Do you remember where you saw that? Second and third place tournament awards are for tournaments that start with more than 12 players.
second and third places

yeah, it was in a thread I started on this topic a couple of months back, Eric himself said he would change it. Some tournaments already have e.g.
http://www.chess.com/tournament/house-of-cards

Ok, the problem here is that the two tournaments you mentioned that did not have 2nd and 3rd place given out started before the change was made. The tourney you mentioned in post three started after the change was made. So, with new tournaments, the line is 8.
hey
A while ago it was said that tournements of n > 7 would revive medals for 2nd and 3rd, I have just directed a tournament of 12 but no placing other than 1st was rewarded. The tournement started after it was decided that 8 was enough - what gives?