Hallmark Services Corporation

June 21, 2011 – Hallmark Services Corporation IT Department won a Stevie Award for “Information Technology Department of the Year” in The 2011 American Business Awards last night.

The awards were presented during ceremonies at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. The ceremonies were hosted by Cheryl Casone of Fox Business Network and broadcast nationwide on radio by the Business TalkRadio Network.

In winning the Stevie, Hallmark Services beat out other finalists including InterContinental Hotels Group and Sundance Vacations. When informed of winning the Stevie, Neal Kaderabek, Executive Director, CIO said, "This Stevie Award is a reflection of Hallmark rising to the occasion repeatedly in 2009 and 2010. We are fortunate to have employees that are determined to think anew and act anew. Our employees challenge the way we have been doing things and see if we can find new and better ways to get the task done. It is incredible to witness everyone joining together to make that the best possible future for all of us and for this wonderful company. I look forward to our next set of challenges and take hope in the unseen — that we will shape together.”

Stevie Awards were presented in over 40 categories including Best Overall Company of the Year, Executive of the Year, and Best New Product of the Year. More than 2,800 entries from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted for consideration.

More than 200 executives across the country participated in the judging process to determine the Finalists and Stevie Award winners.

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

About The Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. 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.

Sponsors and partners of The 2011 American Business Awards include Infogroup, IBM Netezza, American Support, Citrix Online, Epic Media Group, High Performance Technologies Inc., iolo technologies, LifeLock, Merisel, PetRays, SDL, SoftPro, and Vérité, Inc.

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June 1, 2011—IDG's CIO magazine today announces Hallmark Services Corporation as a recipient of the 2011 CIO 100. The 24th annual award program recognizes organizations around the world that exemplify the highest level of operational and strategic excellence in information technology (IT).

"This year's CIO 100 awards draws well-deserved attention to companies that are not only innovating with IT but creating genuine business value as well," said Maryfran Johnson, Editor in Chief of CIO magazine & Events. "These winning companies and their IT organizations are an inspiration to businesses everywhere."

Upon receiving the award, Neal Kaderabek, Hallmark Services CIO states: “The CIO 100 award is an acknowledgement of the incredible success and strides we've had at Hallmark relative to technology, maturity, and capability in just a mere two years - 2009 & 2010. This recent recognition further supports our mantra: "Success breeds success." At Hallmark, our employees have continuously exhibited creativity, innovation and, at times, superhuman-like effort to meet many of our goals. Accomplishing our seemingly unattainable goals has created a culture of self-belief; a culture that prides itself on meeting every challenge as an opportunity. Hence, there is no doubt that this success will truly bring further success.”

The 2011 CIO 100 awards will be presented at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colorado on August 14-16 at the conclusion of the sixteenth annual CIO 100 Symposium® and Awards Ceremony.

About the CIO 100
The recipients of this year's CIO 100 award were selected through a three-step process. First, companies filled out an online application form detailing their innovative IT and business initiatives. Next, a team of judges reviewed the applications in depth, looking for unique practices and substantial results. Finally, CIO editors reviewed the judges' recommendations and voted on the final 100.

Complete coverage of the 2011 CIO 100 awards will be online at www.cio.com on August1, 2011 and in the August 1 issue of CIO magazine.

Some of Hallmark’s major accomplishments that prompted this award include the support of multiple system implementations, including:

• (2009) On-line Sales Channel
• (2009) Producer Portal
• (2009) Underwriters Desktop
• (2009) Paperless Process with TRACE Technology
  (millions of pages of paper converted)
  
• (2009) Converting Medicare Supplement IT and Mainframe
  Support to Lower Cost Vendors (HCL and Acxiom)
  
• (2009) Unicare Conversion
• (2009) Problem Management Framework (ITIL)
• (2009) On-line Credit Card Payment (BAM)
• (2010) Supporting the1st Wave of the Affordable Care Act
• (2010) Converting Printing and Mailing to HCSC
  Operations Service Center
  
• (2010) Renegotiating Vendor Contracts
• (2010) Automated Policy Kit Assembly(RR Donnelley)
• (2010) "Activate My Policy" Portal
• (2010) "Retrieve My Policy" Portal
• (2010) Data Center Virtualization
• (2010) Utilization of Open Source (AcceleHealth)

About CIO Magazine
CIO produces award-winning content and community resources for information technology executives and leaders thriving and prospering in this fast-paced era of business, as well as create opportunities for information technology and consumer marketers to reach them. The CIO portfolio includes CIO.com, CIO magazine (launched in 1987), CIO Executive Programs and the CIO Executive Council. CIO properties provide business technology leaders with analysis and insight on information technology trends and a keen understanding of IT’s role in achieving business goals. The U.S. edition of the magazine and website are recipients of more than 200 awards to date, including the American Society of Business Publication Editor’s Top B-to-B Magazine since 2000 and two Grand Neals from the Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Awards. CIO websites and printed publications appear in more than 25 countries, including Australia, Canada, Finland, India and Sweden. CIO Executive Programs—a series of face-to-face conferences including the CIO 100 Awards & Symposium™—provide educational and networking opportunities for pre-qualified corporate and government leaders. The CIO Executive Council is a professional organization of CIOs created to serve as an unbiased and trusted peer advisory group. CIO is published by IDG Enterprise, a subsidiary of International Data Group (IDG), the world’s leading media, events, and research company. Company information is available at www.idgenterprise.com.

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On February 14, 2011, Hallmark Services Corporation was awarded their 2nd Most Effective IT Team Award by the Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP) and the Society for Information Management (SIM) for medium-sized organizations. Hallmark was the first repeat winner of this award.

Neal Kaderabek, CIO at Hallmark shared the following with the IT Team, “The IT Team’s contributions to delivering flexible, adaptable, and quality IT solutions and services to reinforce HCSC's brand, growth, and profit are known to many of us at Hallmark. I am happy to see the IT Team receive industry and external peer recognition. In a mere two years and for a company our size, we've made incredible advances in technology, maturity, and process in support of Hallmark's goals. Obviously, we have more advances to make --- so I see no reason to stop our worthwhile and recognizable momentum.”

A few examples of the IT Team's 2010 accomplishments include:

Cost Effectiveness	Innovation
Project XTEND - Iterative Approach	High Availability Performance Scalability
Renegotiate Vendor Contracts	"Activate My Policy" Web Portal
Automated Insurance Policy Assembly	COTS with Open Source
IT Outsourcing
Change Leadership	Value Creation
"Great Place to Work"	On-line Policy Kits
Business Operations Consolidation	Problem Management
Health Care Reform

Hallmark has been selected as a recipient of a 2009 Annual Award for Business Excellence by The Business Ledger, a suburban Chicago business newspaper with a circulation of more than 11,000. Hallmark is one of just three companies in the “large companies” category so honored this year. Honorees selected are leaders in industry innovation and community endeavors.

“This award really is a tribute to the people of Hallmark,” said Susan Yeazel. “Your hard work, innovation and community spirit combine in a truly valuable culture that continues to ensure our success.”

Part of The Business Ledger’s mission is to bring recognition to area businesses and organizations through special programs such as the Annual Award for Business Excellence. The selection committee comprises representatives from corporate sponsors, local business associations, previous recipients and editorial staff.

The award will be presented to Susan Yeazel at a recognition reception and awards presentation on March 25. On May 4, The Business Ledger will publish a special section featuring profiles of all honorees. We’ll scan and post the pages with Hallmark’s profile on this site.

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