The World's Premier Business Award Competitions

Finalists in the 6th Annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, an international competition recognizing excellence in disciplines that are crucial to business success, were announced today.     Organizations as diverse as E*Trade, Dubai Bank, Japan’s Lifenet Insurance Company, and ZocDoc are among those recognized in the customer service awards, call center awards, and sales awards categories.  Organizations with Finalists in multiple categories include DeVry University, the UK’s Everything Everywhere, GoDaddy.com, Nationwide Bank, PetRays, Rosetta Stone, UPC Austria, and Vodafone Turkey, among others. For a full list of Finalists, visit www.stevieawards.com/sales.  Stevie Award winners will be announced during a gala banquet on Monday, February 27 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Tickets are now on sale.  The awards are presented by the Stevie® Awards, which organizes several of the world’s leading business awards shows including the prestigious International Business Awards. The Stevies are widely considered to be the world’s premier business awards. For the first time, Stevie Awards will be conferred in three levels of distinction: gold, silver and bronze.  To date, only overall category winners have received gold Stevie Awards. More than 1,000 entries from organizations worldwide were submitted to this year’s competition, an increase of almost 30% over 2011. Finalists were determined by the average scores of 93 professionals worldwide, acting as preliminary judges.  Entries were considered in 27 categories for customer service professionals, including Contact Center of the Year, Award for Innovation in Customer Service, and Customer Service Department of the Year; 38 categories for sales professionals, ranging from Senior Sales Executive of the Year to Sales Training or Coaching Program of the Year to Sales Department of the Year of the Year; and categories to recognize new products and services and solution providers.  More than 100 members of seven specialized judging committees will determine Stevie Award placements from among the Finalists during final judging, to take place January 30 - February 10.   Beginning today, the general public will be able to cast their votes for their favorite providers of good customer service in the People’s Choice Stevie® Awards for Favorite Customer Service Department.  Voting is open at http://www.stevieawards.com/Service.peopleschoice.  Winners of the People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite Customer Service in multiple industries will be determined in mid-February and honored at the awards gala in Las Vegas on February 27.  About The Stevie Awards The Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.  Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide.  Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.stevieawards.com/, and follow the Stevie Awards on Twitter @TheStevieAwards.    Sponsors and supporters of the 6th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service include American Support, Coloredge Los Angeles * New York, Competence Call Center, SDL and ValueSelling Associates. Press Contact:  Amy Nizwantowski, amy@mediashoppr.comMediashop PR, (212) 867-8778 x232  

We have made two changes to our 2012 American Business Awards, the premier business awards program in the U.S.A., to help make your Stevie Awards® submission process easier. (The 2012 American Business Awards are now accepting entries. Download your entry kit here and submit entries by the March 28th deadline.) Our business awards updates include: A new link/file uploaderWe've added a Link/File Uploader to the online entry form. Click the link that says "Add Attachments, Videos or Links to This Entry" to add or upload any number of URLs or offline supporting attachments to an entry. Your attachments and links will then be presented to the judges. Online only submission acceptance Entries may no longer be submitted offline. All entries must be submitted online, even if you enter a category for which you'll provide materials for judging offline (e.g. Best Annual Report). Our business award updates will help you to: Easily enhance your submission With our new link/file uploader, you have the option to upload a collection of supporting files and web addresses to our server to support your entry and provide more background information to the judges. Keep track of the progress of your submission Our online submission center allows for you see all of your submissions in one easy-to-view location. Save your entries while perfecting your submissions Since all submissions will be entered online, you can save your submissions while you continue to work on other entries. You have the option to submit entries individually or all at once. Let us know what you think about our new updates - leave us a comment!

The following professionals participated in the preliminary judging of the 2012 (6th annual) Stevie® Awards for Sales and Customer Service, the world's premier customer service awards, contact center awards, and sales awards, in November-January. Their average scores determined the Finalists. We thank them for their dedication, time, and insights. This year's Stevie Awards winners will be announced at our annual awards ceremony at Caesar's Palace resort in Las Vegas, NV, on Monday February 27. Learn more about the event and reserve your table today. Kenneth Amormino, Director of Call Center Operations, GAW, Enfield, CT, United States Johnny Anderson, Vice President, Bulldog Solutions, Austin, TX, United States Jeff Billado, Sales Consultant - Customer Interactive Solutions, Dimension Data, Herndon, VA, United States       Paul Bilodeau, VP Sales & Marketing, The Brooks Group, Greensboro, NC, United States Jane Blackwell, Community Outreach Manager, High Point Bank & Trust, High Point, NC, United States Jill Blankenship, CEO, Frontline Call Center, Eastsound, WA, United States Jeanne Bliss, President, CustomerBLISS, Pacific Palisades, CA, United States        Bob Botelle, Exec VP. Merchant Services, Chief Customer Officer, Litle & Co, Lowell, MA, United States Norm Bour, Community Development Director, OPIS Network, Newport Beach, CA, United States Johnny Bravo, Account Executive, PolyPak America Inc., Sales, Loas Angeles, CA, United States Patrice  Bryon, Head of Client Services, ProFund Advisors, LLC, Financial Services, Bethesda, MD, United States Elaine Buxton, President, Confero Inc, Cary, NC, United States Jon Byers, Manager of Client Relationships, Covisint, Client Satisfaction, Healthcare, Durham, NC, United States Andrew Christofferson, Customer Service Manager, Cargill, Inc, Feed Products, Blair, NE, United States Chadwick Collier, CEO, Consumer Driven Solutions and Group Cars, Memphis, TN, United States Ryan Consigli, CEO, Zoom Technical Services, Inc., Woburn, MA, United States Tom  Cross, Editor, TECHtionary, Boulder, CO, United States Kelly Dantas, Media Director, SDI Distributor, Yonkers, NY, United States Robyn Davis, Owner, When I Need Help, Columbus, OH, United States                  Brent Dierking, Director, Business Development/Strategic Planning, NorthStar EMS, Birmingham, AL, United States Kevin Domingue, VP, Customer Services, TRUMPF, Inc., Customer Service, Farmington, CT, United States Alan Dowler, Customer Service Officer, Hamilton Jewelers, Princeton, NJ, United States Carolyn K Edwards, AT&T and  WATCh?, San Diego, CA, United States     Annette Eland, Claims Customer Service Manager, Esurance, San Francisco, CA, United States                    Evren Erbasol, Phone Banking Manager, AKBANK, Alternative Delivery Channels Management, Istanbul, Turkey Ron Essig, VP, Products & Services, Marriott Vacation Club, Salt Lake City, UT, United States Meredith Estep, Vice President Client Services, Unitiv, Inc., Alpharetta, GA, United States Paul Evans, President and CMO, Evans Media Group, Overland Park, KS, United States Franck Fielemon, Manager Direct Sales, DHL Express, International, Hoofddorp, Netherlands Will Garrick, Senior Director, Prescription Solutions/  A United Health Care Company, Customer Service, Costa Mesa, CA, United States Gina Giordano, VP, Customer Feedback, Macy's, New York, NY, United States Barb Girson, Principal, My Sales Tactics, New Albany, OH, United States Jaki Glenn, Regional Sr. Sales Rep., Taleo Learn, Taleo, Belton, SC, United States Bob Gooderl, Product Manager/AVP, Symetra Financial, Life Division, Bellevue, WA, United States Justin Grenier, Support Team Manager, Listrak, Lititz, PA, United States Jimmy Griffith, Director, Solution Center Operations, Assurant Solutions, Extended Protection Solutions, Lawton, OK, United States Judy Guffee, Senior Manager Customer Service, med fusion/ ClearPoint Diagnostic Laboratory, Lewisville, TX, United States Josh Hatala, Marketing Specialist, AIReS, Marketing, Pittsburgh, PA, United States Peggy Heafey, Director - Intermediary Partner Care, Marriott Intl., Inc., Marriott Sales and Customer Care, Omaha, NE, United States Arne Henrickson, SR Director Client Services, Coinsar/Redbox, Corporate, Bellevue, WA, United States Greg Ives, Director of Global Services, ChannelAdvisor, Morrisville, NC, United States Jeanne Jalufka, Sales Marketing Consultant, Pearson, Corpus Christi, TX, United States Robert Jeppsen, Vice President, Commercial Sales, Zions Bank, Commercial Sales, Salt Lake City, UT, United States David Johnston, President, Sales Resource Group Inc., Oakville, Canada Rebecca Jones, Senior Marketing Manager, The Retail Outsource, Coral Gables, FL, United States Christine Kazor, Customer Service Manager, Bright House Networks, Riverview, FL, United States Rafal Kucharski, Advertising Manager, Wytwornia Mebli, Swarzedz, Poland Rebecca Lane, Epitome Health and Beauty, Bushey Heath, United Kingdom Howard  Lewis, President, Family Heritage Life Insurance, Cleveland, OH, United States Shane Lewis, Asst VP of Sales, Sundance Vacations, Sales, Kennett Square, PA, United States Angie  Marchant, CEO / Client Management, Millennium Benefits Consulting, Sandy Springs, GA, United States Frank Maylett, EVP Sales and Global Alliances, inContact, Midvale, UT, United States Colin  McKillop , Chief Executive Officer, Butcher Enterprises, Windsor, Canada Curtis McLaughlin, Customer Support Manager, Debix Inc., Customer Support, Austin, TX, United States Sharon Metzung, Publications & Graphics Manager, Lake Metroparks, Concord Township, OH, United States Tiffany Mittal, Director of Sales and Marketing, Multifamily Utility Company, San Diego, CA, United States Simona Mollova, CEO, Investmen JSPK credit consult - jsk, Sofia, Bulgaria Stacy Muentzer, Project Manager, Bankers Life and Casualtyy Company, Chicago, IL, United States Mark O'Toole, Managing Director, Public Relations & Content Marketing, H|B, Newton, MA, United States Steve Pappageorge, Sr. Director, Business Services, DeVry Inc., DeVry University, Downers Grove, IL, United States Donald Pillai, International Marketing Executive, Bumbo International, Pretoria, South Africa Melanie Pope, Director, Australian National Paramedic Support Foundation, Aspley Qld, AL, Australia Janine Popick, CEO, VerticalResponse, San Francisco, CA, United States                 Amy Pulaski, Manager, UPS, Global Customer Service Group, Richmond, VA, United States Jesintha Rajaratnam, Partner, Joje India Consultants - Finance HR FZC, Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates Dennis Reno, Vice President, Global Customer Service, Oracle, San Francisco, CA, United States Nancy Reynolds, Global Customer Service Manager, Braiform, Asheville, NC, United States RJ  Riemer, Director - Training & Process Improvement, VIZIO, Inc., Irvine, CA, United States                      Bruce Rosenblatt, VP of Sales, ITG Holdings, LLC, Bonita Springs, FL, United States Amanda Running, PR Manager, SecurityMetrics, Orem, UT, United States Brillian S K, Head - Talent Engagement, AIL, Human Resources, Mumbai, India Anita Samojednik, VP, Customer Operations, TheLadders.com, New York, NY, United States Russell Sarder, Chairman and CEO, NetCom Learning, New York, NY, United States Harry Schechter, CEO, Temperature@lert, Boston, MA, United States Stu Schlackman, Owner, Competitive Excellence, Richardson, TX, United States Paula Seeger, Supervisor-Customer Service Hotline, University of Minnesota, Office of Classroom Managment, Minneapolis, MN, United States Randy Selleck, Sr. Director, Call Center Operations, Assurant Solutions, Atlanta, GA, United States Bill Shelton, Vice President, USHEALTH Advisors, Insurance, Grapevine, TX, United States Donnovan Simon, Director, Sales Support, SMART Technologies, Calgary, Canada Peter Smith, CEO, SDL, Superior, CO, United States Cate Sommervold, Dr., pharmaCline, Development and Patient Outreach, Sioux Falls, SD, United States Alec Stern, VP, Strategic Market Development, Constant Contact, Waltham, MA, United States Will Tarrant, Project Director, FreemanGroup, Richardson, TX, United States Lucas Tennant, Sr. VP of Sales, CompuPay, Miramar, FL, United States Dwayne Tharp, Director of Sales, Networking Technologies and Support, Inc., Midlothian, VA, United States       Kathy Townend, Marketing Manager, Europ Assistance, CSA Travel Protection, San Diego, CA, United States Heather Valentine, Vice President Global Sales, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Manakin Sabot, VA, United States Laura Walter, Corporate Marketing Manager, Enterprise Holdings, Inc., St. Louis, MO, United States Jerry Weinberger, Director, Customer Service Retention Webs, Inc., Silver Spring, MD, United States Uriel Weisz, Customer Experience Manager & Researcher, Strativity Group, Rochelle Park, NJ, United States Patrick Williams, Hit-Maker, YOU ROCK!®, Gig Harbor, WA, United States Pam Young, President, Unique Innovations Inc., Lancaster, PA, United States Julia Zamorska, VP of Corporate Communications, iolo technologies, Los Angeles, CA, United States