OutSmart Staff Top row, left to right: John Nagy, James Hurst, Greg Jeu, Scooter Workinger, Debbie Ratliff. Bottom row, left to right: B.J. Smith, Blase DiStefano, Ann Walton Sieber, Thomas Chelena.

Publisher’s Letter

Publishing, like any art form, is an evolving process. And how we judge our work is not only from our own sense of satisfaction through accomplishments, but also from the feedback of our readers and the critiques of other media professionals. Your feedback tells us if we are effectively serving our community. Feedback from our press peers lets us know if we’re keeping our standard of quality high and getting the word out to the wider community.

A year ago at the National Gay and Lesbian Press Conference, OutSmart was awarded the title of nation’s best local gay and lesbian magazine by the Vice Versa Awards for the second consecutive year. What a great honor it was to be recognized by our associates in the GLBT publishing circle.

This month, I’m extremely proud to report that OutSmart was the recipient of three Lone Star Awards from the Houston Press Club, an organization whose membership includes Houston’s top newspapers, magazines, television, and radio communication organizations. While it is an honor for us to be recognized for the quality of OutSmart’s work, it is an equally important honor for OutSmart to have represented the Houston GLBT press community alongside our mainstream media counterparts.

Our three Lone Star Awards were First Place for best magazine column to Daryl Moore for his post-election column, Gloating and Whining Allowed; Second Place for best overall layout to Blase DiStefano and the art department for the