SABEW’s Best in Business contest starts Thursday

The Society of American Business Editors and Writers’ 17th annual Best in Business Awards Competition — honoring the nation’s best business journalism of 2011 — opens just after midnight Thursday.

The contest opens at 12:01 a.m. Thursday Dec. 1, more than a month earlier than last year. The earlier entry period gives SABEW members — the only journalists eligible for the contest — time to get their entries out of the way before the traditional contest “season” begins in January.

Early birds who file before 8 p.m. Eastern time on Friday, Jan. 6, 2012, get a discounted rate.

The final deadline for submissions to this year’s Best in Business with 8 p.m. Eastern time Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012. And if that sounds earlier than usual, that’s because it is.

SABEW set this date to ensure the contest is finished in time for awards ceremonies March 17, 2012, at SABEW’s 49th annual spring conference in Indianapolis, Ind. Unlike in past years, there will be no extensions.

A SABEW representative will be in prompt contact with entrants who send questions to bib@sabew.org..

SABEW memberships must be paid and current at the time entries are filed. If you’d like to inquire about your membership status, write to SABEW membership coordinator Mark Scarp at scarp@sabew.org.