Lawrence-based BoomerGirl.com and KUsports.com are among the world’s best Web sites.
The sites, which are owned by The World Company, won EPpy Awards Thursday from Editor & Publisher and Mediaweek at the annual Interactive Media Conference and Trade Show in Miami.
This is the fifth consecutive year that The World Company has won awards in the international competition. And in four of those five years, the company has brought home more than one award.
BoomerGirl.com – launched Jan. 1 – was named the “Best Newspaper-Affiliated Web site” with under 1 million unique monthly visitors. The New York Times was the winner in the same category, for sites with more than 1 million unique visitors each month.
BoomerGirl.com beat HeraldTribune.com of Sarasota, Fla., and PilotOnline.com and HamptonRoads.com of Norfolk, Va.
The site is dedicated to women of the baby boom generation. It features articles on topics such as dating, reading books and finances. There are more than 50 contributors on topics from personality profiles to advice columns.
Cathy Hamilton, director of BoomerGirl Multimedia, said she was grateful for the company’s programmers and designers. Most important, she said, are the site’s writers and contributors.
“I wasn’t really expecting to win the awards with BoomerGirl because we don’t have a lot of the technological bells and whistles that a lot of the other sites do – and that’s because boomer-aged women tend not to care about those things. They are more interested in what they are reading,” she said. “So, it was just even more surprising and wonderful to win.”
A Web site that is used to winning is KUsports.com. It was named the “Best Sports Web Site” with under 1 million unique monthly visitors. CBS SportsLine was the winner in the same category, for sites with more than 1 million unique visitors each month.
KUsports.com beat LoHuds’ Varsity Central (LoHud.com), a Web site of The Journal News White Plains, N.Y.; McHentryCountrySports.com of NorthWest News Group of Greater Chicago; and TideSports.com of The Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News.
This is the third time KUsports.com earned the award. KUsports.com also was recognized as the best sports site in the nation by Newspaper Association of America in 2003.
“We’re honored to have our work recognized as being among some of the best in the country,” said Dan Cox, director of Mediaphormedia, The World Company’s online subsidiary. “We have great impetus to create the finest sites and services possible for Lawrence and its residents; we’re thrilled our efforts have gained some national attention and are appreciative of the talent we have on staff here that makes this work possible.”
The company’s LJWorld.com site also received three first-place awards this month from Suburban Newspapers of America.
“At this point it comes as a reaffirmation that we’re staying in touch with consumers’ desires,” said Dan Simons, president of The World Company’s Electronic Division. “Everybody can be good for a little while. But it takes a talented team that is adapting to the Web, which is a moving target. For us to continually win these awards of national scope shows our team is in tune with the main goal: what the customer wants.
“I’m very proud of them.”