Wow…Iran Wins an Award

Last year we traveled together via this blog through Iran. That experience inspired me to write my Travel as a Political Act book. And since then, my life has been enriched by lots of connections with people who care about peace with the Muslim world. For instance, two nights ago I shared a stage at Seattle’s Town Hall with Gina Salá, an amazing musician who bridges cultures in her music (www.ginasala.com) at a fundraiser for the Voices Education Project. With both music and travelogue, Gina and I helped bring the world to Seattle.

Yesterday I got a fun surprise: The Society of American Travel Writers awarded Rick Steves’ Iran with the Gold Medal in the “Special Package/Project” category. While there was a “Travel Broadcast Video” category, the Society decided to award our Iran program not just on the show itself, but on the way we used many multimedia components to engage with the viewers: our related radio interviews, newspaper columns, website, vodcasts, online discussion boards, the $5 Iran DVD for groups initiative (in which we sent the DVD to over 7,000 community groups), the printed Iran journal, and my lectures across the country. Our hope to humanize a country of 70 million people was selected for being a multimedia extravaganza! How exciting!

So many people worked very hard to make this campaign what it is. I am thankful to have such a great team to collaborate with. Here are the judges’ official comments on our project:

Category 10: Special Package/Project Gold: Rick Steves, “Rick Steves’ Iran: Yesterday and Today,” multimedia This is a gold winner for two reasons — the challenging subject and the extraordinary presentation across multiple media. Rick Steves takes us on this unusual journey with a public television special, radio program, Web site with audio, video, links and reader feedback, newspaper reports, day-by-day travel blog and color booklet.

While I generally go about my merry travel writing way without concerning myself with the world of other travel writers, I have great respect for the SATW and am honored to be recognized by them for our Iran project. Just last month, we made our Iran show into a pledge special that will be airing all over the USA this winter, giving the program new life and (we hope) further raising awareness of the struggles of good people living under a bad government.

It’s interesting to see what other awards were given to America’s many fine travel writers. Learn about this year’s awards.

Comments

17 Replies to “Wow…Iran Wins an Award”

  1. Rick…..you were nervous before the Iran trip and on the plane…..you went (with your crew also) stretching yourself and for all of us who could not go brought back a vivid and real picture of the country and most importantly it’s great people…..you and your staff really earned this award….Congratulations and all the best!!!

  2. Rick, This is great. I think that your desire to spread knowledge rather than fear is commendable and I hope that your work encourages others to look deeper at other “dangerous” countries.

  3. Rick, Congratulations, I am not all surprised that you were recognized for this production. It was a sensative and eye opening piece. I have it on DVD, have watched it at least 4 times and learn something new with each viewing.

  4. Rick, congrats on all your work on Iran, it is truly special…wanted to say a word on your last blog…while Itlay is great, it’s been a little overdone by you..Vienna, Budapest etc. would be wonderful, additionally why not do some Greek Islands for a change..not Mykonos and Santorini like you’ve done in the past, how about Corfu (which you would love, many Venetian style buildings), Crete and Rhodes…something new would be great!!! Variety and change are wonderful attributes..keep up the great work

  5. Congrats Rick–it’s a fantastic series and deserving of the recognition. You and your team did a great job giving the west a new perspective on Iran.

  6. Open communications opens up the world. Not a bumper sticker, not a political statement, just common sense. So I give Steves credit for his efforts. Of course he may try too hard but what’s wrong with that? If I could give the benefit of my experience to anybody, it would be: beware of anybody or any organization who has only one point of view. Shazzam!! A person or group like that (rigid, ideological, obstreperorous) has an agenda. It may be money or religious or ignorance or family – but it is not balanced. And with due namaste to all the zealots at both ends of the spectrum, bill

  7. Congratulations on your award. I truly enjoyed the Iran special and am downloading your Travel as a Political Act from Zune. I have been fascinated with Iran since having an Iranian political refugee as a high school classmate during the waning days of the shah’s rule. I would so very much like to visit there someday, and your special is as good a substitute as I can get. Thanks.

  8. Rick…. congratulations on being recognized for your fine work, however this award pales in comparison to the fact that your website is shown on one of the new iphone commercials. Now that’s really big time!

  9. How to make your hair beautiful? The GHD Hair Straightenners is the best choice,www.sweetv.com is the professional website,they provide the miraculous tools.please visite it and look for it~CHI Flat Iron Camo Pink CHI Flat Iron Farouk CHI Flat Iron Original Farouk

  10. So you know you need to get your website on page one of Google to get more business, but how do you choose an effective SEO company that won’t take your money and deliver no results?

  11. eFox-shop.com offers brand new products which are directly purchased from various reputable manufacturers throughout the world. Thanks to our sophisticated and vertically integrated supply chain system and Afterbuy-System, we guarantee you will be receiving the highest quality product at the lowest price. http://www.efox-shop.com

Comments are closed.