Best side story

Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review.

Voting is now live for the second—a.k.a. final—round of this year’s Best of Northern Nevada readers’ poll.

In many ways, this contest is the most recognized thing we do. Way more people vote in the contest than, say, write 95-word stories for our annual micro-fiction contest or write angry letters in reaction to Bruce van Dyke’s latest missives. We get more kudos for organizing this contest than we ever do for, say, winning General Excellence in our category from the Nevada Press Association’s annual awards. (As we did last year—bet you didn’t even know that. We’re awesomely humble.)

And, of course, people like to complain about this contest more than a year’s worth of typos and spelling errors. So here’s one complaint:

“Hi, I’m Joe SoAndSo, and I own Whatever Crappy Store, and I want to know how I can be included in your contest. Who do I need to pay?”

“Hi Joe! Thanks for asking. The portion of the contest that’s currently online is actually the second round. The nominees listed are the people, places and things with the highest vote totals from the first round. That round, which ended a few weeks ago, was an open primary where voters could write in whatever favorites they’d like. So, if you’re not included in this second round, it’s because not enough people voted for your business during the first round. If you really want a shot at the crown next year, you might consider promoting the contest a bit during the first round, which usually starts in May. Secondly, this is not a pay-to-play contest because ew, gross.”

Anyway. Head over to www.bestofnorthernnevada.com and get crackin’. More info about the contest can be found on page 6.

I’ll tackle another complaint next week.