Finalists in the 4th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, an international competition recognizing excellence in disciplines that are crucial to business success, were announced earlier this month.

Stevie Award winners will be announced during a gala banquet on Monday, February 22 at the Eden Roc Renaissance Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida. Tickets are now on sale.

More than 500 entries were submitted to this year's competition. There are 27 categories for customer service professionals and 41 categories for sales professionals.

Among the leading contenders with multiple Finalists are AT&T BusinessDirect, DHL Express, Direct Alliance, DISH Network, Family Heritage Life Insurance Company of America, Marketecture, Marriott International, Marsh U.S. Consumer, Oakwood Temporary Housing, and PetRays Veterinary Telemedicine Consultants. The list of Finalists in all categories is available at www.stevieawards.com/sales.

Members of the Awards' Board of Distinguished Judges & Advisors will select Stevie Award winners from among the Finalists during final judging in early February. Finalists were chosen by business professionals worldwide during preliminary judging.

For the first time ever, the general public is able to cast their votes for their favorite providers of customer service in the People's Choice Stevie® Awards for Favorite Customer Service, a new public voting system. Voting is now open at http://www.stevieawards.com/Service.peopleschoice. Winners of the People's Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite Customer Service will be determined in mid-February and honored at the awards gala in Miami Beach on February 22.

		Learn More About the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service...

Entries will open next week for the 7th annual International Business Awards, the world's premier business awards competition. All organizations worldwide are eligible to submit nominations in dozens of categories that recognize every facet of work life, from the executive suite to the manufacturing plant.

Those who have requested an entry kit for the IBAs can expect to receive it by email next week. The English-language version will be available first. Later in February it will also be available in Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.

The 2009 IBAs received entries from organization in more than 40 nations. Results of the 2009 competition are published on the IBA web site.

Here is the schedule of important dates for the 2010 International Business Awards:

May 12: Entry deadline

June 9: Last day for the submission of late entries

May/June: Judging

Late June / Early July: Results announced

Late September: Awards banquet in Europe, date and setting TBD

		Learn More About The International Business Awards...

Eulogy! is one of the United Kingdom's top 25 independent PR agencies with a London-based team of 35 people covering consumer, B2B and online PR. In 2008, they acquired online PR agency Onlinefire and launched the UK’s first-ever directory of blogs, forums, websites and podcasts. Eulogy! was the only organization to win two Stevie Awards in the 2009 Stevie Awards for Women in Business, including one for managing director Lara Leventhal.

We recently spoke with Lara Leventhal about how the agency got its start, about the state of the public relations industry in the UK, and her tips for thriving in tough economic times.

		Listen to the Podcast Interview with Lara Leventhal of Eulogy! PR...

The Stevie Awards will present its first webinar, "How to Enter The American Business Awards," on Tuesday, March 9 at 1:00 pm ET. Registration is free. Late in the year we will offer free webinars for The International Business Awards, Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service as well.

We're just putting the finishing touches on our new Facebook application, called My Work Accomplishments. Look for it on Facebook in February. With this tool users in the U.S.A will be able to note their achievements at work on their Facebook profile, invite their friends and colleagues to comment on those achievements, then automatically submit that compilation of achievements and comments as an entry to The American Business Awards in one of six categories.

Volunteer to be a preliminary-round judge in The American Business Awards and/or International Business Awards. You'll learn about how other organizations around the world are achieving success.

February 1 : Entries open in 7th annual International Business Awards

February 22 : Awards banquet of 4th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service in Miami Beach, Florida

March 31: Entry deadline for 8th annual American Business Awards

April 30: Last day for submission of late entries to 8th annual American Business Awards

May 12: Entry deadline for 7th annual International Business Awards