The Business Continuity Institute (BCI) Puts A Wrap on Inaugural BCI Awards – North America

On Tuesday, March 27, the BCI teamed up with its platinum sponsor, xMatters, and held its Inaugural BCI Awards – North America for a packed house of nearly 300 business continuity professionals.

The Awards were set up by the BCI to recognize and celebrate unparalleled achievement in 12 critical areas of the BCM discipline among the growing number of BCM professionals in North America. Run in conjunction with DRJ Spring World, the most respected industry event within US borders, the festivities brought together the best and brightest BCM professionals.

At 7:30pm sharp, the doors swung open and the rush was on. Every table and seat was filled and the “Oscar feeling” was prominent. And why not? This evening marked the start of the most prestigious peer-reviewed Professional Awards for the Business Continuity Practice.

As our modern age dictates, social media was on the loose as a full-scale “tweet war” waged between the BCI, eBrp and Avalution, each commenting on the Award categories, the recipients and yes, even fashion! Was that Frank Lionetti of the BCI US Chapter sporting a tux finished with a Jimmy Buffet cummerbund and bow tie?

The evening featured a free-flow of discussions and drinks interrupted only by the well-choreographed music (Choreographer: Alex Arvanitidis, CBCI) and loud attendee acknowledgement of outstanding achievement by each Award recipient. It did not take long for all in attendance to realize that there was an underlying “theme” associated with the accompanying music for each Award winner. Songs ranging from “Kung Foo Fighter,” boomed out for the BCM Consultant of the Year winner, John DiMaria, CBCI to a raucous “Cleveland Rocks” to introduce Avalution Consulting, a Cleveland based company who won the award for BC/DR Company of the Year. Finally not to be outdone, a crowd favorite rendition of “Mr. Roboto” filled the room as eBRP walked the red carpet to receive the Software of the Year Award.

So who were the big winners?

BCI Awards – North America 2012 winners:

Category: Public Sector Manager of the Year
Winner: Michael Cummings, FEMA
Sponsored by: Business Continuity Training Ltd

Category: Business Continuity Mgt. Consultant of the Year
Winner: John DiMaria, CBCI, BSI
Sponsored by: IT Professional Group

Category: Effective Recovery of the Year
Winner: Deutsche Bank
Sponsored by: Business Continuity Institute Canadian Chapter

Category: Initiative of the Year
Winner: Kraft Food
Sponsored by: BSI Group (British Standard Institute)

Category: Business Continuity Manager of the Year
Winner: Reta Setrak, Franklin Templeton
Sponsored by: DRJ

Category: Business Continuity Team of the Year
Winner: Saskatoon Public Schools
Sponsored by: Avalution Consulting

Category: Business Continuity Rookie of the Year
Winner: Jim Kellet, LAM Research
Sponsored by: Premier Continuum

Category: BC/DR Company of the Year
Winner: Avalution Consulting
Sponsored by: Continuity Central

Category: Innovative Company of the Year
Winner: Fusion Risk Management Inc.
Sponsored by Business Continuity Institute US Chapter

Category: Personality of the Year
Winner: Cassie Leigh Johnson, FEMA
Sponsored by: SCIPP

Category: Lifetime Achievement of the Year
Winner: John A. Jackson, Fusion Risk Management
Sponsored by: Platinum Sponsor, xMatters

Category: Software of the Year
Winner: eBRP Solutions
Sponsored by: Vizionera

After the last award had been given, and the lights had come up, it was clear to all that the Inaugural BCI Awards – North America had indeed delivered on its billing as the preeminent BCM awards event, and that the award itself was worth its weight (literally – it weighed in at nearly 3lbs and was crafted of fine crystal and polished steel!)

Following the event, BCI Executive Director Lorraine Darke proudly stated, “The BCI North America Awards provide a public platform to showcase and applaud some of the greatest BCM “heroes” in the North American Continent. Tonight’s event has been a huge success and marks the beginning of a new chapter in the history of BCM in North America.”

Following directly on the heals of Darke’s proclamation, Disaster Recovery Journal president Bob Arnold added, “DRJ is very proud to have been a part of the 1st Annual BCI Awards in Orlando. We applaud all of the winners, honorable mentions and nominees in the many categories at this year’s event. We look forward to participating in these awards each year as they recognize the leaders in our profession.”

The BCI invites everyone to keep an eye out for news on the 2nd Annual BCI Awards – North America that will take place in conjunction with DRJ Spring World 2013.

The Business Continuity Institute (BCI) is the world’s preeminent Business Continuity Membership organization. Established in 1994, the BCI focuses on enabling practitioners in the emerging discipline of Business Continuity Management (BCM) to obtain guidance and support from their fellow practitioners, as well as to offer professional training and certification programs to disseminate and validate the highest standards of competence and ethics. The BCI is a membership organization – owned by the members and run for their professional benefit – with more than 7,300 members worldwide in over 100 countries. Individual membership of the BCI brings a wide range of benefits including: publications, workshops, forums and conferences but most importantly an internationally recognized certification. For information on training and certification as well as membership, please visit: www.thebcicertificate.org.