Vail Daily wins sweepstakes award in state press association contest

The Vail Daily won 26 awards, 15 of them for first place, in the Colorado Press Association’s 2021 Better News Media Contest. The awards, spanning advertising, editorial, photography and design, earned the Vail Daily the sweepstakes award for Class 2 among similar-sized publications during Saturday’s awards ceremony at Coors Field in Denver.

Members of the Michigan Press Association judged the 2021 contest.

“I am proud of the work our team does every day to serve readers, advertisers, community organizations and each other,” said Vail Daily Publisher Mark Wurzer. “While we don’t do what we do to win awards it is gratifying to see our work across news, advertising, promotion and classifieds recognized by peers.”

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“It feels good to see all the hard work we did in such a challenging stretch be recognized,” said Vail Daily Editor Nate Peterson. “I especially loved the judge’s comments for our Shining Through series on the first year of the pandemic, which took home second place for Best Series or Sustained coverage. They called it ‘a true staff-wide effort to bring light in darkness. The broad coverage and depth of these articles shows a fierce commitment to community.’ That’s us, always — fiercely committed to our community.”

Here are the results from Saturday’s CPA awards:

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Best Advertising Campaign 

First Place     

Mark Bricklin: Minturn Country Club                    

Second Place 

Kasha Dunne: CMC Classes             

Best Advertising Special Section     

First Place     

Wren Bova, Dominique Taylor, Carly Arnold, Mark Bricklin: Vail Daily EAT magazine

The judges said: “Beautiful section. Fonts, photos, use of white space are all top of the line. Information presented in a clean, simple-but-sophisticated manner. Outstanding!”        

Best Classified Pages or Sections    

First Place     

Christine Holaday-Schriock, Dennel Rivera: Vail Daily Saturday Classified Section

The judges said: “Well done. Lots of information presented cleanly.”         

Best News Media/House Ad Promotion    

First Place     

Halie Heidkamp: Vail Daily Source/Chairlift                     

Second Place 

Halie Heidkamp: Vail Daily Live      

Best Print Ad

First Place

Hattie Rensberry: Engle & Volkers             

Second Place 

Kasha Dunne: Colorado Mountain College                       

Best Business News/Feature Story

Second Place 

Carolyn Paletta: How Bonfire Brewing went out: Inside the shutdown of the beloved Eagle business        

The judges said: “A harrowing account of a business partnership gone very wrong.”           

Best Editorial Writing          

First Place     

Nate Peterson, Mark Wurzer, Sean Naylor, Scott Miller, Pam Boyd: Vail Daily editorials       

Best Education Story           

First Place     

Ali  Longwell: Staffing challenges exacerbate child care crisis in Eagle County                  

Best Headline Writing         

First Place     

Nate Peterson 

The judges said: “They speak for themselves, eye-catching, and true to the story.”

Best Humorous Column Writing    

First Place     

Andrea Chacos 

The judges said: “Columns from the home front are often the best in any group, since readers can easily identify with the situation. And dealing with 3 kids at home during a pandemic? Priceless. Great writing.”       

Best Series or Sustained Coverage 

Second Place 

Nate Peterson, John LaConte, Scott Miller, Pam Boyd, Tom Lotshaw: Shining Through: Finding light in a pandemic         

The judges said: “A true staff-wide effort to bring light in darkness. The broad coverage and depth of these articles shows a fierce commitment to community.”         

Best Serious Column Writing          

First Place     

Jay Wissot

The judges said: “Well researched, organized, and written. Incredible work sharing your point of view. All of the work submitted in this category was truly excellent.

Second Place 

Nate Peterson

The judges said: “Really amazing stories being told here. The passion is clear. The writing is strong. Great work. All of the work submitted in this category was truly excellent.”

Best Cover Design    

First Place     

Wren Bova: Vail Dance                    

Second Place 

Malisa Samsel, Wren Bova, Dominique Taylor: Vail Valley HOME                      

Best Informational Graphic 

First Place     

Amanda Swanson: Pink Vail fundraising              

The judges said: “Tons of information but very easy to understand and pleasing to view.”

Second Place 

Amanda Swanson: Mental Abuse and Substance Abuse in America                 

The judges said: “Again nice work and design, just not as appealing to the eye as the winner.”

Best News Photograph        

Second Place 

Chris Dillmann: Let it burn             

Best Page Design

First Place     

Amanda Swanson: Bonfire anniversary    

The judges said: “The color and amount of color as a part of the design fits into the theme of the photos and story. All three elements are well balanced. The eye navigates the page quickly with attention easily given to each segment. Very well done.”        

Second Place 

Amanda Swanson: Van life 

The judges said: “The use of the images, and the variety of shapes they’re displayed, is excellently done. The header works, and the story and photo captions fit well.”       

Best Photo Slideshow- Gallery or Photo Essay      

First Place     

Chris Dillmann: A spirited partnership

The judges said: “The first photo told the real story, the rest of the shots just supported the story. Excellent work.”

Second Place 

Chris Dillmann: Under the big tent           

The judges said: “This series captured the thrills of what circus shows are all about. It does not have to be big, just exciting.”

Best Photography Portfolio 

First Place     

Chris Dillmann

The judges said: “Stunning photos; a very keen eye.”