A trio of big Eureka moments put the Prince George Citizen on the awards podium this week.
The Citizen secured three awards in The Newspapers Canada 2011 Great Ideas competition. In the newspaper marketing and promotion category, The Citizen nabbed second for its Live Free for a Year contest and third for its Reader Rewards Card in the daily newspaper -- small market segment.
The Citizen also took third in the magazine category in the same segment for its Gateway to the North publication.
"It takes a dedicated team effort to produce quality products and contests for our readers," said Alan Ramsey, business development manager. "A big thanks has to go out to our team."
The awards will be given at a breakfast event during the INK+BEYOND conference, set for April 30 at the River Rock Resort in Vancouver.
The trio of honours will not be the only chance for The Citizen to gain a trophy at the River Rock.
On April 29, Citizen photographer David Mah will be up for Newspapers Canada's Canadian Community Newspaper Award for Best Spot News Coverage among papers with a circulation 12,500 and over.
He is a finalist for with Andrew Leong of the Cowichan News Leader Pictorial and Dave Eagles of Kamloops This Week. The nomination is for the photo of gangland violence victim Darren Munch that ran in August 2010.
"I'd like to thank [Citizen reporters] Mark Nielsen and Frank Peebles for working with me on this incident," said Mah. "There are a lot of impact-filled photos out there and to have mine nominated is amazing."
The photo awoke the community to the shocking violence happening in neighbourhoods where children lived and became the impetus for a gang crime summit initiated by The Citizen and RCMP in conjunction with the City of Prince George, and involving community stakeholders along with gang experts from all over the country.
