November 2009 Rising Star Award Winners

Congratulations to the November 2009 winners of our Rising Star awards for outstanding newcomers:

Ramona Taylor may have joined in mid-October, but she is already on a roll with 135 pieces of published content and over 11,000 page views. She writes on everything from the upcoming winter Olympics to parenting, but her Hanukkah content is fantastic. Check out her piece on what to write in Hanukkah cards.

It's obvious that UC Irvine student, Neil Takore, knows the UC Irvine water polo program front and back. His informative, smartly-written coverage makes him a sportswriter to watch. His other content includes well-researched political pieces, music reviews, tech advice and this helpful piece on the new FTC guidelines.

After joining AC in October, Britney Hornaday Boroughs immediately started publishing (she's already up to 40 pieces) and racking up fans. She was nominated many times in the Forum this month and won AC staff over with her gift guides, arts & entertainment content and exclusive interviews. Check out her Home for the Holidays: AC Exclusive Interview with Congressman Mike Ross.

Gavin Matthews has pinned down in mere months what takes most Contributors years to develop-a keen insight into which content performs best. While he started out writing everything from home improvement to real estate content, Gavin soon realized that his well-written and entertaining sports pieces were earning huge page view numbers. Now three months later, he's earned over 97,000 page views with just 28 pieces of content. Make sure to read 2009 NFL Week 10 Predictions.

New Contributor, Catherine Spencer, has found a unique voice on AC. While she focuses on content areas covered by many other Contributors (mainly holidays, local and pets), she takes an interesting and exciting angle in all of her pieces (think: Decorate a Western Theme Christmas Tree, Book Club Party Just in Time for Halloween). Don't miss her amusing Conical Bra Resurgence.

Congratulations to all of this month's winners!