Cincinnati, OH -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/28/2010 -- COLLOQUY, a global provider of loyalty publications, education and research, is honoring the most customer-focused loyalty initiatives in the industry with its inaugural COLLOQUY Loyalty Awards. The event recognizes the best loyalty innovations in the United States and Canada.

The awards, the only such honors determined by members of the loyalty industry itself, are the centerpiece of a yearlong celebration of the 20th anniversary of COLLOQUY, a LoyaltyOne company. The winners will be presented at a gala event on Sept. 16, during the 8th Annual COLLOQUY Summit in Phoenix, AZ.

“As leader in the art and science of building customer loyalty, COLLOQUY is launching these awards to address a need in the market – recognizing and celebrating the most innovative and proven enterprise loyalty initiatives,” said COLLOQUY Partner Kelly Hlavinka. “And they are the only awards chosen by the industry itself, through COLLOQUY’s 38,000 subscribers – loyalty marketing executives representing more than a half dozen different industry sectors.”

Also distinguishing these awards is their breadth, recognizing innovation in all industries, including retail, financial services and travel/hospitality. Further, the awards go beyond the boundaries of traditional frequency programs. They will honor accomplishments in loyalty marketing, loyalty technology and loyalty analytics. All of the awards will be a tribute to the best Enterprise Loyalty initiatives – those groundbreaking efforts in customer-centric marketing communications that also transform customer experiences through analytical insights.

In all, the COLLOQUY Loyalty Awards will salute initiatives in seven categories. Six of the awards will recognize Enterprise Loyalty initiatives by industry sector and by function. The seventh will honor the “Master of Enterprise Loyalty.”

Companies in the US and Canada are invited to enter. Submissions are free and will be accepted through May 21 at 6 PM EDT at http://www.colloquy.com/loyaltyawards. Industry voting opens Monday, June 14, at 9 AM EDT, and will close Friday, July 23, at 6 PM EDT.

Winners will be honored before their peers at the Sept. 16 ceremony. They also will receive discounted registration to the 2011 COLLOQUY Summit and be featured in COLLOQUY’s 20thAnniversary issue, available November 2010.

Judging for the awards takes place in two rounds and will ultimately be decided by members of the loyalty industry. First, a jury of nine senior loyalty experts in academia and business (below) will select three finalists in each category. Judges will recuse themselves if there is a conflict of interest. COLLOQUY subscribers, voting online, will determine the winners.

For more information, visit the COLLOQUY Loyalty Awards web site at http://www.colloquy.com/loyaltyawards.

Following are members of the jury, several of whom also are on the COLLOQUY editorial advisory board:

• Nancy Gordon, Executive Vice President, Citi
• Jennifer Hawkins, Vice President and General Manager, Consumer Card and Product Development, American Express
• Kelly Hlavinka, COLLOQUY Partner
• Garret Ippolito, Vice President, MasterCard Worldwide
• Richard Levey, Senior Editor, DIRECT and Chief Marketer magazines
• Kyle Murray, Associate Professor of Marketing and Director of the School of Retailing in the School of Business, University of Alberta
• Randy Petersen, Editor and Publisher, InsideFlyer magazine
• Aubyn Thomas, former Senior Vice President of Marketing Services, Macy’s Inc.
• Mark Vandenbosch, Chair in Business Administration and Professor in Marketing, Faculty Scholar, at the Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario

About COLLOQUY:
COLLOQUY® comprises a collection of publishing, education and research resources devoted to the global loyalty-marketing industry. Owned by LoyaltyOne, COLLOQUY has served the loyalty-marketing industry since 1990 with over 38,000 global subscribers to its magazine and http://www.colloquy.com the most comprehensive loyalty web site in the world. COLLOQUY’s research division develops research studies and white papers including industry-specific reports, sizing studies and insights into the drivers of consumer behavior. COLLOQUY also provides educational services through workshops, webinars and speeches at events throughout the world and is the official loyalty-marketing partner of both the Direct Marketing Association and the Canadian Marketing Association and a content provider to the American Marketing Association. COLLOQUY also operates the COLLOQUY Network, a global consortium of practitioners certified in COLLOQUY’s proprietary methodology. COLLOQUY magazine subscriptions are available at no cost to qualified persons at http://www.colloquy.com or by calling 513.248.9184.