Nominations Period Now Open for 3rd Annual Tecla A

MIAMI, Dec. 21, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The nominations period for the 3rd Annual TECLA Awards honoring Latino and multicultural creators for social media excellence are now open through January 30th, 2017. The prestigious awards ceremony will be the culminating event of Hispanicize 2017 Week (April 3-6) and will be taking place on the evening of April 6th.  www.HispanicizeEvent.com .

Named after the Spanish-language word for an individual key on a keyboard, the Tecla Awards honor excellence in U.S. Latino online video, blogging, social media and those who create it. The 2017 Tecla Awards will once again highlight the nation’s top Latino and multicultural content creators in more than 20 categories. From top storytellers on Instagram to YouTube and Snapchat, the Teclas nominees set the bar higher each year for the exploding social media creators industry.

Hispanicize is accepting nominations for the 3rd Annual Tecla Awards at  http://bit.ly/TECLAS2017 .

Past Recipients of the Tecla Awards include Pope Francis, who in 2016 received Telemundo’s 1st Annual Social Innovation Award; Adamari Lopez, Most Admired Latino Celebrity on Social Media; Shaun Ayala, Best Snapchat Storyteller; Yandel, Best Musician on Social Media; Adriana Martin, Best Food Creator; Rosy McMichael, Best Beauty Creator; LeJuan James, Best Instagram Influencer and Joanna Hausmann of FLAMA for Creator of the year.

Last year’s 2nd Tecla Awards garnered over 69 million impressions on social media and the official event hashtag #TeclaAwards became a worldwide trending topic on Twitter.

“The Teclas represent the most complete showcase of Latino and multicultural creators on down through to the brands and media companies that make up this incredible digital eco-system,” said Cristy Clavijo-Kish, Chief Development Officer of Hispanicize Media Group and Chair of the 2017 Tecla Awards. “To become a finalist or win a Tecla means you have achieved the most prestigious honor in our industry - and Pope Francis is proof of that!”

“The Teclas is peer-driven and that’s what makes it such an honor for finalists and winners,” said Katherine Johnson-Gunn, Executive Producer of Tecla Awards and Partner of Hispanicize Media Group. "We’re excited to celebrate the achievements of these extraordinary creators who are quickly becoming household names. This is why we pull out all the stops for this with an awards show that will be packed with entertainment and unforgettable performances."

To ensure the broadest participation by the online Latino content producing community, the official entry process has been streamlined.

The public is invited to nominate their favorite creators- including themselves- for any of the 20+ themed categories.

Submissions open today at  http://bit.ly/TeclaAwardsSite  and close 11:59 pm PT on Monday, January 30, 2017.

The 2017 Tecla Awards categories feature three new opportunities to highlight creators publishing content from a variety of fields including - Top Blogger, Top Digital Journalist and Best Content Creator in Latin America. The Creator of The Year award is the only award that will be voted on by the public starting in February. The Marketing & Campaign Tecla Awards categories will be announced later this month. For the full list of creator categories for the 3rd Annual Tecla Awards, please visit:  http://bit.ly/TeclaAwardsSite .

All nominations for the 3rd Annual Tecla Awards will be considered and reviewed by Hispanicize Media Group partners and the Hispanicize National Advisory Board who together will determine the five finalists for each category. The actual winners of the 3rd Annual Tecla Awards will be determined by The Teclas Gold Academy, a panel of judges consisting of marketing, PR and social media executives, creators, and other experts in the digital media industry. Winners will be revealed the night of April 6th, 2017 during the Tecla Awards ceremony, which will be streamed live from Miami for viewers worldwide.

Tecla Award Sponsors

Sponsorships for the Tecla Awards are available by contacting TeclaAwards@hispanicize.com.

About the Tecla Awards   The 3rd Annual Tecla Awards reflect the growing state of original programming native to YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, live broadcasting, blogging and virtually all types of social media platforms.

The awards are a co-production of the Hispanicize event and the DiMe Media network.

About The Hispanicize Event   Now in its 8th year, Hispanicize 2017 Week ( www.HispanicizeEvent.com ) (#Hispz17) is the iconic, largest annual event for Latino trendsetters and newsmakers in digital content creation, journalism, marketing, entertainment and tech entrepreneurship.

Hispanicize 2017 is expected to gather more than 3,000 of the nation’s most influential Latino professionals from the industries of digital content creation, journalism, music, marketing, film and business over four days. The event will take place in downtown Miami’s JW Marriott Marquis Hotel, April 3-6, 2017.

The Hispanicize event is a launch pad for creative endeavors, new products, technologies, marketing campaigns, films, books, music and more targeting Latinos in the U.S. and/or Puerto Rico.

The Hispanicize event is owned and operated by Hispanicize Media Group, LLC, the parent company of DiMe Media, Hispanic Kitchen and the Hispanic PR Blog.

The Hispanicize Event can be found on Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/Hispanicize , Instagram ( @HispanicizeEvent ) and Twitter ( @Hispanicize ).

(Multimedia assets are available at  www.hispanicizewire.com )

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CONTACT:  Katherine Johnson  Hispanicize  (786) 624-1864  Katherine@hispanicize.com