Software Products Education Products Content Products About the Codie Awards Past Winners Press Room Program at a Glance Categories Judging Sponsorship Marketing Partners Now in Our 25th Year

Software Categories: Winners Education Categories: Winners Content Categories: Winners


SIIA CODiE Awards Announce 2013 Content Category Finalists

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 17:20

Today SIIA announced the 82 finalists for the 2013 SIIA CODiE Awards in Content categories. These finalists represent the information industry’s best products, technologies, and services created by or for media, publishers, and information services providers.

This year there were 25 Content categories, featuring several new and updated ones, to reflect the latest industry trends and business models. New categories include Best Crowd Sourced Solution, Best Press Release Distribution Solution, Best Semantic Technology Solution, and Best Social Media Platform.

Winners will be announced during a special Awards luncheon on January 31 in New York City during the SIIA’s annual flagship conference for information industry leaders, IIS 2013: Breakthrough.

This year, finalists are invited to showcase their products in the CODiE Awards Finalist Showcase during IIS 2013: Breakthrough.

The SIIA CODiE Awards are the industry’s only peer-reviewed awards program. The first round review of all nominees is conducted by media, publishing, and information services executives with considerable industry expertise, including members of the industry, analysts, media and bloggers, and bankers and investors. The judges are responsible for selecting the CODiE Awards finalists. SIIA members then vote on the finalist products and the scores from both rounds are tabulated to select the winners.

Details about each finalist are listed here.

2013 CODiE Awards Content Finalists
Best Advertising Management Platform

Best Business Directory

Best Business Information Solution

Best Consumer Information Resource

Best Content Management Platform

Best Crowd Sourced Solution

Best Digital Rights Management Solution

Best eCommerce & Billing Platform

Best Financial & Market Data Information Solution

Best General Reference Service

Best Governance, Risk and Compliance Solution

Best Lead Generation Solution

Best Legal Information Solution

Best Media & Information Monitoring Solution

Best Medical Information Solution

Best Press Release Distribution Solution

Best Sales & Marketing Intelligence Solution

Best Science and Technology Information Solution

Best Search Technology Solution

Best Semantic Technology Solution

Best Service Using Aggregated Content

Best Social Media Platform

Best Solution for Integrating Content into the Workflow

Best Testing, Monitoring and Analytics Platform

Best Video Platform for Media & Publishers

For more information on the Information Industry Summit, attending the CODiE Awards lunch, and to see a full schedule of events, visit the Information Industry Summit website.

Wendy Tanner Wendy Tanner is CODiE Awards Coordinator. Follow the CODiE Awards on Twitter @CODiEAwards



CODiE Awards Judges: A Conversation with the Coordinator

Wed, 31 Oct 2012 19:59

Nominations have closed for the 2013 CODiE Awards, and I am definitely excited about the variety and caliber of products in this year’s program. I know our judges are looking forward to reviewing the products as well. Our first round review is the core of the CODiE Awards. It is also the portion of the program that gives me the most interaction with the judges and nominees. I am constantly in contact with both groups, ensuring that everyone has a great experience.

What is the first round review?

For the first round review, two judges review each product in each category. For example, products nominated in two categories will be assigned four judges. During this first round, judges participate in product demonstration s given by the nominees. Two options are available for the products demonstrations:

– Live product demonstration: Nominations walk through their product webinar-style with the judges participating as they do the walk-through

– Recorded product demonstration: Nominees may already have a video product demo that can be sent to the judges to watch.

We recommend that the nominees keep the demos to under an hour. If it is a live demo, remember to leave time for Q&A with the judges.

The first round review also includes product access. It’s beneficial for the judges to get a feel for the product on their own, as a supplement to the guided demo. Product access can happen in several forms, including temporary online login information or by sending the physical product to the judge.

I also suggest sending as much additional information as you would like to the judges. This can be additional links to PDF’s, videos, news releases, etc.

Who are the judges?

We take great care in selecting the industry experts who volunteer as judges. Each division reviews every judge application to determine if he/she is qualified. We want to ensure there are no conflicts of interest.

For our software and content categories, the judges consist of industry executives and analysts, members of the media, bloggers, investors, and even some customers.
For our education categories, we use educators and administrators as our judges. They are the users of these products and can best determine what products may work the best in their classrooms.

Judging is a great experience because it gives the customers a chance to review the products and provide feedback that the companies can use to make improvements.

How can you help?

We are still looking for judges in several of our categories in Content, Software, and Education. If you are interested in judging or can recommend a colleague please complete our brief judge application.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Wendy Tanner Wendy Tanner is CODiE Awards Coordinator. Follow the CODiE Awards on Twitter @CODiEAwards



The Evolving Ed Tech CODiE Awards

Tue, 16 Oct 2012 12:30

Karen Billings, VP of the Education Division, joined SIIA 10 years ago, and has been involved with the CODiE Awards ever since. She even remembers the very first Education category – the Best Learning Product in 1986. Since then, the number of Education categories has grown at a steady pace, reflecting the advances in the ed tech industry. Karen shares her thoughts on this constantly evolving industry and what’s new in this year’s education CODiE Awards.

Tell us a little about the history of Education categories in the CODiE Awards.

The first year of the CODiE Awards, the one education winner was Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, for the Best Learning Product. It was such a popular product, and I remember later on there were spin-off products, and even one called Where in North Dakota is Carmen Sandiego! It’s interesting because even today, Carmen Sandiego is still a product at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Even after a series of acquisitions and mergers, the company is marketing and selling an updated version of this product, decades later. The point is that a good education product with a good instructional design that changes with the hardware capabilities is going to have longevity and certainly, branding. It’s very possible that the teachers who are buying Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego today could have used the product when they were young. The CODiE Awards are in its 28th year and it’s amazing to think about how the very first education CODiE Award winner is not only in the market, but has her own Facebook page.

Why do educators and administrators judge all of the education categories in the first round of judging?

The Education Division wanted to have educators and administrators review the products in the first round because they are the real experts. They know what other products are out there, and they have probably used a number of different products in their category, so they have the expertise. They are the best judge of what is going to work in the classroom, and that is a big part of what we mean when we say a product is the best.

The Education Division is able to leverage its relationships with the professional associations and online education communities such as edWeb to reach the teachers. We partner with them because they can directly reach out to their members. For example, SIIA cosponsors a games channel on edWeb, so we can reach teachers who are active in the games-for-learning community. That community helps us find those educators who would be the best at judging the games category.

Why do you like having three top awards, for Best PK-12, Best Postsecondary, and Best Overall?

First of all, I think it’s very special to have some very high-level categories where companies don’t nominate but they are recognized. It’s a very special recognition. It’s a way to pull out the best of the best. In some sense we are following other awards programs. In the Oscars, they have lots of awards, but the most exciting one is Best Picture of the Year. We know that the winners have appreciated that award.

Why do so many education companies love to nominate for the CODiE Awards?

The number of products that are out there in the market have grown substantially for over 25 years. It’s followed the growth of technology, as schools have started to move from the use of print materials and transitioned to the use of digital. Twenty-five years ago, using Carmen Sandiego was a very unique and probably isolated event by a few special teachers who were excited about using that Apple II in the classroom. As access to hardware increased, the software market evolved, and professional development supported technology integration, educators and administrators started to see the benefits of using technology. They saw student engagement, and positive results. The market grew, and as the market grew, the CODiE Award nominations grew, the interest grew, and school budgets grew. It has been a consistent, steady growth for 25 years.

Many of the products that were submitted in the first 10 years for the CODiE Awards had been developed by teachers. Teachers themselves then ended up forming companies. Jan Davidson was a Language Arts English teacher. She wrote a program called Reading Blaster for kids to use in her classrooms on an Apple II. She started sharing it with other teachers, and her husband, Bob Davidson, decided that there might be a business in selling that program to other teachers. They formed a company called Davidson & Associates, which was an early member of the then SPA (Software Publishers Association.) I like knowing that some of the educators reviewing this year’s products may be designing a product that could be a CODiE Awards winner in a few years. It could be the next Carmen Sandiego or Oregon Trail!

Which category are you most excited about this year?

I’m always anxious to see who is nominating in brand new categories. This year, our new category is Best Personalized Learning Solution, which evolved from work we have been doing in the Education Division for the last several years. It started with a working group on personalized learning after our Education Board undertook this as a key initiative. Personalized learning is a new market. Legacy companies can incorporate those attributes as they modify their products, and so can the startups who are designing new products. The thing I look forward to most is seeing nominations come in from companies I don’t know yet. There are so many new companies each year, and some are so new I haven’t even heard from them. When I see their nominations come in, I go to their website and find out about them, and it makes me excited about the direction that education technology is taking.

How can small companies compete in the CODiE Awards?

I think that the small companies with brand new products are viewed very positively by judges. The judges like seeing something new. It’s great to see the start-ups getting the same amount of visibility as larger companies when the finalists are announced. And when the SIIA member companies vote in the second round of judging, every company gets the same number of votes in each category, no matter what size they are. When all of the winners are listed on the press release, some will be large companies, some will be small companies. Some will be companies educators will recognize, and some will be totally unknown. Hopefully when people see a winner they’ve never heard of, they will go to their website and check them out.

What makes the education CODiE Awards banquet so special?

We have so much fun at our awards banquet! It’s a very special event for our companies. They enjoy it. It’s another thing to look forward to at the Ed Tech Industry Summit. We held the gala for the 2012 CODiE Awards on the second evening of the conference and will continue the tradition in 2013.

It’s funny, before I worked at SIIA, I worked at various member companies for 15 years. I came to many of the conferences and even spoke at them, but I never attended a CODiE Awards event! I’m not sure why. The first CODiE Awards gala I ever went to was the first year I started working for SIIA in 2002-in fact it was my second day on the job! I discovered how much fun it was, and how special it is. I really have had fun every year since.

Wendy Tanner Wendy Tanner is CODiE Awards Coordinator. Follow the CODiE Awards on Twitter @CODiEAwards



Software CODiE Awards: Tips & Tricks for CODiE Success

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 21:01

Yesterday we hosted a CODiE Awards webinar specifically for software categories. The primary purpose of the webinar was to provide important updates made to the process, including the addition/revision of several categories for a total of 29 software-related categories.

During the webinar we covered:

We were especially pleased to have two guests join us for the webinar: Sarah Lander, Director of Marketing for ShopVisible and a 2012 CODiE Award winner, and Richard Dym, Managing Partner of Bondi Group, a longtime CODiE Awards judge.

Watch the webinar to hear everything that Sarah and Richard had to say, in addition to the information we provided. And remember, nominations for the Software categories must be submitted by Friday, October 5.

Wendy Tanner Wendy Tanner is CODiE Awards Coordinator. Follow the CODiE Awards on Twitter @CODiEAwards



Content CODiE Awards: Tips & Tricks for CODiE Success

Thu, 13 Sep 2012 17:55

Yesterday we hosted a webinar about the 2013 CODiE Awards specifically for the Content categories. The purpose of the webinar was to make sure you know about the important changes we made to the content categories and process, including the addition/revision of several categories for a total of 28 content related categories.

During the webinar we covered:

• How to nominate
• What happens during the first-round judging process
• The complete CODiE Awards timeline
• Content categories
• Our all-new Buyer Review program

We were especially pleased to have two guests join us for the webinar: Michael Bird, President of NetProspex, a 2012 SIIA CODiE Award winner, as well as longtime CODiE Awards judge Angus Robertson, Media Consultant for Robinson Advisors.
Michael provided invaluable information on how NetProspex has been able to leverage their CODiE Award win (very interesting stuff, so more on that in a future blog post!). But what I want to focus on here is the great advice and tips both Michael and Angus provided to help you prepare for your first-round review, including:

• As soon as you receive judge assignments, reach out to them immediately to select a date that best suits their schedules for your product demo.
• Do your best to arrange for a live demo versus a pre-recorded version.
• Remember, your demo is not a sales pitch, but a product demo.
• Have your most knowledgeable person conduct the demo i.e. someone from the product team.
• Use the SIIA judging criteria to help structure your demo.

Watch the webinar to hear everything that Michael and Angus had to say, in addition to the information we provided. And remember, nominations for the Content categories must be submitted by Friday, September 28.

Wendy Tanner Wendy Tanner is CODiE Awards Coordinator. Follow the CODiE Awards on Twitter @CODiEAwards



You Be the Judge: Call for SIIA CODiE Awards Judges in Ed Tech Categories

Thu, 13 Sep 2012 14:38

SIIA today announced its call for judges for the 2013 CODiE Awards in Education categories. For the past 27 years, the CODiE Awards have celebrated excellence in the education industry, and finalists and winners have later garnered market share in U.S. classrooms.

The Education Division is looking for educators and administrators to review 3-5 products each between mid-November and late January. Sign up to be a judge at the CODiE Awards web site.

“The educators are the real experts,” said Karen Billings, vice president of the Education Division at SIIA. “They know what other products are out there, and they have probably used a number of different products in their category, so they have the expertise. They are the best judge of what is going to work in the classroom, and that is a big part of what we mean when we say a product is the best.”

This year, there are 22 education categories, which include:

* Best Classroom Management Solution
* Best Corporate Learning/Workforce Development Solution
* Best Cross-Curricular Solution
* Best Education Community Solution
* Best Education Game or Simulation
* Best Education Reference Solution
* Best Educational Use of a Mobile Device
* Best Instructional Solution in Other Curriculum Areas
* Best K-12 Course or Learning Management Solution
* Best K-12 Enterprise Solution
* Best Mathematics Instructional Solution
* Best Personalized Learning Solution
* Best Postsecondary Course or Learning Management Solution
* Best Postsecondary Enterprise Solution
* Best Postsecondary Learning Solution
* Best Professional Learning Solution for Education
* Best Reading/English/ELL Instructional Solution
* Best Science/Health Instructional Solution
* Best Social Sciences Instructional Solution
* Best Solution for Specials Needs Students
* Best Student Assessment Solution
* Best Virtual Learning Solution

For more information on the CODiE Awards, visit http://www.siia.net/codies.

Wendy Tanner Wendy Tanner is CODiE Awards Coordinator. Follow the CODiE Awards on Twitter @CODiEAwards



Rock Your Demo and Maximize Your Win: Tips from a CODiE Awards Winner

Thu, 13 Sep 2012 13:00

I spoke with Craig McGuire, Product Marketing Manager for LexisNexis® Web Visibility Solutions (Websites/SEO/Social Media Products). Last year was Craig’s first time managing the submission process for his group of products, and it resulted in a win. LexisNexis® Client Center won the 2012 CODiE Award in Best Legal Solution.

What was the best part about winning?

To compete effectively as a product marketing manager, I need to identify our competitive differentiators. With the LexisNexis Client Center, our competitive advantage is inherent in the product itself, but we also need independent third-party validation to promote that value. That is what we achieved with our CODiE Award win. It’s not only the award itself–it’s the substance of the organization that backs the CODiE Awards that made it so attractive.

Keep in mind that participating requires a level of investment. It’s not only the fee, it’s actually the time and effort preparing the nomination and presentation, and then performing the demonstration. There is a lot of internal coordination. For a solution as complex as LexisNexis® Client Center, a number of different product managers are involved.

The value that we get is really the independent third-party validation from an organization of the caliber of SIIA. This is very important for us. SIIA has strong brand recognition. You folks also differentiate yourself with the way you structure and organize the competition, from the caliber of the judges, to the very fact that the judging is done on site or over web conference. It’s actually a live judging and demonstration. As someone who is participating, it gives you a reassurance that it is a sound judging process. If you are going to take the time to participate in a competition, it’s important to know that it is a fair and sound judging process. I can’t say enough about the quality of the judges. We had two judges who understood the unique challenges of the legal vertical, as well as the knowledge of the technology. They had a good base of knowledge to effectively and fairly judge the solution.

How did you announce and promote your company’s CODiE Award win?

I map out a whole project plan, just like I would for a product launch or a feature launch. It’s a major project if our award wins, so we create a basic project plan, and map out how we are going to promote and communicate it internally and externally. Internally, it’s a big morale booster. It’s a competitive industry, and everyone has their heads down, working very hard toward the same goal, so this recognition is rewarding. Externally, we issued a press release through a wire service and we posted a blog about it. Because this specific solution is a feature in multiple products, we revised all of our product brochures and sales presentations. We made it available through the iPad and PowerPoint versions of sales presentation and featured it on our website. We made sure we got that extra marketing cache that comes along with the SIIA brand and the CODiE Awards brand.

What advice would you give to a company nominating for a CODiE Award for the first time?

Listen to Wendy! (laughs) I remember that there was a best practices webinar. I enter several competitions for various products and features, and I don’t see organizers taking the time to provide the webinar like you guys did. It provided a forum where we could ask questions, and getting that first person instruction was very helpful. It answered a lot of questions I might have had, and made the nominations much easier.

Also, make sure you have a presenter who is charismatic and also understands the vertical and the benefits that the solution provides, not just the features. The presenter should understand the solution’s place in the market, and its reason for being. We take time to research our market and develop products that solve problems, and you need someone who is familiar with that whole product development cycle, someone who can articulate why your solution is great and what needs it serves. If you want to make a connection with the judges, it’s more than just the features–you really have to understand the benefits.

Lastly, I would say invest in your demo. This is something you can use for marketing in the future. With LexisNexis Client Center, we have a nice demo that we put on our YouTube channel and our website for sales enablement. Invest in a demonstration that you can send as a video to the judges, and that you can repurpose in your marketing.

Why do you think your product won?

One of the big reasons why I think it won (and it seems really obvious) is the legal-vertical specificity. We have been developing website solutions for more than a decade now, and the company as a whole has been in the legal industry for more than 100 years. We really understand the legal vertical. There are many cloud solutions out there for document sharing and data storage, but the legal vertical has higher standards when it comes to securely sharing documents. We understand the needs of the legal vertical, which is why we created an online document sharing solution, an extranet that is built into every LexisNexis Web Visibility website we offer. It’s created for the changing needs of legal professionals to provide a secure, real-time online portal that is built in. It puts everything you need to manage clients, cases, and matter in one place. It’s a simple tool that helps attorneys access the most pertinent information on their website and share it securely with their clients. We focus on the small law firms and solo practitioners, and it’s something that gives them a competitive edge.

Wendy Tanner Wendy Tanner is CODiE Awards Coordinator. Follow the CODiE Awards on Twitter @CODiEAwards



Insights from a CODiE Awards Pro

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 13:50

Kathy Greenler Sexton joined SIIA in February as our new Vice President and General Manager of the Content Division. The 2013 CODiE Awards will be Kathy’s first time going through the process from start to finish. Kathy adds a unique perspective to the program because of her previous positions at SIIA member organizations as she has previously nominated products for the CODiE Awards and judged them as well. She shares her thoughts on the benefits of nominating, the reason she enjoyed judging, and what it’s like to now be involved in planning the CODiE Awards.

Why did you nominate for the CODiE Awards at your previous companies?

I have participated in the CODiE Awards for years. Nominating my products in the awards competition was always an easy decision because I knew that if my product was named a finalist or winner, it validated my product to customers, investors and across the industry. I always put a lot of effort into figuring out which categories to apply for. Presenting in front of a judge really forced us to be very crisp about how we were presenting our product and company and it helped us tell our story in a stronger way. It ensured that we were thinking about the questions a judge might ask, and it better prepared us for media, analysts, investor and customer presentations. It was always a great experience for me.

Why did you judge the CODiE Awards?

Judging was really the next step. Judging is a great way for anybody who is involved in the industry to learn how different companies approach the same problem in different ways. For example, one company in a given category might approach an issue such as semantic search within their product much differently from another company. They might sell into the same industry and the same target customer, but it’s amazing how much different the products are. From an intellectual standpoint, it’s fascinating. I love seeing the best of the breed and how different companies approach different problems. It helps you think of products and solutions in a new way. The time I invested in judging helped me look at my own products and services in new ways.

How did being a judge help your professional development?

Being a judge helped me get to know individual teams within different companies. It helped me with personal networking and personal branding. I built a lot of wonderful relationships out of my judging experience. You also get to talk to other judges about what makes a product innovative.

What’s the most interesting thing about being a CODiE judge?

It was interesting to see how well–and unfortunately, how not-so-well–some companies present. That has been very educational for me. While most companies have a senior or a very knowledgeable person from the company present, it always astounded me that some companies would go through the process of nominating and then have someone presenting who was “just going through the motions”. What a lost opportunity! Those companies that did well in conveying how their products aligned with judging criteria, explained why it was innovative, and could answer questions articulately – clearly did better in CODiE Awards judging! Seeing how strong companies present has really helped me learn how to be a better presenter myself.

What advice would you give to nominees about conducting their demos?

I always want the companies to put their best foot forward. So my recommendation is to make sure to put a lot of thought into your presentations. As a judge, I would always go in and look at the application, but a good presentation points you to the right places to go. It points you to the innovative and new things. A good presentation also explains who your target customer is, and why you created a product for that customer in the first place. Help the judge understand why you designed your product the way you did, and why it’s the perfect solution for your customers. If you just give a judge access to the application and let them go through it without the benefit of a presentation, you’ve lost that opportunity to highlight why you are unique.

What was the biggest surprise when you went from nominating to judging to working for SIIA and helping shape this year’s CODiE Awards?

I was more familiar with the behind the scenes of the CODiE Awards than most, because I’ve been on the Content Division board for eight years, I’ve submitted nominations, and I’ve judged. There were very few things that could have surprised me walking in. That said, I was really surprised at the level of detail and planning that the SIIA staff puts into the CODiE Awards. It’s essentially a year-round program. The level of detail, coordination and talent from the staff is really amazing to me. When you are on the inside, you see what you need to do to create an industry-leading awards program, and it’s astounding!

How do you feel going into your first cycle as SIIA staff?

Being on the inside, it’s somewhat daunting when you look at all of the categories. You want to make sure everyone is connected to the right categories and competing in the best category for them. You want to find the best judges. This year, we are partnering with FreePint to provide the finalists in five selected categories with buyer reviews. This isn’t part of the judging process, but it’s a value-add we are providing as a test to see if the nominees find it beneficial. If so, we hope to continue and expand the buyer reviews for the finalists in all of our categories. There are so many details to the CODiE Awards, from how to make the awards ceremony special, this year’s CODiE finalist showcase at the Information Industry Summit, to so many other details that make this award unique. There’s a lot going on!

Do you have a favorite category that you’re most excited about?

I’m really interested to see the nominees for Best Editorial Outsourcing Solution. It’s a new category recognizing companies that support the creation of editorial content. A nominee, and ultimate winner, for the Best Editorial Outsourcing Solution could use technology, crowd-sourcing, or even an outsourced solution to create the editorial. There are many different ways different companies are approaching this issue. It will be really interesting to see which companies step up into that category.

Wendy Tanner Wendy Tanner is CODiE Awards Coordinator. Follow the CODiE Awards on Twitter @CODiEAwards



Behind the Scenes of the CODiE Awards: A Conversation with the Coordinator

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 16:36

The kickoff of the 2013 SIIA CODiE Awards marks my second year as the awards program coordinator here at SIIA. Since I’ve been through the whole process from start to finish, I wanted to give you an inside look into how I manage each phase of the awards season.

The CODiE Awards are about recognizing excellence, but they’re also about creating and maintaining relationships. Since I’m the person both judges and nominees interact with most, it’s important for me to be available, and make sure the process runs smoothly for everyone. With this blog post, and the ones to follow, I want judges and nominees to get to know me, so they can feel comfortable coming to me when they have questions or concerns, or just want to share their excitement about the CODiE Awards!

—————–

It’s August… and that means nominations are open! That’s right, the CODiE Awards are already in full swing. It’s hard to believe sometimes, especially since the last two awards presentations were just a few months ago in May. It may seem like there’s only a small reprieve after the presentations, but we always get started immediately, planning for the next cycle. One of the first and most important steps we take each year is revisiting all of the categories. We make updates and create new categories based on what’s happening in the content, software and ed tech industries. (This year, there are 27 new and updated categories.)

Once nominations are open, it’s fun to see which company nominates first, and in which category. I get a kick out of telling our president, Ken Wasch, when the first nomination comes in because he can hardly contain his excitement. Nominations usually come in slowly in the first couple weeks of the nomination period, but I receive many emails and phone calls from companies, with questions ranging from process clarification to help determining which category is the best fit for a product. I encourage companies to ask as many questions as they’d like. That’s what I’m here for!

While I enjoy checking out all of the various companies that nominate, I especially enjoy learning about the ed tech companies. I completed my master’s just a year ago, so I’m not far removed from the classroom. I frequently come across products that I wish had been around when I was going through school, especially in middle and high school. Some of the math and science solutions would have come in handy (since those were not my favorite subjects–I suppose that’s why I majored in public relations and Spanish.)

I am also interested in each division’s “social” categories. Software has Best Social Business Solution, in Content there is Best Social Media Platform, and in Education there is Best Education Community Solution. They each target different audiences and serve different purposes, but it’s interesting to see how social media and digital communities are incorporated.

The Best Education Community Solution category is intriguing to me this year, because it focuses on social media solutions geared toward the classroom. The progression of social learning and social networks has been amazing and it’s interesting to see how ed tech companies are creating social communities for the classroom at all levels. I’m very much looking forward to seeing which companies nominate in this category.

Overall, I’m just excited for all of the nominations to come in! With more than 75 categories this year, there will definitely be a large variety of products and solutions. Remember, if you’re looking to judge or nominate, I’m here for you. Ask me anything! It doesn’t even need to be related to the CODiE Awards. Ask me where I’m from (Pennsylvania, if you’re curious), or what brought me to DC (grad school), even my favorite football team (San Diego Chargers)! The CODiE Awards are really about the relationships. I’m here to make sure your CODiE Awards experience is the best it can be.

Wendy Tanner Wendy Tanner is CODiE Awards Coordinator. Follow the CODiE Awards on Twitter @CODiEAwards



Nominations Now Open for the 28th Annual SIIA CODiE Awards

Wed, 15 Aug 2012 13:38

Nominations are now open for the 2013 SIIA CODiE Awards. This year’s CODiE Awards feature 27 new and updated categories, reflecting the dramatic changes in technology and business models impacting the software and information industries.

The CODiE Awards have been the premier award for the software and information industries for 28 years. The awards program has three tracks organized by industry focus: Content, Software and Education.

Highlights of this year’s program:

Content: The Content CODiE Awards showcase the information industry’s finest products, technology and services created by, or for, media, publishers and information services providers.

* Fourteen new and updated categories reflect new technology and business models in the content industry including: Best Crowd Sourced Solution, Best Editorial Outsourcing Solution, Best Semantic Technology Solution and Best Social Media Platform
* The Content CODiE Awards will be presented Jan. 31, 2013 during the Content Division’s annual conference for information industry leaders, the Information Industry Summit

Education: The Education CODiE Awards showcase applications, products and services from developers of educational software, digital content, online learning services, and related technologies across the K-20 sector.

* The new Best Personalized Learning Solution category highlights the major educational shift toward individual, tailored learning plans for students. Three new top-level categories will reward the best of the best of PK-12, postsecondary, and overall education nominees.
* Education winners will be announced in San Francisco on May 6, 2013 during the Ed Tech Industry Summit.

Business: The Software CODiE Awards showcase applications, products and services that are developed by independent software vendors (ISVs) for use in business, government, academic, or other organizational settings.

* Twelve new and updated categories reflect the continued growth and evolution of cloud computing, mobile, big data, and video. Highlights include: Best Cloud Platform as a Service Solution, Best Big Data Solution, Best Mobile Device Application for Consumers, Best Mobile Device Application for Enterprise, and Best Video Tool.
* Software winners will be announced in San Francisco on May 9, 2013 during the software industry’s premier ISV conference, All About the Cloud.

Learn more about the nomination process.

Wendy Tanner Wendy Tanner is CODiE Awards Coordinator. Follow the CODiE Awards on Twitter @CODiEAwards