"No matter how long you've been in this business, you always want to be a learner. And this is an opportunity for personal and professional growth for me—an opportunity to network with some of the most incredible leaders in this country. It's like bringing the publication of Education Week into 3D. It's brought it to life for me."

“Video is where we play best on this event,” said Dan Hanover, VP of Access Intelligence, at the June SIPA Conference. “Our attendees eat with their eyes. So rather than market this event from the beginning as a traditional event with brochures and copy, we do all video marketing.” Hanover was referring to EVENTtech, their Las Vegas-based, mega-conference and exposition on using social media and technology to optimize live experiences. Attendance is up, and video marketing is a huge reason why. He then showed the 81-second video that drove their marketing—and won their group a 2016 SIPAward for Best Use of Video. “Who’s not gonna want to go that event?” Hanover asked after it played. He pointed out that the video “has content from the awards our readers submit as well as content from our actual event the year before.” The faces in the video make a strong impression because of this. (Matt Bailey and Amy Af ...

This article begins a new series spotlighting many of the 2016 SIPAward winners. (A list of all the winners appears on the SIPA website.) In addition to the 26 first places, SIPA named 53 runners-up and honorable mentions. Winning a 2016 SIPAward was especially impressive given that there were a record 228 entries, and the judging was conducted by a specially chosen group of industry peers. 

“It is hard to overstate how antiquated AHC Media’s previous website was,” wrote Lee Landenberger, continuing education & editorial director for AHC Media. “Launched in 2006, the site was mainly a shopping cart for customers to buy products from.” In addition, access to editorial content was limited, and visitors using mobile devices saw only a fraction of the site on their screens. “The site was expensive and unwieldy to maintain for AHC Media staff and a considerable frustration for customers to use,” Landenberg added. The 2016 first-place SIPAward winner for Best New or Relaunched Website, AHC Media found their site-groove last year and has the numbers to prove it. From July 2014 to July 2015, page views and users visiting the site increased fivefold. The sessions initiated during this period increased 400%. And revenue from customers on the site significantly increased. AHC Media is a medical education company with pu ...

Content Standard published a story earlier this month headlined, "Why Investigative Journalism Should Be Part of Your Content Strategy," by Keith MacKenzie. He argues that the impact of investigative journalism, both on the issue and your bottom line, makes it worth putting in the resources.

"Having a feel for technology and enjoying good storytelling are not mutually exclusive, and one thing we've come to learn about our readers is that they love a good story. This is especially true of stories concerning SAP technology that can bring a common business challenge to life without bogging the reader down with technical jargon." —Lauren Bonneau, managing editor, insiderPROFILES, Wellesley Information Services, a UCG company, in her description of the article, "Merci! Montreal Transit Company Thanks Riders With Mobile App" - an award-winning entry in last year's SIPAwards

It's awards season, and entries are now open for the 2016 SIPAwards! We may not have a red carpet, but we do have the glitz and glamour of revenue-generating ideas, enlightening articles, and innovative publications. The most popular categories remain intact, and we've added new ones like Best Interview or Profile, Best Use of Video and Best New or Relaunched Website.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal just won the Sidney Award for unmasking the shadowy buyer of their own newspaper. Impressive. But in 1980—the first year of what has now become the SIPAwards—Paul Warren, then the editor/publisher of Television Digest (now chairman and publisher of Warren Communications News) won the Investigative Reporting award with a similar unmasking. He wrote a series of stories uncovering Nixon administration attempts to control the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and "correct a liberal bias" at CPB.

The 2016 SIPAwards is gearing up, bigger and better than ever; categories and entry rules will be posted in January. Here are takeaways from eight articles I wrote this year about 2015 SIPAward winners—and the links to those articles.  more