2005 SNAP Awards
June 30, 2005

From Jamie Roberts (on behalf of the Hammock folks who attended last night’s Excel Awards presentation in Washington, D.C. — the annual awards of the Society of National Association Publications):
Hammock Publishing had a great night at the SNAP awards gala.
MyBusiness looked smashing on screen as the Bronze award was announced for General Excellence. Plus, there were lots of audience laughs when the title was announced for MyBusiness’ award for feature writing, “The Secret Life of a Tightwad.”
And here are the judges’ comments for our two Gold award winners:

Ride (Most Improved)“The winners were so far above all contenders that the judges did not choose a bronze winner. It was difficult to choose between the two top winners, but Ride’s redesign took advantage of dramatic photography, improved writing and daring design. This is a magazine that truly knows its audience–jet-ski enthusiasts. It is a publication that is as exciting as its sport.”

American Spirit (Design Excellence)“Overall the design, while conservative, in consistently classic and elegant. The photography is beautiful, strong and provides images relevant to the content. The cover images relate well to the cover story. The feature layouts benefit from a good use of color and an interesting selection of text for the headlines and decks and pull quotes. The print production quality is excellent.”

We celebrated the release of iTunes 4.9 today (the new version that integrates “podcasting” into the interface) by commissioning Summer Huggins to conduct one of her famous national polls (she sends an e-mail to everyone) to find out what the Hammorati are downloading to their iTunes/iPods these days. Here are her findings:
From America to the Brady Bunch to Coldplay, the staff of Hammock Publishing seem to have a wide range of musical tastes. Here is what I learned.
Barbara: I last uploaded a song called “Chicken Payback” by A Band of Bees off a CD sampler called SXSW Astralwerks New Music ’05. The sampler also has “Jerk It Out” by The Caesars which has been used in the iPod TV commercial. So I can play this on my iPod and dance around. I’m so cool.
Laura: “The First Day of My Life” by Bright Eyes
Bill:“The Spirit of Radio” by Rush
Jamie:I recently loaded the entire 100 Percent Funk album. (Kool & The Gang, Commodores, Rick James, et.al.)
Shannon: “Sister Golden Hair” by America. My extended family is getting together for the Fourth of July and I’ve started a playlist for the weekend…all Classic Rock songs my dad and uncles will love.
Summer: Robyn Ludwick’s whole debut CD, For So Long. She’s a singer/songwriter from just outside of Austin. Little sister of Bruce and Charlie Robison.
Allison: Well, I don’t have an iPod (yet), but I loaded some stuff to my iTunes this morning. I don’t actually recall all the songs, but here is a list of the latest artists showing up in my iTunes: Bowie, The Clash, Chemical Brothers, Crystal Method, John Coltrane, Sahara Hotnights.
Kerri: Like this would be a big surprise…the new Coldplay, X&Y.
Lynne: Suspicious Minds (Dwight Yoakam)
Leslie: The new Coldplay single, “Speed of Sound”
Lena:“American Pie,” by the Brady Bunch. Before you judge me, I do have an explanation. So I really wanted the song, but to get the Don McLean version on iTunes, you have to buy the whole album. So I went with the Brady Bunch one, which, I’m pleased as punch to report, is not as bad as one might think.
David Ask - RestRex:The last thing I downloaded on my iPod was the podcast, “The Nashville Nobody Knows.” The last music I purchased on iTunes and downloaded was five different covers of the Bill Monroe bluegrass gospel tune, “Working on a Building.”
Blair: I have loaded a lot of music lately but I think my most recent addition
was the live 3CD set, How the West Was Won by Led Zeppelin.
Natalie: Lisa’s husbands CD – David Ask – Rest

Hello, Sienna
June 8, 2005

From Julia:
The proud dad of Sienna Grace Willis just e-mailed us this photo from his cell-phone. She was born early this morning and weighs 6 lbs, 12 ounces. Mom (Natalie) and baby are doing fine. And, as he was able to e-mail us this photo, we presume Dad is, as well.
All together, now: Ahhhhh!
Update: Today is creative director Susie Garland’s daughter, Sammy’s, third birthday. (Happy birthday, Sammy.) Sienna Grace was born at almost the exact same time of day at which Sammy was born.
All together, now. Hmmm!
Update 2: A new picture of Natalie holding Sienna: