'Tis the season to be ... honored for your contribution to the world of technology and computers. There's a Hall of Fame for just about every field of personal or professional endeavor. Professional athletes and rock musicians have well known Halls of Fame, of course, but that's merely the tip of the Hall of Fame iceberg. There's a Hall of Fame for Hell's Angels, an entrepreneurship Hall of Fame, and even a Hall of Fame for lumberjacks. (Anyone know whether that thing actually got built?) So it only makes sense that there should be a Hall of Firm for giants of information technology. And you don't even have to be Bill Gates or Steve Jobs to get in.

That's easily verifiable, because just this year, Susan Kare and Robert Faletra got inducted and, well, those two are no Larry Ellison or Michael Dell. (Kare designed typfaces and icons for Apple's Macintosh OS back in the day, while Faletra is a noted tech executive.) The IT Hall of Fame is curated by IT industry association CompTIA, which is currently seeking nominees for induction in 2015. So if your know of someone who qualifies for induction, well, a nomination would be a much nicer means of wishing them a happy holiday season than that antique nutcracker you were planning to wrap up in foil-lined paper and a nice big bow. And you can still give the nutcracker to Great Aunt Daisy Mae.

There are two branches of the IT Hall of Fame, one for notable IT innovators, and one for distinguished IT channel executives (that is to say, leading officers of companies that play some role in bridging the IT channel, which is the figurative gap between technology producers and end users). To qualify for induction as an innovator, an individual must be a creator or co-creator of a major technological innovation, as well as a respected member of the industry. To qualify for induction as a channel executive, an individual must have made an outstanding contribution to the channel, or be responsible for providing outstanding channel service.

CompTIA CEO Todd Thibodeaux said in a press release announcing the start of the Hall of Fame nominating period that celebrating the accomplishments of innovators and executives provides a reminder of the spirit of innovation and industry that makes IT special. "The IT Hall of Fame is the who’s who of the IT industry, representing those individuals who have had, and in many cases continue to have a powerful and lasting impact on our industry," Thibodeaux said.

Nominees for the 2015 IT Hall of Fame must have been retired from the position for which they are being nominated for at least two years, but can still be active in the industry. Inductees are selected from the pool of nominees by an independent selection committee of industry leaders. Nominations for 2015 IT Hall of Fame consideration can be submitted online through Jan. 13. New inductees will be honored at the CompTIA Annual Member meeting, March 24-26 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.