Society for Information Management (SIM)
HOUSTON CHAPTER
SIM Houston 2016 Annual Awards
SIM Houston is pleased to announce the winners of the annual Leadership Awards for the Houston Chapter of Society for Information Management. The awards were presented at the annual SIM Houston Holiday Party on December 6.
SIM National Award Appreciation Award Chapter Leadership Awards
STEM Pioneer Award
Pawn Kongkosonkichkan
* Pawn received this award at
the SIM National Symposium event.
Twila Day
Leader of the Year
Leader of the Year
Board Member of the Year
Board Member of the Year
Member of the Year
Rookie of the Year
George Crawford
Cliff Dowden
Donna Steadman
Melinda Linkous
Carl Burquist
Mark Sakowitz
SIM NATIONAL - STEM Pioneer Award
Pawn Kongkosonkichkan
As many strong contributors as we have in our local chapter, it is difficult to win a local chapter award. It's extremely difficult and represents a milestone achievement to win a SIM National award. Our very own Houston SIM Member Pawn Kongosonkichkan was awarded the inagural STEM Pioneer Award. This award recognizes Pawn's contributions to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) programs. Pawn is second from the left in the red dress. Pawn is also actively involved in SIM Women and the Outreach committee. Congratulations Pawn!
SIM Houston Appreciation Award
Twila Day
Twila recieved the SIM Houston Appreciation Award, acknowleding her leadership as President of the SIM Houston Chapter in 2016. This year, SIM Houston donated a record $125,000 to local Houston area STEM initiatives. Paul Krueger, Vice President of SIM Houston said; "Twila helped set some agressive goals in January and with Twila's leadership, we either met or exceeded the targets!" Congratulations Twila, we look forward to your continued work with SIM Houston.
SIM Houston Leader of the Year
Cliff Dowden
Cliff was awarded the SIM Houston Leader of the Year award. Among Cliff's contributions, he was the Chairman of the SIM Clay Tournament, actively involved in the SIM Golf Tournament and represented SIM Houston as a judge at the UH Code Red Hackathon in October. Cliff is always looking for ways to contribute to the success of the Houston chapter. As VP of Marketing, Cliff is also responsible for the SIM Houston Website and additional marketing efforts to ensure SIM is well represented for the contributions of our chapter. Congratulations Cliff.
SIM Houston Leader of the Year
George Crawford
George was awarded the SIM Houston Leader of the Year award. George has done an excellent job as Treasurer for SIM Houston. George keeps us on track financially and has the Houston Chapter in excellent shape as we go into 2017. George Co-Chaired the SIM Golf Tournament this year which raised a record $75,000 in donations. George is an active SIM Board member and committee member whose contributions are signficant and appreicated by all SIM Members. Congratulations George.
SIM Houston Board Member of the Year
Donna Steadman
Donna was awarded the SIM Houston Member of the Year. Donna has been counted on year after year for her contributions to ensure our chapter produces successful results. Whether it is her involvement in the Golf Tournament, the Sporting Clays tournament, the Summer Social, SIM Women, or her work with the Outreach Committee Donna has delivered time and time again. We are extrememly proud of the contributions Donna produced in 2016 and we look forward to more great times in 2017. Congratulations Donna.
SIM Houston Board Member of the Year
Melinda Linkous
Melinda was selected as the Board Member of the Year. Melinda is a truly dedicated and wonderful SIM Board Member to work with on all the many activities in which she participates. Whether it involves helping out with annual events like the Golf tournament or co-chairing the SIM Clay Tournement, Melinda is always taking on tasks, sometimes complicated tasks, but pulls through every time! Melinda is also actively involved in SIM Women and facilitates the Project Management SIG. What a team player and valued resource SIM Houston has in Melinda Linkous. Congratulations Melinda.
SIM Houston Member of the Year
Carl Burquist
Carl was selected for the Member of the Year award. A member since 2009, Carl attended our 1st of the year strategy meeting – has been making the membership name tags, organizing registration and greeting people at the table since 2010. When Carl is not there – things don’t seem to run as smoothly. Our number of events has grown and even if Carl cannot be there – many of us meet him at Willowbrook Mall to pick up the badges, tablecloths and other SIM supplies for every meeting, conference and event. AND don’t try and leave a meeting with your name badge, Carl WILL NOT allow that to happen! Congratulations Carl.
SIM Houston Rookie of the Year
Mark Sakowitz
Last but not least, we have a new award this year - Rookie of the Year and Mark Sakowitz was a great selection for this award. Mark is relatively new to the chapter and has also been dedicated to making many meetings, getting involved, participated in the outreach committee. Mark was instrumental in helping form a lot of policies and processes in the outreach committee as well as helping out on the Clay sporting event which was a big success for us over the last 2 years. Mark has just joined the board as Co-chair with Gary Russell for 2017 and is another reason for our chapter success. We discovered – it is not always easy to develop a process to give away money and be totally responsible and accountable. Thanks to Marks efforts, the outreach committee has achieved that goal. Congratulations Mark.