Well, another year has come and gone. The 2006 Terasen Gas / BCYCNA Ma Murray Community Newspaper Awards Gala was bigger and better than ever, for several reasons. One, we held it at a fabulous new venue, the River Rock Casino Resort; two, we had new awards, the stylish and rather cute little newsboy statue, affectionately nicknamed “Felix” around the BCYCNA office (think “Oscar” with a twist); three, we brought back seminars to a very appreciative audience; and four, this year we had a record attendance (almost 300 guests!)
Highlights of the weekend included two seminars held by the Newspaper Association of America. Newspaper staff from all over the province learned about great new marketing ideas for smaller market papers, and also took home some great new recruitment and retention strategies for keeping good staff.
On Saturday afternoon, CN and the BCYCNA sponsored a Scholarship Luncheon where a record $17,500 in scholarships was handed out to university students from around BC, all of whom hope to pursue careers in print media, graphic design, journalism, photography, and within sales, business, and marketing. More and more of these students express a strong interest in working at community papers, so keep an eye out for them!
Catalyst Paper (formerly NorskeCanada) returned as sponsor of the President’s Reception, which took place Saturday evening in the River Rock Show Theatre Foyer, just before the Awards Gala Dinner. Tasty hors d’oeuvres and an open bar were a great warm up for the night, and outgoing BCYCNA president Steve Robertson thanked all the sponsors before handing over the gavel to new BCYCNA president Nelson Becker, who introduced the 2006-2007 Board of Directors.
Upon entering the Vegas-style Show Theatre, guests were greeted by the Champagne Showgirls and the biggest disco ball in the world! After a wonderful prime rib dinner and some banter and teasing from emcees Simi Sara and Dave Gerry from CityTV’s Breakfast Television, the very funny comedian Kevin Foxx took the stage and let everyone work off their dinner with some laughs.
The Ma Murray Awards were, as usual, a wonderful celebration of our industry. With awards in 40 categories, including the British Columbia Lottery Corporation Newspaper Excellence Awards, there were plenty of very proud winners on hand to celebrate. As always, the work recognized at the awards was first class; all finalists should feel very proud.
After the awards were handed out, the celebration continued in the Presidential Suite, where many a-newsie danced up a storm, shared stories of the evening, and got to know their peers from around the province.
The 2006 Ma Murray Community Newspaper Awards Gala was an overwhelming success. The BCYCNA would like to thank our title sponsor, Terasen Gas, as well as our major event sponsors, Catalyst Paper, British Columbia Lottery Corporation, and CN, for their continued support of the community newspaper industry. We would also like to thank all of our awards sponsors: Alan & Adelaide Black, Bell Canada, British Columbia Arts Council, BCAA, BC Press Council, Canada Post, Canadian Bankers Association, ComBase, Ducks Unlimited Canada, Ross & Sandra Dunning, Horizon Publications, Hub International, New Car Dealers Association of BC, News-Net, TELUS, Thompson Rivers University School of Journalism, and Vancouver Area Newspaper Network.
