Best AAW Chapter Newsletter Contest

The time has arrived and the judging has been done. It is time to announce the winners of the AAW Chapter Newsletter contests.

The judge for the Chapter Newsletter contest was Philip Roybal, last year’s winning editor from Silicon Valley Woodturners. This year we had 27 chapters enter, up from 18 the year before.  Philip said that all of the entries were great but when he applied the strict guidelines for the contest, the following chapters were the winners.

First Place: Central Texas Woodturners' The Chip Pile, edited by Charlie Kay.

Second Place: North Carolina Woodturners’ North Carolina Woodturner, edited by John Uteck.

Third Place: North Coast Woodturners’ North Coast Woodturners Newsletter, edited by Brian Becker.

Congratulations to the winners and thanks to all that entered.

John Hill – AAW Chapters and Membership Chairman
Johnrhill@charter.net

Best AAW Chapter Website Contest

Thanks to the 19 chapters that entered the AAW's third chapter website contest. The websites that were entered showed off some excellent webmaster skills and highlighted woodturning in a variety of creative ways.

Congratulations to the top three chapter webmasters. They will receive award plaques at the 2006 Louisville, Kentucky Symposium. The winners are:

First Place
 Chapter: Woodturners of North Texas
 Webmaster: Billy R. Boehme
 Website: www.wntx.org

Second Place
 Chapter: Alabama Woodturners Association
 Webmaster: Harold Jones
 Website: www.alabamawoodturners.com

Third Place
 Chapter: Central Indiana Chapter of the AAW
 Webmaster: James Purciful
 Website: www.cicaaw.org

Visit the winning websites to get some great ideas for improving your chapter’s website.

Best AAW Chapter Newsletter Contest

Please send contest questions to the AW Journal editor, Carl Voss: carlvoss@msn.com
Please put "2006 Newsletter Contest question" in subject line of email.

A) Contest submissions
1) To minimize the task of reviewing newsletters, chapters must submit their newsletter for the competition.
2) To enter, send three different issues of your chapter newsletter to the AAW Director (see #3). The three different issues must be from the date range shown in "Eligibility" below. Include your chapter name and newsletter editor.
3) To enter, send newsletters to the AAW Director.
Please send to:

   Mary Lacer
   AAW Managing Director
   Entry for Newsletter Contest
   222 Landmark Center
   75 West Fifth St.
   St. Paul, MN 55102-1431

B) Evaluation Process
Three newsletters will be chosen as winners (first, second, third) based on numerical ranking from the judging criteria listed below. The 1st place winner from the 2005 contest will help judge the 2006 contest.

C) Eligibility
1) Newsletters must be published between April 1, 2005 and March 31, 2006.
2) The chapter must be an AAW chapter.
4) Submissions must be postmarked by April 15, 2006.
5) The 1st place winner from the 2005 Chapter contest is not eligible for 2006 entry.

D) Prizes
1) Winners will be announced by June 1, 2006. They will be listed
- on the AAW website
- in the American Woodturner
- and recognized at the 2006 Symposium.
2) Winning chapters will receive an AAW plaque commemorating their achievement.

E) Judging Criteria
The judging criteria are listed below.
- Numerical values from 1-10 will be assigned to each category.
- Each category receives equal weight.
- An average of the category scores determines final ranking.
- The judge’s decision is final.

1) Layout/Graphic Design
- Visually appealing, easy to read
2) Up-to-date, Current Content
- New info easy to find.
3) Uniqueness/Personality
- Good blend of design with woodturning appeal.
4) Contribution to AAW
- The newsletter should reflect the AAW’s purpose to “promote education, information, and organization to those interested in turning wood.”
5) Content
- contains useful woodturning tech content
- contains useful woodturning news-related info

Best AAW Chapter Website Contest

Please send contest questions to the AAW webmaster, Jeff Jilg: webmaster@woodturner.org
Please put "2006 Website Contest question" in subject line of email.

A) Contest submissions:
1) To minimize the task of reviewing sites, clubs must submit their site for the competition.
2) Each club who submits a site must provide a reviewer who would evaluate web sites of 10 other clubs.
3) To enter, send an e-mail to both:
  mary@woodturner.org
  and
  webmaster@woodturner.org
Please put "Entry for Website Contest" in subject line of email. Include your chapter name, web master, and web site address.
You will receive an email verification that the submission was received. If you do not receive the email verification please re-send your initial email or send a query to the webmaster.

B) Evaluation Process
Three sites will be chosen as winners (first, second, third) based on numerical ranking from the judging criteria listed in section "E" (below). Judging will be done by reviewers assigned from clubs per section "A2" (above).

C) Eligibility
1) Websites must be available on March 1, 2006.
2) They must have a link to the AAW home page from their home page.
3) The chapter must be an AAW woodturning club.
4) Submissions must be entered by April 15, 2006.
5) The 1st place winner from the 2005 Chapter contest is not eligible for 2006 entry.

D) Prizes:
1) Winners will be announced by June 1, 2006. They will be listed
- on the AAW website
- in the American Woodturner
- and recognized at the 2006 Symposium.
2) Winning chapters will receive an AAW plaque commemorating their achievement.

E) Judging Criteria
The judging criteria are listed below.
- Numerical values from 1-10 will be assigned to each category.
- Each category gets equal weight.
- An average of the category scores determines final ranking.

1) Layout/Graphic Design
- visually appealing, easy to access,
2) Ease of Navigation
- easy to traverse pages, intuitive menu
3) Use of Technology
- use of scripting, styles, databases and search engines.
4) Up to Date / Current Content
- new info up front, archive material available
5) Content in website
- contains useful woodturning tech content
- contains useful woodturning news-related info
6) Uniqueness/Personality
- good blend of design with woodturning appeal
7) Contribution to AAW
- how does the site reflect back on AAW
8) Cross browser compatibility
- Will the site work with different browsers?
9) Security
- If product orders or password protected content
are pertinent, was the proper security in place?