Tag: Notices

Awards
12/23/13 3:15pm

All This Week, It’s Campaign Time for the Swamplot Awards

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Last week we finished announcing the official nominees for the last of the 8 categories in this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. With all ballots open, voting is already well under way.

Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate Ribbon LogoYou can vote using any or all of 4 separate methods:

That’s a total of 4 votes (only one using each method, please) for each of 8 categories. But make sure you follow the voting rules here. If you’re ready to catch up on the award action, use these handy links to all the categories:

Already voted? There’s still time to round up more support for your favorite nominees. Come-from-behind candidates, we’re talking about you: All it might take is a little email, Facebook post, or tweet to call on your friends to better the odds. If you explain your vote when you make it, too, you’ll help build support for your choices.

Voting in all categories will end at 5 pm on Friday, December 27th.

The 2013 Swampies
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Awards
12/20/13 2:00pm

How To Stuff the Ballots for the 2013 Swamplot Awards

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Have you voted yet in the 2013 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate? In all 8 categories? If that answer’s yes, have you also taken advantage of our quirky system and voted up to 4 times for each? That’s right, you can vote once in a comment to the official ballot post for each category, once in an email to Swamplot, once from your Twitter account, and once on the wall of Swamplot’s Facebook page. Just make sure you follow the rules listed here to make sure your votes count.

Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate Ribbon LogoAll 8 categories in this year’s Swampies are now open for voting, so there’s no reason to hesitate. They are:

Whichever method or methods you use when you cast your ballot, don’t forget to explain why you’re voting the way you are.

Did any of your favorites make it to the ballot? Then show them some love! And don’t be shy — tell your friends to vote for them, too. Just make sure to do it in time. All votes for all categories must be in by 5 pm on Friday, December 27th.

The 2013 Swampies
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Awards
12/09/13 11:00am

Voting for the Swamplot Awards Begins Today

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Last night nominations closed at midnight for the first 2 of the 8 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. After that, through this week and part of the next, we’ll work our way through the rest of the categories in sequence, announcing the official nominees and opening the voting for each, one by one.

For the categories for which nominations have not closed, though, we still need your help. Take a look at the suggestions posted in the comments sections of the 6 remaining categories (all the categories are listed here). If you find anything missing, please add your nominations now! If you think you can improve on any of the explanations already submitted, please do so. Or if you see a nomination without any explanation at all, please add a good one! Got photos of any of the nominees? Please send them!

The deadline for nominations in the next 2 categories — Best Houston Transplant and the Ground-Floor Retail Award — is midnight tonight. 

The 2013 Swampies
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Awards
12/06/13 11:15am

Only a Few Days Left To Get Your Nominations in for the Swamplot Awards

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All 8 categories in the 2013 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate have been announced and opened for nominations. Next week, we’ll kick things into even higher gear when voting starts.

Before that happens, though, we could still use some help. We’ve received some great nominations so far, but if you think anything’s missing from this year’s crop that simply can’t be left out, please add your nomination now (the most recently announced categories in particular could still use some help). If you like a nomination someone else has made but think you can beef up the explanation to better help it land on the ballot, go right ahead. No explanation at all? Feel free to fix that (otherwise, it likely won’t make it). If you have photos of any of the nominees, definitely send those in, too.

But don’t wait too long. This Sunday at midnight, nominations will close for the first 2 award categories: Favorite Houston Design Cliché and Best Demolition. For the next 2 categories we’ll close nominations Monday night, then Tuesday and Wednesday for the remainder of the categories. On Monday, 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 contenders in Houston real estate this year? What deserves recognition? You tell us.

The 2013 Swampies
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Awards
12/05/13 2:00pm

Here It Is, the Final Category in This Year’s Swampies: What Was the Greatest Moment in Houston Real Estate in 2013?

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If you’ve been keeping track, you’ll have counted 7 categories announced so far in the 2013 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. And they are: Favorite Houston Design Cliché, Best Demolition, the Best Houston Transplant, the Ground-Floor Retail Award, Houston’s Least Recognizable Neighborhood, Houston’s Most Recognizable Neighborhood and Neighborhood of the Year.

We promised you 8. So here’s the final, and probably broadest, category: What was the Greatest Moment in Houston Real Estate of 2013?

For this same award in 2012, Swamplot readers selected voter approval of funding for the Bayou Greenways Initiative. But we want to know what this year’s big moment was. That’s pretty much the whole point of Swamplot — to find the moments that define, change, and make Houston, day in and day out.

To help find that one big moment from this year, we need your help. Add your comments to this post or send us an email describing the moments you’d like to nominate. And don’t forget to tell us why. If you need to jog your memory, browse through the site. And if you have any questions about how to make a nomination, you’ll likely find the answers here.

Now nominate away! Just make sure you get your entries in by midnight on December 11, when the window for all nominations closes for good.

The 2013 Swampies
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Awards
12/05/13 10:00am

Nominations Are Now Open for the 2013 Neighborhood of the Year

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We’re almost done introducing the 8 categories in this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. So far, we’ve opened nominations for Favorite Houston Design Cliché, Best Demolition, Best Houston Transplant, the Ground-Floor Retail Award, Houston’s Least Recognizable Neighborhood and Houston’s Most Recognizable Neighborhood. If you haven’t done so already, please add your own suggestions for each of these.

The next-to-last category is Neighborhood of the Year. What exactly makes a neighborhood a neighborhood of the year? That’s what we’d like to know: As you make your nomination, explain what makes your selection uniquely worthy of this distinction.

As with all “neighborhood” categories, entrants need not be located strictly inside Houston’s municipal boundaries. Swamplot tries to track the idea of Houston as it regularly travels outside the city limits. (Back in 2009, the winner of this award was . . . yes, Galveston.)

You can submit your nominations — along with convincing explanations as to why your nominee should win — in the comments below, or in an email, by midnight on December 11. If you’re just joining us, please consult the official rules. So tell us, who are this year’s contenders for Neighborhood of the Year?

The 2013 Swampies
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Awards
12/04/13 3:30pm

The Swamplot Awards Need Your Photos

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THE SWAMPLOT AWARDS NEED YOUR PHOTOS Swamplot readers have already submitted some terrific nominations for this year’s Swampies. We’ll be doing our best next week to put the best of these into official ballots for each category. For some of the nominations, however, we could still use a bit of help. We need photos of these marvelous things readers are describing: weird inflatable Christmas and holiday lawn art, for example. Subdivision waterfalls. Polystone-al architecture. Maybe a few more wonders. If you’ve read a compelling description of a nominee submitted by a reader in any of the categories and thought to yourself, “Yeah, I know exactly what you’re talking about,” would you mind going out, snapping a photo of it, and sending it to us? You’ll receive full credit for your pics if you want — or you can remain blissfully anonymous. Whatever you contribute will help lesser known nominees get the attention they so rightfully deserve. If you’re interested in picking up some photo assignments, you can find nominations for all the categories posted so far in the comments section of each of the posts listed here.

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Awards
12/04/13 2:00pm

Calling for Nominations for Houston’s Most Recognizable Neighborhood

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Earlier today we introduced a new category to this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate, which means 5 of them have now been opened for your nominations: Favorite Houston Design Cliché, Best Demolition, Best Houston Transplant, the Ground-Floor Retail Award, and Houston’s Least Recognizable Neighborhood. And now we’re ready to introduce the sixth category. If you guessed that it’s for Houston’s Most Recognizable Neighborhood, go ahead and give yourself an award.

Imagine you were driven blindfolded to some portion of the greater Houston region, then had the blindfold removed and had to guess where you were based on what you could now see. What neighborhood would have the most obvious characteristics, clues, and tells? And what are they? Or do you have a different idea about this category? What makes a neighborhood recognizable, and which one around these parts has that quality in spades?

Tell us the neighborhood you’d like to nominate for this award in the comments section below or through Swamplot’s tip line; be sure to include convincing explanations for your choice. The most compelling, clever, or entertaining nominations will have the best chance of making the final ballot. Again, nominees need not be located strictly inside Houston’s municipal boundaries.

You have until midnight next Tuesday, December 10, to suggest nominees. You’ll find all the rules for the nominating process here. What’ve you got?

The 2013 Swampies
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12/04/13 10:00am

Now Seeking Nominations for Houston’s Least Recognizable Neighborhood

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So far, 4 categories have been opened up for your nominations in this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate: Favorite Houston Design Cliché, Best Demolition, Best Houston Transplant, and the Ground-Floor Retail Award. Today, we get to welcome 2 more categories. First up: the Houston area’s Least Recognizable Neighborhood.

“Y’know that neighborhood . . . ? Well, you wouldn’t even recognize it today.” What happens to a neighborhood that renders it unrecognizable — or, more precisely, less recognizable than it used to be? Now tell us where in the greater Houston area you’ve seen something like that take place — and what you’ve seen, specifically. Or what you’ve missed.

Or maybe you’ve got a different take on what recognizability represents? If so, give us an example, and tell us what corner of Houston should take home this award. 

Submit your nominations for the region’s Least Recognizable Neighborhood in the comments section below — or hit us up via email. Your clever interpretation of the criteria for this category will help turn it from a mundane list of places that have seen some changes to an engaging chronicle of the city’s local quirks. Again, nominees need not be located strictly inside Houston’s municipal boundaries: We’ll give you The Woodlands and beyond all the way down to Galveston.

You have until midnight next Tuesday, December 10 to send in your nominations. You should know the drill by now, but feel free to look over all the rules for the nominating process here.

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12/03/13 1:30pm

Another New Category for This Year’s Swampies: The Ground-Floor Retail Award

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Earlier today we introduced a new category in this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. There are a total of 3 so far: Favorite Houston Design Cliché, Best Demolition and Best Houston Transplant. There’s another new category to introduce to you today: the Ground-Floor Retail Award.

What thing, place, or concept deserves this award? Feel free to nominate a particular instance of ground-floor retail, a particular place that’s lacking such an amenity, or any thing or concept you think is worthy of such an honor. It’s your award to redefine.

To get your favorite on the official ballot, submit your suggestion — along with a smart explanation for why it’s a good choice — in the comments section below. Or email it to us. Just make sure to do so no later than midnight on Monday, December 9. More thorough instructions can be found here.

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12/03/13 10:00am

Introducing the Award for Best Houston Transplant

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Yesterday we opened for your nominations the first 2 categories in this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate, both of which have been included in some form every year we’ve run the Swampies: Favorite Houston Design Cliché and Best Demolition. Today, we introduce a brand-new category for 2013: Best Houston Transplant.

Houston is a city of transplants. Not just its residents, but our restaurants, home designs, medical techniques, implants, styles, self-image, ideas. Our city’s distinctive personality comes directly from all the notions and facets and concepts we’ve purloined at some point or other from other places; they’re what make Houston Houston. Returning the favor, so much of the rest of the country has grown to seem more and more like . . . us!

With that in mind, what do you think deserves recognition as the Best Houston Transplant? Is it something we’ve brought to the rest of the world, or something the world has brought to us? Tell us in the comments section below or in an email before midnight on Monday, December 9. As always, more complete instructions covering the nominating process can be found on this page. But don’t forget to tell us why you’re nominating what you’re nominating. And if you use your nomination to give this category a twist, sell your vision!

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12/02/13 2:00pm

Second Category in the Swampies: Best Demolition of 2013

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Earlier today we introduced the first category in this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate, celebrating the Houston area’s finest design clichés. Now, nominations are open for the second category: Best Demolition.

Demolitions are such a regular occurrence in Houston that they warrant their own daily report on Swamplot. But we’re looking for that special teardown that stands out from all the rest. Last year, it was the Park Memorial Condominiums. What property would you honor this time around, and why?

Send us your thoughtful and well-argued nominations to the comments section below — or send them in a private message to our tips line. For more on the nomination process, refer to these instructions.

Nominations for both award categories announced today will remain open until midnight this Sunday, December 8. We’ll introduce more categories tomorrow, so why not submit your nominations for the first 2 categories today?

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12/02/13 11:00am

First Category: Seeking Your Nominations for Favorite Houston Design Cliché

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And yet again? The 2013 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate begin with a category that’s made an appearance every year since the awards first started back in 2008: Favorite Houston Design Cliché.

Aren’t we tired of it? And yet: Each year this particular award has seen a different winner. Last year it was those Humping Bungalows (runner up: the ubiquitous Sago Palm). In previous years we’ve had “Lick ’n’ stick” fake-rock siding, Lone Stars, “Lakes of” subdivisions, and “Tuscanization” grab the award. Whose turn will it be this year?

That’s up to you. What Houston building, shopping center, streetscape, home, interior, neighborhood, or yard cliché deserves recognition in 2013? Your suggestions for this award may be inspired from stories you’ve read on Swamplot or from your own keen eye for overused detail.

Enter your choice in a comment to this post only or — more privately — in an email to the Swamplot tip line, with the subject line “Nomination: Favorite Houston Design Cliche.” Nominations will be accepted for one full week, until midnight this Sunday, December 8, after which the best-presented choices will be put on the official ballot and opened for voting. If you need some guidance, here’s more information on how to make a nomination.

You can submit as many nominations as you like in this category, but your choices will have a better chance of succeeding if you use the opportunity to make your point in a clever and convincing way. When the actual awards are open for voting, each selected nomination will be introduced with some edited bastardization of the arguments made by the readers who submitted them. So be eloquent and persuasive! If you can send your own photos in support of a nomination, that will help a lot — and help you make your case to voters. Send images to the Swamplot tip line, but be sure to identify them and indicate what they’re for.

Comments to this post will be counted as nominations only. Nominations may be seconded, expanded, or improved. Even simple “me too” posts could help an entry find a place on the actual ballot, but they won’t be counted as votes for the winner. The actual voting in this category will begin next week. Are you ready? Send us your favorite clichés!

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Awards
12/02/13 10:00am

We’re Kicking Off the 2013 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate Today

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2013 may be coming to a close soon, but Swamplot’s annual awards program is just beginning.

Throughout the month of December, we’ll be hosting the sixth annual Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate — also known as the Swampies.

The Swampies honor the designs, developments, neighborhoods, peculiarities, and personalities that make Houston, well, Houston. But we can’t hand out any awards — or put any ballots together — without your help.

Starting today, we’ll be announcing the awards’ 8 categories, one at a time. For each category, we’ll need your help to come up with the official slate of nominees. You can submit your own nominations either by leaving a comment on the post announcing the category, or — if you’d prefer to communicate your ideas more privately — by emailing us (just be sure to put the name of the category in the subject line). We want to hear what you think deserves recognition this year — and why. The better you can explain why your nominee deserves recognition, the better the odds it’ll make the official ballot.

Over the years, categories have come and gone, but the heart of the Swampies hasn’t changed — they’re your awards. All nominations and votes come from Swamplot readers; you are the ultimate judge. We hope you’ll join in the fun!

The 2013 Swampies
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11/27/13 4:45pm

Giving Thanks — and Handing Out Awards

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GIVING THANKS — AND HANDING OUT AWARDS Pierce Elevated, Downtown HoustonStaying in town or trying to get out? Either way, we wish as restful and pleasant a Thanksgiving holiday as you can manage. Swamplot will be back on Monday with more real estate fun, including the return of our annual Swamplot Awards program. So if you do spend time over the long weekend tabulating things in the Houston landscape you’re thankful for — or maybe some of those less worthy of gratitude — we hope you’ll be ready share a few of your more profound thoughts with us next week. Photo: Bill Barfield via Swamplot Flickr pool

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