The 2014 COPAs are now over and it's time to recognize the Best in Canada.  As an industry we should be very proud of the world class work produced by Canadians in this year’s crop of entries. My goal is to showcase this home-grown talent and provide some swagger to the industry on the international stage that is the web.
 
The COPA Awards party at the Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto on November 20 was a fun time for all. I even got into the act by wearing a hockey helmet to protect myself from the COPA mob as the night grew older. Special thanks goes to Readers Digest, Chateau Des Charmes , CNW Group, Digital Reno, Metro News Canada,  PressReader,  Promethean, Sharp Canada, Toshiba Canada and the Winnipeg Free Press for their support of this year’s event.
 
The honours this year for The Best of Canada were Toronto Life for a sponsored content campaign for “Evolve Functional Fitness” for Best Online Campaign, for Best Digital Content an interactive story on Asbestos titled “ No Safe Use” that has a photo wink at you by the Globe and Mail and an inspirational magazine app from Cottage Life on “How to Buy a Cottage” won Best Digital Solution of the year that had elements of an interactive graphic novel to tell the story.




The big winner this year was the team at St Joseph Media as they won 11 medals (6 G, 5S)  followed by IT World Canada with 7 (5 G 2S). Not to be outdone small publishers were recognized for their outstanding work like  YummyMummyClub.ca for best blog in the red category for consumer niche publications, University Affairs for best media website in the blue category (B2B),  Mining.com from Vancouver won gold for best email newsletter (blue) and the UBC Graduate School of Journal was a repeat winner for Best Interactive ( blue ) Story. The entries from La Belle province saw LaPress win silver for best digital publication in the green category for daily news organizations. You can also say that Rob Ford was the  un-official digital newsmaker of the year with all the stories that were enter that talked about his life that won gold in the writing categories.
 
The COPAs is more than an Industry Awards show as we try to take the learning from this friendly competition to help us get better. The judges are asked to provide some feedback from this year entries as part of the process. I would like to thank all the judges this year for their support and their wisdom. One of our marketing experts this year on the judging panel was Sandra Frisch from Media Experts, one of the top media planning/buying firms in Canada and this is what she had to say about this year crop of entries. To see more judge's comments please go to the COPA website.
 
“I’ve enjoyed the intense competition and creativity I saw while reviewing the publishing sites. Each site has a unique way of representing its brand to the audience through design, content, and navigation. The combination of publishing, production, digital media and creating online communities was expertly established by all the finalists.”
 
The challenge for big or small publishers is to continue to strive to find the right formula for the digital mix that will resonate with readers and advertisers. The entries that did well have added another layer to their game this year and have started to think in 4 dimensions instead of 3. The 4 dimensions are video, audio, words and interactive (action). Just like a hockey player always needs another element (new move or look) to their game to thwart the competition, if you stand still like a pylon, somebody else will go by you and the COPAs sets the bar each year for digital excellence for your organization.
 
Happy Holidays everyone see you in 2015.