01/05/09 3:36pm

Ordinarily when a publication doles out annual awards to local establishments, it distributes certificates the winners can display proudly in their entrances, lobbies, or restrooms. The Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate are a little different, in some instances because a large number of individuals and organizations can reasonably claim credit for the victory — and in others because the winners might be a little shy about celebrating this kind of recognition.

No problem: By popular demand, Swamplot is making award certificates for all the winners available to everyone, online! Each is downloadable in PDF format — and suitable for framing, displaying on break-room bulletin boards, or posting of a more impromptu fashion.

If you had a hand in the conception, creation, or promotion of any of the winners of this year’s Swampies, congratulations! A certificate celebrating your achievement is below. Print it out and display it proudly! If you weren’t part of a team responsible for any of the winners, but just want to make sure the award winners get the recognition they deserve, we hope you can make productive use of these certificates too!

Click on these links to get your Swamplot Award certificates, in 8 1/2″ x 11″ PDF format:

12/30/08 7:04am

Here they are at last: the winners of the first-ever Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate! Swamplot’s real-estate-obsessed readers swarmed over the official nominees in 10 distinct award categories. The results celebrate the best and most in a tumultuous year.

This announcement caps an almost month-long process that began with calls for nominations in each award category. After the official nominees were presented, voting opened up to all readers.

The competition was fierce. In some categories, only a few votes separated the winners from the runners-up. Swamplot salutes the award winners for their special contributions to this city. Thanks are due also to the many Swamplot readers who offered brilliant or well-considered nominations, for raising the stakes; to the many others of you who worked hard to promote your favorite candidates, for making this a more exciting contest; and to all participants in Houston’s peculiar real-estate scene, for giving us so much to write about every day.

Who ended up on top?

Presenting the winners of the 2008 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate:

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12/29/08 7:35pm

The first-ever Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate went . . . swimmingly! More than 500 votes were cast in support of nominees in 10 separate categories. Thanks again to all of you who voted, nominated, commented, and cajoled in support of your favorites. Many readers, with their eyes on the prizes, sent out emails to friends and neighbors, Twittered, and annoyed their Facebook friends . . . just to get them to vote.

So what were the results?

We’ll get to the winners in an upcoming post. First, though, come the runners-up. You know what it means: If, for any reason, a winner of the Swamplot Awards is unable to fulfill its duty at any time during the upcoming year, the runner-up in the category will be asked to step in.

Yes, they are ready! Yes, they are willing to serve! A big round of applause, please, for the 2008 second-place winners of the Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate . . . the Swampies!

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12/29/08 7:45am

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.

12/22/08 1:32pm

Nominees for all 10 categories of the Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate have been announced, and voting has begun!

Where can you find them? Where can you vote? They’re all on this page. Or you can get to them individually from this handy list of links:

Already, more than 200 votes have come in. And yes, it’s a slow week. But there’s still time for come-from-behind candidates to win their categories! All it takes is a little campaigning. The deadline for the votes you bring in: midnight this coming Sunday, December 28th.

12/19/08 7:58pm

Note: Voting for the Swampies has ended. See the bottom of this post (above the comments) for a link to the results!

Here they are: the selected nominations for the final category of the Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. They’re for the Greatest Moment in Houston Real Estate of the last year.

Which nominee will you vote for? Read the descriptions below, then add your choice in a comment — or send it in a private email. Swamplot’s voting guidelines encourage campaigning for your favorite candidate. Just make sure all votes are in before midnight on Sunday, December 28th.

The official nominees for Greatest Moment in Houston Real Estate 2008 are . . .

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12/19/08 2:28pm

Note: Voting for the Swampies has ended. See the bottom of this post (above the comments) for a link to the results!

There’ll be no more guessing with these neighborhoods: The official nominees for Neighborhood of the Year 2008 in the Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate have been selected — from your contributions.

And now the campaigning can begin! How are you going to round up votes for your favorite? Emails? Tweets? Forum or blog posts? Social-network schemes? Whatever works . . . but get your voters to the polls — also known as the comments section of this post (or the Swamplot inbox if you prefer secret ballots). Consult the official campaign rules if you have questions. All votes must be in before midnight on Sunday, December 28th.

Got it? The nominees for Houston Neighborhood of the Year for 2008 are . . .

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12/18/08 6:12pm

Note: Voting for the Swampies has ended. See the bottom of this post (above the comments) for a link to the results!

Here we go with the official nominees for the 8th category in the Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate: Most Fattening Real Estate Development of 2008.

After you read about all the candidates below, please enter your vote for this category in the comment section, or more privately through email. Swamplot’s voting guidelines encourage campaigning for your favorite candidate. Voting ends on December 28th.

Are you ready for this one? The nominees for Most Fattening Real Estate Development are . . .

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12/18/08 11:12am

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.

12/17/08 8:37pm

Note: Voting for the Swampies has ended. See the bottom of this post (above the comments) for a link to the results!

If you’ve been playing or following along with Swamplot’s weekly Neighborhood Guessing Game contests, now’s your chance to honor one of the top players. Who is Houston’s Best Home Sleuth? The official nominees for this category in the Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate have been chosen!

You can vote in the comments section below — or (if you’d rather not play favorites with competitors) confidentially, in a private email to Swamplot. More rules about voting — including a few suggestions about campaign strategy, if you’re rooting for a particular nominee — are on our voting guidelines page. All votes must be in before midnight, December 28th.

The nominees for Best Home Sleuth are . . .

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12/17/08 5:34pm

Note: Voting for the Swampies has ended. See the bottom of this post (above the comments) for a link to the results!

We have the slate! The official nominees for the “Only in Houston” Award, the 6th category in the Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate, are in!

Swamplot needs your vote! You can add it in a comment at the bottom of this post, or send it privately to this site’s super-top-secret email address. You can read more about the voting rules here. If you want to swing the voting toward your favorite candidate, you can start a virtual campaign by sending out emails or posting about the awards on your blog or on forums. The polls close at midnight on December 28th.

The official nominees for the “Only in Houston” Award are . . .

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12/17/08 10:40am

Only 2 categories in the Swamplot Awards for Real Estate remain open for your nominations: Houston Neighborhood of the Year and Greatest Moment in Houston Real Estate for 2008. If you haven’t contributed a good suggestion to one of these categories, please do it today!

Nominations closed early this morning for 3 other categories, and we’ll announce the official slate of nominees and open voting later today in 2 of them: The “Only in Houston” and Best Home Sleuth awards.

Meanwhile, it looks like some of you have taken the hint and started your own Facebook-and-email campaigns in support of your favorite candidates. Twitter might work too! Will the other contenders be able to fight back? Voting in all the categories will end just before midnight on Sunday, December 28th.

12/16/08 11:53pm

Note: Voting for the Swampies has ended. See the bottom of this post (above the comments) for a link to the results!

And now, certainly the most important category of the entire Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate: the award for Most Grandiose Development.

Well, it is a big deal: The official nominees have been selected, and voting can now begin! Swamplot’s high-tech voting setup prescribes this not-too-complicated process: Vote for the winner in this category by adding your comment below! Or send us an email with your choice. Easy enough?

The nominees for Most Grandiose Development are . . .

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12/16/08 5:00pm

Note: Voting for the Swampies has ended. See the bottom of this post (above the comments) for a link to the results!

Next on deck: The nominees for Best Rebranding Effort in 2008’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate.

What Houston-area project deserves to win this award? Read the list of nominees below, then give us your answer in the comments. Or send in your vote via email. If you want more detail about the voting process for these awards, see this page.

All set? The official nominees for Best Rebranding Effort are . . .

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12/16/08 12:38pm

Note: Voting for the Swampies has ended. See the bottom of this post (above the comments) for a link to the results!

What was the Best Teardown of 2008? That’s the third category in the Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. The official nominees are in the (soon-to-be-demolished) house!

The official voting rules are posted here, but they’re not that complicated: Add your vote in the comments, or more privately in an email to Swamplot. You can even start a campaign in support of your favorite candidate, if you like. All winners will be announced after December 28th, when the polls close for all categories.

The nominees for Best Teardown of 2008 are . . .

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