Confirming Your PayPal Account

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January 2010 Award Winners

We'd like to congratulate the winner's of Associated Content's January 2010 awards!

Best of AC: Fitness, Technology & Travel

Our monthly Best of AC awards recognize the achievements of Contributors publishing extraordinary content in a wide range of topics. January's winners are:

Best of AC: Fitness & Exercise -- Josephine McCulley
Josephine McCulley is new to Associated Content, but this personal trainer and Featured Health & Wellness Contributor has already distinguished herself with a series of beautifully written and formatted Fitness & Exercise guides. If you've been slacking on your 2010 New Year's resolutions, her roundup of Four Surprising Benefits of Exercise might give you a few more reasons to get back on track.

Best of AC: Technology Reviews -- Phil Dotree
Audiophile and gadget enthusiast Phil Dotree has published more than 700 engaging, insightful and often funny Technology articles on Associated Content since 2006. Wanna know how to get your entertainment fix without footing a hefty cable bill each month? Check out his review of Netflix Instant View.

Best of AC: Winter Travel -- Cassandra James
In 2007, Cassandra James published her first piece on Associated Content: an account of her decision to make Thailand her new home. Since then, she has contributed more than 700 travel articles to the AC library, most of them based on personal experience as an British-American ex-pat living in Bangkok. Her profile is a wealth of information for anyone who's planning to travel to Thailand, Malaysia, the U.K. or any of the other places Cassandra has lived and traveled.

Rising Stars

Our Rising Star awards shine a spotlight on some of our most promising new Contributors. January's winners are...

Cynthia Ann started publishing in November, and she has already risen to a Clout 7 with 115 pieces of content. Her infectious enthusiasm has earned the affection of the community, who came out in droves to nominate her for this award. Make sure to read her Summer Camps for Children with Special Needs.

Prolific tech reviewer and Featured Contributor Timothy Knuth has already published 40 incredibly informative pieces since joining at the end of October. Thinking about upgrading to Windows 7? Be sure to read Migrating Windows XP or Vista Profile to Windows 7.

Cindy Tuttle could win this award for sheer volume of contributions (over 400 since December), but it's her positive contributions to the AC community that really sets her apart. What is a Spiritual Retreat? is a great example of her spiritually-inclined and community-minded style.

Disability rights activist and advocate Anita Cameron brings a unique perspective to the AC library and community. Don't miss her excellent contribution to our Haitian Relief Content Drive: Whirlwind Wheelchair International: Bringing Wheelchairs to Haitian Disabled.

Last, but certainly not least: Kay Balbi's diverse areas of interest, solid grasp of SEO and strong personal voice have all contributed to her early success. Bathroom Floor Tiling - Do It Yourself in 10 Steps is a great example of her propensity to create strong, evergreen content.

Congratulations to all of these talented winners!

Update: Haitian Relief Content Drive

Over 300 contributors heeded the our call and created content for our Haitian Relief Content Drive. All together, 500 donated editorials, news pieces, local stories, creative fundraising ideas and other powerful firsthard accounts raised a combined $2,500 for the International Relief Committee (IRC). Additional money was raised based on the performance of this content, generating a total donation of $2,784.

Reports on local fundraising events and awareness campaigns dominated the contributions. This map is a visual representation of just a sampling of our nationwide content:


CommunityWalk Map - Associated Content's Haitian Relief Content Drive

Thank you to everyone who contributed to this campaign – Associated Content’s first content drive for charity – and helped make it a success. Together, we've provided substantial support to an organization that's making a profound impact on many lives.

If you're intereted in learning more about the International Rescue Committee's ongoing efforts to help earthquake vicitms in Haiti, be sure to follow IRC's President, George Rupp, on Associated Content.

Big Changes at Associated Content

It's a big week for Associated Content! We just celebrated our 5th anniversary in online publishing, and we're ushering in our sixth year with a bold set of changes to the look and feel of our site. We hope you'll be as excited about the new Associated Content as we are.

Big Change #1: We have a new logo!

Gone are the days of the big, blocky AC. This company is powered by your content and your voice - and with this new logo, we're shouting about it from the top of every page!

Big Change #2: We're launching a new article template!

Our design team is always looking for ways to make the visitor experience richer and more engaging. With 2009's Halloween and Thanksgiving themes, as well as the brand new Movies theme, we began testing a new article page layout that we're ready to bring to the rest of the site. The new pages feature more prominent images, better ad placement, bigger share links and opportunities to bring complementary content onto each page (like movie details next to your review of Avatar). We'll be rolling out more custom themes for individual Associated Content categories - from Automotive to Travel - throughout the coming year. Stay tuned!

Big Change #3: Our first AC Labs experiment was a success... Say Hello to your new Account page!

For over a month, our community had the opportunity to test out a variety of new features, including a stats-rich dashboard, an enhanced payment queue, better content controls and a shared image library. With your input, we were able to improve the interface in a number of different ways, and now we're ready to flip the switch on all of these upgrades. Thanks for all of your help!


We hope you like the new face of Associated Content. As always, if you have any feedback or ideas, don't hesitate to leave a comment here or email community@associatedcontent.com.