Professional Communications Contest
2025 NPW Communications Contest winners during the April 12 convention in Omaha.
Communications professionals who are paid members of Nebraska Press Women may enter the Professional Communications Contest. The contest is judged by experts in the field, and each entry receives feedback from the judge.
General categories include writing; editing and page design; photography and graphics; radio and television; web and social media; advertising; public relations/ promotion/ publicity; speeches; books and creative writing. Each category has several subcategories.
All who place in the state contest are notified and invited to attend the spring NPW convention Communications Contest Awards Banquet. The top three winners (those scoring the most points in all of the categories entered) receive 1st, 2nd and 3rd place Sweepstakes Awards.
All state first place winners who are paid members of the National Federation of Press Women have their entries advanced to the national contest. Winners of the national contest are invited to the NFPW annual convention where certificates are presented and an overall National Sweepstakes Winner is announced and presented a plaque.
See the Contest Rules page for more specific information or email the NPW Contest Director listed on the Contact NPW page.
Find out more about the contest and entry categories. 2025 contest information will be available in late fall. Deadlines for 2024 were:
Dec. 31, 2024 – Deadline to pay 2025 NPW dues (must be paid to enter the contest)
Jan. 29, 2025 (noon) – Early-bird deadline (no $25 processing fee)
Feb. 5, 2025 (noon) – Final book deadline
Feb. 19, 2025 (noon) – Final entry deadline
2025 Contest Results
Thirteen members of Nebraska Press Women were winners in the 2025 Professional Communications Contest. The awards were presented April 12 at the NPW’s spring convention in Omaha.
They entered work in 35 categories, including print and online articles, digital publications, websites, blogs and photography.
Of the 91 awards presented, 32 were first place entries. Awards presented include first, second and third place, and honorable mention.
Decisions were made by eight judges who live outside Nebraska and work in newspapers, public relations, marketing, social media and related fields.
Winner of the NPW Sweepstakes Award was Lori Potter, a freelance writer from Kearney, who received 22 awards, including nine first-place. The award goes to the highest achiever in the contest.
The first-place-winning pieces have moved on to the National Federation of Press Women 2025 Professional Communications Contest, where they will compete against work from journalists, public relations professionals and more across the country.
NFPW winners will be announced at that group’s annual conference on Sept. 13 in Golden, Colo.
View a list of the 2025 Communications Contest winners by category.
Lori Potter, right, receives the Sweepstakes Award in the NFPW 2018 Professional Communications Contest.
