Notices

02/05/09 3:50pm

Neighborhood Guessing Game Held Over: Wide Open Field

After a strong day yesterday, the number of entries in this week’s Neighborhood Guessing Game trailed off a bit today. Which is too bad, because — for the first time ever — there’s a great prize waiting for the winner. And . . . because no one has guessed the actual neighborhood yet.

What’s the big idea behind offering a prize? To encourage more of our readers to participate. We know a great number of you look at the game each week but for one reason or another decide not to enter a guess. Maybe it’s because you think the other players are better at it than you are? Or maybe adding your guess just doesn’t seem worth the effort?

Well . . . how about now? The field’s still wide open. And in return for just a little speculating and finger waggling, you could walk away with a shiny new individual membership in the Rice Design Alliance — normally available for $45 a year.

So . . . we’ll be extending this week’s competition for one more day. If you’ve already made a guess, feel free to make another. But if you’ve been holding out on us for some reason, now’s a great opportunity to go ahead and take a stab at it, simply by adding your comment.

It won’t hurt! We’re holding the contest open . . . just for you.

Neighborhood Guessing Game: Lamps On [Swamplot]

01/21/09 11:31am

Supporting Swamplot Advertisers

Swamplot greatly appreciates the continuing support of this site’s direct advertisers. And we hope you do too!

Here’s the honor roll:

Robert Lowery, Colliers International
Nos Caves Vin Premium Off-Site Wine Storage
New Leaf Real Estate
Houston Chronicle Real Estate
and the Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Education at Rice University, announcing its spring semester of personal development courses.

Swamplot is also excited to welcome a brand-new advertiser:

ULI Houston, a district council of the Urban Land Institute.

Information about joining ULI Houston is available here.

Advertising helps Swamplot grow. So please help us thank these advertisers by supporting them.

If you know of local businesses or organizations that might benefit from exposure on Swamplot — and an introduction to our growing readership of Houston real estate fans — please direct them to our advertising page.

Downtown

12/31/08 6:12pm

As Seen from Here

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Happy New year! Swamplot is off for the remainder of the week, to rest up for an exciting year full of new features, plus plenty more Houston real estate, design, and neighborhood goodies.

Comments and the Swamplot tip line, of course, remain open. If you’re hunting for the results of the Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate, browse on over to this page. We’ll see you back here on Monday!

In the meantime, enjoy these excerpts from a recent watery tour of Downtown, shot by Daryl D’Angelo from an inflatable canoe on Buffalo Bayou:

77002, Buffalo Bayou, Downtown, Notices

12/29/08 7:45am

The Swampies: Thank You for Voting!

1 Comment

Voting has ended in the first-ever Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate: The polls closed at midnight, after a flurry of last-minute votes.

Swamplot’s election judges have already begun tabulating the results, and we’ll announce them just as soon as they are ready right here. A big thank you to all who got involved by making nominations, rallying friends to your cause, or voting! Your participation heightened the competition and improved the value of the awards considerably.

If you’re one of the many Swamplot newcomers who found this site as a result of the awards, please have a look around — and be sure to check back regularly. You’ll find interesting new stories posted here about the latest in Houston real estate, neighborhoods, architecture, landscape, and related topics several times during the day.

Awards, Notices, Swamplot Awards 2008

12/28/08 2:10pm

Your Last Chance To Vote in the Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate

4 Comments

There are still a few good voting hours left in the Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. But the polls close at midnight tonight!

A few of the categories are being very hotly contested. Round up like-minded real-estate-fan friends and help sway the results! You can find details on the categories and voting in this post below.

Vote for Houstonâ€™s Best and Brightest [Swamplot]

Awards, Notices

12/24/08 3:55pm

Vote for Houston’s Best and Brightest

Just a reminder: there’s still time to vote! All votes in the Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate must be in by midnight this Sunday, December 28th.

Here, again, are the categories:

All of them are listed on this page. Complete voting rules and suggestions are here.

And we’re off! Swamplot wishes everyone a safe and dry holiday. We’ll be back on Monday.

Photo of Brown Promenade, Discovery Green: Flickr user sulla55

Awards, Notices

12/24/08 9:54am

The Swampies: Where Your Vote Can Make a Big Difference

A lot of votes have already come in for the first-ever Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate! But some categories have been more popular than others.

If you want to know where your vote can make a real difference in the results, take a look at these individual awards categories. Read all about the worthy nominees, then add your vote!

Every vote counts!

Awards, Notices

12/23/08 5:19pm

Neighborhood Guessing Game: You Make the Rules

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

5 Comments

There’s no time to play the Neighborhood Guessing Game this week — Swamplot will be off Thursday and Friday — but there is time to do a little bit of thinking about changing the rules of the game.

What should change? Well, here are a couple of ideas: First, to encourage better comments, we’d like to alter the way the winner is determined. Under the new rules being considered, the winner will be the player who names the correct neighborhood and backs it up with the best explanation.

Here’s an example:

12/18/08 11:12am

The Swampies: Nominations Closed, Voting Continues

2 Comments

Nominations in all categories of the Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate are now closed. A big thank you to the many readers who contributed excellent suggestions and descriptions! Your efforts have made a big difference in the quality of the awards.

Today and tomorrow, we’ll be announcing the official nominees and opening voting in the final 3 categories: Most Fattening Real Estate Development, Houston Neighborhood of the Year, and Greatest Moment in Houston Real Estate, 2008. The voting continues in the 7 categories in which nominees have already been announced. You can find them all on this page.

As spelled out in our official voting rules, all votes in all categories must be in before midnight on Sunday, December 28th. Until then, keep up the campaigning! If the winner of one or more categories matters to you, get your friends over to Swamplot to vote! Already in a few of the races, email and Facebook campaigns launched by readers have begun to affect the results.

How To Vote in the Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate [Swamplot]
Swamplot Awards Ballots 2008 [Swamplot]

12/17/08 5:53pm

Hooray for Swamplot Advertisers!

It’s time to thank this site’s advertisers, for making Swamplot possible:

New Leaf Real Estate
Robert Lowery, Colliers International
Nos Caves Vin Premium Off-Site Wine Storage
Houston Chronicle Real Estate

Please also welcome back the Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Education at Rice University, which is showing off a few of its Spring 2009 course offerings in a new series of ads on this site.

Swamplot owes thanks to these advertisers for supporting us — and thanks to our readers for supporting them!

If you think your firm might benefit by reaching Swamplot’s intelligent and dedicated readership of real-estate fans, please see this advertising page for more information.

12/16/08 9:35am

The Swampies: Your Nominations Still Wanted

Nominations closed for 3 more award categories early this morning: Best Teardown of the Year, Best Rebranding Effort, and Most Grandiose Development. We’ll be announcing the official nominees and opening the voting in all 3 today. Voting began yesterday for Favorite Houston Design Cliche and Best Project Cancellation or Delay.

We’ve also posted the official voting rules. Please note that campaigning for your favorite award candidates — by sending out emails to friends, Twittering, or posting about the contest in forums, other blogs, or on Facebook, for example — is highly encouraged. Start a groundswell for your choice!

Also, there’s still a just a bit more time for you to submit your nominations for the 5 remaining categories. The deadline for submissions for the “Only in Houston,” Best Home Sleuth, and Most Fattening Real Estate Development awards is early tomorrow morning. Please help make the awards the best they can be by looking at each of those categories and adding your suggestions for nominations before that deadline. If one of your choices has already been submitted, you can help it succeed by adding your own explanation why it deserves to be on the ballot.

The Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate: How To Make a Nomination [Swamplot]
Swamplot Award Nominations 2008 [Swamplot]

12/15/08 8:30am

How You Can Help Save the Swampies

Nominations are now closed for the first two categories in the Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate: Favorite Houston Design ClichÃ© and Best Project Cancellation or Delay. We’ll be announcing the official nominees in these categories — and opening the voting for each of them — later today.

This means there are now less than 24 hours left to make your nominations for the next 3 categories: Best Teardown of the Year, Best Rebranding Effort, and Most Grandiose Development. Although some strong nominations for each award have already come in, it’s obvious these categories need some attention. What potential award winners are missing? Could an existing nomination be improved with a more eloquent introduction?

Nominations will close as the sun rises tomorrow. Help save these 3 award categories with your smart contributions . . . before it’s too late!

The Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate: How To Make a Nomination [Swamplot]
Swamplot Award Nominations 2008 [Swamplot]

12/12/08 12:04pm

And the Nominees for the 2008 Swampies Are . . .

Some terrific nominations have already come in for the Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. But we still need your help! Voting begins next week. Before then, we want to make sure that all the candidates are the right ones, and that each is presented in the best possible light.

So if you see something missing in any award category, please add your nomination now! Or if you think you can improve on any of the explanations submitted with a nomination you like, feel free to write in with your own better presentation.

Early Monday morning, the nominations will close for the first two award categories: Favorite Houston Design ClichÃ© and Best Project Cancellation or Delay. Then we’ll announce the official slate of nominees for those awards and open them for voting. We’ll close nominations and open the voting for the next three categories on Tuesday. There’ll be three more on Wednesday, and the last two on Thursday.

There’s still plenty of time to contribute. Add your nominations to the comments below the post announcing each category. Or send them to us in an email. Who are the contenders in Houston real estate this year? What deserves recognition?

12/11/08 2:11pm

Last Award Category: Greatest Moment in Houston Real Estate, 2008