This month ENX celebrates those in our industry who are making a difference. Many months were spent collecting nominations from industry peers keen to recognize their colleagues, and we proudly present those honorees in the May issue.
This year’s Difference Makers profiled over 60 talented individuals making a difference for their companies and the greater document imaging industry. These people included CEOs of OEMs, dealers, leaders in managed services, software engineers, key sales and marketing people, individuals in leasing and finance…the list goes on.
Hopefully, many will enjoy reading about their colleagues, vendors and friends and seeing them recognized for their outstanding contributions.
There are many segments in the document imaging industry that intersect and overlap. Most are familiar with the people in segments that directly touch their own core competencies, yet may be unfamiliar with other key people in unrelated fields doing great work that is driving change and growth in the industry. The Difference Makers provides an introduction to these people and their contributions. It also lets us know how these contributions are affecting their peers and the amount of appreciation generated by these efforts.
Probably the most talked about aspect of this year’s nomination guidelines was that people nominated last year were excluded from being nominated this year. I have received some feedback in regards to this. Some agree with it, but others have confided in me that they prefer keeping the voting open to everybody. One former colleague remarked, “You wouldn’t have that type of limiting criteria for an MVP award, why have it for the Difference Makers?”
I think the intention of the Difference Makers is not to anoint the “best,” which would be impossible to determine and contentious, but rather to show appreciation to the many who are productive, creative, innovative and greatly admired by their peers. Our hope was that the caveat would inspire people to consider others who may otherwise have been overlooked in favor of more visible candidates.
I mentioned above that the Difference Makers is an introduction to the accomplishments of the individual nominees. This month and through June, our enews will profile in greater depth some select nominees. These profiles will be slightly more personal and provide thoughts and observations in the nominees own words. We hope that you enjoy these. The first profile will appear in this very issue.
We would like to thank all of those who took their time to reach out to us and to provide valuable information and quotations. We know that time is precious and many of you stepped up and delivered on the very edge of the deadline. Once again, we would like to extend our gratitude for that.
John F. Kennedy once said, “One person can make a difference, and everybody should try.” In 2017 we hope to feature the profiles of everybody making that effort today.
