DailyHerald.com wins innovation award

The Daily Herald today announced its interactive home section Homes.DailyHerald.com won an award of merit in an international competition sponsored by the Newspaper Association of America.

The home buyers and sellers site won the Media Innovation Awards' category "Real Estate/New Homes or Developer Ad Initiative: Growing revenue through classified advertising."

One of the site's features that sets it apart is the ability of a customer to search for new and existing homes at the same time, said Kelly Casalino, director of interactive media at the Daily Herald.

"Search results give them not just new or used homes but a home that meets their search criteria," Casalino said.

The Daily Herald competed with other newspapers with a circulation of between 75,000 and 250,000.

The "hyper-local" site was developed in March by the Daily Herald's Interactive Media department, overseen by Mark Stallings, manager of online operations and audience development, and Philippe Hall, programmer/systems administrator.

"Congratulations go out to not just Mark and Phil but also to the Real Estate and Home Builders Advertising Team for their focus, drive and customer information they shared in the planning and developing of this product," Casalino said.

Hundreds of entries competed in four divisions and 54 categories in the contest.

The award comes with a certificate and recognition at the Marketing Conference in Orlando, Fla., next month.