Grand Band Slam 2005 and The Valley Advocate's Wedding Guide, I Do, grab top honors at the New England Newspaper Association's Annual Awards

Easthampton, Massachusetts — The Valley Advocate, part of the New Mass. Media chain of publications, grabbed top honors in two categories at the New England Newspaper Association’s (NEPA) 2006 Better Newspaper Contest last week. Awards were presented last week at an awards ceremony during the annual NEPA Trade Show and Conference at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel.

The Valley Advocate placed first in the “Advertising Supplement” and “Self Promotion” categories in the class for alternative weeklies.

In the “Advertising Supplement” category, the first issue of the Valley Advocate’s Wedding Guide, I Do, took top honors and was recognized for production quality and editorial content. In the area of “Self Promotion” the marketing campaign for the Advocate’s 2005 music poll, the Grand Band Slam, was recognized for its energy and art direction.

The Grand Band Slam continues to be one of the Valley Advocate’s most popular annual events with readers voting for their favorite local musicians in a 31-category poll (spanning everything from aggressive rock to folk, country to hip-hop.) The top vote getters in the poll, as many as 40 bands, play on one night at the bars and clubs in the Worthington Street Entertainment District of Springfield, MA.

I Do has proven to be the Advocate’s most successful advertising supplement to date. Following its move from ROP to a stand alone publication, I Do realized an impressive 200% growth in advertising revenue between the first and second issues as well as an expansion of its circulation to include some of the Hartford Advocate’s readership to provide a unique media footprint for advertisers.

New Mass. Media, Inc. has been the leading alternative publisher in Western Massachusetts and Connecticut for over 33 years. Through its four alternative newsweeklies (Valley, Hartford & New Haven Advocate, Fairfield County Weekly) two magazine titles (CT Slant and Preview Massachusetts) and custom publishing, NMM publications circulate close to 1 million copies monthly and deliver a totally unique media footprint that reaches from Southern Vermont to New York City. More information on New Mass. Media may be obtained at www.newmassmedia.com.