No doubt about it.

Things like the podcast and this website amply justify the awards. Well done chaps!

For showing that it's still possible to innovate when the rest of the music mags are reduced to listing their CD collections in print.
After 60-odd issues, I'm still reading every word in each one.

Well done everyone at Word, you deserve it. And I'll second both those comments above. It was possibly the Budgie podcast item that swung it, you know.

There was no way I was leaving last week's BSME awards without shaking Mark Ellen's hand and telling him how much I love the mag. Finally got him on his way out the door.

All awards much deserved.

Well done all.

All plaudits richly deserved. Walking the dog across open moorland chortling to the podcast has become one of lifes richest pleasures!
Cheers to all.

Tip top stuff and much deserved. I am worried though about the strange stains on John Simms jumper though! You all look very refreshed!

...and quite right too. Congratulations, everybody, on your mighty organ receiving the recognition it richly deserves. Looks like Jude was pretty determined not to let go of that bottle!

Well done all for getting another bauble. You lot wipe the floor with every other mag on the stands. On a sartorial note, I have a pyjama top just like Andrew's.

Thank God - at last, for an award ceremony that get's it right.

And thank God for Dentists - I first came across a copy of The Word in my Dentists waiting room 3 years ago. I've stopped going the Dentist since, but have kept buying The Word .

Well done to all at Development Hell the Magazine is fantastic piece of publishing, and the use of internet and podcasts is inspired.

And thanks for finding a space for my Batman/Beatles piece in Issue 56. (Did it get a mention as a contributing factor at the ceremony?)
*ducks to avoid being clonked by bottle of Tuborg*

Richly deserved (as was Time Out's less-reported award for best music coverage in a consumer mag).

Many congratulations. Clearly well-deserved. Looking at the photo of Mark, John and David it must be reassuring to know that if all this magazine and acting lark suddenly goes to pot one day there's always a bright future for you chaps in the lucrative world of lookalikes. Ladies and gentlemen I give you, from left to right, Macca, Thom Yorke and Tom Robinson.

I second all of the above plaudits - it really is a part of my like I wouldnt want to do without. This community page is groundbreaking to.
Heppo looks more Mick Hucknall to me.

...then toss the head back contemptuously, and the great man could be Van Morrison.

Well done to you all. A well deserved award.
But.... while you note you beat out the strong competition from NME, Mojo & Clash I see the actual runner-up was the godawful Observer Music Monthly.
However let that not detract from your achievment and may you go on from strength to strength.

Well done to you all. No genuine competition.
(Was Mark Ellen actually at the awards? He looks exactly the same in both photos - did someone Photoshop him in? Was his real face too sloshed? Does he really exist?)

Congratulations to you all, splendid stuff. Will be renewing my subscription after pay day. The magazine has never dipped in quality and continues to grow with interesting and informative articles which set it apart from its competitors. The new web site is a joy to use and I can now see the font; Life on the word website continues to grow and grow and grow

Like it says. Thoroughly deserved.

Well done, all. Now you have raised the bar, I hope Word goes on to expand into the place for great writing on any subject. More lateral content please! And is that black circular thing in the frame an antique listening device? And what is on it?? Have you tried playing it yet?

Magazine of the year. Obviously.

Congratulations one and all.

In a pretty hectic schedule of full time work, studying to be a therapist and tending to a 7 month old baby 'Word' (still not entirely happy about the addition of the definite article and therefore leaving it out in preotest!) magazine, podcast and website are a place of much needed fun and solice.

Carry on :)

Good show, lads/ladettes...good show.

I am a lady. Oh yes. Tuborg or no! (I really wish I had drunk less of it, though. That's an advert for it.)

This thread has brought joy to my heart though - bless you all. It really was a lovely night. Mark and Dave's speeches were the particular tear-jerking highlight (much better than my brief attempt at one during the mag award which was just a roar of "come on!" like the Llanelli hooligan I am but always try and repress). What marvellous gentlemen they are* and how proud I am to know them! x

*hopes Mark will make some more of his legendary builders tea tomorrow to get us through press day

I hope Andrew Collins could join in the fun. On his blog he seems to be getting a bit of a pasting.

...but what has the Guardian's podcast have that the mighty Word podcast doesn't?

In a time of I'm a Celebrity, X-Factor et al, when a shrieking harpie can break all sales records for a debut album, a world where Danni Minogue is feted as an expert, when Kate Garraway gets to dance week after week despite being no good (so I'm told), it is cheering to see the best-in-show being rewarded as such and the cream rising to the top.

Well done, great news.

Yours with a warm glow, a clap on the shoulder, and an is-it-too-early-for-a-Tuborg?

I used to have a jumper a bit like Andrew's when I was a mere slip of a lad, except mine was a sort of mustard yellow with a red lion. I've maintained similalry high sartorial standards ever since.

Congratulations - Word is a truly wonderful thing.

Reading the magazine / listening to the podcast / scanning through the website is a real highlight of the month / week / day. Keep up the good work.

I'm sure I had a dream last night where everyone was drinking bottles of Tuborg...

Many congrats.

I must admit I'm a lapsed reader (sorry!) but listening to the Podcast has made me rethink this rather foolish decision. I will soon be a born again Word reader and subject myself to some kind of fitting punishment.

Love the Podcast, love the website and I will love the mag again!

Who out of Mark Ellen and David Hepworth is holding their award upside down?

The only magazine who's ever thought my ramblings were worth publishing. Thanks and well done.

Sir/Madam
Each month I wait for my copy of The Word to plop through the letter box. Then, I deny myself the pleasure of reading said publication until I am sure I have read every square millimetre of the previous issue. At this point one's wife qualifies for the official handover of the previous month's edition. Then, I might just take a peek, this is only a light perusal you understand before....total immersion and one of life's true luxuries....The Word.
Well done one and all ....it's the magazine I've been waiting for and life is all the richer for it...richly deserved.
Thank You!

We don't expect a drop in standards you know, just because you've done well so far.
So don't let yourselves go, chaps, stay focused.

Heads down, on with the work.
Deadlines to keep.

Counting on you.

Oh, and , er, , matron says, "BLOODY good show!".

There could really only be one winner. An absolutely wonderful magazine. Don`t ever let your standards slip. Like a previous post I don`t like to read each new issue when it falls through the door until I`m sure there are no unread corners of the last one. Well done all!

Hepworth's let himself go...

I'm looking at Mark Ellen and I'm thinking... John Alderton.

Mr. John Simm is an irritatingly good looking gentleman isnt he.

At the risk of being repetitive congratulations from this happy subscriber too!
Just proves what we all knew already.
We have great taste!
And an extra three words for Ms Rodgers:
Hubba Hubba and indeed Hubba!

Now bring back Smash Hits!

Great Mag
Great podcast
Great website

Belated congrats to all those who work at the coalface of Britain's best magazine. I remain a loyal subscriber to a magazine I'm sure they'd send me for free. You have to give support where support is due.

I am a new reader of Word , starting with issue #57 ; Had no idea you existed as Borders in the US does not carry "Word". Found #57 at an independant newsstand in Columbus Ohio. Can anyone let me know how to get issues #46 thru #56 of this magnificent read ?

I've been reading The Word (TMFKAW) since Issue 2, and it has consistently been wonderful. I shall ignore the Dido cover.

The quality of the writing is superb... I think even the glory days of the NME in the early 70s pale next to you lot. I honestly get so much enjoyment from the magazine, website and podcast... they improve my life.

Thanks so much... you're good people.

Patrick

From what I've gleaned from the podcast, did Mark Ellen's hands have to be glued to the award so that he couldn't wave them about and drop it?

don't buy the mag, frequently post, tune into the podcast - am I ill?

BTW - money is tight, unlike the 80s