To accompany our big announcement that the 2013 SIPAwards are ready to go, I was looking for an appropriate quote. Maybe Mark Twain, I thought, Socrates, Jane Austen. But then I remembered—okay, it’s impossible in today’s culture to forget—that it’s Valentine’s Day. The mission became how to find an all-encompassing quote. No problem, thanks to Dove Chocolate:

“When two hearts race, both win.”

I like that because I feel like everyone who enters the SIPAwards is a winner. Entering serves as a testament to the deep levels of talent that SIPA possesses. It also adds to our overall knowledge center. Judges—esteemed members in the field—read and evaluate your work. Staff and the board get new ideas to discuss at the Conference and to build future webinars and sessions around. I’m looking everything over to see what I should be covering more, and getting new names for member profiles and ideas for SIPAlert Daily and Hotline.

It really is a win-win proposition. To that end, we have added new categories for a total of 22. We’ve broken down the Best Newsletter/Ezine category into 5 sectors, added a Best Sales Campaign, Marketing Launch and Smartphone App, and kept all the traditional categories that SIPA members hang their journalist/publisher hats on. Here they are (descriptions are on the website):

EDITORIAL
The David Swit Award for Best Investigative Reporting
Best Spot News or Single News Story
Best Interpretative or Analytical Reporting
Best Instructional Reporting
Best Scientific Writing or Technical Reporting
Best Blog or Commentary
Best Daily Publication
Best One-Topic Special Publication
Best Newsletter or Ezine (non-daily, 5 categories)
• Financial/Investing
• Public Sector/Government
• Health/Medical/Fitness
• Arts/Travel & Leisure/Sports/Culinary
• Business/Marketing

MARKETING
The Margie Weiner Award for Best Marketing Campaign of the Year
Best Editorial and Marketing Collaboration
Best Marketing Launch for a New Product

BUSINESS/SOCIAL MEDIA
Best Social Media Success Story
Best Use of Video
Rising Star of the Year
Best New or Relaunched Website
Best Sales Campaign of the Year
Best Mobile Smartphone App (Native)

The forms to enter are being finalized and should be posted next week on our new SIPAwards site. The deadline for entries is Friday, April 5. We will also be asking for members to join us in Washington, D.C. for an on-site judging day. This was very successful last year in bringing members together to network and judge the best of the best. Winners will then be announced around the end of April in anticipation of the June 5-7 Annual Conference, where they will be celebrated at an early-evening reception.

Brochures will also be mailed to SIPA member companies. I think we had around 30 companies enter last year for a total of just over 200 entries. We would love to increase that total this year. If you’ve had success with social media or a video, launched a great campaign, published an excellent story, started a new daily, then now is the time to take the credit! Let us know by entering.

There are also other benefits to winning an award. Said this past winner: “Winning after being judged by a jury of your peers is very satisfying in itself, but frankly and perhaps more important, is that the award is a distinction that has helped me build credibility with clients, which is important in this extremely competitive field.”

Remember, you can’t win if you don’t enter. See you at the SIPAwards and have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!

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Ronn Levine began his career as a reporter for The Washington Post and has won numerous writing and publications awards since. Most recently, he spent 12 years at the Newspaper Association of America covering a variety of topics before joining SIPA in 2009 as managing editor. Follow Ronn on Twitter at @RonnatSIPA