Galveston.com & Company Nominated for Three 2007 American Business Awards

May 14, 2007 – Galveston.com & Company was named a Finalist today in three interactive multimedia categories - Consumer Entertainment/Information, Public Information, and Marketing - in The 2007 American Business Awards for its entry, "Second Life Galveston Island." The company was a winner in the Best Website Design category in the 2006 awards.

Hailed as “the business world’s own Oscars” (New York Post , April 27, 2005), The American Business Awards are the only national, all-encompassing awards program honoring great performances in business.

Stevie Award winners will be announced during the annual gala on Monday, June 11 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.  More than 700 executives from across the U.S.A. are expected to attend.  The ceremonies will be videocast on the Internet and broadcast on radio, and hosted by Larry Wilmore of TV’s THE DAILY SHOW with JON STEWART.  

More than 2,000 entries from companies of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted for consideration in more than 40 categories, including Best Overall Company, Best Executive, Best New Product or Service, and Best Corporate Social Responsibility Program.  Galveston.com & Company will be competing in three interactive multimedia categories for its new virtual world of Second Life Galveston Island. Galveston.com & Company is the world’s first Convention & Visitors Bureau-related destination website to place a 3-D computer generated small-scale replica inside this wildly popular online world.

Galveston.com Vice-President Jim Cordell says, "We couldn't be more thrilled to be a multiple finalist for the American Business Awards. To see our efforts be rewarded by such a respectable organization once again is very extremely rewarding for all of us here at Galveston.com & Company."

Members of the Awards' Board of Distinguished Judges & Advisors and their staffs will select Stevie Award winners this week from among Finalists.   Finalists were chosen by business professionals nationwide during preliminary judging in April through early May.

Nicknamed the Stevie for the Greek word “crowned,” the elegant Stevie trophy was designed by the same company that makes the Oscar and the Emmy.

“Being named a Finalist in The American Business Awards is an important achievement,” said Michael Gallagher, founder and president of The Stevie Awards.  “It means that independent business executives have agreed that the nominee is worthy of national recognition.  We congratulate all of the Finalists on their achievement and wish them well in the competition.”

Regarding Second Life Galveston Island, Cordell says "We've been working on the creation of this wonderful 3-D World for over 6 months, with official launch scheduled for June 1. To already see virtual shops in place, wonderful real life Galveston landmarks like Moody Gardens coming to life, and live concerts at the virtual Balinese room to a standing-room only crowd is absolutely unbelievable. This is the next generation of tourism marketing, and we're thrilled to be on the cutting edge of it all."

Details about The American Business Awards and the list of Finalists in all categories are available at www.stevieawards.com/aba. 

Details about Second Life Galveston Island are available at www.galveston.com/secondlife/.

About Galveston.com & Company...

Galveston.com & Company, Inc. is a destination marketing corporation based in Galveston, Texas. The company specializes in destination portals, as well as online lodging, cruise, parking, and transfer reservations via its proprietary DestinationNext_^TM reservation module. For more information, contact Galveston.com & Company at via phone (409)763-8676 or email at websites@galveston.com.

About The Stevie Awards...

Hailed as “the business world’s own Oscars,” Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, The Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Selling Power Sales Excellence Awards.  Honoring companies of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide.  Learn more about The Stevie Awards at www.stevieawards.com.

Premier Sponsors of The 2007 American Business Awards include EMCOR Group, Silverjet, and ValueVision Associates.  Presentation sponsor is the German State of Bavaria’s U.S. Office for Economic Development.  Supporting sponsors include Harris Corporation, High Performance Technologies Inc., John Hancock, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, and Ultimate Software.  Media sponsors include the Business TalkRadio Network, Chief Executive, CIO Decisions, CRMAdvocate, and Human Resource Executive.  The Business TalkRadio Network will host the live radio broadcast of the June 11 awards ceremonies, and HB Group will videocast the ceremonies worldwide.