park, KS, United States              
Mark Wilson, President, ARIIX, Bountiful, UT, United States       
Shunee Yee, President & CEO, CSoft, Beijing, China        
Nicole Yelland, Director of Marketing & Communications, Livio, Ferndale, MI, United States        
Gwendolyn Young, Executive Director, Seed of Hope Foundation, Oak Brook, IL, United States 
Joseph Zitzelberger, Director of Manufacturing Development, PACCAR Inc, Chillicothe, OH, United States 

Final judging, to determine the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award placements from among the Finalists, will begin next week. Five distinguished women are chairing the 2013 final judging committees. Stevie winners will then be announced and recognized at the 10th annual awards dinner in New York City on Friday, November 8. Tickets are still available.

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

Finalists were announced today in the 10th Annual Stevie® Awards for Women in Business, the world’s top honors for women entrepreneurs, executives, employees, and the organizations they run.

The Stevie Awards for Women in Business are produced by the creators of the prestigious American Business Awards and International Business Awards.  The Stevies are widely considered to be the world’s premier business awards.

This year’s Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners will be announced at an awards dinner at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City on Friday, November 8.  A new feature at this year’s event will be the Top 5 Awards, featuring the presentation of new Grand Stevie Award trophies to the five organizations that submitted the best collection of entries to this year’s competition.

More than 1,200 entries were submitted this year by organizations and individuals around the world for consideration in more than 90 award categories including Executive of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year, Women Helping Women, and Communications Campaign of the Year. 

Among the leading contenders with multiple Finalists are Accenture, Chicago, IL USA; Acxiom Corporation, Foster City, CA USA; Child's Play Communications, New York, NY USA; Deborah Mitchell Heaven Health & Beauty Ltd, Shifnal, Shropshire, United Kingdom; Marketing Maven, Camarillo, CA USA; NEI Global Relocation, Omaha, NE USA; One Legacy Pty Ltd, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia; Pivot Communications, Salt Lake City, UT USA; The Thomas Collective, New York, NY USA; and VerticalResponse, San Francisco, CA USA.  For a complete list of Finalists by category, visit www.StevieAwards.com/Women.

Award finalists were chosen by more than 150 business professionals worldwide during preliminary judging.  Members of five final judging committees will determine the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award placements from among the Finalists during final judging that begins next week.

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

 

 

With the preliminary judging of this year’s Stevie® Awards for Women in Business about to wrap on October 6, the Stevie Awards are delighted to announce the names of the five distinguished women who will chair the final judging committees of the 2013 (10th annual) competition.

The Individual Awards categories, which recognize the achievements of individual women entrepreneurs, executives and employees, form the biggest category group in the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, so two committees have been formed:

Marcie Allen, president of New York City-based sponsorship and fulfillment agency MAC Presents, will chair the committee for the Best Executives Awards categories.

“As a woman in the music industry, recognition in the Stevie Awards has proved an effective tool for me to encourage more women to enter this industry,” stated Marcie recently. “As someone who has been in the music industry for 18 years, I want to inspire women and show them that anything is possible.  All power to the Stevie Awards for Women on its 10^th Anniversary!”

Marcie is a seven-time nominee and two-time winner of Billboard Magazine's Concert Marketing and Promotion Award. She was named to Billboard’s Women in Music in 2010, 2011, and 2012, and to Billboard’s 40 under 40 in 2013. Earlier this year, The White House honored Marcie as one of their Hurricane Sandy "Champions of Change." The event highlighted people and organizations directly involved in response and recovery efforts following Hurricane Sandy. Marcie directed a documentary short, “Beach 119,” about her efforts in the Rockaways, New York, after the storm. Marcie leverages her eighteen years of music industry experience to negotiate high profile sponsorships between the world’s leading brands and artists. Recent clients include Jeep, Microsoft, Samsung, CITI, AT&T, and Nokia. 

Prior to starting MAC, Marcie owned and operated MAD Booking & Events, which booked and produced music festivals across the country including On the Bricks in Atlanta, Georgia. Allen is on the board of directors for Musicians on Call and the TJ Martell Foundation.

 

The final judging committee for the Best Entrepreneur Awards categories will be chaired by Kristen White, CEO of Creative Catapult, LLC/Instant Celebrity Academy in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, and host of “Let’s Start A Ripple” TV. Kristen is a media expert who helps entrepreneurs, authors, speakers, life coaches, and businesses become more powerful messengers through content creation and on-camera coaching. Kristen works with clients to create media-based marketing platforms including television, radio, iPad magazines, and multi-media books. Her company, Creative Catapult, LLC, is a media coaching and video production company for the wellness and personal development marketplace.

Kristen has more than a decade of experience as a television journalist and anchor. Her new show, Let’s start a Ripple, which debuted in January 2013, is a news-style talk show that features experts in personal development, wellness and spirituality. The show is broadcast on The Wisdom Channel on Google TV, HULU, and on mainstream media. It is produced in the ABC TV studio in St. Louis, Missouri, and on location in Sedona, Arizona, in California, and in New York.

In addition to a Gold Stevie Awards for Video of the Year and for Mentor/Coach of the Year, Kristen received the Bronze Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in the 2012 Women in Business Awards. Her industry awards include the Platinum “Best in Show” Award for Video and a Gold Award for Video in the 2012 Aurora Awards.

 

Chair of the final judging committee for both the Company/Organization Awards and the New Product Awards categories is Jessica Eaves Mathews, CEO of Leverage a Lawyer LLC in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. Jessica describes herself as America’s Advocate for Women in Business™.  She is an award-winning entrepreneur and intellectual property and business lawyer; a published author and speaker; and an authority on helping women entrepreneurs and women business owners step into their power and, as she says, “create a brilliant business and a brilliant life on their own terms.”

Jessica has spent her legal career representing all types of businesses, from solopreneurs to Fortune 500 companies. Before launching her own firm, she was the head of litigation and compliance for Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft.  Jessica is the founder of Leverage Legal Group, a global intellectual property and business law firm for the new economy. Jessica's team of experienced attorneys provides world-class, flat-fee legal services, virtual general and outside counsel, and in-sourced legal services.  The firm’s entry-level program, Leverage-a-Lawyer, provides budget-friendly, flat-fee legal services, information, and education for first-time business owners or startups who don’t yet have the budget for full-blown legal counsel.  Jessica also has experience "on the other side of the conference table" as founder and CEO of Grace & Game, a lifestyle brand both for golf and for the sophisticated, feminine, modern women. Grace & Game designs are made in the USA with sustainable fabrics and are designed to perform beautifully both on and off the course.  She is also founder and CEO of Untoxicating Beauty, a new subscription beauty experience for women who care as much about what goes into their bodies as what they put on them.

Jessica is an adjunct professor at University of New Mexico Law School; an appointee on the New Mexico Economic Development Council; co-founder and Chief Legal Officer for The Virtual Accelerator, a virtual business accelerator for startups, and is the co-founder of Hautepreneurs, a new networking organization for women entrepreneurs based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She has been featured on MSNBC, Oprah, Forbes.com, NBC, Oxygen, and in Allure Magazine.

 

The chair of the final judging committee for the Communications & Marketing Awards categories is Ruwena Healy, CEO and president of Marketing 24/7, Inc., a full-service marketing, branding, and public relations firm in Trussville, Alabama, USA, which she founded eight years ago. Marketing 24/7 has a diverse client list and is one of Birmingham, Alabama’s Top 10 PR firms. Ruwena gave some useful advice on the importance of winning business awards in an earlier blog post.

Marketing 24/7 and Ruwena have garnered numerous international, national, state, and local awards, including a Gold Stevie for Communications/PR Campaign of the Year in the 2012 Stevie Awards for Women In Business. Ruwena was recently named first runner up in the Birmingham Business Journal’s Social Madness competition that showcased a company’s social media savvy by gaining new followers and encouraging follower engagement. Just this week, Ruwena was honored as one of three finalists in the Birmingham Business Alliance's 2013 Awards in the category of Small Business of the Year (1 to 50 employees) and was awarded three Lantern Awards from the Southern Public Relations Federation. She has also received an “Honorable Mention” in the international Enterprising Women of the Year Award by Enterprising Women magazine,

Ruwena is a LinkedIn expert and trainer (her LinkedIn profile was among the Top 1% of the Most Viewed profiles in 2012). She is a sought-after speaker, trainer, and lecturer, and has also presented numerous programs on branding, social media, public relations, and how to successfully get the word out about a business. Ruwena maintains a blog at MasterMarketing247.com and her articles have appeared in PR News’ 2011 Crisis Management Guidebook, Birmingham Business Journal, The Birmingham News, Alabama Business News, and al.com. Ruwena is an active member of the Birmingham, Alabama community:  she is a member of The Women’s Network; a member of the Board of Directors of the Public Relations Council of Alabama’s Birmingham Chapter; a former Board member and currently a member of the Public Relations Society of America Alabama Chapter; and a current member of Alabama Women In Business.

Ruwena has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing from the University of Florida and a Masters in Business Administration from Florida State University. Today, with twin boys that are seven years old, Ruwena gives her time to fundraisers for their school and as a leader in the Cub Scouts.

 

Chair of the final judging committee for the Media Awards categories (covering websites, apps, live events, and film/video) is Cynthia Good, founder and CEO of Little PINK Book, a digital platform for career women, in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Commenting on her appointment as Chair, Cynthia said: “The Stevie Awards is an organization that inspires companies to do the right thing to help advance women in business. It’s great to see those supporting women’s advancement be acknowledged for their good work.”

Supporting women’s advancement and entrepreneurship is something with which Cynthia is familiar. Her Little PINK Book is the online evolution of PINK magazine, founded by Good in 2005. In addition to the daily e-notes, proven to help career women advance, Little PINK Book’s ventures include two highly successful national conference series: their Spring Into Ownership event for entrepreneurs; and the Fall Empowerment series, featuring top women from Corporate America.

Cynthia appears regularly as a speaker at seminars and women-centric events with companies such as The Coca-Cola Company, Ford Motor Company, McKesson, Turknett Leadership Group, Andrews Kurth, Hilton Worldwide, InterContinental Hotels Group, and more. She has written six books and has a weekly TV segment on CBS Atlanta, where she discusses news pertinent to women. You can follow her on Twitter and via Facebook.

Finalists in the 2013 competition will be announced next week.  Final judging, to determine the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award placements from among the Finalists, will begin the week of October 14.  Stevie winners will then be announced and recognized at the 10th annual awards dinner in New York City on Friday, November 8.

MAC Presents of New York, New York USA won the Gold Stevie® Award for Small-Budget Marketing Campaign of the Year in the communications and marketing awards categories of the 2012 Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the world's top honors for women entrepreneurs, executives, and the organizations they run.  (Another MAC Presents campaign also won a Gold Stevie for Small-Budget Marketing Campaign of the Year in The 2013 American Business Awards.) The entry deadline for the 2013 Stevie Awards for Women in Business is August 28 - get the entry kit here.)

Here we look at the highly successful AT&T/Samsung sponsorship that MAC Presents put together with the New York fashion label rag & bone.

For the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Note, AT&T and Samsung wanted to target the creative, fashion-forward mobile consumer, who would not only want the latest in advanced technology but would also view the device as a fashion accessory.

A custom promotion solution was needed that would establish a Galaxy Note social community within the fashion world during New York’s Fashion Week. Ideally, this social platform would integrate the phone into the daily life both of a fashion designer partner and of respected fashion bloggers.

The Ideal Collaboration

MAC Presents worked with AT&T and Samsung's marketing teams to select the ideal designers for them to collaborate with, and to create the unique marketing that would effectively reach the Galaxy Note's target audience.

MAC Presents developed a custom program that enabled AT&T/Samsung to partner with rag & bone, one of today's leading fashion brands based in New York City. To help reach the Galaxy Note’s influential target audience, MAC Presents worked with rag & bone to create an exclusive case for the Galaxy Note device.

The Galaxy Note was integrated into rag & bone’s 2012 fashion show during New York Fashion Week with signage and an exclusive, branded VIP area backstage. Additionally, influential fashion bloggers such as Bryan Boy, Leandra Medine, and Susie Bubble were given Galaxy Note devices to use for posting to their blogs and tweets during New York Fashion Week.

Comprehensive Media Plan
MAC Presents developed a comprehensive media plan that included print, outdoor, and online advertising as well as social media and public relations outreach. Bus shelter advertising was utilized to promote the partnership in key locations around New York City.

All creative featured the still photography of New York-based photographer Danny Clinch. Danny also shot a :30 commercial for the Galaxy Note featuring rag & bone's designers Marcus Wainwright and David Neville. The pair also hosted a private Galaxy Note launch party in New York City that included a performance from Band of Horses. With many celebrities in attendance, the event attracted millions of press impressions.

MAC Presents’ combined media outreach efforts garnered over 114,000,000 million consumer impressions.

Online Campaign

An extensive online campaign was implemented to increase awareness of the collaboration between AT&T/Samsung and rag & bone. MAC Presents partnered with fashion publications Front Row Daily and WWD to create rich, online advertising opportunities. Additionally, MAC Presents partnered with Billboard.com to reach the fashion, music oriented consumer.

Facebook Advertising

A daily Facebook advertising plan was put into effect to launch the campaign and build awareness of the Samsung Galaxy Note.

In total, over 4 billion consumer impressions were garnered through online efforts.

The Value of Social Media

Marcie Allen, president of MAC Presents, comments: “Social media has opened up brand involvement beyond tour sponsorships.” Allen points to MAC Presents' launching of Nokia Music with AT&T through a sponsorship with Green Day that has garnered more than 165 million social media impressions, as well as a Gold Stevie in the 2013 American Business Awards. “All the programs we put together in 2012 were heavily based in social media,” she says. “There has to be value. You have to be able to measure and track sales. You can do that with social media.”

Inspiring Women

“As a woman in the music industry, recognition in the Stevie Awards has proved an effective tool for me to encourage more women to enter this industry,” continued Allen. “As someone who has been in the music industry for 18 years, I want to inspire women and show them that anything is possible.  All power to the Stevie Awards for Women on its 10^th Anniversary!”

About Marcie Allen
Marcie Allen is President of New York City-based sponsorship and fulfillment agency MAC Presents. Allen leverages her eighteen years of music industry experience to negotiate high profile sponsorships between the world’s leading brands and artists. Allen has executed partnerships on behalf of brands including Jeep, Microsoft, Samsung, CITI, AT&T, and Nokia.  She is a seven-time nominee and two-time winner of Billboard Magazine's Concert Marketing and Promotion Award. Allen was named to Billboard’s Women in Music in 2010, 2011, and 2012 and Billboard’s 40 under 40 in 2013.

In April 2013, The White House honored Allen as one of their Hurricane Sandy "Champions of Change." The event highlighted people and organizations directly involved in response and recovery efforts following Hurricane Sandy. Allen directed a documentary short, “Beach 119,” about her efforts in Rockaways, New York, after the storm.

Prior to starting MAC, Allen owned and operated MAD Booking & Events, which booked and produced music festivals across the country including On the Bricks in Atlanta, GA. Allen is on the board of directors for Musicians on Call and the TJ Martell Foundation.

About MAC Presents
MAC Presents is an award-winning sponsorship and fulfillment agency based in New York City that executes partnerships between the world’s leading brands and artists. With expertise in the music industry, MAC creates authentic brand connections that produce unique experiences and ignite consumer passion.

Kara Goldin, CEO of HINT Inc., in San Francisco, California, USA, was named Female Entrepreneur of the Year for Business Products in the 2012 Stevie® Awards for Women in Business, the world's premier business awards for women executives, entrepreneurs, and the organizations they run. (Entries are now being accepted for the 2020 Stevie Awards for Women in Business. If you haven't yet done so, you can request an entry kit here and it will be emailed to you right away.) Here we look at how a successful businesswoman—and, more important, a mother of four--became a business award- winning pioneer in the beverage industry.

Kara Goldin is an innovator who is changing the habits of the beverage-drinking consumer. Kara started HINT because her family, like so many others across America, needed a healthy, yet flavorful, alternative to sugary sodas and juices.

On receiving her Stevie Award in November 2012, Kara commented: “Winning the award for Best Female Entrepreneur is AWESOME!  All the hard work is finally starting to pay off. The Stevie Awards are a great recognition and I am really honored and grateful!”

Calorie Counting
In 2004, Kara was determined that her family should switch to a healthier lifestyle when she realized how many calories they was consuming from juice, soda, and other beverages. 

Kara laid down the law and banned everything except plain water and milk in her house. That worked for her (at least for a little while), but the other members of her family were not happy.  She realized that she had to find something more interesting than plain water, so she studied the labels of every beverage she could find, but each drink she picked up contained either loads of calories or questionable diet sweeteners.

The Aha! Moment
Finally, out of desperation, Kara started slicing fruit into water to provide a little bit of flavor without adding a lot of calories. Surprisingly, this simple solution was a hit with her family. One day, she received a call from a friend whose child had been over at her house several times: “You have to tell me where you got the raspberry water my daughter keeps talking about.”

Kara laughed and explained that it wasn’t actually a product you buy. That 2004 conversation was Kara’s Aha! moment: she realized then that someone should make a simple, unsweetened, fruit-flavored water as a substitute for all the calorie-laden or artificially sweetened beverages on the market.

A Woman’s Intuition
Despite her inexperience in the beverage industry, the tough economic climate, and having to compete with the likes of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, Kara followed her intuition that this was a product that would sell, and created HINT Water.

In just six years, her perseverance, determination, and innovation brought HINT Water to the shelves of nationwide retailers like Whole Foods, Starbucks, Stop&Shop, The Fresh Market, and many other stores nationwide.

Adding Sparkle
With the success of HINT secured, Kara was ready to take on the soda category.  In January 2012, Kara launched HINT Fizz, a sparkling version of HINT that is available in four flavors. Staying true to Kara’s vision, HINT Fizz offered a refreshing alternative to consumers trying to break the soda habit.

Consumers loved it. HINT Fizz won Better Homes and Gardens Best New Beverage of 2012.

A Simple Mission
With one simple mission of providing a delicious and healthy beverage, Kara has been able to turn HINT into a multi-million dollar company offering a product that consumers trust and enjoy. The biggest lesson she has learned to date is if you make a product that you believe in and stay true to your message, your loyal consumers will become your best advocates and help spread the word.

HINT is a brand that’s been built around an important message: Drink Water, Not Sugar®, and Kara firmly believes in her message.

About Kara Goldin:
Since 2005, Kara Goldin has served as the Founder and CEO of HINT, Inc., maker of the HINT all-natural, no-calorie essence waters. Kara has built HINT's reputation as one of the leading health-driven beverages through its message: “Drink Water, Not Sugar”. This has resonated with the increasingly health-conscious consumer, and has attracted the endorsement of celebrity investor and 9-time Grammy winner John Legend.

Prior to conceptualizing HINT, Goldin built her career as Vice President of Electronic Commerce and Shopping at AOL, helping to turn its online shopping business into a billion-dollar entity in the 1990s.In 2011 Goldin was selected as one of Fortune Magazine’s Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs. Goldin continues to expand HINT, most recently by introducing HINT Fizz, a carbonated version, in 2012.

About Hint, Inc.:
HINT Inc. is the maker of the no-calorie, unsweetened essence waters HINT and HINT Fizz. Founded in 2005 by mother-of-four Kara Goldin, HINT and HINT Fizz have doubled revenues year over year and become the preferred alternative to sugary beverages. For more information, go to www.drinkhint.com or www.facebook.com/drinkhint.

We are pleased to share that video clips from the 2012 (9th annual) Stevie® Awards for Women in Business awards dinner are now available to view on YouTube. Recognized as the world's premier business awards for women executives, entrepreneurs, and the organizations they run, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business were celebrated on November 9 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.

Watch the 2012 Stevie Awards for Women in Business awards presentations here.

More than 345 entrepreneurs, executives, and their guests from around the world attended the November 9th gala. Our Stevie Awards for Women in Business video clips from November 9 showcase business award acceptance speeches made by individuals and organizations from around the world, including:

Leverage a Lawyer LLC, Winner of a 2012 Gold Stevie® Award for New Company of the Year
Founder and CEO, Jessica Eaves Mathews, gracefully accepts the award and starts the evening off by reminding the audience about the powerful impact of women owned businesses.

Deborah Mitchell of Heaven by Deborah Mitchell, Winner of a 2012 Gold Stevie® Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in Europe, The Middle East & Africa
All the way from Shifnal, Shropshire, United Kingdom, Deborah thanks the Stevie Awards and her American suppliers for contributing to her success.

MAC Presents, Winner of a 2012 Gold Stevie® Award for Small Budget Marketing Campaign of the Year
MAC Presents of New York, NY, USA, humbly accepts the Gold Stevie Award and expresses gratitude for their strong partnerships.

Christiane Schulz of Ketchum Pleon, Winner of a 2012 Gold Stevie® Award for Maverick of the Year - Advertising, Marketing, and Public Relations
Christiane thanks her company and family for supporting her throughout her business endeavors.

Kim Petersen of DHL Global Forwarding, Winner of a 2012 Gold Stevie® Award for Female Employee of the Year – All Other Industries
Giving the final speech of the night, Kim thanks her company, her team, and her family for all of their support.

Want more resources from the Stevie Awards for Women in Business celebration? Watch all acceptance speeches, listen to the live recording, view photos from the event, and download the awards dinner program book.

Chris Robinson, Managing Director of Boost Marketing, a UK-based international business awards entry consultancy, uses research to argue that simply entering the Stevie® Awards, the world's premier business awards program, can provide such substantial benefits that literally everyone who goes to the trouble of putting together a well-researched award submission is a winner. Here Chris discusses his findings.

If I were to ask you: “Who benefits the most from entering the Stevie Awards?” you would be justified in answering: “The winners, of course.” You might even think it a ridiculous question.

Is it a ridiculous question, though?  In my job at Boost Marketing, I help companies enter awards, and I often hear the line: “I only want to enter if I’m going to win.” I find this a frustrating sentiment, because it is based on a flawed assumption: that the only people who benefit from The Stevie Awards are the winners.

Crafting a strong award submission requires a substantial amount of research, evidence gathering, and writing. Furthermore, attending an awards presentation consumes even more time and budget. So how can you possibly justify all this when there is a significant likelihood you may not actually win?

An obvious answer is that even a small chance of winning a prestigious award is a chance worth taking. But this again assumes that only winners benefit. So are there other benefits—benefits you can enjoy even if you fail to win?

To answer this question, my company surveyed some awards finalists before the winners were announced (to ensure people were still open-minded). We were delighted that, when prompted, 70% of them could name specific benefits that they experienced by simply entering the awards.

The benefits people listed were extremely varied, but three of them were clear winners in terms of popularity:

1. The submission process improved evaluation (the measuring of a company or organization’s success to provide evidence in its award entry);
2. It demonstrated the company or organization’s commitment to excellence; and
3. It motivated employees.

Improved Evaluation
The most popular benefit, that of improved evaluation, might seem odd to those who have not recently taken a shot at winning an award. To help illustrate this, I would like to share a story.

One recent Stevie Award winner, whose business had been established for over a decade, had always resisted running a customer survey because she feared the customers would use it as a stick to beat her. Eventually, she ran a survey in order to prove to the awards judges just how customer-focused her business was. When she finally saw the scores and comments, she became quite emotional: The survey showed that her customers had an extraordinary affection for her and her business.

Without that quick and inexpensive survey, the business owner would never have known just how much her customers appreciated her business, nor would her business have won the award without the confirmed approval ratings. In other words, she was a winner before she actually won the Stevie Award.

The simple process of putting your business and its achievements under the microscope for an award submission can be extremely beneficial. Measuring a company’s outstanding achievements can give employees pride in their work, increase internal credibility, and boost confidence and morale. Employees can discover whether their perception of what they do, day in and day out, bears up under scrutiny.

This process requires courage, but it can be worthwhile if used properly. Lessons learned can lead businesses to raise the bar and make further improvements.

Commitment to Excellence
CEOs will often use awards as key performance indicators. I have seen this in a broad range of industries including automotive, banking, insurance, and training.  Is this just an exercise in Public Relations? Well, maybe a little, but the main reason why CEOs tout these awards is because they want their businesses—and the departments in them—to aim for more than just best practice.  They want their employees to focus on being the best.

These days there is a big difference between simply achieving best practice and being the best in an industry.  It’s the difference between being the leader, and being in the pack trying to catch up. CEOs know that a credible award like a Stevie is a true measure of success.

The Positive Effect of Competition
When one department wins an award, other departments see the attention and praise heaped upon their colleagues and want similar recognition. This has an extremely positive effect. 

People also soon realize that you cannot win an award simply by writing a great entry. Judges are too smart for this. It is not good enough just to sound outstanding.  Awards are for those who actually are outstanding. A badly written, badly evidenced award submission prevents the judges from learning just how good a company really is.

Awards are rather like Olympic medals in that they discourage people from settling for best practice and encourage them to raise their game and to leave their competition in the dust.

Motivation
Motivation goes to the very heart of why The Stevie Awards are so important. Look more closely at the crystal pyramid held aloft by the 16” tall, 24-karat gold-plated Stevie Award trophy and you will discover another reason to enter these awards: The pyramid represents the Hierarchy of Needs, developed in the 1960s by psychologist Abraham Maslow, who observed that after basic needs are met, human beings seek the esteem of their peers.

Maslow was referring to individuals, but the principle applies just as well to teams, departments, and whole businesses. This is why The Stevie Awards recognize all of these categories in their business competitions.

Do you need to win an award to gain recognition from your peers? Of course not.  But to have a peer tell you or your team: “I am so impressed by you that I want to enter you into an international awards program,” and to follow that up by writing a glowing award submission, will have a positive effect on the self esteem and motivation of your employees, win or lose.

Conclusion
Whether you are confident about entering one of The Stevie Awards competitions or not, understand that while winning one of these handsome trophies is enormously beneficial, so too is the process that you have to go through just to put together an entry. It will focus and sharpen the awareness of what you are doing right; it will provide a catalyst for continuing improvement and motivation; and it will help satisfy that basic business and human need: appreciation and respect.

The Stevie Awards are now conferring Silver and Bronze Awards in addition to the main Gold Stevie Award, meaning that you are three times more likely to be a winner.

About Chris Robinson:
Chris Robinson is Managing Director of Boost Marketing, the world’s first award-entry consultancy, which now has a team of 15 award-entry consultants based around the world. Since the company was founded in 2006, Boost Marketing consultants have helped over 200 businesses win over 400 awards.

New York, NY – November 12, 2012 – Shining a spotlight on women executives, entrepreneurs, and organizations run by women, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business announced the results of its 2012 competition on Friday, November 9.

The Stevie Awards for Women in Business is an international competition produced by the creators of the prestigious International Business Awards and American Business Awards. The Stevie is widely considered to be the world’s premier business award.

With more than 340 businesswomen and their guests in attendance, the awards were announced at a gala dinner at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.  Nations represented at the event include Australia, Canada, Ecuador, Germany, Hungary, India, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Nigeria, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the U.S.A.  The presentations were broadcast live across the U.S.A. by the Business TalkRadio Network.

More than 1,200 nominations from organizations and individuals in 17 nations were submitted to the awards this year for consideration in categories including Entrepreneur of the Year, Executive of the Year, Most Innovative Company of the Year, and Best New Company of the Year, among others.  More than 250 professionals around the world participated in the judging process to determine the Finalists and then the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award placements.

Notable Gold Stevie Award winners from this year’s competition include:

- Kanchan Naikawadi, Director of Indus Health Plus Pvt. Ltd., Maharashtra, India - Female Entrepreneur of the Year – Consumer Services – Up to 2,500 Employees

- Dr. Akudo Anyanwu Ikemba, Founder and CEO of Friends of the Global Fund Africa, Lagos, Nigeria - Female Innovator of the Year – Government or Non-Profit – 10 or Less Employees

- Brooke Denihan Barrett, co-CEO of Denihan Hospitality Group, New York, NY - Female Executive of the Year – Business Products – 11 to 2,500 Employees

- Bethany Mayer, Senior VP and General Manager of HP Networking, HP, Palo Alto, CA - Female Executive of the Year – Business Products – More Than 2,500 Employees

- Emer Timmons, President of BT Global Services UK, BT, London, United Kingdom - Female Executive of the Year – Business Services – More Than 2,500 Employees

- Linda Clement-Holmes, Senior Vice President of The Procter & Gamble Company, Cincinnati, OH - Female Executive of the Year– Consumer Products – More Than 2,500 Employees

- Christiane Schulz, Member of the German Executive Board, Global Partner, MD of Ketchum Pleon, Berlin, Germany - Maverick of the Year - Advertising, Marketing, and Public Relations

- Mitchell Baker, Chairperson of the Mozilla Foundation and Mozilla Corporation, Mozilla, Mountain View, CA - Lifetime Achievement

- Weili Dai, Co-Founder, Vice President and General Manager of Communications and Consumer Business of Marvell Technology Group Ltd, San Francisco, CA - Technology Innovator of the Year

- LittlePINKBook.com, Atlanta, GA - Website of the Year

- Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, Inc., El Segundo, CA - Communications or PR Campaign of the Year - Social Media Focused

- Vodafone Istanbul, Turkey - Communications or PR Campaign of the Year - Marketing – Consumer Services

The 2012 Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners reflect a diverse group of large and small organizations from around the globe. Organizations that won more than one Gold Stevie Award include Accenture, Creative Catapult, LLC, eCycle LLC, Friends of the Global Fund Africa, Oncology Rehab Partners, Sentis Pty Ltd, Susan Davis International, and Vaco Los Angeles.

For a complete list of Stevie Award winners and more information, visit www.StevieAwards.com/Women.

Entries for the 2013 edition of the awards will open next May.

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