I am pleased to announce that the Washington, DC-Baltimore Chapter's website won a 2015 APEX® Award for Publication Excellence in the category of "Websites – 1-2 Person-Produced". Information about the competition is available at https://apexawards.com/.

[See the Awards page for information about our previous APEX awards for the 2014 APEX® Award for Publication Excellence in the category of "WordPress Sites", 2009 APEX® Grand Award Winner in the "Web & Intranet Sites; Nonprofit Small Office" category, and won a 2005 APEX® Award for Publication Excellence in the category of “Web & Intranet Site Content & Writing”.]

The Twenty-Seventh Annual Awards for Publication Excellence, APEX 2015, is a competition for communications professionals. The awards are based on excellence in graphic design, editorial content, and the success of the entry in achieving overall communications effectiveness and excellence. APEX awards of Excellence recognize exceptional entries in each of the individual categories. A total of 1,851 entries were evaluated. Of those entries, 82 APEX Grand Awards were presented to honor outstanding work in 11 major categories; and 749 APEX Awards of Excellence recognize exceptional entries in 100 individual categories.

This year, 1,851 entries were evaluated, in the following distribution:
Newsletters: 139; Magazines, Journals & Tabloids: 390; Annual Reports: 49; Print Media: 120; Electronic Media: 165; Social Media: 76; Websites: 122; Campaigns, Programs & Plans: 135; Writing: 365; Design & Illustration: 212; One-of-a-Kind Publications: 78.

A list of the winning entries is available from APEX 2015 Winners List (pdf). Grand Award winners are listed by main category. Award of Excellence winners are listed within each subcategory, alphabetically by organization, or by last name for individual entrants.

Several STC members won awards of Excellence in various subcategories. If you are a winner and you are an STC member, let us know so we can promote your win!

Grand Award

• One-of-a-Kind Custom-Published Publications: STC 2013-14 Salary Database – Rick O'Sullivan, Society for Technical Communication, Fairfax, Virginia

Awards of Excellence

• Magazines, Journals & Tabloids – Writing: – Liz Pohland, Society for Technical Communication, Fairfax, Virginia
• Newsletters Electronic & Email: – Rick Sapir, STC Carolina Chapter, Raleigh, North Carolina
• Newsletters Electronic & Email: – Linda Kelley, STC Chicago Chapter, Elmhurst, Illinois
• Newsletters 1-2 Person-Produced: – Denise Harlow Timpko, Broadlands, Virginia
• Social Media – Best Series of Blog Posts: – Julie Waxgiser, Nitza Hauser, Wee Shufti, STC NY Metro Chapter, New York, NY
• Websites 1-2 Person-Produced: – Cynthia A. Lockley and Bonnie S. Driggers, Botanical Artists for Education & the Environment, Adelphi, Maryland
• Websites 1-2 Person-Produced: – Cynthia A. Lockley, Society for Technical Communication, Washington, DC-Baltimore Chapter, Adelphi, Maryland
• Websites 1-2 Person-Produced: – Rick Sapir, STC Technical Editing SIG, Selma, North Carolina

Congratulations to all winners!