Mailbag: Details about numbering

One reader writes from the snowy tundra that is the heartland of America to ask:
Q: Why is the competition, and the popular and useful book it results in, referred to by an arcane edition number, rather than the year it covers? What has more instant meaning:

The 28th Best of Newspaper Design competition
SND 28
vs.
The Best of Newspaper Design 2005 competition
SND 2005

Has a switch ever been proposed? Most other such competitions, such as the Pulitzers, go by year. Just curious.


Great question. And one that the SND International Web Desk had to hit the history books to dig out an answer.

The current numbering began way back with the first edition and stuck -- it became a tradition. Originally the contest judged work from about March or April until the following March or April, unlike the January-to-December calendar year it now covers.

"What we have done in recent years is refer to the edition and the year," said competition coordinator Marshall Matlock. "They didn't use to refer to the year."

This -- the 28th annual judging -- will be the 18th year Syracuse University has hosted the event. The first year after the competition moved here was a shorter judging period while organizers tried to adjust things a little by changing the judging period to cover the calendar year.

So how else can you differentiate 18 years and literally thousands of newspaper pages? "Every year is interesting for various reasons," said Matlock. "Each year is different -- this year is by far the most challenging because of the nor'easter."


Got a burning question? Send your feedback and contest-related questions to us at sndwebdesk@gmail.com. We'll answer as many as we can in future posts.