Azbee Awards
of Excellence
2010 Print Azbees now closed to entries.
2010 Print Azbee Awards
the Print Azbee Awards of Excellence are now closed to entries; the deadline was extended to Feb. 1. Entries are now being processed.
Rule Changes for 2010
ASBPE has made a change in the basic
divisions of the 2010 annual Print Azbees Awards of Excellence
contest.
Instead of being circulation-based, the awards will be
revenue-based.
There will also be some changes to the
categories.
Learn more about the Azbee Award changes
for 2010.
2009 Digital Azbee Award Results
BusinessWeek takes Web Site of the Year
award; see slide show of winners.
The winners of the 2009 Digital Azbee
Awards have been announced. BusinessWeek was named the
Web Site of the Year; CIO, InfoWorld, and TechRepublic
earned honorable mentions. Today's Garden Center won the
Multi-Platform Gold Award.
You can see screen shots of all the winners in this slide show from the awards banquet. Click a slide to go to the web site shown.
Download the list of winners in all 28 categories here (64K Word doc.)
More about the Web Site of the Year and Multi-Platform award winners.
Web Site of the Year Case Study:
BusinessWeek: Audience engagement boosts traffic
About the Digital Azbees
The Digital Azbees has a total of 28 categories to choose from. Among the 16 categories new to this year’s competition:
- Best Use of Social Media
Reporting Techniques.
- Microsite/Special Section.
- Blog-Analysis/Commentary.
- Slide Show.
- Widget.
Other categories include:
- Web Site of the Year
- Multi-Platform General Excellence
- New Web Site
- Members-/Subscribers-Only Premium Content
- Trade Show/Conference Coverage
- Web Database
- 5 writing categories
- 4 email newsletter categories
- 3 blog categories
- 4 podcast/videocast categories
The the entry form for the 2010 Digital
Azbees will be available around July 1, 2010; the deadline
will be Aug. 1, 2010.
See
2009 awards categories and rules.
2009 Print Azbee Award Winners
Fortune Small Business and The Scientist took honors as the Magazines of the Year in American Society of Business Publication Editors’ 31st Annual Azbee Awards of Excellence. The national awards banquet took place on July 16 during ASBPE’s
two-day National
Editorial Conference at the Marriott
Washington in Washington, D.C.
Two editors, Frank Lessiter and David Silverberg, received individual honor. Lessiter and Silverberg took home, respectively, the Stephen Barr Award for feature writing and the very first Journalism That Matters Award. Dozens of other editorial and design winners were also honored at the banquet.
Read about the award winners.
Downloads:
Regional Azbee Finalists and Winners
See who won regional awards:
Award Logos to Display
Award winners: Want a logo to display in your publication? Email info@asbpe.org. Indicate in your email what award was won:
- magazine, newsletter, or Magazine of the Year.
- editorial or design.
- Gold, Silver, or Bronze.
- under 80,000 circulation or above.
- For magazine editorial or design awards, indicate whether award was regional or national.
Go
to the online awards entry system.
About the Azbee Awards
ASBPE’s
Azbee Awards of Excellence
program is one
of the most competitive there is for business-to-business,
trade, association, and professional publications.
The awards recognize outstanding work
by magazines, newsletters, and digital
media — Web
sites, e-newsletters, digital magazines,
and blogs. The competition
is open to all U.S.-based publications.
ASBPE membership is not required for
entry, but
members will receive a discount
on entry fees.
Separate Print, Digital Awards
In 2009, ASBPE began holding
separate Print and Digital Azbee Awards
programs. The digital awards operate on
a later schedule than the print awards:
The entry deadline for the Print Azbees
is around the beginning of the year; the
Digital Azbees entries are due in late
summer.
The Print Azbee awards
are held in midsummer during ASBPE’s National
Editorial Conference; the ceremony acknowledges
the two Magazine of the Year winners, plus
award winners in dozens of other categories.
The Digital Azbees honor the Web Site of
the Year and the Multi-Platform Presentation
of the Year, and other award winners.
Learn
more about the changes to the competition
for 2009.
Get
a primer on how to win an editorial
award (96K PDF).
For
both the print and digital competitions,
the
top entries nationwide receive
national awards. Print publications
also compete against others
in their own regions, as follows:

Northeast: Connecticut,
Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts,
New Hampshire, New Jersey,
New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode
Island, and Vermont.
Central-Southeast: Washington,
D.C., Florida, Georgia, Maryland,
North Carolina, Ohio, South
Carolina, Virginia, and West
Virginia.
Midwest-South: Alabama,
Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana,
Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana,
Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi,
Missouri, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.
West: Alaska,
Arizona, California, Colorado,
Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Montana,
Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico,
North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon,
South Dakota, Texas, Utah,
Washington, and Wyoming.
Frequently Asked Questions
For
answers to frequently
asked questions about entries
and the competition, please click
here or contact:
ASBPE
Competition
214 N. Hale St.
Wheaton, IL 60187
(630) 510-4588
fax 630-510-4501
info@asbpe.org
About the Judging Process
Experienced judges with
background in business publications read
each editorial, design, Web, newsletter,
and Magazine of the Year entry. Their introduction
to each entry is a required and important
one-page cover letter of 250 words or fewer,
describing the publication’s mission
and readership and discussing both the work
that went into the entry and its significance
to readers.
The following are the general criteria for
judging:
Editorial (and newsletter) judging
— based on quality of writing, reporting and editing; development
of the subject; presentation, and value to readers.
Design judging — layout
and composition; use of typography, graphics and photography;
content; originality; relevance to the related story or publication,
and how easily the entry communicates useful information to the
reader.
Web judging — reporting,
writing, design, usability, readability, organization, value to
readers, interactivity and effective use of online technology.
Magazine of the Year
Top honors
go to the Magazine of the Year in our
two revenue divisions: Small Publications
and Large Publications. The divisions are
based on average revenue among all participating
publications. (More
on the revenue divisions.)
Judging is based
on five criteria:
1) quality of writing,
reporting and editing;
2) value and usefulness
to the reader;
3) editorial organization;
4) interaction with
readers; and
5) layout and
design.
Past winners include
| Year |
Small circulation |
Large circulation |
| 2009 |
The Scientist |
Fortune Small Business |
| 2008 |
The Scientist |
Restaurants & Institutions |
| 2007 |
Public CIO |
Builder |
| 2006 |
CSO |
Computerworld |
| 2005 |
CMO |
Restaurants & Institutions |
| 2004 |
CSO |
Computerworld |
| 2003 |
SQL Server |
CFO |
| 2002 |
HealthLeaders |
CIO |
| 2001 |
Sales & Marketing
Management |
Selling Power |
| 2000 |
Meetings & Conventions |
Selling Power |
| 1999 |
HomeCare |
CIO |
| 1998 |
civic.com |
CFO |
| 1997 |
Best’s Review |
Selling Power |
Journalism That Matters Award
For the first time in 2009, ASBPE presented a new
honor: the Journalism That Matters Award. The award was
inspired by ASBPE’s
book of the same title, which features
case studies of B2B journalists
whose articles brought about change within their
industries. Editors may nominate
themselves or a
deserving
colleague. An entry form for
the Journalism That Matters Award is included in the Azbees entry brochure.
The first winner of the
Journalism That Matters Award was HSToday editor David Silverberg.
Silverberg was honored for his criticism
in the pages of his homeland-security magazine
of the National Football League's unwillingness
to run advertisements mentioning terrorism,
borders, and immigration. After the HSToday articles,
the NFL changed its policy.
More
about the establishment of the Journalism
That Matters Award.
B2B Web Site of the Year
Entries for the B2B Web
Site of the Year category are judged on:
1) the quality
of writing, reporting, and editing
2) value and usefulness
to readers,
3) design,
4) effectiveness in
quick communication of information,
5) navigation ease,
6) interactivity and
community,
7) use of Web technologies
and graphic design to support and add
usefulness to
editorial,
8) legibility and readability,
9) clear distinctions
between editorial and advertising,
10) depth of information,
and
11) information architecture/editorial
organization.
Past winners include
Multi-Platform Presentation
of the Year
The Multi-Platform
(Print and Digital)
category recognizes the coordination of
print and digital media packages
in the presentation of a single topic.
It honors excellence in coordinating print
with digital platforms, e.g. Web sites,
e-newsletters, blogs, Webinars, or podcasts.
Judges examine:
1) coordination of print
and digital media that makes excellent
use of the qualities
of both approaches;
2) the originality in
using the print and digital forms;
3) the journalism;
4) design, information
architecture/editorial organization; and
5) other criteria mentioned
in the Web Site of the Year category.
Stephen Barr Award
This “best
in class” prize, which comes with
a $500 cash award, goes to the individual writer whose work
most reflects inventiveness of approach (and especially use
of narrative style), insightfulness,
balance in the presentation of a complex subject, depth
of investigation, and impact among the community of readers.
Those qualities are among
the those exemplified by Stephen Barr, a
perennial ASBPE excellence-award winner in
his role
as senior
contributing editor of CFO magazine.
Stephen died in 2002, at age 43. The award
is endowed by his family. Past winners include:
-
Frank
Lessiter, editor of American
Farriers Journal, for his four-part series, “Soring,” from
July/August to December 2008.
- David Cullen, for his role as coordinator of FleetOwner’s
August 2007 feature “Fuel: Diesel and Beyond”
- David McClintick, for his feature article “How
Harvard Lost Russia” in Institutional Investor January 2006
- Shabnam
Mogharabi, for her feature series “Minority
Report”
in Aquatics International
- John
Gibeaut, for
two ABA Journal articles,
“The Good Fight
Gets Harder” and
“Open Sentences”
- Adam Minter, for
his three-part series in Scrap magazine,
“Scrap
in China”
Contest entrants don’t
compete directly for the Barr Award. Rather,
a panel of judges will select the “best
in show” among the top feature-writing
categories, identifying the finest example
of writing that displays the qualities Barr’s
work exemplified:
- inventiveness of approach
(and especially use of narrative style),
- insight and balance
in the presentation of a complex subject,
- depth of investigation,
and
- impact among the community
of readers.
Lifetime Achievement Award
Our Lifetime Achievement Award was established
in 2000 to recognize editors who have made significant and lasting
contributions to our editorial profession and to the industries
their magazines serve. Recipients have included:
- Abe Peck, Medill professor, writer, B2B editorial consultant
- Jan White, designer, teacher, and “visual
journalist”;
- Stan
Modic, senior editorial advisor,
columnist,
Nelson Publishing;
- Don
Ranly, professor emeritus,
University of Missouri
School of Journalism;
- Patrick
J. McGovern, founder
and chairman, International Data
Group;
- Dana
Chase Jr., chairman,
Dana Chase Publications, and editorial
director of Appliance magazine;
- Howard
Rauch, editorial consultant;
- Vernon
Henry of Advanstar Communications; and
- Bernie
Knill of Penton Media.
To receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, a
candidate must meet four requirements:
1) Significant
involvement (25 years or more) with business
publications. Nominees need not
currently hold editorial positions, and
may be retired, but ideally will have spent
the bulk of their careers in senior editorial
positions or will have served the industry
in some significant way. Nominees need
not be members of ASBPE. Past nominees
not selected in previous years are encouraged
to reapply.
Please provide the nominee’s current title and employer/business
(if retired, please state such). Provide a brief description
or résumé of the nominee’s job history.
Include dates, job titles, magazines, companies.
2) A commitment
to editorial excellence. This
may be demonstrated by general reputation
of their publication(s); industry-related
awards (e.g., ASBPE Azbees, Neal Awards,
Folio:, Tabbies); internal company awards;
other forms of recognition or other valid
measures of editorial success.
3) A commitment
to the business/professional press. Nominees
should be or should have been involved
in lending their experience and time to
benefit others in the business press. For
example, this may be participation in local
or national business press or related organizations;
corporate or university teaching; mentoring
programs; or significant research or publication
of articles on business press issues.
4) A commitment
to the industry(ies) the nominee’s
publication(s) serve. Examples
might include committee work with trade
or professional associations or standards
groups; frequent speaking engagements at
industry events; significant research or
publication of articles on industry issues;
or significant advocacy work with government
agencies.
The Lifetime Achievement
Award winner will receive the award on the
evening of the awards banquet, where the
honoree also will receive a special tribute
and will
deliver the keynote lecture. The winner’s
name will be announced to the public prior
to the banquet.
A call for nominations
goes out around the beginning of each year. The deadline for nominations was March 1, 2010.
Young Leaders Scholarship
To help young editors who are just starting
their careers, ASBPE started the annual Young Leaders Scholarship
in 2001. The scholarship allows younger editors who might otherwise
be unable to attend the ASBPE
National Conference. It is open to all business editors, including
print and Web.
Scholarships pay the conference
and hotel room costs for up to five U.S.
applicants and two international editors
per year. (U.S. applicants or their publishing
companies are responsible for transportation
to and from the conference, any nonconference
meals, and other incurred costs; international
winners get a stipend toward travel expenses.)
Scholarship recipients also receive a free
one-year
membership to ASBPE if they are not already
members.
Qualifications for the scholarship include the
following:
- Applicant must be 30 years of age or younger.
- Applicant must have worked at least two
years as an editor of a business magazine or the magazine’s
associated Internet publication.
- Candidacy must be sponsored by applicant's
chief editor.
- Applicant must plan to continue in the business
press as a career.
- Applicant may not be a past ASBPE Young
Leaders Scholarship winner.
Nomination forms go
out around the beginning of each year. The deadline for nominations is March 15, 2010.
Download a nomination form (360K PDF).
Tips on Winning Awards
Want
to know how some publications manage to consistently
take home multiple awards? You can increase your chances
of earning awards — either in the Azbees or other competitions — by
proper planning and entry selection.
Learn
how with our Tip Sheet, “Secrets to Winning Azbee
Awards.”
At a webinar in
December 2007, attendees got the inside
scoop on how to win an Azbee award from
top editors at Hanley Wood and IDG, which
have garnered numerous editorial and design
awards.
The presentation included:
- How and why the editors chose the articles
they entered;
- What the awards have meant to the winners’ careers
and to their publications;
- How to build award potential into the
articles you write and edit; and
- How to apply the standards of editorial
competitions to your day-to-day work.
Presenters:
- Don Tennant, vice president
and editorial director of Computerworld and InfoWorld.
- Boyce Thompson is the
editorial director of the Builder, Multifamily, and Technology
groups of magazines published by Hanley
Wood, LLC.
ASBPE members may download presenter
Boyce Thompson’s slides:
American
Society of Business Publication Editors
214 North Hale St.
Wheaton, IL 60187
(630) 510-4588
Fax: (630) 510-4501
info@asbpe.org |