Frank R. Smith Award
Each year, the editor of Technical Communication appoints a judging committee to select the outstanding article from the previous year’s issues. Judges base their decisions on article content and form. The award honors the memory of Frank R. Smith, during whose 18-year tenure as editor Technical Communication became established as the flagship publication of STC and the profession. This year’s judging team for the Frank R. Smith competition consisted of Leah Guren (chair), Ramesh Aiyyangar, and Sally Henschel.
The judges are pleased to announce that the Frank R. Smith Outstanding Article Award goes to Petra ten Hove and Hans van der Meij for their article, “Like It or Not: What Characterizes YouTube’s More Popular Instructional Videos?” in the February 2015 issue of Technical Communication.
The citation reads:
For the authors' thorough statistical analysis of quantifiable characteristics present in popular YouTube instructional videos, and for the clear and useful presentation of the results. Their methodology has immediate applications in technical communication while providing a solid foundation for future research.
Congratulations to the honorees.