Behind the Scenes at the Plutus Awards

This year marks the fourth year that we have held the Plutus Awards. We’re excited that, thanks in large part to our sponsors, this year’s Plutus Awards ceremony promises to be the best yet.

But the Plutus Awards couldn’t happen without the efforts of those who work behind the scenes (and in front of them) to put together a great show.

Luke Landes

The founder of Consumerism Commentary and the Plutus Awards, Luke Landes does a great deal of work to make the Plutus Awards happen. Luke is organizing and producing the event, working with sponsors and involving as many bloggers as possible. He makes sure every detail is considered from the nomination process to the after-party, and has a range of management responsibilities.

Athena Lent

Athena, from According to Athena, has been integral to the Plutus Awards this year. She helped identify potential venues for the after-party, speaking with the proprietors of several St. Louis restaurants. She was also the main driver behind arranging for Scottrade to sponsor the after-party. Athena has also been helping with virtual assistant tasks.

Tom Drake

Tom is the founder of Canadian Finance Blog and the owner of Drake Media. He is responsible for managing everything pertaining to tech for the Plutus Awards. He handles all web-based efforts, including the design of the nomination forms and the tallying of the votes. He also manages the private discussion area for the Plutus Awards blogger panel.

Kevin McKee

Last year, Kevin provided first-rate entertainment as the M.C. of the Third Annual Plutus Awards. His sites,Thousandaire and Reward Boost, provide often-entertaining insights into finances. Kevin is hosting the awards ceremony and developing its multimedia again this year, and it promises to be interesting and fun.

Miranda Marquit

Miranda, the owner of Planting Money Seeds, has been working with sponsors for this year’s Plutus Awards. Miranda has arranged the details of the sponsorship programs and has performed various administrative tasks to keep things running smoothly. Miranda will also be the stage manager of the awards ceremony.

The blogger panel

We have a great panel of bloggers helping with the overall planning, who also have the ultimate say on the finalists and winners in each category. As you know, the finalists in each of the categories was determined by the number of nominations received via the voting form. Top vote-getters were named finalists in each category, and voting by the panelists determines the winners in all categories — except People’s Choice, which is entirely based on popularity. (Vote for People’s Choice, and encourage your readers to vote, here.)

We do understand the conflict of interest that can come if the panelists are allowed to vote on their own entries. As a result, any panelist who is a finalist in any particular category does not vote in that category.

In addition to those mentioned above:, this years panelists are as follows:

Paula Pant from Afford Anything
Jim Wang from Bargaineering and Microblogger (he will also be the assistant stage manager)
Peter Anderson from Bible Money Matters (he will also be taking photographs of winners with their trophies)
Jana Lynch from Bloggers Helping Bloggers (helping with live tweets during the ceremony)
Crystal Stemberger from Budgeting in the Fun Stuff (she is also the “swag mistress”)
Ryan Guina from Cash Money Life
Sof Kd from Caviar and Quarters
Kelly Whalen from The Centsible Life
Jaime Tardy from Eventual Millionaire
Glen Craig from Free From Broke
FMF from Free Money Finance
Shannyn Allan from Frugal Beautiful
Kathleen from Frugal Portland
Jeff Rose from Good Financial Cents
Len Penzo from Len Penzo dot Com (he is also the “trophy master”)
Jackie Beck from Money Crush
Pinyo Bhulipongsanon from Moolanomy
Andrea Whitmer from Nuts and Bolts Media
Marissa from Thirty Six Months
Suba Iyer from Wealth Informatics (helping with social media)
Ashley Jacobs from Wise Bread (she is also the transportation coordinator for the after-party)

Thanks to our great team of bloggers and panelists! If you’re a blogger in the personal finance space who is interested in being on next year’s panel, reach out to Luke Landes.