Clarkson newsletter gets 15th award

POTSDAM — Dana M. Barry is getting used to winning.

For the past 15 years, she has received an award for a newsletter that she writes and edits for Clarkson University's Center for Advanced Materials Processing.

"I'm very amazed," said Mrs. Barry, who is the senior technical writer and editor for the CAMP Annual Report Newsletter. "It's hard to believe I've won 15 in a row, to be honest."

The quarterly publication features ongoing research projects, as well as profiles of the faculty members who are working on them. One quarter a year, the newsletter is printed in full color, and Mrs. Barry said she never questions sending that one in. The judges, she said, seem to appreciate the colors.

The center's newsletter was one of 35 entrants to receive an award of excellence among the more than 400 entrants in the newsletter category. Nearly 4,000 publications were submitted this year from across the globe in the APEX Award for Publication Excellence competition put on by Communications Concepts, a Virginia company that provides tips and advice for business writers.

Though there is no prize money attached to the award, the prize affirms Mrs. Barry's belief that she is doing her job well.

"I first entered in 1996," she said. "I wanted to kind of show that I did high-quality work."

She said she does not plan to stop entering the contest, nor try to find a different competition, even though at least one other company has solicited her to enter a different writing contest.

"As long as we keep winning this one, we'll stick to this one," said the chemist, who has written 12 books and numerous articles. "They have 4,000 to 5,000 submissions with this, so I believe the quality is very high."