Memo To Self -- RE: Creative COW's Blue Ribbon Awards

Letters to the COW Team Editorial at Creative COW

Article Focus:
Who decides Creative COW Magazine's Blue Ribbon Award Winners? Here's the answer to that question.

Memo to self: tabulate what our members say across the COW forums when this year's NAB Show is over. What do our members feel are the hottest products that appeared during NAB 2010? Oh, and weight the votes by the expertise and experience of the member commenting, so it is based on more than simple popular vote -- the COW is dedicated to working professionals, so let their voice be heard. As Tim Wilson says: "Our members don't care what magazine editors have to say -- picking favorites from among tools they've never worked with anyway." Oh, and I really like Tim's suggestion that "let's call them 'Blue Ribbon Awards.' Cows get blue ribbons, so why not give them?" Works for me, and Kathlyn really likes it, as well.

So, when NAB Show 2010 ended, we began in earnest to tabulate the many COW member comments across our forums, tracking what they felt was hot and what was not. It's the user voice -- the one heard in the trenches of the workaday world -- that has decided the first-ever Creative COW Blue Ribbon Awards. And we have called in some of Creative COW's most respected leaders to reflect these and give depth to these opinions -- Gary Adcock, Bob Zelin, Steven Bradford and others.

We also tapped the experience of renowed cinematographer and AFI instructor, Bob Primes. Bob is an ASC and ICG Board member, an Emmy® award winner, and he surprised us all when he said that the Canon 5D Mark II in some areas competes well against 70mm -- not just 35mm.

So, if you are one who likes to jump to the back of the book and peek at the ending and see who our winners are, here they are listed in our Winners of the Creative COW Magazine Blue Ribbon article. We've also added pointers to take you inside the issue to where you can learn more about each of our winners.

Oh, and for those who missed our "booth" that you see on the cover -- we were so busy this year that we didn't have one. Maybe next year, when we look for the next crop of Creative COW Magazine Blue Ribbon winners.