We all know it’s often the people behind the scenes who make things happen, and sometimes those people don’t get the credit or recognition they deserve. I’m not going to make that mistake.
The media planner for this magazine, which gives advertisers and media buyers all the information they need to know more about our audience/readers, has won a silver EXCEL Award from Association Media and Publishing in the Promotional Content category. The EXCEL Awards are the largest and most prestigious program recognizing excellence and leadership in association media, publishing, marketing and communication.
Our media planner was judged on everything from the quality and effectiveness of the writing and content, to the quality of design and graphic unity. Craig Wood (pictured), the artistic genius who designs this magazine, is to be given full credit for creating the eye-catching layouts that helped us win the award. (His work on AWCI’s centennial celebration book also won the same award a few years ago.) Brent Stone, who retired last month, was our advertising guru who gathered the data presented in the planner and wrote the scintillating copy. Both men deserve recognition for making sure AWCI products are award-worthy. Kudos to you both!
And kudos to the AWCI member contractors who offered excellent advice for keeping projects on time and on budget for our article on page 22. This piece is longer than usual because our members had a lot of advice to give. Discussions include important contract language and early involvement in planning, lessons learned from COVID-19, overtime, labor and material woes and more. It is articles like these that remind me (as if I need to be reminded) how hard you all work and how much stress you endure. You’re a tough, admirable bunch!
Finally, you’ve seen the magazine’s cover, so you know this is our annual buyers’ guide of AWCI member manufacturers. I like President Vap’s idea (page 5) to make contact with at least two manufacturers. How hard is that? I can’t see a downside to taking his advice; it can possibly result in a very good connection. In the end, everyone is a winner!
