Alberta magazines are always trying cool new things to extend their brands to better reach and serve their communities. There are podcasts, creative print products, microsites, events, marketing campaigns, and more. This year’s Innovation Award winners—announced at the September 25, 2025 Alberta Magazine Awards Gala—go above and beyond with their unique ideas for sharing the work of creators in their communities. 

Avenue’s Innovation newsletter, the gold recipient of the 2024–25 Innovation Award, is the perfect example of one such project, complementing the city and lifestyle magazine’s mission to tell engaging stories about the people of Calgary. As described by Avenue in their award nomination, the year-round newsletter, launched in January 2024, extends their annual print innovation issue and accompanying innovation event into a dedicated online publication sent directly to over 3,000 subscribers (so far). 

The goal is to profile the innovation and tech industry in an accessible and engaging way, with a focus on the Innovator of the Week: “a series of profiles about the local people, companies and organizations making waves in the tech and innovation sectors and moving the city forward.” Through the newsletter, Avenue is introducing people and stories to readers who may not otherwise be a part of these industries.

The silver 2024–25 Innovation Award went to The Polyglot for âniskôverberation, supporting Indigenous language revitalization by featuring artists—in both workshops and in publication—who are actively working to keep these languages alive. The Polyglot is a magazine that celebrates linguistic diversity, and in recent years they’ve broadened this to workshops in partnership with Supporting Indigenous Language Revitalization (SILR), a program of the organization Cultural Survival, which works to promote Indigenous languages and cultures. These workshops combined “creative arts with language preservation,” including a special issue celebrating Indigenous languages across Turtle Island.

Indigenous languages are endangered, as The Polyglot wrote in their award nomination. These workshops, and the dedicated issue of the magazine, were “conceived to counteract this loss by empowering communities through creative expression and active participation in language revitalization.” Workshop participants were encouraged to submit their work for publication in the special issue. “This seamless transition from learning to publication has generated tangible cultural output and strengthened community bonds.”

Learn more about these 2024-25 Innovation Awards winners—as well as finalist Calgary’s Child and their Inclusivity & Accessibility Resource Directory—on the Alberta Magazine Awards website!