2014 judging panel

DAVID GRINER is the social editor of Adweek magazine, where he oversees a variety of social media channels with a combined audience in excess of 2 million fans. He also co-edits the magazine’s highly popular blog, AdFreak, which features the best, worst and weirdest aspects of today’s marketing world. Prior to joining Adweek full-time, he was a longtime freelance contributor to the magazine and, by day, the VP/Director of Digital Content for marketing agency Luckie & Company. You can find him on Twitter at @Griner.

MARY WISNIEWSKI covers fintech for American Banker. Prior to becoming a financial services writer in 2008, she worked as a fashion editor for National Jeweler and interned one summer for Cracked.com. Mary grew up in the Michigan suburbs and now works out of LA and NY with two record players, and soon, a dog. Current interests include financial health, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, travel, Gidget, and #SockWars with bankers and entrepreneurs.

PHIL NICKINSON has served as editor-in-chief of AndroidCentral.com since 2009. In a previous life he spent more than a decade in the newsroom of a two-time Pulitzer finalist newspaper in his hometown of Pensacola, Fla. In his current life, he’s got the greatest job in the world, a gorgeous wife and two beautiful daughters. You can find him on Google+, Twitter and Instagram.

KAMILLE D. WHITTAKER is the associate editor for Atlanta Tribune: The Magazine, Atlanta’s authority on business, economics and politics. Jamaica-nurtured, California-reared and now Atlanta-grounded, she has spent over a decade primarily researching, reporting on and curating editorial coverage on the community and economic development of her multiple sites of “home” and the communities that comprise them. Kamille began editing manuscripts for The Journal of Education for Business and The Journal of Economic Education at the D.C.-based Heldref Publications, an academic publisher. Since, she has worked with The Washington Post in conjunction with Newsweek magazine (formerly WPNI), and as a national correspondent for the National Newspaper Publishers Association, and its more than 200 member publications. Kamille is also co-editor of The Liberator Magazine, an international print and online journal for stories and expressions of art, culture, education, economics and politics.

PAMELA HULSE ANDREWS, based in Bend, Oregon, is the CEO, founder and owner of Cascade Publications Inc., which publishes both the print and online versions of Cascade Business News (Central Oregon’s bi-weekly business newspaper), Cascade Arts & Entertainment (Oregon’s only arts and culture magazine) and several annual publications including Pacific Crest Directory, Redmond Visitors Guide and Sunriver Magazine. Pamela’s diverse business background gives her a broad perspective on the arts and business community and the economy of Oregon. She has championed the cause of growing the arts in the high desert region and played a leadership role in connecting the dots between arts and economic vitality, as well as furthering cultural tourism. She writes an assortment of monthly and weekly columns on local arts, politics, business and the economy, taxes, creativity and developing entrepreneurship.

SAMANTHA CHRISTMANN began her career as a business reporter in 2008, assuring a baptism by fire covering the fallout from the financial crisis for The Buffalo News. Since then, she has covered the retail and consumer beats for the Pulitzer Prize-winning paper. Her weekly column, Discount Diva, is popular among readers for its down-to-earth advice and trademark humor. The first person in her family to attend college, Christmann is a graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo and studied working-class literature in the School of Graduate Studies and Research at Youngstown State University’s renowned Center for Working-Class Studies. The daughter of a steelworker, Christmann’s blue collar roots give her a unique perspective reporting on an emerging Rust Belt region.

NICOLE FALLON is the assistant editor of Business News Daily, a resource for small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs. She has been covering business and career trends since 2010, when she started out as a freelancer for BND. Prior to joining the staff full-time, she served as the managing editor of a cooking and nutrition website for a year. Nicole holds a Bachelor’s degree in Media, Culture and Communication from New York University.

Currently a contributing editor for Chip Design Magazine, DAVE BURSKY has over 40 years experience working as an engineer and editor. Dave is president and founder of PRN Engineering Services, a technical writing and market consulting company and from 2006 through early 2011 was the technical editorial manager at Maxim Integrated Products. Prior to Maxim, Dave had over 33 years of experience as an editor, writing for publications such as Electronic Design and EE Times. In 2005 he was inducted into the Communications Society Hall of Fame for lifetime achievement at the City College of New York. Additionally, in 1988 he was described by an article in the San Jose Mercury News as one of the 100 most influential people in Silicon Valley. Dave has served on the program committees of numerous IEEE and commercial conferences, and has authored six books on topics ranging from personal computers to semiconductor memories. Dave holds both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in electrical engineering from the City College of the City University of New York.

TRACY MAYOR has covered technology as a reporter, writer and editor since the Apple Lisa was in beta. She is currently online and print features editor at Computerworld, where her work has won multiple ASBPE awards. She specializes in long-form journalism that explores the relationship between people and technology. Previously, she was a long-time contributor to CIO Magazine, and was on staff at Lotus Magazine, PC Week, Tele and Microcomputing. Her writing has been published in The Boston Globe, Writer’s Digest, Boston Magazine, Brain, Child Magazine and online on Salon, The Rumpus and the New York Times’ Motherlode blog, and she is the author of the parenting humor book “Mommy Prayers.” She tweets tech topics @CW_Tracy and lifestyle and culture observations @mommyprayers.

THORNTON MAY is a futurist, a cognitive scientist and an anthropologist studying the value-producing behaviors of the various “tribes” comprising the modern enterprise. His book, The New Know: Innovation Powered by Analytics analyzes what organizations know; how they come to know and how they act upon what they know and don’t know. Passionate about obliterating digital ignorance from the executive suite, he currently serves as Co-Director of the Innovation Lab at the Olin College of Engineering; Executive Director of the CIO Solutions Gallery at the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University and Executive Director of the CIO Practicum program at the University of Kentucky. The editors at eWeek honored Thornton, including him on their list of ‘Top 100 Most Influential People in IT.’ The editors at Fast Company labeled him ‘one of the top 50 brains in technology today.’

Photo and bio coming soon.

MARK HUFFMAN is a reporter for ConsumerAffairs.com. Since 2004 he has covered issues ranging from consumer product defects to developments in consumer technology. In 2007 he served on a Federal Trade Commission workshop panel examining negative option marketing practices. He has been a correspondent for Marketwatch.com, Westwood One Radio Networks and Associated Press Radio. He has also been a science and technology writer for United Press International and written about technology for Reuters New Media. He has been interviewed as a source on stories for NBC News, Forbes, Smart Money, and The Wall Street Journal. He received a B.A. degree from the University of Kentucky.

Photo and bio coming soon.

RICK WHITING has been with CRN and CRN.com since November 2006, originally as a senior editor and more recently as feature/special projects editor. Before that he worked at UBM’s InformationWeek magazine from 1998 to 2006 as a senior editor and, later, news editor. Other publications he has held writer/editor positions with include Software Magazine, Electronic Business Magazine and Computer System News. Before moving into trade publishing, Whiting was a newspaper reporter at the Daily Transcript in Dedham, Mass. from 1980 to 1986. He holds a bachelor of arts degree in English and political science from the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth and an MBA from Babson College.

photo and bio coming soon.

JACK M. GERMAIN has been writing about computer technology since the early days of the Apple II and the IBM PC. Over the past four decades, Jack has worked on both sides of the editorial desk for numerous organizations as writer and editor. His feature articles, technology blogs, and specialty columns are published by ECT News Network. Jack writes for TechNewsWorld, The E-Commerce Times, LinuxInsider, and CRMBuyer.

CAROLYN HORWITZ is executive editor of Entrepreneur magazine, based in Los Angeles. She previously covered the international music business as managing editor at Billboard and served as managing editor of luxury lifestyle magazines for the Boston and Washington, D.C., markets. Additionally, she has edited and co-written several books on international architecture and interior design, including Dealer’s Choice: At Home with Purveyors of Antique and Vintage Furnishings.

FRANK J. OHLHORST is an award winning technology journalist and professional speaker with over 25 years of experience in the technology arena. Frank has written for several leading technology publications, including ComputerWorld, TechTarget, PCWorld, ExtremeTech and Toms Hardware. Frank has also contributed to business publications, including Entrepreneur and BNET, and to multiple technology books, and has written several white papers, case studies, reviewers’ guides and channel guides for leading technology vendors.

SAMANTHA BOOKMAN is the editor of FierceOnlineVideo and managing editor, Wireline, with FierceMarkets’ Telecom group. Prior to joining FierceMarkets, she served as web editor for Horizon House’s publications, Telecommunications and Microwave Journal. Based in Boston, Mass., she can be found in her off-time digging through the comics stacks at Outer Limits, hiking, or practicing martial arts. Follow @FierceSamantha on Twitter and find her on LinkedIn.

KATE KNIBBS is a staff writer for Gizmodo. She grew up on the south side of Chicago and graduated from McGill University, in Montreal. She thought she was done with Canada until she moved to Seoul and fell in love with a Canadian; now she lives in Toronto. She is a television critic for the A.V. Club and previously wrote for Time, the Daily Dot, and Popular Mechanics.

PAT KENEALY has been evaluating and explaining computer and media technology companies for 37 years as an editor, publisher, media exec and venture capitalist. For 28 of those years, Pat has worked at IDG, the global I.T. media conglomerate, where he was variously president of DIGITAL NEWS, CEO of PC WORLD, CEO of IDG itself, and a general partner of IDG Ventures. Now a managing director at IDG Ventures USA in San Francisco, Pat is an active investor in early-stage I.T. and consumer-facing Internet content, service and commerce companies. Pat currently sits on the boards of IDG, Olive Media and Parkme.com, and is a board observer at Yesware.com.

IVAN BERGER has just completed his fiftieth year of writing about technology. He’s been inducted into the Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame for his work with Lancelot Braithwaite at Video magazine. At Popular Mechanics, he was one of the first general-magazine editors to cover home computers; he’s also been an editor at Popular Electronics and, for nearly 20 years, Audio. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, Wired, Popular Photography, Playboy, Reader’s Digest, Road & Track, and hundreds more. Currently, he contributes to the Productopia blog, Digital Photography Buyers Guide, IEEE Institute, and others.

DOUG CANTOR is a senior editor at Inc.com. Over his career, he has served as an editor at Bloomberg Businessweek, Popular Science, and Esquire, and written for publications including Men’s Journal, ESPN The Magazine, Departures, BlackBook, Time Out New York, Mental Floss, and many others. Doug holds a B.A. from Vanderbilt University and a master¹s degree from Northwestern University¹s Medill School of Journalism.

MATHEW SCHWARTZ is an award-winning journalist with two decades of experience in magazines, newspapers and online media. He has covered the information security and privacy sector throughout his career, as well as working as a photojournalist and travel writer. Before joining Information Security Media Group in 2014, where he now serves as the Managing Editor for its European news coverage, Schwartz was the information security beat reporter for InformationWeek and a frequent contributor to DarkReading, amongst other publications. He lives in Scotland. Find him on Twitter at @euroinfosec.

KRISTIN BURNHAM is InformationWeek’s Senior Editor, covering social media, social business, IT leadership and IT careers. Prior to joining InformationWeek in July 2013, she served in a number of roles at CIO magazine and CIO.com, most recently as senior writer. Kristin’s writing has earned two ASBPE Gold Awards, one in 2014 for her scoop on Yahoo’s recycled email address program and in 2010 for her Facebook coverage. She also won a Min Editorial and Design Award in 2011 for “Single Online Article.” Kristin is a graduate of Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. You can find her on Twitter: @kmburnham.

KEVIN CASEY covers a variety of technology topics for InformationWeek.com, where he’s recently been focused on big data, IT careers and hiring trends, and Microsoft. His technology, marketing, and small business writing also appears regularly at Tech Page One and other venues. Kevin won a 2014 Azbee Award from the American Society of Business Publication Editors for his feature story “Are You Too Old For IT?” and was a 2013 Community Choice honoree in the Small Business Influencer Awards. He teaches academic writing at Duke University. You can find him on Twitter @kevinrcasey.

MICHAEL BURKE is an award-winning journalist who has been covering all facets of business for The Journal Times of Racine, Wis., for 16 ½ years. Racine, a metropolitan area of about 120,000 people between Milwaukee and Chicago, is a hotbed for manufacturing and home to such companies as SC Johnson and Modine Manufacturing and the Case IH agriculture and construction machinery brand. Most recently, Burke won first place for Business Reporting in the Wisconsin Newspaper Association’s 2013 Better Newspaper Contest for his series “The Job Skills Gap.” Burke also hosts a weekly online business interview show called “Money Talks.” Before covering business, Burke covered both government and education.

DALE DAUTEN has been researching achievers and innovation since his days at Arizona State and at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. His early work prompted a government publication to call him a “guru” to White House staffers, and during the past four decades, his six books have been published in a dozen languages and have developed a large following worldwide. Dale writes newspaper columns nationally syndicated by King Features. Until recently, he wrote “The Corporate Curmudgeon,” and he continues to write “JT and Dale Talk Jobs” with employment expert, Jeannine “JT” O’Donnell. Their work appears weekly in seventy newspapers, including The Denver Post, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Arizona Republic and Houston Chronicle.

ANNLEE ELLINGSON is a staff writer at L.A. Biz, Los Angeles’ digital bureau at American City Business Journals, where she covers entertainment and technology. Other chapters of her life include a decade all-told in various editorial positions at BoxOffice Magazine, a trade publication for the motion-picture exhibition industry. She’s also written about film for the Los Angeles Times, PasteMagazine.com, Moving Pictures magazine, and Los Angeles Weekly. A Midwest transplant to Los Angeles, she holds a Master of Professional Writing from the University of Southern California.

JONATHAN ROUBINI is editor in chief and technical director of LabReviews.com, bringing to the site more than three decades of hands-on experience. Previously, Jonathan was lead analyst of the mobile category at PC Magazine, quickly gaining recognition in the wireless industry thanks to his extensive knowledge of PDAs, cell phones and their accessories. Prior to that, Jonathan was software project leader at PC Magazine Labs, where he pioneered several new testing techniques for always-evolving software packages. Jonathan graduated with a B.S. in Information and Decision Systems from Carnegie Mellon University.