Anyck Turgeon will chair the final judging committee for the Information Technology categories in The 7th Annual American Business Awards.

What book or books are you currently reading?
I am in the midst of re-reading five books:The Third Wave by Alvin Toffler; Revolutionary Wealth by Alvin and Heidi Toffler; The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell; The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations by Ori Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom; and Who Was Albert Einstein? by Jess Brallier and Robert Andrew Parker.

What was the last movie you saw, and would you recommend it?
I do not watch many movies. Typically, as I push myself extensively for my work and my customers, I fall asleep within five minutes of sitting down. One of the last movies that I recall enjoying watching—and getting to the end of­—is The Last King of Scotland. For anyone interested in gaining a fuller understanding of the world, I would greatly recommend watching this thought-provoking movie.

What is your favorite sport or hobby?
Flying—because you can see the world in all its splendor.

Who is your favorite historical figure?
Winston Churchill—because he was a brilliant person who was able to think outside the box. He excelled in numerous areas of life.

Who is your favorite living person?
My parents have together been a wonderful source of inspiration for me.  As different as they both are, the combination of their personalities has taught me how to overcome extremely challenging obstacles, and led me to understand that continuous hard work can lead to a fantastic life.

What quality or qualities do you most value in your business associates?
Truth, compassion, and full collaboration

Is there anything you'd like to improve about your own work practices?
I’m always faced with improving time management and finding approaches to help strike that vital balance between professional and personal endeavors.

As someone at the top of your profession, what keeps you inspired or makes you hit the ground running in the morning?
The brilliant people I work with at Crossroads Systems, and the need for our solutions around the world. The international business community, healthcare, education, finance, and government— all rely so heavily on the secure access of data that information security, protection, and accessibility only become more crucial every day.

What do you consider has been your greatest achievement in business?
Implementing leading-edge technologies that are saving lives, reducing costs, and improving humankind.

What advice or useful tip would you give to someone who is just starting out in business?
In addition to always searching for new things to learn and understand, aim to develop a drive for yourself that allows you to truly harness your potential. That drive is different for each one of us—although you can clearly identify those who have found it.  Use it to inspire excellence within yourself and those with whom you work.

About Anyck Turgeon
Anyck Turgeon, Chief of Market Strategy and Security at Crossroads Systems, Inc., is an international data-management, data-protection, and storage-security expert with more than 20 years of experience. Anyck joined Crossroads in 2005 and currently leads Crossroads' strategic storage, security, and corporate communications efforts.

Previously, from the executive offices of Oracle in California’s Silicon Valley, Anyck oversaw the successful creation and global deployment of three key strategic departments: Oracle Portal, Oracle Industries, and Oracle On-Demand/Outsourcing. Throughout her career, Anyck has been involved in designing and deploying revolutionary solutions for large and small corporations worldwide, including Alcan, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Cedars-Sinai, Crédit Lyonnais, the Desjardins Group, NTT DOCOMO, General Motors, JP Morgan Chase, MasterCard, Nabisco, the Ontario Securities Commission, the Thomson Corporation (now Thomson Reuters), and Visa.

A frequent technology spokesperson, Anyck has received numerous industry awards, including the Info Security Products Guide’s 2008 Shaping Information Security People Award, the Network Products Guide’s 2008 Industry's Most Valuable Performer Award, and the 2008 and 2009 Who's Who Women of the Year Award in Information Security. She is a member of numerous industry associations.

About Crossroads Systems, Inc.
Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Crossroads Systems is a global leading provider of solutions to connect, protect, secure and restore data. Crossroads (symbol: CRDS) trades over-the-counter on Pink Sheets and posts its financial disclosure reports, press releases and other related documentation on the OTCIQ Web service of the Pink Sheets Web site. For more information visit www.crossroads.com.

Ted C. Mesa, founder of Pointandship Software, Inc. (Point&Ship) of Walnut Creek, California, will chair final judging committee for the Company categories in The 7th Annual American Business Awards.

On being appointed Chair of the new judging committee, Mesa commented: “The Stevie Awards spotlight the best and the brightest businesses in America today. It is a great honor to be chosen to lead this judging committee, and I look forward to being an integral part of the 2009 Awards.” In this article we look at what Point&Ship is doing to have won a Stevie Award for Most Innovative Company in the 2008 ABAs:

Software entrepreneur and Point&Ship founder Ted C. Mesa has done for the small parcel and mail industry what Bill McGowan and the MCI Corporation did for telecommunications in the late 1970s. Bill McGowan was a telecom innovator, becoming the catalyst that broke up the Ma Bell monopoly, changing the telecommunications landscape forever.  Likewise, Mesa found a niche and set out to transform an entire industry. 

While the small parcel and mail industry was not dominated by one single monopoly, the Big Three—DHL, FedEx, and UPS—were basically telling their clients how to ship.  Having dominated the market for more than thirty years, these companies, in effect, held clients hostage to their pricing and discount programs.  Having a "best of breed" carrier base was impossible because of the way the carriers made their clients give them all their traffic, regardless of whether or not they were the best choice. 

A Web-based Multicarrier Solution
Point&Ship is delivering a revolutionary new way of managing the industry by designing, developing, and delivering Shipping Expense Management Software™ (SEMS™).

The Web-based SEMS is the only enterprise-wide, on-demand, multicarrier shipping-management solution that streamlines corporate shipping processes, standardizes procedures, and realizes cost savings.  The proprietary software provides oversight on express, ground, freight, and courier services through all major carriers, unifying client-shipping needs into a single, Web-based interface. With external billing and reporting tools, Point&Ship clients have an additional level of control to ensure their charges are accurate and appropriate.

These clients can now deploy a Web-based enterprise platform that gives them the ability to choose the right carrier at the right price.  They can dictate to the carriers how and when they ship, and they can finally make their carriers treat them like the valuable clients they are. 

A Shipping Industry Revolution          
Point&Ship broke all the rules when it created its multicarrier shipping software.  At first the major carriers refused to work with Point&Ship, desperately trying to close them down and shut them off; but Point&Ship called on their clients, who stepped in and demanded a better, more intelligent way of shipping.  These clients told the carriers: "Either support Point&Ship, or you won’t be a carrier we use. Period.”  The startup Point&Ship was never going to take down the carrier behemoths on its own, but its clients loved SEMS because of the visibility and control it provided, so the carriers had no choice but to listen—and to change. 
           
Point&Ship, along with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, is transforming the industry.  Not only have major Fortune 500 and Forbes Global 2000 companies become clients of Point&Ship, they have forced the carriers to provide "certified" programs, allowing the industry to be supported and foster growth.  The carriers have finally realized that they can no longer dictate pricing and discounts based on volume, and instead have taken the approach that "some is better than none."

About Ted C. Mesa
Ted C. Mesa, founder, president and CEO, Pointandship Software, Inc., first founded the company in 1994 as QuestNet Communications Management, Inc., a reseller of telecommunications and small-parcel shipping services. By 1998, the company had become the single largest reseller of telecom for MTC Telemanagement and the largest reseller of MTC Air (shipping). Mesa then merged the company’s telecom arm with QuantumShift and became its Executive Director, Strategic Sales, while simultaneously continuing to grow the reseller shipping side of his business.

In 2000, Mesa left QuantumShift to focus full time on his shipping management business. He changed the company name to Pointandship Software, Inc. (Point&Ship) and effectively created and launched Shipping Expense Management Software™ (SEMS™), a new product category in the expense-management industry. He saw the need to implement an enterprise-wide shipping process to manage multiple carriers, establishing Point&Ship as the first company to develop a Web-based desktop shipping, mailing, billing, and reporting platform, commonly known today as Software as a Service (SaaS). Point&Ship’s revenue has grown in excess of $50 million, with more than 1 million users. Point&Ship serves Fortune 500 and Forbes Global 2000 companies worldwide.  In May 2008 Point&Ship became a certified Minority Business Enterprise through the Northern California Minority Supplier Development Council (NCMSDC). In June 2008 Point&Ship won a Stevie Award for Most Innovative Company (under 2500 employees) in The American Business Awards.

Prior to founding his own company, Mesa was in senior management for several major corporations over a fifteen-year period. He served as Vice President, Sales for Business Communications Management (BCM), Managing Director of Centex Telemanagement, and Director of Sales with VoiceMemo Communications. Mesa was also a top sales producer for Sprint Communications where, in his second year, he was named the top salesperson in the country and remained in the top five throughout his five-year tenure.

Mesa, a single father of three, resides in Blackhawk, California, and is an avid supporter of the Oakland Children’s Hospital, Amfar, and Equality California.

About Pointandship Software, Inc.
Pointandship Software, Inc.'s (Point&Ship’s) proprietary Shipping Expense Management Software™ (SEMS™) provides the only end-to-end shipping management solution for corporations. SEMS simplifies shipping tasks, standardizes procedures, and increases efficiency of operation by unifying client-shipping needs into a Software as a Service (SaaS). With external billing and account review, SEMS provides customers with comprehensive oversight on express, ground, freight, and courier services through all major carriers.

Founded in 1994 by Ted C. Mesa, Point&Ship recorded 2008 revenue in excess of $50 million and has a client list that comprises Fortune 100, 500 and Forbes Global 2000 companies, including world-class banking and financial institutions, national retail chains, consumer packaged-goods conglomerates, leading universities, and state and government entities. Point&Ship is a certified minority business enterprise (MBE). For more information, visit www.pointandship.com.

Blogs, or web logs, are all the rage these days. Each month in this space we'll point you to several blogs and web sites that we think might be of interest to you.

Great Leadership: A leadership/management blog from Dan McCarthy, a practitioner in the field of leadership development for over 20 years. Dan is a member of the 2009 American Business Award's judging committee for Management.
Three Star Leadership: Wally Bock's blog that provides insight, information, and pointers to resources to do a better job and live a better life.
Clusterstock: Business blog from The Business Insider.
Mental Floss: Keep that brain active!