National Azbee Award Winners Announced

Top honors go to Restaurants & Institutions, The Scientist, Computerworld.com, Network World.

Magazines of the Year: The Scientist and Restaurants & Institutions were Magazines of the Year in the under-80,000 and 80,000-plus circulation categories, respectively.

ASBPE’s 30th annual Azbee Awards of Excellence were celebrated July 24 at the Intercontinental Hotel on the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Mo. The banquet was part of the ASBPE National Editorial Conference,

Taking top honors were Magazines of the Year The Scientist and Restaurants & Institutions; Web Site of the Year Computerworld.com, and Multi-Platform Presentation winner Network World.

30th Anniversary Awards

As part of its 30th Azbee Awards of Excellence celebration, ASBPE also named the top business-to-business magazines since 2000 and the top five B2B Web sites since 2002. IDG swept all three categories, with CIO and CSO tops in the magazine category (for 80,000-or-more circulation and under 80,000, respectively). CIO.com was chosen as the top web site. The editors of the winning publications put together a short video highlighting some of the reasons for their success, which was shown at the banquet.

See the video on Facebook.

FleetOwner’s David Cullen

Stephen Barr Award

For the sixth year, ASBPE also presented an award to an individual editor for feature writing. The Stephen Barr Award went to David Cullen for his role as coordinator of FleetOwner’s August 2007 feature “Fuel: Diesel and Beyond.” Said the judges: “The writing was distinctive in its clarity. And it provided a real service for its readers … by explaining the pros and cons of the different alternatives available to an industry that lives or dies on the price of the fuel.”

Abe Peck

Lifetime Achievement Award

At a luncheon earlier in the day, Northwestern University professor and editorial consultant Abe Peck was presented with ASBPE’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Accepting the award, Peck reminded the audience of the importance the in-depth reporting done by business publications. He noted that a recent article about the failure of the electrical grid in Iraq taught him more about the problems facing our government there than any of the mainstream news articles he has read.

Follow the links below for full details on the award winners, including more in-depth profiles of Abe Peck and David Cullen.

About the Competition

Want to know what the 2008 categories and entry criteria were?
Download the entry form.

Questions?

Wondering about Awards of Excellence judging, contest rules, or anything else?

Get answers to Frequently Asked Questions about the awards.

ASBPE’s 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.

The top entries nationwide receive national awards. 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 circulation divisions: under 80,000 and 80,000 or more. 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
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

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:

• 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:

• 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.

Free Membership Award

Look, too, at the nonmonetary rewards that come with winning a national ASBPE Gold. Named winners will receive free ASBPE membership for the next year, a $75 value. In the case of a current member, the year’s free membership will take effect upon expiration of current membership.

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. applicaants 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.

A call for nominations/applications goes out around the beginning of each year. 2008 Young Leaders Scholarship winners have been announced.

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, 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:

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American Society of Business Publication Editors
214 North Hale St.
Wheaton, IL 60187
(630) 510-4588
Fax: (630) 510-4501
info@asbpe.org