Meet the Plutus Award Executive and Planning Committees

The Plutus Awards ceremony you see every year at FinCon would not be possible without the hard work of a number of people throughout the year leading up to the event. Behind the scenes, we have a team of several people from within the financial media committee who are essential to presenting a smooth awards season.

The Plutus Awards Executive Committee

The Executive Committee is made up of H. Luke Landes, Tom Drake, and Miranda Marquit. Together, the members of the Plutus Awards Executive Committee plan the awards, oversee the voting, and manage sponsors and volunteers.

H. Luke Landes is the founder of Consumerism Commentary and the creator of the Plutus Awards. Six years ago, Luke asked fellow bloggers to vote for their favorite blogs, as well as for their favorite financial products and services. Every year, the Plutus Awards ceremony grows in size and spectacle, and the winners consider the prestige increasingly meaningful.

Luke is the director of the Plutus Awards. He coordinates the Awards, and keeps everything on track.

Tom Drake is the founder of Canadian Finance Blog, and is the owner or partner of several other blogging properties. He handles most of the backend portions of the Plutus Awards, working on the code of the web site, and developing voting forms and other forms. Tom also has a program that tabulates votes to help us understand how many nominations each blog has received to help determine finalists (actual winners are determined by the Blogger Panel) and tabulate votes for the People’s Choice Award (which is determined by popular vote).

Miranda Marquit is the writer behind Planting Money Seeds. She writes for several financial web sites and blogs. Miranda is the point of contact for Plutus Awards sponsorships, from coordinating who provides financial support for the ceremony to the companies providing swag for the Plutus Awards Winner Gift Bags. (There are still opportunities to sponsor; email [email protected] for more information.)

The Plutus Awards Planning Committee

There are also great volunteers helping to plan the events surrounding the Plutus Awards. Here are more of the people that make the Plutus Awards possible:

Athena Lent is the founder of Money Smart Latina, a blog where Latinas and finance meet. Athena is a great events organizer, and is planning the Plutus Awards After-Party, which will take place following the Plutus Awards ceremony on Saturday, September 19, 2015. In addition to the work required to arrange all aspects of the After-Party, Athena is also managing the Plutus Awards Twitter account and Facebook page, handling all social media for the event.

Ashley Jacobs is part of the team at WiseBread. She is in charge of the ceremony itself. After witnessing her rap skillz at the Fourth Annual Plutus Awards ceremony in 2013, we asked her to emcee in 2014. She put together a fantastic show in 2014, including a memorable, sentimental special that brought attention to the personal accomplishments and milestones achieved by many members of our community.

Matt Giovanisci recently launched Roast Coffee, a website and community for coffee lovers. He is known for his humor and quick wit — and his ability with technology. He created the community-wide lip sync video for last year’s award ceremony, and surprised everyone with a live performance.

The Plutus Awards Blogger Panel

Every year, a panel of Plutus Awards peers reviews the nominations and selects the finalists. This Blogger Panel is essential in the success of the Plutus Awards every year. Find more information or join the Blogger Panel here.

The Plutus Awards Volunteers

In addition to those listed above, the Plutus Awards ceremony and everything surrounding the entire season wouldn’t be possible without the help of volunteers throughout the community. At the awards ceremony, a corps of volunteers helps as awards presenters, ushers, stage hands, property managers, stage managers, audio/video technicians, and social media associates, and we all work together to produce a fantastic show that exceeds everyone’s expectations every year.

Thanks to last year’s volunteers and awards presenters: Paula Pant, Robert Farrington, Crystal Stemberger, Michelle Schroeder, Sofia, Lance Cothern, Rebecca Stapler, Joshua Sheets, Jacob Wade, Bryan, Shannyn Allan, Kevin, Maria Nedeva, Jim Wang, Mark Gruetman, Jana, Lauren Gruetman, Glen Craig, Abby Perry, Donna Freedman, Kylie Travers, Martin Dasko, David Weliver, Scott Halliwell, Eric Rosenberg, J.D. Roth, Stephanie Cameron, Jeff Rose, Stephanie Halligan, Tom Drake, Kay Bell, Luke Landes, Wendy Poling

We’re grateful to all of those who help out with the Plutus Awards, since our team is what makes this production possible.