It was a tough choice, but in the end only one can be the winner. Before divulging who that is, let me thank all who participated (in chronological order):

This list should make it obvious why it took a bit longer to arrive at a conclusion. But finally …

<drum roll please />

… we settled on Derek’s first post because of its pedagogic value: the topic is a very plausible distributed (or local) use case, he demonstrates Akka best practices while implementing it and also motivates his choices, the images are well-chosen and nicely crafted, and he effectively promotes thinking in actors. Congratulations, Derek, and thanks for this post!

I’ll be in contact with all participants concerning their prize, and we sure will have a summer of blog next year again! And now let’s hear some virtual applause for the six authors!