The Cannata Report’s 31st Annual Awards & Charities Dinner was held on Thursday October 6 in Livingston, New Jersey. We had our largest turnout ever with 265 guests, representing all segments of the document imaging industry (dealers, manufacturers, leasing companies, software companies, parts and supplies companies). This year’s charity was the Jackie Ritschel Memorial Endowment for Cancer Research & Treatment at Hackensack University Medical Center. Jackie was the wife of Andrew Ritschel, president of Electronic Office Systems, a dealer based in Fairfield, New Jersey. Jackie passed away last year from lung cancer and Andrew and his children, Chelsea and Charles, were there to celebrate their mother and the money raised to purchase the latest technology to treat this tragic disease. Overall, the evening helped relieve the pain and loss of a wife and mother while allowing the Ritschel family to receive an outpouring of genuine affection from manufacturers, vendors, and fellow dealers.
This year’s theme was View from the (Brooklyn) Bridge, a theme that reflects the New York City borough where I was born. It also symbolizes The Cannata Report brand and is a reflection of our dealer subscribers, many of whom have come from humble beginnings and built significant businesses similar to the way Brooklyn has become one of the most desired places to live in the United States.
A total of $163,000 was raised for the Jackie Ritschel Endowment and another $16,000 for Camp4Heroes (a veteran’s organization). Thanks to Hackensack University Medical Center, Antonio Pierce, former linebacker of the 2008 Super Bowl Champion New York Giants was the guest speaker. He spoke about the importance of working together while emphasizing the simple philosophy that it is not “I” but “We” that enabled the NY Giants to beat the previously undefeated New England Patriots in in the Super Bowl.
In addition to the money raised for charity, we presented eight awards to individuals and manufacturers for their outstanding performances in 2015. The awards were voted on by our dealer subscribers earlier this year. Companies and individuals recognized in the following categories included:
· Best A4 MFP Award Kyocera Document Solutions America, Inc.
· Best in Class Manufacturer Award Konica Minolta Business Solutions USA, Inc.
· Best Software & Services Provider ACDI
· Best Manufacturer Award Ricoh Americas Corp.
· Best Marketing Strategy Award Canon USA, Inc.
· Best Leasing Company GreatAmerica Financial Services Corp.
· Best Female Executive of the Year Laura Blackmer, Senior VP, Sales, Sharp
· Best Male Executive of the Year Rick Taylor, President & CEO, Konica Minolta
This was the first year that we did not preannounce the winners of the awards, adding drama to the presentations. And unlike previous years where dealers presented the awards, this year the awards were presented by the Cannata Report’s industry leading team of writers and executives, including Carol C. Cannata, C.J. Cannata, Frank G. Cannata, Scott Cullen, Sharon Esker, and Cathy O’Brien.
It’s gratifying too that the attendance of every major manufacturer in our industry at our 31st Annual Awards & Charities Dinner, including Canon USA, Inc.; HP, Inc.; Konica Minolta Business Solutions America; Kyocera Document Solutions America; Lexmark International; Muratec; Panasonic; Ricoh Americas Corporation; Sharp Electronics Corp.; Toshiba America Business Solutions; and Xerox Corporation.
The participation of those companies along with others from the industry, and our dealer subscribers have helped us raise $1.9 million for charities over the years, ranging from cancer research, to scholarships, to charitable contributions for battered women and children. We expect to exceed $2 million in total monies raised for various charities at our 32nd annual awards and charities dinner next year.
While we are proud of the money we’ve been able to raise and our efforts to bring together so many different segments of our industry for one special evening, we are equally proud of our mission to celebrate diversity in our industry. This year we continued our theme for greater diversity by arranging to have two students of Seton Hall University’s Stllman School of Business serve as our hosts. They are also members of the School’s Martin Luther King Society.
During the dinner we urged our audience to embrace these young people to help an aging industry become energized by their enthusiasm and keen insights on the digital environment. For an industry that is in need of a youthful infusion of talent it resonated quite well with our audience.
We were also pleased to announce the appointment of Scott Cullen as our Editor in Chief effective January 1, 2017. The Cannata Report is indeed fortunate to have a person of Scott’s caliber take the helm and bring us to new heights in the coming years.
We cannot thank our sponsors Clover Technologies, Everbank, Hytec and Square 9 enough for their tremendous support of what has become known as The Cannata Awards & Charities Dinner. We could have never reached the number of charitable contributions without their help.
Editor’s note: The original post of this article neglected to mention Sharp Electronics Corp. as one of the major manufacturers attending our event.
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