Best of show

Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review.

Issues such as this, our annual Best of Northern Nevada readers’ poll, are a challenge. We get to struggle with issues that don’t arise in our general weekly business: Who’s going to count all these ballots? Who’s taking advantage of the rules to an unfair degree? Why are readers voting for businesses that changed names a year and a half ago? Does that place even have a happy hour?

Ay ay ay, it’s like conducting a symphony on a battlefield. At any rate, it’s all coming together. The hardest part of Best Of, for me anyway, deadlined yesterday. The issue will be hitting the parking lot at 708 N. Center St. almost exactly one week from the moment I’m writing this note. From here on out, it’s business as usual.

Everybody gets to work extra hard on this issue, so everybody deserves a little extra credit.

Thanks to David Jayne, who worked closely with artist Shawn Turner and put in extra hours coming up with fun art and a fun design. And, although I haven’t seen it yet, thanks to Kelsey Falle and Aaron McCormack for the extra work they have to do to make the Web site work with this issue. Thanks to those other production people and ad designers in Sacramento who are too legion to mention individually. (OK, thanks, Anne Lesemann, please pass along my gratitude to your team.)

Thanks to advertising coordinator Daphne Menden and distribution maven Karen Brooke, who among their other duties, don’t laugh as I melt down. Thanks, too, to all you drivers who have to carry extra-heavy papers this week.

Thanks to the editorial team of Kelley Lang, David Robert, Dennis Myers and Kris Vagner, and thanks to the contributing writers. Thanks to Rebecca Eckland who did the fact-checking on the readers’ choices.

Thanks to John Murphy and our advertising sales force of Corrin Keck, Dawn Archie and Ann Armbruster for making the issue nice and fat.

Most of all, thanks to you readers who filled out the ballots. You really power this ship.