Voting for ITA's 10th Annual ITA CityLIGHTS Awards Ends Tomorrow

CHICAGO, IL--(Marketwire - April 7, 2009) - Voting for the Illinois Technology Association's (ITA) 2009 CityLIGHTS Awards closes at 11:59 p.m. tomorrow, April 8, 2009. The Awards honor outstanding information technology companies, executives and advocates in Illinois.

ITA will present the awards to the winner at the Association's 10th annual CityLIGHTS Gala on April 23rd at Union Station in Chicago. Voting is available through the event Web site at www.itacitylights.com.

This is the first year members of Illinois' technology community are invited to cast their vote to help determine the winners for five of the six award categories. ITA's Board of Directors selects the flagship "CityLIGHTS Award."

"CityLIGHTS is a celebration of Illinois' burgeoning technology industry and those individuals and companies who are helping Illinois to move forward as a technology hotbed," said ITA President Fred Hoch. "We encourage all ITA members and gala attendees to support their peers by voting for this year's winners."

The 2009 finalists include:

--  CityLIGHTS Award: Given to an individual that has made a significant
    impact on the Illinois technology community.
      --  Linda Darragh, Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship
      --  Anna Belyaev, Type A Learning Agency
      --  Jerry R. Mitchell, Midwest Entrepreneurs' Forum
      --  Shelley Stern, Microsoft Corporation

--  CEO of the Year Award: Given to the CEO who has driven his company to
    new heights in the past year.
      --  George Burciaga, smarTECHS.net
      --  Bill Conroy, Initiate Systems
      --  Scott Etzler, InterCall
      --  Gregg Kaplan, Redbox
      --  Douglas R. Waggoner, Echo Global Logistics

--  Spotlight Award: Given to the CIO/CTO for leadership and outstanding
    contributions in the application of information technology.
      --  Eric Dirst, DeVry Inc.
      --  Michael Fineberg, SurePayroll
      --  Rich Holada, SPSS Inc.
      --  Laurie E. Lasseter, WMS Gaming
      --  Deepak Singh, Adeptia Inc.

--  Lighthouse Award: Given to the company that best represents the
    region's growing stature as home to world-class information technology
    companies.
      --  ArrowStream
      --  BigMachines
      --  SmartSignal
      --  Trustwave
      --  West Monroe Partners

--  Rising Star Award: Given to the company that has emerged from its
    start-up phase to distinguish itself in the technology marketplace.
      --  Aleri Inc.
      --  Geckotech
      --  InXpo, Inc.
      --  MediaBank
      --  Open Kernel Labs

--  Newcomer Award: Given to the company that has the strongest potential
    to emerge from its start-up phase and distinguish itself in the
    technology marketplace.
      --  crowdSPRING
      --  CTH Technologies, Inc.
      --  LifeSnapz, Inc.
      --  OptionsCity Software, Inc.
      --  Telemedicine Solutions, LLC

CityLIGHTS is the Midwest's premier technology-related award event and Illinois' largest gathering of technology executives in the state. All Illinois companies and executives are invited to attend the event, which drew more than 700 attendees last year.

Sponsors of the 2009 CityLIGHTS Awards include Platinum Sponsor Grant Thornton; Gold Sponsors Aladdin Knowledge Systems and McGuireWoods; and Event Sponsor SPSS. For more information, or to register to attend the event, please visit www.itacitylights.com

About the ITA

The Illinois Technology Association (ITA) represents the interests of a diverse membership of more than 550 companies in Illinois that create, deploy and utilize information technology as a core part of their organization. By connecting members with industry peers and participants, providing the latest strategic information, market research and critical market insight and by promoting key thought leaders to raise visibility and gain a greater market awareness and presence, ITA is focused on building and developing the Illinois technology community through collaboration. Additional information is available at www.illinoistech.org.

Contact Information: Contact: Margaret Plett Illinois Technology Association 312.924.1044 mplett@illinoistech.org