The inaugural Silicon Prairie Awards will recognize companies and individuals across 12 cateogries (above).

Nominations for our inaugural Silicon Prairie Awards close at 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday. As of this morning, more than 1,100 nominations have come in for the 12 categories, which recognize companies and individuals for their outstanding products, strong leadership and noteworthy contributions to the startup community between July 1, 2011 and June 30, 2012.

To nominate a company or individual, see the forms below. You're invited to nominate more than one company or individual per category, and you don't need to reside in the Silicon Prairie to do so. All but one category, on the other hand, requires the company or individual is based in the region.

Following nominations, a committee representing a cross section of the region's startup ecosystem will select four finalists per category. Winners will be selected by a combination of a popular vote on Silicon Prairie News (August 2-22) and a vote by the committee.

The process culminates the evening of August 30 at the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, where the winners will be announced live on stage. TechStars founder and CEO David Cohen will keynote the event, which also features an opening and closing reception. Tickets ($25-40) are now on sale.

Rules: See bottom of this post for the rules of the inaugural Silicon Prairie Awards.

Nominate

Community Awards

Rules

The Silicon Prairie Awards celebrate internet startups, investors, service providers and other startup community participants in the Silicon Prairie.

To be eligible for the awards, companies or individuals must be headquartered or reside in the Silicon Prairie,* a region that is defined by its three flagship cities of Omaha, Des Moines and Kansas City but includes the surrounding area: as far north as Sioux Falls, S.D. and Cedar Falls, Iowa; as far east as Iowa City, Iowa and Columbia, Mo.; as far south as the southernmost reaches of the Kansas City metro area; and as far west as Manhattan, Kan. and Lincoln, Neb.

The awards are given in recognition of business achievements and community contributions between July 1, 2011 and June 30, 2012. Selection of the finalists and winners is the result of community voting (via Silicon Prairie News’ website) and a selection committee representing a cross section of the region’s startup ecosystem. The committee selects four finalists per award category. Each finalist is invited to attend the award ceremony.

Companies and individuals may be nominated for more than one award and may be finalists or winners for more than one, as well. Sponsors of Silicon Prairie News are eligible for the awards but will not be given special consideration. Everyone, regardless of geographic location, is invited to nominate companies and vote for the winner. There is no cost to submit an award nomination or to cast a vote. Silicon Prairie News reserves the right to discard any and all votes that it reasonably determines to be fraudulent.

The award winners will be selected from a popular vote on Silicon Prairie News' website (one vote per IP address) and the selection committee. The winners will be announced at the Silicon Prairie Awards on August 30 in Omaha.

*The Silicon Prairie Ambassador award requires that the individual no longer reside in the region but either have been born in or have strong ties to it.

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Sponsor the Silicon Prairie Awards: We're looking for companies that want to get in front of hundreds of entrepreneurs, innovators and startups. If you'd like to learn more about our sponsorship opportunities for the awards, contact Geoff Wood at geoff@siliconprairienews.com.

Hat tip to the folks behind the Seattle 2.0 Awards who have set an example for an awesome awards event showcasing a community.

Credits: Photo by Anna Jones | Art of Photography and Ikonix Studio