And the Winners Are...

Congratulations to the winners of the 3rd Annual MPA Digital Awards! These magazine brands have shown excellence and innovation on a variety of digital platforms.

The MPA Digital Awards were open only to publishing members of the association. Entries were judged by an expert panel of digital leaders from the magazine industry and media community.  Click here for this year's roster of judges.

NEW: View the Winners Photo Gallery

MPA Digital Awards Winners and Finalists:

WEBSITES OF THE YEAR
The “Website of the Year” category recognizes excellence and innovation in content, design, functionality and usability in four subcategories.

Website of the Year: News, Business & Finance

Winner: Wired.com
Wired.com, the online affiliate of WIRED magazine, is one of the longest continuously running sites on the web. Launched in 1995, it’s a top destination for technology and science news, commentary, reviews, tech-related how-to’s, video, podcasts and photo galleries. Wired stands for innovation, and the website has consistently pushed the envelope in design, features and methodologies, while recognizing the needs and positive experience of the reader.

Second: NGM.com (National Geographic Magazine)

Third: NewYorker.com

Website of the Year: Entertainment & Sports

Winner: SI.com 
The SI Digital Network is anchored by SI.com, the home of Sports Illustrated on the web, a 24/7 news site.  SI.com features unparalleled journalism, with voices from over 30 writers and on average SI.com posts 50 pieces of original content daily across all sports. Furthermore, SI.com brings the photographic standards unique to Sports Illustrated to the web. SI.com utilizes web. 2.0 technology to aggregate the best local and national content across the web, in both story and video form.

Second: People.com

Third: EW.com

Website of the Year: Enthusiast

Winner: Architectural Record
The mission of ArchitecturalRecord.com is to inspire, inform and entertain its audience with 1) a unique combination of editor-generated and user-generated content; 2) multimedia-rich articles, with hundreds of slide shows and dozens of editor-produced video in 10 channels; 3) a robust archive of hundreds of inspirational building projects; 4) daily news reports and dozens of provocative blog posts each week; and 5) a clean, easy-to-navigate layout that appeals to its design-savvy audience.

Second: RunnersWorld.com

Third: Bicycling.com

Website of the Year: Service & Lifestyle

Winner: Epicurious.com 
Now in its 13th year, Epicurious.com is the premier food destination on the web. It has won more awards than any other food site by placing a premium on daily, high-quality, original content; an attractive, intuitive design; and a suite of cutting-edge interactive tools. At its core is an unparalleled database of 100,000 recipes, from sources comprising premium brands like Gourmet and Bon Appétit as well as cookbooks, celebrity chefs and home cooks.

Second: Parenting.com

Third: PC World

MAGAZINE BLOG OF THE YEAR

Winner: Entertainment Weekly “PopWatch”
Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch blog doesn't make the news, it makes fun of it. It strives to be a one-stop shop for clever commentary on the latest in TV, movies, music, books and viral video. It is updated 20-plus times a day with everything from breaking news to First Look galleries to interactive features. Offbeat categories allow writers to explore the zeitgeist outside of the magazine’s core coverage areas, while the blog’s commenting feature lets users get in on the conversation.

Second: Epicurious.com “The Epi-log”

Third: Wired.com’s "Wired Science”

BEST ONLINE VIDEO – STANDALONE

Winner: National Geographic Magazine “Searching for the Snow Leopard”
Photographer Steve Winter captures the elusive snow leopard...with his camera.

Second: Vanity Fair “On the Waterboard”

Third: PC World “iPhone 3G Torture Tests”

BEST ONLINE VIDEO – SERIES

Winner: National Geographic Magazine “Fast Lane to the Future”
Depicts how a new superhighway is changing the face of India for better ... and worse.

Second: Newsweek “The Mind of the South”

Third: TIME.com “Person of the Year 2008”

BEST PODCAST SERIES

Winner: The Campaign Trail on NewYorker.com
David Remnick, Hendrik Hertzberg, and Ryan Lizza join host Dorothy Wickenden in a campaign postmortem: why attack ads didn’t work against Obama, how each campaign reacted to the selection of Sarah Palin, and the role race ultimately played for Obama.

Second: PC World Podcast

Third: BusinessWeek Cover Story

BEST WEB-ONLY TOOL

Winner: Parenting and Babytalk “Child Health Guide” 
Moms turn to Parenting and Babytalk as an authoritative voice when their kids are sick, and the interactive Child Health Guide takes the trusted content they expect and pairs it with photo, audio and video examples of what illnesses actually look and sound like. As a Baltimore Sun blogger noted, "I suspect this [tool] will be valuable for many of you, especially when a child suddenly gets sick in the middle of the night. Sometimes all the books in the world just don't really tell you what you're looking for."

Second: Bicycling.com “GPS Maps and Rides Channel”

Third: National Geographic Magazine “My Shot Tools”

BEST ONLINE COMMUNITY

Winner: Epicurious.com
Epicurious has long been a leader in developing online community: The site lets users rate and review recipes, comment on blog posts, and exchange ideas in subject-specific forums. In the recently revamped Community section, users may publicly designate their culinary interests (baking, cocktails, spicy foods, etc.) and manage Profile pages that showcase personal photos, Recipe Boxes, and "Fridge Door" message boards. And in our Video section, there's now a tab for user-generated contributions.

Second: National Geographic Magazine "My Shot"

Third: Parenting.com Community

BEST MOBILE STRATEGY

Winner: InStyle Mobile
InStyle Mobile serves its users on-the-go. Daily updates include many of InStyle.com’s most popular features, including Look of the Day (and its interactive poll), Daily Beauty Flash and Parties, as well as meatier celebrity stories--all packaged for on-the-go consumption. Users can save their favorite links and share them with friends via e-mail or text. Shoppers have exclusive InStyle discounts in the palms of their hands.

Second: CNNMoney.com Mobile

Third: Style.com's iPhone Application

BEST MAGAZINE E-STORE

Winner: WIRED Store 
The online home of WIRED’s annual New York City pop-up retail store puts the day’s hottest products in the hands of shoppers during the 2008 holiday season. WIRED Store visitors were able to test products, attend events, and purchase featured products online.

Second: Style.com Shop Now

Third: The New Yorker Store