2015 judging panel

CHRISTINE PARK co-anchors the 11am and 4pm newscasts for ABC30, the #1 news station in the Fresno-Merced-Visalia DMA, and is also the consumer and business reporter for Action News, covering local entrepreneurs, emerging technology, and consumer trends. Christine was awarded six NorCal Emmy awards for her news reporting and anchoring. Her reporting career has taken her flying with the world-renown Blue Angels, to Hawaii to board a naval aircraft carrier returning from the Iraq war, and to Las Vegas to cover CES, the world’s largest consumer electronics show. She has interviewed some of the country’s top women in TV including Robin Roberts, Katie Couric, and Kelly Ripa. As the daughter of Korean immigrants, she understands and appreciates the importance of small business to the American economy. She serves on the diversity board for SCORE, a business mentorship group. She was named to Business Street Online’s 40 Under 40, Class of 2013. Christine graduated with honors from UC Berkeley with a degree in Mass Communication and Journalism and earned her Master’s Degree in Mass Communications and Journalism from Fresno State and in 2006 was honored as the top graduate student in the department. For several semesters she taught broadcast writing and reporting to undergraduate students there.

ALISON DOYLE is the job search expert for About.com, providing job search, career and employment advice. She’s also the CEO of CareerToolBelt.com, which features free apps for job seekers and career changers. Alison has been writing about job search and careers since 1998. Previously, she was associate director of Career Services at Skidmore College. Alison has been quoted extensively in major publications including The New York Times, BBC News, CNN.com, Forbes, CBS MoneyWatch.com, and The Wall Street Journal. Alison has been recognized as a top person to follow on LinkedIn by LinkUp, Lifehack, and on Twitter by The Guardian, YouTern, FlexJobs, LinkUp and Mashable. She has authored three books on job searching. Follow her on Twitter @AlisonDoyle and find her on LinkedIn.

MELISSA CHANG writes for AdStreamz, FrolicHawaii.com, Gayot.com, Fodors, Honolulu Magazine (real estate), and Edible Hawaiian Islands. She is a freelance writer and independent marketing consultant, specializing in integrating the new social media with traditional media to maximize clients’ marketing efforts. Melissa has more than 25 years of experience in marketing and public relations, including work with Starr Seigle Communications, Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties, and Aloha Tower Marketplace. She was named one of the “Top 20 Social Media Geeks in Honolulu” by Bytemarks and “Honolulu’s Best Twitter” by Honolulu Weekly. Follow Melissa on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.

BRYAN GRULEY is a reporter-at-large for Bloomberg News in Chicago, writing about a wide array of subjects. Since joining Bloomberg in September 2011, he has written about sex among demented people in nursing homes, the difficult life of McDonald’s franchisees, the rise of Buffalo Wild Wings, oilman Harold Hamm, a Texas ranch for sale for $725 million, Starbucks’ coffee farm in Costa Rica, Detroit’s twin pizza barons, a medical marijuana entrepreneur, copper mining in northern Minnesota, the pipeline industry, the struggles of Best Buy, alleged piracy king Kim Dotcom, the rise of Chobani yogurt, so-called pink slime in beef, and hockey stick design. Previously, he spent nearly 16 years with The Wall Street Journal, as a reporter and editor in the Washington Bureau and later as the chief of the Chicago Bureau. He shared in the Journal’s 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News for coverage of the September 11 terrorist attacks. He has won numerous other awards for his journalism. He is also the author of three award-winning mystery novels, Starvation Lake, The Hanging Tree, and The Skeleton Box. He is working on a fourth novel. A Detroit native and graduate of the University of Notre Dame, he lives in Chicago with his wife, Pam.

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.

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.

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.

Bio and photo 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.

JOSEPH F. KOVAR is a senior editor and reporter for the storage, server, and data center beats for CRN. He keeps readers abreast of the latest issues related to such areas as data life-cycle, business continuity and disaster recovery, and data centers, along with related services and software. Kovar started at CRN in October 1997. Before that, he was chief editor of Taiwan-based CompuTrade International, where he learned to argue in Mandarin Chinese with his sales colleagues and his managers about editorial direction. His first introduction to CRN was when he was setting up CompuTrade. Someone handed him a copy of CRN and told him to reverse-engineer it. He may be the only person in the world who can actually say everything he learned about IT and writing came from reading CRN. Kovar graduated from the University of Wisconsin at River Falls with degrees in computer science and economics. While there, he had a key to the computer center so he could play Mansion and Empire all night on the University’s very sophisticated HP 3000 minicomputer.

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.

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.

ALICE TRUONG is the senior Silicon Valley correspondent for Quartz. Most recently, she covered technology for Fast Company as its West Coast correspondent and wrote a technology column for USA TODAY. Before moving to San Francisco, she reported in Chicago, Washington D.C., New York, and Hong Kong, where she (left her heart and) worked as a reporter for the Wall Street Journal. Follow her on Twitter @alicetruong.

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.

JOHN BALDONI writes on leadership for Forbes and is an internationally recognized leadership consultant, coach, and author of more than dozen books that have been translated into 10 languages. John is the chair of the leadership development practice at N2Growth, a global leadership consultancy and a highly sought after communications consultant and leadership coach, having worked with senior leaders in virtually every industry from pharmaceutical to real estate, packaged goods to automobiles, and finance to health care. Over the past decade John has established himself as world authority on topics that matter to leaders who are seeking insight into leadership challenges of the day. In 2015, Trust Across America named John to its list of top 100 most trusted business experts for the second consecutive year. In 2014, Inc.com named John to its list of top 50 experts for leadership and management. And Global Gurus named John number 11 on its list of top thirty global leadership experts. His book, “Lead Your Boss,” was hailed by Harvard Business Review as a “guide that provides useful advice… [and] is encouraging and inspirational.” His tenth book, “Lead With Purpose: Giving Your Organization a Reason to Believe in Itself,” solidified John’s reputation for blending thought-provoking ideas with pragmatic advice. His 2012 book, “The Leader’s Pocket Guide: 101 Indispensable Tools, Tips and Techniques for Any Situation,” has been recognized as a practical resource for those seeking to improve their leadership skills. Through his books and his many columns for leading business publications, John has become a source of practical wisdom on topics such as influencing without authority, applying power appropriately, leading with grace and conviction, and developing genuine followership. All of these topics complement John’s mission to help individuals and their organization achieve positive results. For more information, see John’s website at: www.johnbaldoni.com.

MIGUEL RAJMIL was born in Argentina and has been living in New York City since 1980. He is a professional photographer who loves everything about technology. His weekly column in Spanish for Fox News Latino educates the Latino community in the U.S. and Latin America about the latest advances in the tech and gadget world. He is also a daily contributor to the new publication Digital Trends en Español. Miguel is on a first name basis with Fedex and UPS delivery people as he is constantly reviewing and testing the newest products.

A big geek and even bigger nerd, ERIC BARANDA is a self-proclaimed otaku and sometime hipster wannabe. A professional photographer and occasional writer, this modern day bard covers a wide variety of events for Frolic Hawaii (frolichawaii.com). Anything from a nightclub opening to an anime convention, a food festival to a fashion show, Eric is where the action is at. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

KEITH GRIFFIN, currently a contributing editor to the Hartford Business Journal, is a veteran journalist with more than 30 years’ experience at local, regional and national publications. He was a founding editor of four lifestyle magazines and an award-winning business writer for the Connecticut Law Tribune. In addition, he is a guide for About.com and has been a contributing automotive journalist for publications including The Boston Globe.

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.

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.

ANGELA NATIVIDAD co-founded AdverveBlog.com, covers European advertising for AdWeek, and leads the weekly #SocialSkim at MarketingProfs.com. She also freelances as a strategist and writer for numerous companies and agencies, including Reed MIDEM and social TV agency Darewin. Prior to that, she was the editor of MarketingVox and Adrants. Angela currently lives in Paris and is bilingual in both English and French, although her jokes in either language remain iffy at best. Follow her on Twitter at @luckthelady.

LAURIE SULLIVAN is the search editor of Search Marketing Daily, a MediaPost publication, and serves as the chairperson for the Search Insider Summit, a twice yearly think-tank search conference . A technology and marketing geek since 1985, Sullivan also writes about the electronics supply chain for EBNOnline.com, a UBM publication. She has contributed to Advertising Age, BNet, and wrote full-time for Red Herring, InformationWeek, and EBN, among other media publishers and university publications. Prior to becoming a journalist in 2000, Sullivan wrote copy, produced content, and published marketing material for clients like Microsoft and Computer Associates while working for 10 years in the in-house advertising and marketing agency at computer distributor Ingram Micro. She holds a M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Chapman University. You can follow her on Twitter at @LaurieSullivan.

DAYANA YOCHIM is a columnist and senior editor for The Motley Fool (Fool.com), the leading online destination for individual investors, and host of the weekly Motley Fool Answers podcast. Prior to joining The Motley Fool in 1997 (where she has held numerous editorial positions), she was a writer and editor for various consumer and trade business publications. She has had bylines in magazines such as Woman’s Day, Newsweek and Jane, and her money advice has been featured in Real Simple, Glamour, Details, Bridal Guide and Men’s Health, among others. As a consumer finance expert she has appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN and NPR. Dayana is the author of The Motley Fool’s Guide to Couples & Cash: How to handle money with your honey and The Motley Fool Personal Finance Workbook. Dayana has a journalism degree from the University of Kansas.

CRISTEN CASADOS is the founder and editor of The Naptime Reviewer, a parenting and lifestyle resource site that focuses on reviews of the hottest must-have products, family travel destinations, events and services. You can also find her from time to time on Good Day Sacramento reviewing must-have products for the entire family. She provides a fresh, unbiased perspective with a dash of humor to bring her readers easy-to-read, informative articles and has quickly grown to be one of the most trusted mommy bloggers in the industry.