Feedback from readers provides the most important measure of how well we’re doing our jobs here at Business Jet Traveler. However, we also value recognition from our peers via editorial awards competitions, so we’re delighted to announce a variety of news:
First, Mark Huber’s review of Airbus’s ACJ340, which ran in our June/July 2014 issue, was a finalist in the Aerospace Media Awards for Best Business Aviation Submission. And Randy Padfield, BJT’s first editor-in-chief, was a finalist for a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to aerospace publishing.
In addition, we’ve just had five wins—including three first-place gold awards—in the 2015 Azbees competition from the American Society of Business Publication Editors. In this contest—one of the biggest and toughest in journalism—we’ve won:
- A national Silver Award (2nd place) for Editorial Excellence for Best Product Section/Department for Used Aircraft Review (for “Airbus’s ACJ340,” June/July 2014; “Embraer's Lineage 1000,” Aug./Sept. 2014 and “Beechjet: Life Begins at 40,” Oct./Nov. 2014), a trio of gems from longtime contributor Mark Huber.
- A Gold Award for Editorial Excellence for Best Product Section/Department (Northeast region) for the aforementioned Used Aircraft Review features.
- A Gold Award for Design Excellence for Best Opening Page Spread/Photo (Northeast region) for our feature on Richard Branson (April/May 2014), which Mona Brown imaginatively designed.
- A Gold Award for Design Excellence for Best Front Cover Photo (Northeast region) for our Sir Richard Branson cover (April/May 2014), which Mona also designed.
- A Silver Award for Editorial Excellence for Best Regular Column Contributed (Northeast region) for Taxes, Laws and Finance (“Damaged Goods,” June/July 2014; and “Murky Waters for Charter Brokers,” Dec. 2014/Jan. 2015), two typically authoritative and cogently written pieces from columnist Jeff Wieand.
We garnered these prizes in a competition where we vied not just with aviation-industry publications but with national periodicals in all fields. We’ve won awards in many such contests, including six from the Folio: awards, one from the American Society of Journalists and Authors and 18 (including the aforementioned five) from the American Society of Business Publication Editors’ Azbee awards.
We’re particularly pleased to have twice been a winner for “Best Transportation/Travel Magazine” in the Folio: awards and to have twice been named to the list of best business magazines in the U.S. in the Azbees.
We’ve also taken home all of the top journalism prizes from within the aviation field, including the National Business Aviation Association’s Gold Wing Award (three times), the National Air Transportation Association’s Aviation Journalism Award and an Aerospace Journalist of the Year Award.
All of these wins—32 to date, since 2005—resulted from the collaborative efforts of a team of writers, editors, photographers, artists and designers. Every story starts with an assignment editor and a byliner, but delivering the final product requires copy editing, proofreading, fact checking, photography, layout, design and lots of creative input from every member of our small but talented and dedicated staff.
We’re pleased when our efforts produce results that our peers applaud, but our greatest hope is always that the magazine will meet with your approval and serve your needs.
P.S. Congratulations to our sister publication Farnborough Airshow News, which won both national and regional Gold Awards for Editorial Excellence in the 2015 Azbees.
Jeff Burger joined Business Jet Traveler in March 2004, a few months after the publication’s launch. Besides editing the magazine, he has written many articles for it and conducted its interviews with such luminaries as Sir Richard Branson, James Carville, Suze Orman, Donald Trump, F. Lee Bailey, and Steve Van Zandt. Burger helped to oversee the introduction of BJT’s annual Readers' Choice surveys and Buyers’ Guide.
During his years with the magazine, it has won well over a hundred editorial awards. In 2011, Burger received the Gold Wing Award for Reporting Excellence from the National Business Aviation Association and the Aviation Journalism Award from the National Air Transportation Association. He has also won writing and editing awards from the American Society of Business Publication Editors. BJT, meanwhile, was named Best International Publication in 2017 in the Aerospace Media Awards. It was also a Magazine of the Year finalist in 2011, 2013, and 2016 and an Overall Excellence winner in 2018 in competitions sponsored by the American Society of Business Publication Editors.
Before coming to BJT, Burger spent 14 years at Medical Economics, the nation’s leading business magazine for doctors, where he served on the editorial board; directed staff recruiting; oversaw a $2 million annual budget; and was financial editor, news editor, and director of special projects. He has been editor of several publications, including Phoenix Magazine in Arizona, and has been a consulting editor at Time Inc. His articles have appeared in more than 75 magazines and newspapers, among them The Los Angeles Times, Barron’s, Reader’s Digest, Gentlemen’s Quarterly , and Family Circle. Chicago Review Press published his books, Springsteen on Springsteen: Interviews, Speeches, and Encounters, Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen: Interviews and Encounter, Lennon on Lennon: Conversations with John Lennon, and Dylan on Dylan: Interviews and Encounters. His music writing appears on multiple websites, including his own byjeffburger.com.
Burger, a summa cum laude graduate of the State University of New York at Albany, lives in Ridgewood, N.J. He and his wife, Madeleine, have two grown children. His off-hours passions include cooking, travel, technology, movies, and music.
