Hi, everyone! I'll cut to the chase . . . After much long and very hard deliberation, I've decided to shutter the Cookiers' Choice Awards, at least for the foreseeable future. For five amazing years, we've celebrated the incredible cookie contributions of our community through this awards program. I am quite proud of the visibility that this program has given to our honored cookie decorators as well as to the cookie community at large. I am also quite thankful to the many people who served as judges over the years, donating their precious time to the painstakingly difficult evaluation process. And, last but not least, I remain beyond-wowed by the talented people we have recognized since this program's inception.
However, over the last year or so, the input from our community to the nominations process - the cornerstone of the program and why it's called "Cookiers' Choice" - has been waning. It's hard to interpret this trend as anything other than diminished interest in the program, though for reasons I don't fully understand. Simultaneously, interest in my cookie competition at OSSAS (now at the Show Me Sweets convention in my home state of Missouri) has been growing faster than I imagined and requiring more and more of my limited resources. In response to both of these trends, I thought it would be most prudent for me to focus my scarce time and dollars on the program that seems to have the greatest traction.
In 2019, I plan to take my competition at its new Show Me Sweets home to even higher levels - with world-class judges, more robust feedback to entrants, double the prize money, and, if all my secret plans come to fruition, a possible huge surprise for all. But, most important, my hope is to continue a legacy of celebrating the incredible and original work of this community, and to lift others up by inspiring them, through the thrill and challenge of competition, to create, learn, and grow!
If anyone has any questions about this decision, please leave them in the comments below or email me at sweetlife@juliausher.com. Again, thanks to all who contributed to the Cookiers' Choice Awards in various ways over the years, and thank you all in advance for understanding this change of direction.
And, on that note, I hope all of you will "meet me in St. Louis" at the Show Me Sweets convention on July 13-14, 2019! More information about entering my competition there can be found here. It's got both 2-D and 3-D categories. Plus, $3000 in prizes and immeasurable recognition are up for grabs! 
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