National Association of Government Webmasters 2008 "Pinnacle" Award Winners
Rockaway NJ, September 15, 2008. The National Association of Government Webmasters announced its Pinnacle Web Award winners on Thursday, September 11, 2008 at the NAGW Annual Conference in St. Charles, IL. NAGW's Pinnacle Awards are given to local governments for website excellence. This year's awards drew more than 60 entrants from NAGW members, competing in three categories based on population. Judges reviewed websites based on team size, content, organization, design, function, accessibility, standards and interactivity.
The winner in the low population category is St. Louis Park, Minnesota. Developer Jason Huber is the one-man team behind the city's new website, which debuted in June 2008. Working on a zero-dollar budget, Huber not only designed and edited the website, but he also created a custom Content Management console giving users the ability to contribute. Judges noted the easy-to-use menus, ability to change font size and color scheme as well as an interesting interactive photo slide show. Towns and counties with less than 50,000 residents were in the low population group.
The City of Minnetonka, Minnesota won the medium population category. That website is the sole creation of technologies coordinator Marc Drummond. The entire site was developed internally, using a homegrown Content Management System. Judges gave Minnetonka the nod for its XHTML strict compliance, organization and function, as well as its attractive design and the ever-adorable Minnetonka Mike. Towns and counties with population between 50,000 and 100,000 residents were in the medium population group.
In the high population category, Larimer County, Colorado took the honors. This website underwent a complete redesign in 2008, including an online job application, subscription service, RSS feeds and public records inquiries. Judges were impressed with the county's truly virtual environment, including features such as an innovative job search, a photo gallery where citizens can upload their own photos, and countless other examples of interactivity - all completed solely by web developer Steve Moore. Towns and counties with more than 100,000 residents were in the high population group.
The highly sought after "Member's Choice" award is chosen from among the top three winners in each category by NAGW members themselves. Entrants included the winners in each category as well as runners-up Montrose, Colorado; Montgomery, Ohio; Lawrence, Kansas; Killeen, Texas and Independence, Missouri. When the member votes were tallied, Larimer County, Colorado; St. Louis Park, Minnesota; Bowling Green, Kentucky were voted NAGW's 2008 "Member's Choice" winners.
Past winners of the prestigious NAGW Pinnacle Awards include: Collier County, Florida; Lancaster, California; Montgomery, Ohio; Grants Pass, Oregon; Reno, Nevada; Southern Nevada Water Utility; Truckee Meadows Community College (NV); Charlottesville, Virginia; Evanston, Illinois; Sutter County, California; and Hennepin County, Minnesota.
About NAGW
The National Association of Government Webmasters Inc is a non-profit association of local government webmasters focused specifically to the interests and concerns of local government webmasters. The organization provides a way for these webmasters to share knowledge, ideas and resources, and a way to meet and network with others who have similar positions.
NAGW's mission is primarily to serve its membership through the coordination of national conferences, enabling the networking of association members, and sharing other professional resources and information. The result is improved capacity to provide value across the web to local communities.
Contact
Chris Audano, President
NAGW, Inc
President@NAGW.org
www.NAGW.org
