ASI's Counselor Magazine Wins Prestigious National Neal Award

Honored with Pulitzer Prize of the business press for "State of the Industry" issue

TREVOSE, PA – March 14, 2013 – The Advertising Specialty Institute^® (ASI) today announced Counselor^® magazine was honored with its fourth Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award for its 2012 “State of the Industry” issue.

Considered “the Pulitzer Prize of business media,” the Neal Awards recognize the best in business-to-business editorial achievement and are B-to-B’s most prestigious and sought-after editorial honors. The judging panel, chaired by Diana Henriques of The New York Times, selected 46 Neal Award winners out of 138 finalists from an original 640 entries.

Winning entries were selected for exhibiting journalistic enterprise, service to the field and editorial craftsmanship. Said one judge of Counselor’s SOI package: “The value of the story lies in the data-based reporting.” Judges also praised the story for being comprehensive and well-paced.

ABM, the association of business information and media companies, celebrated award recipients during the 59th annual Neal Awards ceremony this week in New York City. ABM previously announced that ASI’s Wearables^®, Stitches^® and Counselor magazines were named finalists for five Neal awards. ASI magazines were recognized among several legacy publications, including Broadcasting and Cable, Architectural Record and The American Lawyer.

Paying tribute to the Neal Award winners, ABM president and CEO Clark Pettit said, “We at ABM are so proud to honor these journalists and editors. Their expertise, ability to push progress across existing and new channels, and successful track records of informing the industry on important issues place them at the forefront of their fields.”

“In less than 10 years, ASI magazines have been honored with nearly 100 journalism awards and remain the only industry publications to ever win the prestigious Neal Award,” said Timothy M. Andrews, president and chief executive officer of ASI. “These awards are a testament to the outstanding editorial writers, editors, graphic artists and photographers who work on our magazines, both online and print. They are the reason distributors, suppliers and decorators consistently rely on ASI’s editorial and educational resources to improve their businesses and further the professionalism of this entire industry. I couldn’t be more proud.”

This year’s Neal award winner is:

Counselor^®: for Best Subject-Related Package, “State of the Industry” issue, trend stories, how-to tips and profiles written by numerous staffers and edited by Andy Cohen.

This year’s Neal award finalists are:

Wearables^®: for Best Single Article, “Passing the Test,” an investigation into whether garments from industry suppliers and retail brands lived up to their performance property claims, written by C.J. Mittica.
Stitches^®: for Best Single Article, “Life in the Garment Center,” a comprehensive cover story on New York City’s famed Garment Center, written by Christopher Ruvo.
Wearables: for Best Subject-Related Package, “Made in America,” an examination of the root causes allowing domestic apparel manufacturers to thrive here at home, written by C.J. Mittica, Christopher Ruvo and Sara Lavenduski.
Counselor: for Best Instructional Content, “17 Ways to Raise Capital,” a how-to guide for businesses on raising capital through conventional and out-of-the-box means, written by Dave Vagnoni.
Counselor: for Best Cross-Platform Package, “Best Places to Work Road Tour,” an eight-day, 17-city cross-country quest to find the coolest workplaces in the ad specialty industry, with print and online results from a detailed survey of 4,000 industry employees, written by Andy Cohen, Joe Haley and Melinda Ligos.

ASI publishes seven catalogs, five magazines and seven newsletters. ASI’s magazine circulation is audited and growing, and Counselor’s collection of top lists are now the industry standard.

To learn more about ASI’s publications, contact Melinda Ligos, ASI’s editor in chief and senior vice president of professional development, at mligos@asicentral.com.

About ASI
The Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) is the largest media, marketing and education organization serving the promotional products industry, with a network of over 25,000 distributors and suppliers throughout North America. ASI leads the industry in technology solutions, providing cloud-based e-commerce, enterprise resource planning software (ERP) and customer relationship management software (CRM). ESP Web™ is the industry’s leading tool for sourcing hundreds of thousands of products. A family-owned business since 1962, ASI also provides online research, marketing, advertising opportunities, trade shows, education, award-winning magazines, newsletters, custom websites and catalogs to help members sell, market and promote their brands. Visit ASI at www.asicentral.com and on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and the CEO’s blog.

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