Strike up the band: Toot your own horn in this year’s Bennys, i-COMMs

It’s that time of year again, pros — where all of the selfless acts you perform daily at last get noticed. No, that’s not a marching band you hear in the distance; it’s the sound of your peers and clients tooting their horns for this year’s Benny Awards and i-COMM Awards.

After a 2009 many of us would like to forget, I know you have some inspiring stories of stick-to-it-ness and survival to share with the wider community. Keep reading to get the skinny on how you can throw your hat in the ring to be one of our success stories that went from recession to renewal. Please e-mail me (kelley.butler@sourcemedia.com) if you have any questions or put general queries in the Comments.

Good luck!

The Benny Awards

The Bennys, now in their 23rd year, are presented by Employee Benefit News and sponsored by VSP to recognize excellence and innovation in the employee benefits/human resources field. Awards are granted to employee benefit, human resource or other practitioners directly involved in the management of employee benefit programs.

Benefits professionals may nominate themselves or coworkers, and benefit suppliers or consultants may submit nominations. Only one person per company may be nominated.

The awards are organized into five categories:
* Benefits Professional of the Year
* Benefits Leadership in Health Care
* Benefits Leadership in Retirement Planning
* Benefits Leadership- Judges' Choice
* The VSP GetFit Award

The Benefits Professional of the Year is presented to the candidate who has demonstrated a consistent pattern of creativity and achievement in benefit plan design, administration, communication and/or staff management, as well as contributions to the benefits profession overall.

The Leadership Awards in Health Care and Retirement Planning go to professionals who have demonstrated excellence in developing and managing programs yielding measurable impacts on the cost and/or quality of these benefits. The Judges' Choice winner is drawn from a wider spectrum of benefit programs and areas of professional responsibility.

The VSP GetFit Award recognizes the benefits professional who has led the adoption of an innovative program or approach that best exemplifies a "GetFit" organizational commitment. The program or approach should specifically promote work-life balance among employees, focus attention on superior service at every level, and generate opportunities for employees to support each other and the communities in which they live.

The Judges' Choice Award is a "wild card" category covering a wide spectrum of benefit programs and areas of specialty.

A panel of EBN editors, former Benny Award winners and the program's corporate sponsor will evaluate nominees. Judging criteria include recent achievements involving innovative multiyear projects, professional recognition and depth of experience.

The Benny Awards will be presented at EBN's 23rd annual Benefits Forum & Expo, to be held Sept. 26-28 at the Boca Raton Resort in Boca Raton, Fla. The Benefits Professional of the Year receives a cash award of $3,000 and $1,000 in travel expenses to attend the event. The three leadership award winners and the VSP GetFit honoree will receive $1,000 apiece and $750 in travel expenses. Additionally, the award winners will be profiled in the Sept. 15 EBN.

All nominations must be submitted using our online nomination form.

Submitted material need not be limited to the nomination form. Supporting information - such as documentation of achievements, or letters of support or endorsement from other colleagues/business contacts - is welcome and encouraged, and may be sent to me at kelley.butler@sourcemedia.com.

The deadline for nominations is Friday, June 25. Winners will be notified by July 1.

i-COMM Awards

Now in their third year, Employee Benefit News presents the i-COMM Awards to recognize the best in internal communication of benefits. We seek to honor communication initiatives that advance the objectives of the benefits/HR department and the strategic objectives of the employer organization.

For example, did your communication initiatives increase employees' benefit participation, help them derive greater value from benefits, improve employee satisfaction, or achieve cost savings for your organization? Benefits professionals strive everyday to create a positive work environment for their colleagues, but far too often these efforts go unnoticed -- until now. Here is your chance for your benefits and HR department to shine.

Submissions will be based on active Web sites, e-mails, intranet pages, print and other communication vehicles. The i-COMM Awards are open to all companies that have an HR department and/or employee communications division.

The i-COMMs honor benefits communication initiatives in four categories:

* Best Web or Intranet Design and Usability
* Best Print or e-Newsletter Design and Usability
* Most Innovative Benefits Offering(s) or Internal Company Initiative
* Best Training Program

A panel of EBN editors will evaluate nominees, and the i-COMM Awards also will be presented at EBN’s Benefits Forum & Expo. Additionally, the award winners will be profiled in the Sept. 15 issue of Employee Benefit News.

All nominations must be submitted using our online nomination form. Reasonable amounts of supporting information, e.g., documentation of achievements, or letters of support or endorsement from other colleagues/business contacts, are welcome and encouraged, and may be submitted to icommawards@sourcemedia.com. Please include the name of the company you are submitting for in the subject line.

The deadline for nominations is Friday, June 25. Winners will be notified by July 1.