ACES | Denver National Conference | Best headlines of the year

Best headlines of the year

Winners of the 2007 annual contest

By Christine Steele, | Posted: 8:00 AM 4/10

The best and brightest headline writers were honored Thursday in the opening session of the American Copy Editors Society’s 12th annual conference in Denver. Their work exemplifies the quality of copy editing amid dwindling resources, tighter deadlines and more work.

Winners by category

The winners of the 2007 ACES headline contest, announced April 10, include four previous honorees, two of whom won last year.

Michael Roehrman of the Wichita Eagle won Division III (circulation of 50,001 to 100,000) for the second year in a row. And 2007 was, in fact, his third win.

The New York Times was a repeat winner in Division V (staff entries from publications of any size), having won the category in 2004. Staff entrants this time included Greg Cowles, this year's first-place winner in Division I (more than 250,000 circulation). The paper also won an honorable mention in 2006 in Division V.

Two previous honorees won again as part of the staff entry from The Los Angeles Times, which was recognized with an honorable mention in Division V. They are the 2006 Robinson Prize winner, Tim Lynch, and the 2006 Division I first-place winner, Rachel Dunn.

Other individual winners were: in Division II (circulation between 100,001 and 250,000), Matthew Crowley of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, first place, and Panfilo Garcia of the Austin American-Statesman, honorable mention; in Division III (circulation of 50,001 to 100,000), Ashley Winchester of the Connecticut Post, honorable mention; and in Division IV (circulation 50,000 or less), Gary Housey of the West Paterson (N.J.) Herald News, first place.

In the student publications category, Katie Michael of the University of Oregon Daily Emerald won first place, and an honorable mention went to Audrey Kuo from the UCLA Daily Bruin.

A total of $2,250 in cash prizes was awarded in the contest, along with plaques and certificates. The headline entries were published between Dec. 1, 2006, and Nov. 30, 2007. Judges were not allowed to discuss or vote on entries from their own paper or school.

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GATHERINGS

8 a.m. Thursday

| Registration

9 a.m.-10:30 a.m. Thursday

| Opening general session: Welcome, headline contest winners and scholarship awards

6:30-9:30 p.m. Thursday

| Opening reception

6:30-7:30 p.m. Friday

| Reception and silent auction

7:30-9 p.m. Friday

| Banquet and Robinson Prize presentation

4-5 p.m. Saturday

| Closing general session

6-9 p.m. Saturday

| Conference wrap party, Falling Rock Tap House ($25)

Overheard

6:05 PM 4/13

| Dan has started a memory thread over at the discussion board. Share your thoughts on this year's conference.

4:27 PM 4/13

| Although many will be taking a day or two to recover from the conference, Deirdre Edgar has sent out conference surveys to every attendee to fill out this week. If you didn't get the e-mail, send a message to .

3:20 PM 4/13

| Feel free to share your photos and videos with the group. Add them to the Flickr group above or send them to .

11:12 PM 4/12

| Three words — ACES karaoke rocks!

6:45 AM 4/12

| Sources say Dan Hunt has been flitting around the hotel so much, he lost his name badge.

6:25 AM 4/12

| From Jim Thomsen: Overheard more than once was the desire to see Bill Walsh and Merrill Perlman do an ACES session together next year — and amicably slug it out over their occasional points of style, usage and grammar disagreement for the amusement and edification of the masses. What say you?

11:36 PM 4/11

| I now realize that this Web site has not yet acknowledged Aubespin Scholarship winner Shanxi Upsdell's speech at the Friday night banquet. Well, the impact, the weight, the emotion can't be conveyed in a blurb, but let's just say this young woman representing our best and brightest of future copy editors was genuine, humble and still already influential. Listen to our recording of her once we get it posted. -- NH

6:47 PM 4/11

| Update: The autographed Chris Wienandt Leather Pants edition of the ACES newsletter drew $50 at Friday night's auction. And the winner (whose name might rhyme with "Merry") wants to regift it! She plans to hang on to the newsletter for one year, then donate it back to the 2009 silent auction. Next year, it could be yours! (This winner whose name might rhyme with "Merri" says, however, she's keeping the whip she won.)

6:17 PM 4/11

| From Jim Thomsen: My banquet table, Table 23, had the highest pledged amount for the ACES education funds among all tables Friday night. Most of the $1,650 raised came from Orange County Register copy editor Jill Reed. Her explanation? "My alimony check just came in."

4:34 PM 4/11

| From Jim Thomsen: Best quote from an ACES session so far: "I have a degree in journalism but never used it until I got to the zoo and got a job as a bus driver." That was spoken by Debbie Andreen, who now heads up communications for the San Diego Zoo, at the "What Else Can I Do With These Skills?" seminar Friday afternoon.

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April 15-17, 2010: Philadelphia conference LINK
March 17-19, 2011: Phoenix conference LINK