The Technology Councils of North America (TECNA), which represents more than 50 technology associations across the U.S. and Canada, today announced the winners of its first-ever Innovation Awards. The awards program recognizes and honors tech council staff and team members who are integral to develop and implement innovative and impactful work on behalf of a tech association.
The TECNA Innovation Awards, in its first year, celebrates 5 award winners along with twenty-one finalists in five categories. A panel of judges was formed to evaluate the nominations, and representatives from sponsors WIPFLi presented the awards.
“This year’s Innovation Award winners confirm that exceptional people work across the TECNA network and are delivering innovative, impactful programs and services for our member companies,” said Doug Robertson, Chairman of TECNA. “We celebrated all the nominees, finalists and announced the winners at the Summer Conference in Madison, Wisc.”
Full list of 2019 Innovation Awards winners and finalists:
| Creative Marketing & Communications – recognizing one or more team members who developed innovative marketing, communications or social media strategies strengthening the brand and community engagement of the tech council.
Winner – WEtech Alliance team member John-Marc Vachon for social media Finalist – Technology Association of Oregon team members Rylee O’Brien and Skip Newberry for TECHLANDIA Finalist – Technology Association of Iowa team for “We are Iowa Tech” video series Finalist – Arizona Technology Council team members Linda Capcara, Alec Robertson and Jillian Carapella for increasing visibility and member retention Finalist – KC Tech Council team member Haley Regan for the “Cassie Project” |
| Membership Retention & Recruitment – recognizing one or more team members who implemented innovation in membership retention and recruitment strategies resulting in measurable improvements.
Winner – Arizona Technology Council team members Deborah Zack, LeighGoldstein, Jill Brownley,Meredith Orr, Jeff Sales and Jamie Neilson Finalist – KC Tech Council team member Kara Lowe |
| Public Policy Advocacy – recognizing one or more team members who have led creative efforts on behalf the tech council in the area of public policy advocacy.
Winner – KC Tech Council team member Ryan Weber Finalist – Wisconsin Technology Council team members Tom Still, Steve Lyons, Bram Daelemans, Angela Schlobohm, Julie Johnson, Tammy Ehrmann and Laura Kaiser Finalist – Arizona Technology Council team members Steve Zylstra, Dianne McCallister, Jason Bagley, Ron Schott, Jeff Sales and Rachel Aja Finalist – Technology Association of Georgia team members Heather Maxfield and Larry Williams |
| Talent Pipeline and Workforce Development – recognizing one or more team members who have developed innovative workforce or talent pipeline initiatives.
Winner – TechPoint team members Mike Langellier, Jacob Wolfarth, Merillat Flowers, Sara Croft and Al Carroll for “Jobs in Tech 101” Finalist – Minnesota High Tech Association team member Becky Siekmeier for “SciTechsperience” Finalist – Greater Nashville Technology Council team members Jacqui Logan (staff), John Anderson (Advisory Board), Meg Chamblee (Advisory Board), Suzi Earhart (Advisory Board) and Joanne Eckton (Advisory Board) for the “Emerging Leaders in Technology (ELITE)” program Finalist – Greater Nashville Technology Council team members Dominique Butts, Jacqui Logan and Sandi Hoff for “Traveling Tech Days” Finalist – Communitech team members Jill Reiner, Michele English, Karen Klink, Louise Merlihan and Jacob Walford for “Communitech Academy” |
| Major Impact on Tech Community – recognizing one or more team members who have made a substantial impact on the tech community on behalf of the tech council.
Winner – Greater Nashville Technology Council team members Jacqui Logan (staff) and Zach Gemignani (Summit Chair) for the “The Nashville Analytics Summit” Finalist – Palm Beach Tech Association team members Joe Russo and Danielle Casey for development of 1909, a co-working space and accelerator Finalist – Illinois Technology Association team member Trisha Degg for the “Tech Challenge” program Finalist – Venn Innovation team member Jonathan Dunnett for delivery of growth programming Finalist – KC Tech Council team member Ryan Weber for Virgin Hyperloop One (VHO) |
About TECNA
The Technology Councils of North America (TECNA) represents over 50 IT and Technology trade organizations that, in turn, represent more than 22,000 technology-related companies in North America. TECNA serves its members and the industry through its strong peer-to-peer network and its regional initiatives to raise the visibility and viability of the technology industry. This is accomplished by empowering regional technology organizations and serving as their collective voice in growing the North American technology economy. More information on TECNA can be found at: www.tecna.org or @techcouncils on Twitter.
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