Do you have a question about Best of Columbia? We have an answer!
How does Best of Columbia work? How are the winners picked?
Best of Columbia is a celebration of excellence in local business, food and entertainment in our city. The winners are chosen by the people of Columbia via nomination and voting rounds. During nominations, anyone is welcome to write in candidates they believe are the best in their category. The top five with the most nominations move on to our voting round. From there, the finalists are selected by your votes. The finalist with the most votes receives gold, the second silver and the third bronze. Gold winners are invited to Inside Columbia’s Best of Columbia party.
How long is the nomination period?
Nominations will be open from January 19th to March 1st at 11:59 p.m.
How long is the voting period?
Voting will begin on March 9th and will end April 12th at 11:59 p.m.
Do I need to pay to get my business on the ballot? How do I get on there?
Nope! Best of Columbia’s nomination round is made up entirely of write-ins, meaning that it’s up to the people of Columbia to write in their favorites each time they nominate. Once a write-in candidate receives 10 nominations, they are populated onto the ballot and can be selected by voters. There is no way to pay your way onto the ballot. When the nominations round ends, the top five candidates continue to the voting round. There will not be a write-in option during the voting round.
What’s up with the ads on the ballot?
Our marketing consultants offer Best of Columbia promotion packages, which include advertisements on the ballot and on our website. Advertising or sponsoring a category gives your business greater exposure to the voters, but it does not guarantee a win.
How can I get in on the advertising?
If you’re interested in promoting your business’s Best of Columbia campaign, fill out our advertising form on insidecolumbia.net and our team of marketing experts will reach out to suggest a package that works best for you.
Why do I have to make an account to vote?
Making an account by entering your email in our voting software, SecondStreet, prevents fraud and ensures a fair competition. All suspicious activity is flagged by our software and will be removed from the final count.
Inside Columbia reserves the right to ban any participants, nominees, emails or IP addresses from voting if fraud is suspected.
How many times can I vote?
You may vote in each category once per day.
Do I have to fill out the whole ballot each time I vote?
The ballot will count each of your votes individually as you go, so you are welcome to vote in as few or as many categories as you’d like each day.
What’s the media kit?
This year, we are providing graphics sized for Instagram and Facebook that are free to download! Encourage your followers to nominate/vote for your business by filling out this form to receive the downloadable materials.
Where’s that one category from last year?
We continually rotate and update our categories to keep the competition fresh and share the spotlight. If there’s a category you’d like to see next year, send your suggestions to insidecolumbia@mailzimmer.com.
When will finalists and winners be notified?
Those moving on from nominations to the voting round will be notified between March 2nd and March 8th. Those who did not make it to the voting round will not be contacted.
Finalists (the top three from each category in the voting round) will be notified between April 13th and May 20th. Those in the voting round that did not make it as a top-three finalist will not be contacted.
With 60 categories and hundreds of candidates, sometimes our contact information isn’t entirely up to date. If you have not heard from a member of the Inside Columbia staff and are curious about the status of your candidacy, please fill out our status request form and someone on our team will get back to you as soon as possible.
When will the winners be made public?
The winners will be announced to the public June 1, with the release of Inside Columbia’s summer issue. Our magazine is carried at most Break Time convenience stores and a digital issue will be available on our website. Subscribe to get the Best of Columbia issue delivered to your doorstep.
