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The 2010 TRENDS All-Media Contest was again a success, generating 447 entries from 158 organizations with \u00c2\u00a087 gold, silver and bronze honors across 27 categories.<\/p>\n
Judges were instructed to look at each piece in their assigned catagories and evaluate:<\/p>\n
Some categories were tight: the difference between the top and bottom entries was less than five points in some cases.\u00c2\u00a0 Others were clearly delineated between fantastic and underwhelming with close competition at the top, and still others saw multiple run-offs within the category.\u00c2\u00a0 What is it that the winning entries were able to do better than the others, and what can those that didn\u2019t win do differently for next year?\u00c2\u00a0 The judges\u2019 comments were reviewed to highlight the good, the bad and the well, not so pretty, in hopes of providing some insight into how decisions were made and some applicable points to improve your communications pieces.<\/p>\n
The good<\/strong><\/p>\n The need for quality content cannot be overstressed.\u00c2\u00a0 In any distributed piece, be it a trade magazine, annual report, or magnet, copy is the preeminent factor, and should be clear, concise, well-written and most importantly, accurate.\u00c2\u00a0 Check and check again for typos and grammar slips.\u00c2\u00a0 One judge particularly appreciated \u201cemphasis [on] excellent writing and organization by topics and interests.\u201d<\/p>\n The judges showed an overwhelming appreciation for graphics and quality photographs (especially of leadership and member engagement), as well as creative use of font and backgrounds.\u00c2\u00a0 One judge found out, \u201cSmart is sexy,\u201d commenting on the exquisite use of colors and \u201cclever font and graphic usage.\u201d Particularly striking was a subtly Celtic-looking font used in headers of a story about Irish culture.<\/p>\n In formats that allowed for mixed media, the judges appreciated a mix of interactive pieces: video, blog posts, standing information and new content.\u00c2\u00a0 Clean, easy to navigate communications were prevalent among the winning entries.\u00c2\u00a0 One judge commented, \u201cIn sum, the report is as practical and as neat as an anesthesiologist\u2019s gown and as sharp as the needle he or she may have to use.\u201d\u00c2\u00a0 Wow.<\/p>\n The bad<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cOur industry is under fire,\u201d or \u201ctimes are hard but we\u2019re here for you\u201d messages were not favorites among the judges.\u00c2\u00a0 Drawing attention to negative aspects of the industry is not the best use of communications dollars; plenty of other media will cover those issues.\u00c2\u00a0 Instead, judges appreciated \u201cfree trial\u201d membership promotions and communications that clearly spelled out membership benefits, shedding positive light on what could easily be a more negative focus.<\/p>\n In promotional materials, it is best to avoid redundancy in the name of \u201cexpert\u201d opinions.\u00c2\u00a0 Similarly, unnecessarily lengthy articles were dismissed as \u201cfillers.\u201d<\/p>\n Content that is \u201csimply straightforward,\u201d while informative, is not compelling, and should be evaluated to see how it could be spiced up.\u00c2\u00a0 To go to the time and expense to produce these publications, make sure to deliver good, strong content to ensure readers will appreciate the effort the organization has put into the piece.\u00c2\u00a0 Be careful not to lose the audience to boredom!<\/p>\n The not-so-pretty<\/strong><\/p>\n Some font selections were difficult to read, or did not make sense with a category. \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0This year, as in previous years, clutter was a prevalent concern of the judges.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0Conversely, excessive white space and unnecessarily large fonts were noted as negatives on several occasions as well.<\/p>\n Over-used artistic flourishes can make a publication appear too \u201cbusy,\u201d and detract from the message.\u00c2\u00a0 It is best to use a clean, seamless layout while accentuating detail.\u00c2\u00a0 Judges find that magazine layouts tend to be over-designed, disjointed, or \u201cboring or cookie cutter-looking,\u201d and really appreciated truly innovative, creative and clean layouts.<\/p>\n Bonus: The make-you-say-\u201chmmm\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n One judge said, \u201cThe days of costly printed reports are all but over.\u201d \u00c2\u00a0In lieu of a printed annual report, the International Institute of Food Technologists uses its Web site to present a 24-page report covering a full range of activities around the globe.\u00c2\u00a0 This cost-effective solution allows the information to be distributed to a wide audience, and is one that every association should consider.<\/p>\n Some publications were able to integrate calls to action, either through pre-written letters to elected officials or PSAs around an issue of interest to the association.\u00c2\u00a0 This helped transform the association\u2019s publication from just interesting and informative to able to useful and politically engaged.<\/p>\n Beyond just creative layouts, creative shapes were appreciated.\u00c2\u00a0 Die-cut and otherwise distinctively shaped publications and promotional pieces are worth considering.\u00c2\u00a0 If nothing else, they will get noticed by recipients.<\/p>\n While a great deal of attention to a printed editorial calendar, with clearly defined advertising specs and deadlines, is not often considered, one publication won gold honors thanks, in part, to its \u201cone of the \u2014 if not the best \u2014 editorial calendars with clear information on deadlines and content.\u201d<\/p>\n The 2010 All-Media Contest winners will be honored at the Salute to Association Excellence, Feb. 23, at the Capital Hilton Hotel, Washington. All winning entries, shown in the TRENDS Gallery online, will be on display. Register now:\u00c2\u00a0www.AssociationTRENDS.com\/Salute<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The 2010 TRENDS All-Media Contest was again a success, generating 447 entries from 158 organizations with \u00c2\u00a087 gold, silver and bronze honors across 27 categories. Judges were instructed to look at each piece in their assigned catagories and evaluate: appearance \u2014 printing, paper, colors, overall impression of quality; layout\u2014 arrangement of articles or materials, headlines, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":5,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2802","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.associationtrends.com\/gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.associationtrends.com\/gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.associationtrends.com\/gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.associationtrends.com\/gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.associationtrends.com\/gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2802"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.associationtrends.com\/gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2805,"href":"https:\/\/www.associationtrends.com\/gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2802\/revisions\/2805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.associationtrends.com\/gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}