And this year’s ethics and compliance award for media goes to . . . .

Several weeks ago, the Society of Corporate Compliance & Ethics (SCCE) hosted its annual Compliance & Integrity Institute in Las Vegas.

Every year, at a special awards dinner (held during the conference), the SCCE honors the important contributions that various individuals, companies and media outlets have made to the field of ethics and compliance.

This year, at the 11th Annual International Compliance & Ethics Awards Dinner, the FCPA Blog received an International Ethics & Compliance award for its “contribution to education in the field of compliance and ethics.

As a Senior Editor of the FCPA Blog, I was honored to accept the award on behalf of my fellow editors. For the readers of the blog who were not able to attend the event, I would like to share my acceptance speech. I believe it genuinely reflects the sentiments of my FCPA Blog colleagues and the pride we share as editors of the blog.

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Thank you to the SCCE for this wonderful honor. On behalf of my colleagues at the FCPA Blog, I am so proud to be here tonight to accept this award. The FCPA Blog would not be possible without the hard work of my fellow editors, who regularly write about the important anti-corruption, ethics and compliance issues of the day.

And while my fellow editors should certainly be thanked for their extensive contributions, I’d be remiss if I did not say that a large measure of this blog’s success is due to the support and dedication of our many readers, commenters and guest bloggers.

We pride ourselves on the diverse and unique viewpoints that are represented on our blog. And we firmly believe that these important conversations have not only served as a resource to the ethics and compliance community, but also as an impetus for change.

So on behalf of my fellow editors, I thank you for your continued contributions to the blog.

Finally, I could not stand up here and accept this award without thanking Dick Cassin — the founder, publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog. He wouldn’t want me to spend any time mentioning him or his accomplishments. But given that he’s not here tonight, I am going to do just that.

The FCPA Blog would not be possible without the foresight, creativity, and hard work of Dick Cassin. It was the very first FCPA resource on the internet and thanks to his ingenuity and dedication, the FCPA Blog has become the leading online, anti-corruption resource. Dick’s vision — to offer regular, digestible news updates for free — has enabled readers across the globe to contribute to these important conversations. And while tonight, the SCCE is recognizing the FCPA Blog, we all know that they are also recognizing Dick Cassin’s extraordinary contributions to ethics and compliance.

Thank you.

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Jessica Tillipman (pictured above) is a Senior Editor of the FCPA Blog and Assistant Dean at The George Washington Univeristy Law School. You can follow her on Twitter at @jtillipman.