I'll be seeking redemption Wednesday night at the WTIA's 14th annual Industry Achievement Awards. For the past three years, I've  attempted (with mixed results) to pick the winners at the high-tech awards gala. As some of you may remember -- and I am trying to forget -- last year's picks were pretty dismal. I got skunked, missing all six.

Obviously, there's plenty of room for improvement. But the prediction business got a little tougher this year. For the first time, the WTIA opened the voting process up to the community. Now, rather than trying to figure out the judges, I have to guage the mood of the entire community.

Still, I am feeling good about my picks, which you can see below. Let me know how you think I'll do.

Consumer Product or Service of the Year: This is a tough category with three strong contenders: Picnik, Pet Holdings and Wetpaint. Last year, I went with Picnik and lost. Is it worth placing another bet on the online photo site?

Normally, I would factor in last year's snub. But online voters don't care about that. Pet holdings' I Can Has Cheezburger is the dark horse --- or should we say cat -- with its fast-growing collection of humor Web sites. But while the profitable operator of Fail Blog and Engrish Funny has a cult following, its story is not widely known in the Seattle tech community.

Wetpaint could set up a wiki to promote its nomination, utilizing social media tools to spread the word.

This is a tough pick, but I think Jonathan Sposato's Picnik squeaks out a win.

Commercial Product or Service of the Year: One of the drawbacks of an online voting system is that bigger companies have an inherent advantage. With larger staffs, they can simply encourage employees to stuff the ballot box. (Now, I am not saying anyone would do that, would they?)

Given that, I think Inrix and Visible Technologies have an uphill battle against the much larger, publicly-traded Concur Technologies. As of last September, Concur employed 932 people. So, even if 10 percent of its workforce cast a ballot, I think that would be enough to push them over the top. Anyway, Concur could use a shot of good news after what's being dubbed "Diploma-Gate."

Service Provider of the Year: I am going to use the same logic as above, picking the bigger of the three nominees. That means The Cobalt Group -- with its online marketing tools for auto dealers -- will beat out AdReady and Azaleos. Anyway, doesn't the American auto industry need something to cheer?

Best use of Technology in the Government, Non-profit or Educational Sector: This is always my clueless category. I have no idea.  In years past, I usually take a wild guess and just cross my fingers. This year, however, I watched the videos of the thee entrants: eCityGov Alliance; Snohomish County Planning & Development Services; South Sound Health Communication Network.

Got to say, I liked Michael McCrary's pitch for the Snohomish County mobile dispatching service. Plus, I loved how they illustrated the power of the technology by showing a building inspector doing work at home while eating cereal. 

Technology Innovator of the Year: Matthew Parks at Visto is at a severe disadvantage since he didn't have a video pitch on the WTIA Web site's online ballot. That leaves it to up Don Ledford of Vantos and Darrin Massena of Picnik. A 50-50 chance. I am going to pick Massena, which means it will be a big night for Picnik.

Breakthrough Startup of the Year: Seattle's Ontela has been on a major roll in the past few months, nailing contracts with wireless carriers and landing a venture round from telecom giant Ericsson. Plus, Ontela solves a real consumer pain point: moving photos from camera phones to personal computers, Flickr and other photo sites.  It will be tough for the other nominees -- Apptio and LiquidPlanner -- to keep up with that momentum.

I think Ontela's Dan Shapiro -- whose video pitch was fantastic -- has this wrapped up. But I've been wrong before.

Good luck to all involved. And check back here to see how I do after the awards are announced.