The Washington State Bar Association took home two top prizes among large bars throughout the U.S. that submitted for the 2019 Luminary Awards.
These awards, which recognize bar associations across the country, are presented annually by the Communications Section of the National Association of Bar Executives (NABE).
The WSBA secured top spots for the Luminary Awards in the categories of Excellence in Special Projects for the redesign of NWSidebar (psst … that thing you’re reading right now), and Excellence in Regular Publications for our member magazine, NWLawyer.
The WSBA Communications Team in October 2018 rolled out a complete, ground-up redesign of NWSidebar, for which the NABE judges praised the new look and content within.
“The new NWSidebar looks so nice and refreshed, especially compared to the previous version,” one judge commented. “… This is a great benefit to your members, as well as the public and others in the legal field. Great job reimagining this site and making it much better for your members.”
Another judge said of the WSBA blog: “Sophisticated, accessible, engaging, easy to read. This looks great!”
This the second Luminary Award for NWSidebar, which also won for Excellence in Electronic Publications in 2013.
Similar praise was heaped on the WSBA member magazine, NWLawyer:
“What a pleasure to review these three issues,” a judge said of the April, May, and June issues the WSBA submitted for consideration. “I especially loved the April and June covers. Superb layout, typestyle, use of cover, and a solid variety of timely and relevant info for readers.”
Another judge commended the NWLawyer design and content, particularly the June food-themed issue, “Food for Thought.”
“Restaurant reviews in food issue–love it!” they wrote. “Brilliant execution of food issue; great artwork; layout are [sic] clean and inviting … informative articles; well-written articles; timely topics; great theme issues; design A+.”
This is the second Luminary Award for NWLawyer, which also won for Excellence in Regular Publications in 2014.