By Paul Heney
Past ASBPE National President

When I served as ASBPE’s national president back in the early part of the decade, some the most common calls I’d receive would be right after the annual awards competition. Editors and designers would ask if we could share the judges’ comments on their nonwinning entries. I always felt bad telling them no. The truth was that it was hard enough to have the judges forward us commentary on the winning entries. Adding 2,000+ losing entries to their proverbial plates would have caused most or all of our judges to tell us to pound sand.

In my experience with the Tabbie awards since 2004, I’ve found that the same question still comes up. And it’s a valid one. If a magazine isn’t producing award-winning material, how does the staff — especially on smaller publications — figure out the best way to turn things around?

This led to the idea for TABPI’s Magazine Critique Service, which began in 2006. ASBPE has partnered in the MCS for the past two years. The MCS allows editors to get feedback from some of the most respected editors working in b2b journalism today, and benefit from their colleague-to-colleague analysis of what's working and what can be improved.

The MCS provides objective, outside analyses that can show the decision makers in an organization how to take content to the next level. Magazines participating in the MCS will have three reviewers give detailed feedback on specific editorial and design aspects of the publication. TABPI and ASBPE will provide a report to the editor, who can thoroughly review the results with the editorial and design staff.

The service is a good investment for magazines desiring a revamp or a refresh after years in the industry. Magazines get to ride on the experts' learning and minimize costly trial and error situations. More dynamic editorial and design can equate to more credibility with readers and advertisers, who will recognize the publication as the voice for the industry it covers.

All submissions for the MCS must be received on or about Oct. 1. The average processing time will be eight to 10 weeks from the time materials are received. Complete details on the program, along with a submission form and two sample critiques, are available on the TABPI website, at www.tabpi.org/mcs as well as at the ASBPE website.

Paul J. Heney is editorial director for Questex Media's Hotel Group, which includes Hotel & Motel Management, Hotel Design, and Luxury Hotelier. A member of the ASBPE Cleveland Chapter board, Heney served as national president of ASPBE from 1999-2003. He is also president of TABPI, an international b2b think tank that promotes b2b journalism and professionalism.

Labels: Azbee Awards, Media Industry Awards, Paul Heney, Tabbie Awards, TABPI

By Roy Harris
Past President ASBPE National

Awards: Don't win 'em, and you drive your management crazy. Win 'em—or, heaven forbid, win too many! —and you open yourself to charges that you're somehow in bed with the prize-judging system.

Matt Kinsman suggests in his April Folio: magazine Reality Check column, "No Love for the Little Guy" that there's such hanky-panky going on in award programs like the Ellies (National Magazine Awards) and Neals (Jesse H. Neal Awards, from American Business Media.) Some of it may be unintentional, reflecting how Gotham-centric the programs are, for example. Matt tallies 78 New York-based Ellie finalists, with only 50 coming from "elsewhere." Pretty amazing.

And then there's the corollary issue: "Them what has, gets." From a MarketWatch piece delicately titled "Why the National Magazine Awards Are a Crock," Matt quotes Jon Friedman. "Two words neatly sum up the selection of the nominees and winners: popularity contest," Friedman writes. He then further suggests that the industry would be better off if Ellies were determined by "something more relevant, such as a magazines' primary subject."

The Folio: discussion—which, by the way, excluded mention of Folio:'s own Eddies and Ozzies — got me to thinking. Having headed up ASBPE's Azbee Awards of Excellence as national VP for two years, and later overseeing the program as national president until last year, I had to handle plenty of complaints. Most related to second-guessing the judges. But other gripes did indeed target the seeming concentration of awards each year in a relative few publishing-company hands. We take such concerns very seriously.

My own conclusion about the program over the years, however: whatever their shortcomings, the Azbees are dedicated to honoring as wide a variety of work, and worthy publications, as possible.

For one thing, we give so many awards — 20 categories in print editorial alone, and each of those categories divided into large and small magazines — that more publications simply have a chance. (And digital awards, of course, are now our fastest-growing area.) Beyond that, for most award categories we give regional recognition across four regions, making sure that excellent work from around the U.S. gets its day in the sun. And, by the way, we work hard to make sure that our judges represent a diverse variety of large and small publications.

Diverse judging carries through to the Magazine of the Year and Web Publication of the Year, which along with our Stephen Barr Award for feature writing are ASBPE's most prestigious honors.

Are there problems with the Azbees? Of course. Lots of them. And many issues stem from the program's very expansiveness. One frequent complaint: The sheer volume of prizes not only leads the national and regional award programs to drag on (it couldn't be the hosts, of course!), but also tends to make individual Gold, Silver, and Bronze seem less precious.

My personal response to that charge is that the Azbees have managed, by carefully monitoring the process, not to cheapen the honor of a prize. I'm extremely proud of the stories I've written and edited that have won Azbees. (I'm especially proud of one "East Regional Bronze" because it was for a story I had to fight to get in my magazine, and turned out well against all odds.) Besides, the new acrylic plaques are downright neat.

Harris is senior editor at CFO magazine.

Labels: Azbee Awards, Media Industry Awards, Roy Harris

Think you're creative? You have two days to prove it by entering the TABPI Design Challenge, sponsored by Trade Association Business Publications International. The challenge is to design a cover for a hypothetical issue of an imaginary magazine, Concrete Times. The reward is $250 for the overall winner. The challenge is open to all B2B art directors and designers.

The TABPI Design challenge deadline is this Friday, Feb. 29.

Also looming is the deadline for TABPI's Tabbie Awards. This international awards competition is open to trade, association and business magazines published at least four times per year, completely or partially in English. Magazines must accept paid advertising. This year TABPI has added a new web category, Online Feature. (Online entries don't need an associated print publication, but they must be b2b-oriented and accept advertising.)

Entries for the Tabbies must be submitted by Wednesday, March 5.

Labels: Design, Editing, International Media, Martha Spizziri, Media Industry Awards, Tabbie Awards, TABPI