The Best of Times Receives 15 National Awards at Annual National Publishers Convention

The Best of Times, a free monthly newsmagazine for mature adults in Northwest Louisiana, received fifteen (15) national awards, including the coveted first place award in the “Best of Show” category at the 2011 annual meeting of the North American Mature Publishers Association (NAMPA) recently held in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Senior publications were judged in a variety of categories by an independent panel of experts from the renowned University of Missouri School of Journalism, which is generally considered one of the top journalism schools in the world.

The judges noted: “The switch to magazine quality stock paper from newsprint is a considerable improvement in and of itself. But the editors of this publication also took the opportunity to initiate other improvements into their publication. The layout is crisper with more judicious use of white space; photo content is stronger and used to their best advantage. The overall results are a much more readable and user-friendly magazine.”

The Best of Times received twelve (12) first place and three (3) second place awards:

First Place Awards:

Best of Show

Most Improved

Column Review

Senior Issue

Briefs and Shorts (Editorial)

Travel Column

Front Cover Design Photo

Table of Contents

Briefs and Shorts (Design)

Best Single Ad in Color

Self Promotional Ad

Website Promotional Ad

Second Place Awards:

Urgent Senior Issue

Feature Layout

Overall Design

“We are indeed proud and honored to have won so many awards from such a respected and prominent group of judges,” noted Editor Tina Calligas. “Many thanks to the tireless efforts of our talented staff and contributors who strive to make each and every issue better than the one before.”

“What a great honor to have won the “Best of Show” award in addition to the 14 other awards in various categories, especially during the celebration of the 10^th anniversary of our publication,” noted publisher Gary Calligas. “The panel of independent judges had many excellent senior and boomer newsmagazines to consider for these coveted awards. We truly appreciate all of our writers, contributors, graphic designers, advertisers and readers who made these prestigious national awards possible.”