MIRA Award Deadline Approaching
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndiana's statewide technology initiative says the application deadline is Friday for the annual Mira Awards. TechPoint says anyone may nominate companies, schools or individuals for the honors.
January 28, 2014
News Release
Indianapolis, Ind. — The nomination and application deadline for TechPoint's 15th annual Mira Awards presented by BKD CPAs & Advisors is January 31, 2014. TechPoint created the awards program to recognize tech excellence and innovation statewide, and ultimately to stimulate future tech growth and entrepreneurship.
“As Indiana's tech growth initiative, TechPoint exists to channel important resources into companies to help them grow and gain competitive advantage; resources like talent, capital, education and promotion,” said Mike Langellier, president and CEO of TechPoint. “With 1,000 attendees and tremendous media exposure, the Mira Awards is the biggest stage for the tech community in the state. The Awards exist to validate, celebrate and evangelize successes, and we have many to celebrate. From startup success like the growth of Bluebridge Digital and HC1.com, and the acquisition of Compendium by Oracle, to bigger company success like the $2.5 billion acquisition of ExactTarget by Salesforce.com and Interactive Intelligence being ranked by Glassdoor Employee's Choice Awards as one of the Best Places to Work among tech companies, ahead of Apple and Google.”
Anyone may nominate companies, startups, schools, teams or individuals for the awards, and potential nominees can apply directly by completing the online forms at www.techpoint.org . More than 40 independent subject matter experts, who serve as judges, will evaluate and score the applications. The scoring determines which applicants will become official 2014 Mira Awards nominees. Finally, nominees will deliver presentations and answer questions in-person with one of the independent judging panels, and the judges select the winners following their deliberations.
Winners will be announced at a “Gatsby-themed,” black-tie awards ceremony and gala featuring an interactive dinner, live music and an after party on Saturday, May 3, at the JW Marriott in downtown Indianapolis.
The 2014 TechPoint Mira Award categories include:
Product or Team Achievement
• Tech Innovation of the Year
• Tech Services Award (Revised)
• Tech Sales and Marketing Award (New in 2014)
Company Success
• Tech Startup of the Year (Established Under 3 Years)
• Emerging Tech Company of the Year (Under 100 Employees)
• Tech Company of the Year
Industry-Specific Excellence
• Marketing Tech Award
• Mobile Tech Award
• Health Tech Award
• Education Tech Award
Individual Achievement
• Tech Educator(s) of the Year (Individual or Team)
• TechPoint Rising Star (Revised)
• TechPoint Foundation for Youth Bridge Builder Award
• TechPoint Trailblazer in Technology Award
According to participants from the past three years, winning a Mira Award increases sales and has a positive impact on brand awareness.
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Santiago Jaramillo was selected as TechPoint's “Rising Star” last year, and his mobile app development company Bluebridge Digital was a runner-up for the Startup of the Year award. With media relations and marketing support from TechPoint, Jaramillo was:
• Profiled in The Indianapolis Star as a “Rising Star”
• Interviewed on WIBC radio's “Pete the Planner” program
• Named to Inc. magazine's “30 Under 30: World's Coolest Entrepreneurs”
• Featured in an Inc. magazine article titled “Young. Smart. Unstoppable.”
• Invited to the White House by the Obama Administration to be a part of the “Champions of Change: Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Innovators” ceremony.
Jaramillo's company employed four people at the time of the Mira Awards. Less than one year later, Governor Pence announced that Bluebridge Digital inked a deal with the state of Indiana to invest more than $300,000 in new office space and add up to 199 new jobs over eight years. According to Jaramillo, the experience of winning an award, the benefits of the networking and exposure, and the doors that it opened had a positive impact on his business and certainly contributed to the company's success.
Press coverage of IVM, Inc.'s 2012 Mira win sparked 14 prospective new customer contacts in the week following the announcement. Winning the award helped the vending and distribution solutions technology company land new customer Hewlett Packard, the $120.4 billion printer, personal computer, and software services provider.
Slingshot SEO, can tie 4 new client sales and more than $1 million in new business to their 2011 Mira win. Traffic to the company's website, SlingshotSEO.com, peaked at the highest point in their history the day following the win – topping the day they achieved national press for ranking No. 58 on the Inc. 500 Fastest Growing Companies in America list. The award also served as a strong recruiting tool.
Nomination and application forms are available at www.techpoint.org, and the deadline for both is Friday, January 31, 2014.
About TechPoint
TechPoint is Indiana's statewide technology initiative focused on growing Indiana's tech sector by promoting the successes of technology companies and professionals; supporting the formation, expansion, and attraction of technology companies; and advocating appropriate public policy. For more information, please visit www.techpoint.org.
Source: TechPoint