More than 250 publishers, editors, designers and other publishing pros packed the Gladstone Hotel ballroom Monday night to celebrate the best in editorial-based online and digital publishing at the third annual Canadian Online Publishing Awards.

The awards capped off the first annual COPA+ Digital Publishing Conference, also at the Gladstone, featuring keynote presentations, panels, vendor demonstrations and exhibits.

Among the big winners of the evening were Sparksheet, which dominated the Blue division (Business-to-Business) with seven Gold medals; and Torontoist, leading the pack in the Red division (Consumer) with three Gold medals.


In the Green division (Newspaper and Broadcaster), the accolades were divided among leading titles including The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, National Post, CBC, The Tyee and others.

A full list of finalists, Silver and Gold medal winners follows below.
 
You can follow the blow-by-blow of the evening’s festivities on Twitter by searching #COPAwards.

CBC Radio’s Nora Young, host of the network’s show on culture and technology, Spark, emceed this year’s COPA.

The COPAs are produced by Masthead with the support of the following sponsors:
Gold Sponsors:
The Audit Bureau of Circulations
CCAB division of BPA Worldwide
Publishing Services division of The Cornerstone Group
Silver Sponsor: Mygazines
Bronze Sponsor: Texterity

2011 COPA Finalists and Winners

BEST NEWS COVERAGE
Red Division:
Gold Winner: Torontoist
Silver Winner: Rabble.ca
Finalist:
Fashion Magazine

Blue Division
Gold Winner: Quill & Quire
Silver Winner: IT World Canada
Finalists:
Advisor.ca
Mortgage Broker News
University Affairs

Green Division
Gold Winner: CBC News: Canada Votes
Silver Winner: The Tyee
Finalists:
Cyberpresse – Arab Spring
Cyberpresse – City Hall
Edmonton Journal
Nationalpost.com
The Globe and Mail - news site
Thestar.com – Arab Awakening
Thestar.com – G20
Winnipeg Free Press

BEST BLOG
Red Division:
Gold Winner: Torontoist
Silver Winner: Reader’s Digest Canada
Finalists:
Canadianliving.com
L’actualité.com
Ottawa Magazine – City Bites
Regret the Error
Spacing Toronto
Toronto Standard – Bert Archer
Toronto Standard – Ivor Tossell
Walrusmagazine.com

Blue Division:
Gold Winner: Sparksheet/Spafax Interactive
Silver Winner: Dr. Sharma’ Obesity Notes/U of A
Finalists:
Margin Notes blog/University Affairs magazine
ProfessionSanté.ca/Rogers Publishing
Reportr.net/UBC Graduate School of Journalism

Green Division:
Gold Winner: TheStar.com – Photo Blog
Silver Winner: I’m The It Girl
Finalists:
Andy Riga’s Metropolitan News/Montreal Gazette
CBCNews.ca Your Community Blog   
Cyberpresse – La mere
Cyberpresse – Rondelle Libre
Spinner/AOL Canada
The Globe and Mail - Economy Lab
Thestar.com – Doug Smith
Thestar.com – The Spin

BEST VIDEO/MULTIMEDIA FEATURE
Red Division:
Gold Winner: Toronto Standard
Silver Winner: Magic Santa/Sympatico.ca
Finalists:
Canadianart.ca
ELLEQuebec.com
Fashion Magazine – Ari Seth Cohen
Fashion Magazine – The Fashion Experiment
Femmes de parole/Rogers
Snowsportsculture
Sympatico.ca Autos
The Observer/United Church Observer

Blue Division:
Gold Winner: TheThunderbird.ca
Silver Winner: TruckNews.com – Beer Run
Finalists:
ITBusiness.ca
TruckNews.com – Fergus
TruckNews.com – Michelin

Green Division:
Gold Winner: National Film Board – Welcome to Pine Point
Silver Winner: The Globe and Mail – Inside Hamas
Finalists:
CBC News - Exile Without End: Palestinians in Lebanon
Cyberpresse – High Tech Hits
Edmonton Journal – Dodgeball
Edmonton Journal – Federal Election
Edmonton Journal – Slave Lake
National Film Board - Gods Lake Narrows
National Film Board - This Land
Winnipeg Free Press

BEST USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Red Division:
Gold Winner: Canadianliving.com
Silver Winner: Walrusmagazine.com
Finalists:
Besthealthmag.ca
Coupdepouce.com
Dogs in Canada
Our Canada Facebook
Rouge
styleathome.com
sweetspot.ca
Todaysparent.com

Blue Division:
Gold Winner: Sparksheet
Silver Winner: Salon 52

Green Division:
Gold Winner: Nationalpost.com
Silver Winner: CBCNews.ca
Finalists:
Cyberpresse
The Globe and Mail
Winnipeg Free Press

BEST ONLINE-ONLY ARTICLE OR SERIES:
Red Division
Gold Winner: OpenFile – The Poppy File
Silver Winner: OpenFile – Toronto Votes
Finalists:
Canadianart.ca – Letter from Venice
Canadianart.ca – Nancy Tousley column
Dogs In Canada
J-Source
Regret the Error
Spacing Toronto
The Dominion
Torontoist

Blue Division:
Gold Winner: Sparksheet – Brand New Havana
Silver Winner: TheThunderbird.ca – Aging in B.C.
Finalists:
theheart.org
TheThunderbird.ca - Tsunami
Virtually Learning

Green Division:
Gold Winner: The Tyee – Growing the Local Bounty
Silver winner: CBCNews.ca: Who Killed Lebanon’s Rafik Hariri
Finalists:
CBCNews.ca Special Report: Power Switch
The Tyee – War Over Oil Sands
Vancouver Observer – Mega Casino

BEST CROSS-PLATFORM INITIATIVE
Red Division:
Gold Winner: Ontario Tourism
Silver winner: Toronto Life
Finalists:
Coupdepouce.com
The Hockey News
Todaysparent.com

Blue Division:
Gold Winner: CIO Canada - Brainstorm Centre
Silver winner: Canadian Occupational Safety

Green Division:
Gold Winner: Cyberpresse – Federal Election
Silver winner: CBC News: Canada Votes
Finalists:
Cyberpresse - Flood
Edmonton Journal – Taste Alberta
Edmonton Journal – Twitchell
Nationalpost.com – How We Met
Nationalpost.com – Long Road
Thespec.com/Hamilton Spectator
Thestar.com/The Toronto Star
Winnipeg Free Press

BEST E-NEWSLETTER
Red Division:
Gold Winner: 20 Minute Supper Club
Silver winner: Toronto Life
Finalists:
Canadian Family
canadianart.ca
Dogs in Canada
More.ca
On Air
sweetspot.ca
Vanmag.com
VitaminDaily.com

Blue Division:
Gold Winner: Sparksheet
Silver winner: Mortgage Broker News
Finalists:
Canadian Occupational Safety
In the Loop
Trucknews.com

Green Division:
Gold Winner: The Globe and Mail – Wine Newsletter
Silver winner: Vancouver Observer
Finalist:
Cyberpresse

BEST SMARTPHONE APP
All divisions:
Gold Winner: Vite une recette
Silver winner: CBCNews.ca
Finalists:
Canadian Business Mobile
Maclean's Mobile
The Hockey News

BEST MOBILE-OPTIMIZED SITE
All divisions:
Gold Winner: Sparksheet
Silver winner: Advisor.ca
Finalist:
The Globe and Mail Mobile site

BEST DIGITAL EDITION (or digital replica)
All divisions:
Gold Winner: CIO Canada
Silver winner: Condominia
Finalist:
CMAJ

BEST TABLET APP
Gold winner: CBCNews.ca
Silver winner:  Maclean’s
Finalists:
Aggregation Magazine
Ontario Travel
The Globe and Mail

BEST WEB DESIGN
Red Division:
Gold winner: Toronto Standard
Silver winner: TheStyleSpy.com
Finalists:
Aeroplan Arrival
Boulder Pavement
Canadian Family
Frugalbits.com
Rouge
Scrum Canada
sweetspot.ca
Walrusmagazine.com

Blue Division:
Gold winner: Sparksheet
Silver winner: University Affairs
Finalists:
Advisor.ca
Careers in Nursing - A world of Opportunities
CMAJ

Green Division:
Gold winner: Nationalpost.com
Silver winner: CBC News
Finalists:
Cyberpresse
The Globe and Mail

Next category:
BEST ONLINE-ONLY SITE (for sites with no print companion)
Red Division:
Gold winner: Torontoist
Silver winner: Toronto Standard
Finalists:
Frugalbits.com
OpenFile
Plaisirssante.ca
rabble.ca
sweetspot.ca
TheStyleSpy.com
TORO Magazine
UrbanMommies

Blue Division:
Gold winner (tie):
ITBusiness.ca
Sparksheet
Silver winner: theheart.org
Finalists:
Canadian Investment Review
Cheap Shrimp: Hidden Costs

Green Division finalists:
Gold winner: CBCNews.ca
Silver winner: RedNation Online
Finalists:
The Tyee
Vancouver Observer

BEST COMPANION WEB SITE (for titles with a print companion brand):
Red Division:
Gold winner: Walrusmagazine.com
Silver winner (tie):
enRoute Online
Toronto Life
Finalists:
CanadianBusiness.com
Cottage Life
ELLEQuebec.com
Fashion Magazine
Macleans.ca
Outdoor Canada
Rouge
Vanmag.com

Blue Division:
Gold Winner: University Affairs
Silver winners (tie):
Conseiller.ca
Quill & Quire
Finalists:
Advisor.ca
CanadianHealthcareNetwork.ca/ProfessionSante.ca
Renovation Contractor

Green Division:
Gold winner: The Globe and Mail
Silver winner: Nationalpost.com
Finalists:
Cyberpresse
Northern News ServicesOnline
thestar.com