Smartsheet CEO Mark Mader accepting recognition as the “Next Tech Titan” during the 2016 GeekWire Awards. (GeekWire Photo)

The GeekWire Awards are just under a month away, and this year’s finalists are in a race to prove they are the best of the best.

The Awards are like the Oscars of the Pacific Northwest tech industry — but instead of a shadowy academy pulling the strings, it’s our readers and dedicated community members who choose our winners. After a public vote, the winners will be announced at the Awards ceremony on May 4 at MoPop.

On this episode of the GeekWire Podcast, founders John Cook and Todd Bishop give you a behind-the-scenes look at some of our finalists and what they say about deeper trends in the tech community.

Finalists for the Next Tech Titan award show how dominant the cloud industry has become in the Pacific Northwest, with over half of the finalists working in the cloud space. Other awards, like Deal of the Year and Young Entrepreneur of the Year, point to a rosy future for the industry.

And our Best Picture equivalent, Startup of the Year, shows off the huge variety of innovation in the region: from biotech to the cloud to consumer software.

You can vote for your favorites at the links below, and get tickets for the Awards, happening May 4 at MoPop, here.

  • Vote for Startup of the Year here.
  • Vote for Next Tech Titan here.
  • Vote for Deal of the Year here.
  • Vote for Geek of the Year here.
  • Vote for CEO of the Year here.
  • Vote for Hire of the Year here.
  • Vote for Newcomer of the Year here.
  • Vote for the Geeks Give Back Award here.
  • Vote for Young Entrepreneur of the Year here.
  • Vote for Gadget/Hardware of the Year here.
  • Vote for Innovation of the Year here.
  • Vote for Bootstrapper of the Year here.
  • Vote for App of the Year here.

Listen to the podcast above or download it as an MP3

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