(NOTE: This story appears in the March 2025 issue of ED Magazine.)
Last issue, I quoted the late, great Neil Peart (you know, best rock drummer of all time) who wrote, “No changes are permanent, but change is.”
And yes, here I am again, talking about change. I’ll spare you the barrage of rock lyrics I could summon to evoke the sentiment I’m trying to express, I’ll just say this: If you’re not looking forward to the future, then you’re likely stuck in the past. Don’t get me wrong, nostalgia is fun — but it doesn’t pay the bills, and it rarely leads to innovation.
At ED, we’re looking to the future as well. You’ll read more about that in this issue’s cover story penned by our Managing Editor, Kris Kay. I’m here to tell you more about the changes to our ED Awards — notably, the ED “Honors” Awards.
It’s been over 25 years, and though some of the awards have changed names over the years, the basic process by which award winners have been determined has remained largely unchanged. That is, you, the industry, help us decide who should be included on our Final Awards Ballot, and you, the industry, vote on that final ballot (now that happens online, but back in the day we actually sent out paper ballots … but I digress).
That process will remain for the majority of our club and entertainer awards: This May, we will launch our pre-nominations voting website at www.theEDawards.com, a site which will once again be managed by RhythmQ, a third-party website which provides simple, reliable and secure management of our award pre-nomination and final ballot voting. These updated categories will include:
Club of the Year and “Small” Club of the Year East Region
Club of the Year and “Small” Club of the Year Central Region
Club of the Year and “Small” Club of the Year West Region
“Feature” Club of the Year Overall “Small” Club of the Year
Overall Club of the Year
EDI 2025 Grand Champion
Feature Entertainer of the Year
Newcomer Entertainer of the Year
Club Favorite Entertainer of the Year
International Entertainer of the Year
Miss ExoticDancer.com of the Year
But here’s where the new twist come into play for 2025: The ED “Honors” Awards and the Honors Board. These new awards will be presented mainly to individuals, rather than clubs, and will seek to celebrate a very specific aspect of club operation and presentation. These new categories reflect where we at ED Publications believe the industry should aim their efforts now and in the coming years, as we grow and evolve further into the 21st century. And they are:
Industry Innovator of the Year
Progressive Leader (GM) of the Year
Outstanding Employee of the Year
Club Transformation of the Year
Businesswoman of the Year
Carol Doda Award (honoring the very first topless entertainer)
Who, exactly, will be on this Honors Board, and how will it work? As this is being written, letters are going out to those individuals who will be invited to serve on the Honors Board. These individuals, who will be revealed in our next issue and on our websites, will represent clubs big and small, and will include owners, managers, club staff and other industry professionals.
The board will serve as a comprehensive cross-section of the industry at large. We will take the industry’s input (via our pre-nom voting) on the individuals who should be considered for nomination for these “Honors” Awards, we will take that information and present it to the board, and they will each vote for a winner in each of these six categories.
We will also continue to present the Don Waitt Industry Ambassador Award and ED Hall of Fame, both of which are determined by the editorial department at ED Publications (with suggestions from the Honors Board).
The ED Honors Awards and the Honors Board are brand new concepts, and though there may be some bumps in the road along the way, change is coming and we’re excited for what lies ahead. We hope that you are, too.
