TAG Unveils Winners of the 2011 Excalibur Awards

Awards Recognize Best Use of Technology for Business and Education

ATLANTA, Oct. 21, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Winners of the 2011 Excalibur Awards were announced today during a special ceremony at the Renaissance Waverly Hotel that attracted an audience of more than 300 leaders from Georgia's business community. The Excalibur Awards, presented by the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) in collaboration with the Business and Technology Alliance of TAG (B&TA), recognize the Georgia companies and organizations demonstrating the best use of technology for challenges in business and education.

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"Technology has become a vital part of the business world today and Georgia companies are leading the charge in both creating and implementing technology," said Tino Mantella, president & CEO of TAG. "The winners of the 2011 Excalibur Awards are all great examples of the innovative spirit alive in our state and are shining examples to the business community of the success that can be created through the creative use of technology."

The 2011 winners are:

Small
Promotional ScreenPrint and Digital, Inc. (PSP) is a digital print and screen printing company producing POP materials in Decatur. The company implemented a manufacturing operations management (MOM) portal solution to centralize company data (such as job status, inventory, sales orders, etc.). PSP was able to increase efficiencies, decrease email use by 50% and win more business without adding staff.

Mid-Sized
DIRTT Environmental Solutions is an award-winning modular wall manufacturer for commercial and industrial settings. The company is recognized for its use of ICE software, which uses 2D and 3D graphic communication to envision, design, specify, price, manufacture and deliver DIRTT product. Integrated into ICE is ICEcycle, a reconfiguration tool for product lifecycle management. ICEcycle captures all elements from an existing modular layout and inventories, sorts, locates and defines each part available, all in real time, and reduces design time by up to 60%. ICE and ICEcycle vastly improve the precision, speed and custom capabilities of DIRTT's manufacturing and installation processes while maximizing use of all pre-existing parts in an interior redesign.

Large
IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) is a global company operating seven well-known hotel brands including InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites. IHG also manages Priority Club Rewards. The company won for its use of Smart Cache Services, which provides better accuracy on room availability and rates when Global Distribution System (GDS) Partners and Online Travel Agencies (such as www.travelocity.com) pull this information from IHG's reservation processing system. Smart Cache has saved the company a $1.5 million upgrade and has helped IHG's partners realize similar savings through a reduction in the number of transactions and in increased look to book ratio.

Educational
Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) is a premier 21st century liberal arts college where learning takes place continuously and beyond the confines of the classroom. The school offers organic chemistry, which is perhaps one of the most challenging undergraduate classes. In fact 40% of first semester students nationwide taking organic chemistry change their career goals and do not continue on to the second semester of that course. GGC tackled this challenge by launching the "iTouch Chemistry Project" which taps into the strengths of the smart phone to provide flash cards, podcasts and other supporting materials to students on the go. The school's organic chemistry students now have over 90% success rate with the two semester organic sequence.

Creative
The Weather Channel (TWC) has brought timely weather information to the world since 1982. Beginning as a 24-hour, 7-day television network devoted entirely to weather, it has expanded across several mediums to bring the breaking weather to its viewers and users. Desiring to tap into the explosion of social media and the immediate and personal access to information it can provide, TWC added social to all TWC platforms to make the company's storytelling more complete. TWC partnered with Twitter to filter weather-relevant content and match it to the user's location for display across all of The Weather Channel properties. Following major weather events, including Hurricane Irene, TWC saw record social numbers through The Weather Channel Social.

For more information about TAG and the Excalibur Awards, visit http://www.tagonline.org/excalibur-awards.php.

About The Technology Association of Georgia (TAG)
The Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) is the leading technology industry association in the state, serving more than 14,000 members and hosting over 170 events each year. TAG serves as an umbrella organization for 30 industry societies, each of which provides rich content for TAG constituents. TAG's mission is to educate, promote, and unite Georgia's technology community to foster an innovative and connected marketplace that stimulates and enhances a tech-based economy. The association provides members with access to networking and educational programs; recognizes and promotes Georgia's technology leaders and companies; and advocates for legislative action that enhances the state's economic climate for technology. Additionally, the TAG Education Collaborative (TAG's charitable arm) focuses on helping science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education initiatives thrive. For more information visit the TAG website at www.tagonline.org or TAG's community website at www.TAGthink.com. To learn about the TAG-Ed Collaborative visit http://www.tagedonline.org/. 

About The Business and Technology Alliance of TAG
The Business and Technology Alliance of TAG is focused on addressing the challenges of today's fast paced marketplace by bringing together business leaders and technology innovators to address key business issues. Their mission is to foster business innovation through the exploration of technological advancements and the ways in which these technologies can help corporations in all industries to solve complex problems and be more competitive. For more information, visit http://www.tagonline.org/tag-business-technology-alliance.php.

CONTACT:
Technology Association of Georgia

Becky Biggs
[email protected]
(404) 920-2008

SOURCE Technology Association of Georgia