THE SWAMPLOT AWARDS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED 
Did it seem like the holiday season went by in a glittery flash? If so, maybe you didn’t have time to take in the wonders of the 2014 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. It’s the annual chance for this publication’s readers to honor local standouts with an assortment of accolades. 2014 may be over, but you can still revel over who or what your peers tagged as their Favorite Houston Design Cliche, Best Demolition, Best Sign of the New Houston, and other honorifics in 7 separate categories — simply by reading this accounting of the winners. Equally entertaining and informative is this roundup of the runners-up. Thanks again to all the worthy contestants and commentators — your rich contributions to this city (and this website) make the Swampies an annual endeavor worth repeating.
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Tag: Swamplot Awards 2014
And here it is — the grand finale of the seventh annual Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. It’s time to announce the winners of this year’s competition.
This final unveiling caps an almost month-long process that began with calls for nominations in 7 separate award categories. Official ballots were assembled from reader nominations. Then voting was opened up — to everyone.
The award winners of the 2014 Swampies deserve to be recognized for their unique contributions to this city. It takes something special to stand out in Houston’s real estate landscape. Award winners: Houston real-estate fans have noticed you!
Also worthy of recognition: the many Swamplot readers who took time to nominate, evaluate, vote, and comment on competitors in each category. Your judgments, your descriptions, and your observations are featured below.
Does this honor roll of award winners — along with the list of runners up — provide an accurate snapshot of the year in Houston real estate? The lineup was determined by reader votes. It’s too late to vote, but do let everyone know how you think it all turned out!
The winners of the 2014 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate are . . .
The 2014 Swampies
The votes have been counted. Now here’s the moment you’ve been waiting for — well, almost. It’s time to reveal the second-place winners of the 2014 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate!
Before we do that, a hearty thank you is due to all of you who voted, commented, nominated, campaigned, and cajoled in support of your favorite candidates. You make the Swampies possible.
The actual award winners will be announced in a later post, but now’s the time to let the second-place finishers shine. Several categories had close races; under slightly different circumstances, the candidates listed below could have been the winners. So let’s have a big round of pixelated applause for the 2014 runners-up in the Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate — the Swampies!
They are:
The 2014 Swampies
Have you voted yet in this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate? Ballots for all 7 categories are open this week only!
Here’s a quick refresher on the 4 different methods you can use to vote in each category: (A longer explanation is here, but yes, you can vote once for each category using each method.)
- Leave a comment on the official ballot for the category
- Send your vote in an email to Swamplot
- Use Twitter
- Make your vote in a comment on an appropriate post on Swamplot’s Facebook page
If you vote via the website or email, please make sure you’ve signed up for the Swamplot email list (through this link, or by filling out the box at the top left of this page). And remember: Votes taste better when they’re peppered with some sort of explanation.
Here’s a handy list of all the categories:
- Favorite Houston Design Cliché
- Best Demolition
- Best Body of Water
- Best Mobile Food Vendor Location
- Best Sign of the New Houston
- Neighborhood of the Year
- Greatest Moment in Houston Real Estate
Already voted, but want to do more? Drum up more support for your favorites. The difference between one nominee winning or losing could come down to your email, Facebook post, or tweet.
Voting in all categories will end at 5 pm on Saturday, December 27th.
- How To Vote in the 2014 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate [Swamplot]
- Swamplot Awards Ballots 2014 [Swamplot]
The 2014 Swampies
Last week official ballots were posted for all 7 categories of the 2014 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. The official nominees have been chosen. If you haven’t done so already, now is the time to cast your votes!
Longtime Swamplot Award ballot-stuffers are probably aware of the quirky voting rules for the Swampies: You can vote up to 4 times in each category —Â once using each of 4 methods. Method 1 is the most obvious: Just add a comment to the post that announces the official nominees in that category. Method 2 is sending an email to Swamplot, indicating your choice in any or all of the categories. But if you’re using either of these methods and you want your votes to count, please make sure you’ve signed up for the Swamplot email list (through this link, or by filling out the box at the top left of this page). You can also Tweet your votes (method 3) or add them as comments to the appropriate post on the Swamplot Facebook page (method 4). Do try to make the whole thing more fun for everyone by explaining your vote. We’ve gone ahead and posted all the voting rules here.
Here’s a handy list of links to the official ballots for all 7 categories:
- Favorite Houston Design Cliché
- Best Demolition
- Best Body of Water
- Best Mobile Food Vendor Location
- Best Sign of the New Houston
- Neighborhood of the Year
- Greatest Moment in Houston Real Estate
The voting deadline for all categories is 5 pm on Saturday, December 27th. Pick some winners!
- How To Vote in the 2014 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate [Swamplot]
- Swamplot Awards Ballots 2014 [Swamplot]
The 2014 Swampies
We’ve reached the end of the line. Here’s your final ballot, for the final category of this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate: the award for the Greatest Moment in Houston Real Estate.
An annual fixture in the Swampies since the very first go-round in 2008, this award aims to honor the events that stand above all the rest. The nominees came from your suggestions. Your next job: pick the winner! Vote in this category by adding a comment below — or by sending us an email, or posting your preference on Facebook or Twitter. We hope you’ll include an explanation for your preference, to make the whole thing more fun. You can vote up to 4 times in this category — once using each method — as long as you follow these rules. A reminder: We’ll only be counting votes submitted via the first 2 methods from voters who’ve signed up for the Swamplot email list. (If you haven’t done so already, you can join it through this link — or the box at the top left of this page.)
And now please welcome the official nominees for Greatest Moment in Houston Real Estate, 2014:
The 2014 Swampies
Here it is: the official ballot for Neighborhood of the Year. This is the next-to-last category in the 2014 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate, a list of candidates culled from your nominations.
Newcomers to the Swampies, please take note: This category is for neighborhood of the year. That doesn’t necessarily mean best neighborhood — but it could! With your vote, you’re not only helping Houston to figure out who the winner of the Neighborhood of the Year is, you’re also defining what Neighborhood of the Year should even mean. So please explain your vote as you cast it.
Votes in this category can take the form of a comment below this post, an email, or a post on Facebook or Twitter. You can vote all 4 ways so long as you follow the voting rules. For your votes submitted as Swamplot comments or emails, however, you’ll want to have joined the Swamplot email list, because they won’t be counted if you’re not signed up for it. (You can get on the list through this link or by adding your email address to the box at the top left of this page.)
The nominees for the Houston area’s 2014 Neighborhood of the Year are:
The 2014 Swampies
It’s a new era for Houston.
And with this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate, we aim to identify the Best Sign of the New Houston.
Based on your prescient nominations, we’ve compiled the official ballot. But what’s the most defining sign of where the Bayou City’s bound? You tell us!
You can vote for your favorite by leaving a comment below this post or through email, Facebook, or Twitter. You can do all 4, too — as long as you follow these rules. That includes one minor tweak to this year’s awards — we’ll only be counting votes submitted via the first 2 methods from voters who’ve signed up for the Swamplot email list. (If you haven’t done so already, you can join it through this link or the box at the top left of this page.) Just don’t forget to tell us why the neighborhood you selected is getting your vote.
Now allow us to introduce the official nominees for the Best Sign of the New Houston:
The 2014 Swampies
The list of official nominees for the next category in the Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate is parked here! It’s the award for the Best Mobile Food Vendor Location in and around the city.
Where’s the best go-to spot for H-Town grub-on-the-go? And what makes it that way? The nominees in this category were picked out by Swamplot readers. Now it’s time to look over the menu and vote for the winner.
You can vote by leaving a comment below or through email, Facebook, or Twitter. You can use all four methods (once each) to vote — but that’s the limit. Please note that this year we’ll only be counting votes submitted via the first 2 methods from voters who’ve signed up for the Swamplot email list. (If you haven’t done so already, you can join it through this link or the box at the top left of this page.) When you vote, please tell us why you think your pick should win.
The nominees for the 2014 Best Mobile Food Vendor Location are . . .
The 2014 Swampies
What is Houston’s best body of water? Here’s where you get to vote!
New to the Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate this year, the Best Body of Water category aims to discover the repository of liquids in the greater Houston area that is most Swampies-worthy (whether or not it’s swamp-worthy). What qualifies a nominee to be considered for this honor? Only that it was selected from your suggestions. Now it’s time to pick the winner.
Cast your vote in the comments section below, by email, on Facebook, or through Twitter — you can even vote 4 times, once using each method! Please note that this year we’ll only be counting votes submitted via the first 2 methods from voters who’ve signed up for the Swamplot email list. (If you haven’t done so already, you can join it through this link or the box at the top left of this page.) A more complete explanation of the voting rules is available here.
When you vote, don’t forget to explain your choice — that’s what makes it fun! And just make sure you get all your votes in by the voting deadline: 5 pm on Saturday, December 27th.
Here are the official nominees:
The 2014 Swampies
What an embarrassment of riches! For Best Demolition, the second category of the 2014 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate, we had far too many contenders than available places on the ballot. So several valiant contenders for the title got knocked out of the running.
Thanks to your help, a terrific slate of candidates for this award remains, however. And with some additional help — in the form of your votes — we’ll all pick the winner. What qualifies a nominee to be declared Best Demolition of the year? Does it refer to the best act of demolition, the removal that produced the best results, or the best building that happened to be torn down? That’s up to you!
The voting rules for this year’s Swampies, which includes a slight tweak to our previous rules, are posted here. You can still vote in this category through each of 4 methods: in a comment below, in an email to Swamplot, on Twitter, or on Swamplot’s Facebook page. This go-around, however, we’ll only be counting votes submitted through the first 2 methods from voters who’ve signed up for the Swamplot email list. (If you haven’t done so already, you can through this link or the box at the top left of this page.) When you cast your vote(s), please try to explain why you’re voting for that particular nominee, so we’ll have plenty of entertaining comments to include in our roundup of the winners and runners-up.
And here they are! Or rather, here they were! The official nominees for Best Demolition of 2014:
The 2014 Swampies
Here they are, straight from your submissions: the official nominees in the first category of the seventh annual Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. That, of course, is Favorite Houston Design Cliché. Thanks to all of you who contributed! These awards wouldn’t happen without you.
If you’ve voted in the Swampies before, please note we’re making a slight tweak to our voting rules this year. You can still vote up to 4 times in this category by 1) leaving a comment below this post; 2) sending us an email; or by expressing your preference on 3) Twitter or 4) Facebook. This year, however — to encourage signups — we’ll only be counting votes submitted through the first 2 methods from voters who’ve signed up for the Swamplot email list. (If you haven’t done so already, you can through this link or the box at the top left of this page). Make sure your vote counts by reading and following our voting instructions.
Just as important as the votes you cast, though, are the explanations you provide with them. Tell us why you’re voting for who you’re voting for! What you write may sway other readers to vote as you did. And if your candidate wins or comes in second place, your clever comments might be included in our round-up post.
Here, then are the 2014 nominees for favorite Houston design cliché:
The 2014 Swampies
This year’s Swampies are starting to take shape. Nominations closed at midnight last night for the first 2 of the 7 categories in this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate: Favorite Houston Design Cliché and Best Demolition. Later today, we’ll kick off the voting when we announce the official nominees for the first of those categories. Then, throughout the rest of this week and next, we’ll work our way through the remaining categories in order, announcing the official nominees and opening the voting for each.
But your chance to make nominations hasn’t ended entirely. For the categories that still have nominations open, we still need your help. Peruse the suggestions posted in the comments sections of the 5 remaining categories (all the categories are listed here). If you find anything missing, please add your nominations. If you think you can improve on any of the explanations already submitted, do that, too. If you see a nomination without any explanation at all, fix that and add a good one. Got photos of any of the nominees? Send them our way!
The deadline for nominations in the next 2 categories — Best Body of Water and Best Mobile Food Vendor Location — is midnight tonight.
- The Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate 2014: How To Make a Nomination [Swamplot]
- Swamplot Award Nominations 2014 [Swamplot]
The 2014 Swampies
All 7 categories in the 2014 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate have now been announced and opened for nominations. But the Swampies have only just gotten started.
Readers have submitted some stellar nominations so far, but if you think anything’s missing that simply must be included, please add your nomination now. If you like a nomination that’s already been made but think you can beef up or add an explanation to better help it land on the ballot, go right ahead. (Here’s a hint: Nominees that are mentioned, but that don’t come with any explanation or reasons for the choice aren’t particularly likely to end up on a final ballot.) If you have photos of any of the nominees, send those in, too.
But don’t wait too long! Tonight at midnight, nominations will close for the first 2 award categories: Favorite Houston Design Cliché and Best Demolition. We’ll close nominations Thursday night for the next 2 categories: Best Body of Water and Best Mobile Food Vendor Location, then finish off the rest of the nominations next week for the remaining categories. Tomorrow, we’ll announce the official slate of nominees for the first award category and open it for voting. And then continue on from there.
Add your nominations to the comments section below the post that announces each category, or send them to us in an email. Who are the top contenders in Houston real estate this year? You tell us.
- Here It Is, the Final Category in This Year’s Swampies: What Was the Greatest Moment in Houston Real Estate in 2014?; Nominations Are Now Open for Swamplot’s 2014 Neighborhood of the Year Award; What’s the Best Sign of the New Houston? We’re Looking for Your Nominations; Another New Category for This Year’s Swampies: Best Mobile Food Vendor Location; Introducing the Swamplot Award for Best Body of Water; The Second Category in the Swampies Is Now Open for Your Nominations: Best Demolition of 2014; First Category: Seeking Your Nominations for Favorite Houston Design Cliché [Swamplot]
- The Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate 2014: How To Make a Nomination [Swamplot]
- Swamplot Award Nominations 2014 [Swamplot]
The 2014 Swampies
If you’ve been keeping track, you’ll have counted 6 categories announced so far in the 2014 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate: Favorite Houston Design Cliché, Best Demolition, Best Body of Water, Best Mobile Food Vendor Location, Best Sign of the New Houston, and 2014 Neighborhood of the Year.
Here’s the seventh and final category: the Greatest Moment in Houston Real Estate of 2014. Covering great moments in real estate is the whole point of Swamplot. So tell us: What big real estate happening from the past year stands out above all others? Was it something Swamplot covered? Or something we missed? Your answer need not have taken place within city limits, but it should include sufficient Houston-ish qualities to be deserving of the award.
For this award to work, we need your help. Add your comments to this post or send us an email describing the moments you’d like to nominate and — more important — explaining why. If you need to jog your memory, browse through our posts from the last year. And if you have any questions about how to make a nomination, you’ll likely find the answers here. Nominations are due by midnight on December 16, so don’t delay!
- Nominations Are Now Open for Swamplot’s 2014 Neighborhood of the Year Award, What’s the Best Sign of the New Houston? We’re Looking for Your Nominations, Another New Category for This Year’s Swampies: Best Mobile Food Vendor Location, Introducing the Award for Best Body of Water, The Second Category in the Swampies Is Now Open for Your Nominations: Best Demolition of 2014, First Category: Seeking Your Nominations for Favorite Houston Design Cliché [Swamplot]
- The Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate 2014: How To Make a Nomination [Swamplot]
- Swamplot Award Nominations 2014 [Swamplot]
The 2014 Swampies
