Awards
VAL ANDRES AWARD
GMIS Illinois was founded in 1988 by Ms. Val Andres, an Information Technologies professional. Ms. Andres' inspiration was to create and foster a group of technology professionals from within the public sector wherein project concepts could be openly shared.
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In 2006 the Val Andres Award was established and awarded to Val on behalf of her unwavering and continuing dedication to the organization and now the award is given annually in her honor.
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Every year, just prior to the annual GIANTS conference, a committee chaired by Val Andres and comprised of former award recipients selects a member of the GMIS Illinois organization for this award. Recipients are chosen based on their spirit, dedication and significant contribution to GMIS Illinois.
VAL ANDRES AWARD RECIPIENTS
2006 Val Andres
2007 Diane Nelson
2008 Steve Macygin
2009 Victor Ambroziak
2010 Chris Westgor
2011 Glen Liljeberg
2012 Robert Giddens
2013 Sam Ferguson
2014 Joan Middleton
2015 Brian Johanpeter
2016 Marc Thorson
2017 Denise Steffen
2018 Lori Baker
2019 Rick Kaczanko
2022 James Kastrantas
2023 Sanford Hess
2024 James Farrell
2025 A. Waseem Khan
2026 Tom Gilbert
RICK KACZANKO AWARD
Rick Kaczanko was an integral part of GMIS Illinois for a large portion of his career at the Village of Plainfield. Throughout his tenure, he served on the board for several years with his most recent position as President. He truly saw the vision of GMIS’ growth and collaboration with other like minded organizations and loved the organization as well as its' members.
In 2022 at the age 46, Rick passed away, leaving a legacy of lifelong learning, friendship and camaraderie. In his honor, we created the Rick Kaczanko Award as a reflection of his dedication to GMIS Illinois and its mission.
The award is presented annually to a corporate member based on several criteria including, but not limited to - membership growth & recruitment, involvement with our members and attendance at GMIS Illinois activities.
RICK KACZANKO AWARD RECIPIENTS
2023 Heartland Business Systems
2024 ThinkGard
2025 Nobletec
2026 Constellation Telecom
SLACKER AWARD
Slack is a cloud-based, AI-powered team communication and collaboration platform designed for workplaces. It replaces email with organized, real-time messaging organized into dedicated "channels" for projects, topics, or teams.
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Slack has been in integral part of keeping our members connected throughout the state on a daily basis. This award goes to the recipient with the most interactions on Slack for the previous year.
SLACKER AWARD RECIPIENTS
2023 Paul Webb, Grundy County
2024 M.C. Neal, Champaign County
2025 Philip Chau, Village of Bolingbrook
2026 Steven Mertes, Naperville Park District