Readers’ Choice FAQ:
For years, residents have looked forward to voting in The Tribune Chronicle’s Readers’ Choice contest to support their favorite local businesses, organizations, people and attractions. We’re proud to host it as a way to recognize the places and people that make this region special.
Sign-In Rules
Registration and sign-in are available during the contest’s open periods. If you see a countdown, please return once it completes to register/login or to nominate and/or vote.
Newly registered users can nominate and vote immediately for the first seven (7) days without logging in on the same device.
Once the 7-day period has ended, or should you wish to participate from a different device, you will need to click the “Sign In to Continue Voting” link near the top left of the contest page in the colored bar under the header and contest copy. After entering the email address you registered with, you will receive an email from noreply@mail.revfluent.com containing your personal login link to continue nominating and/or voting. Please check your spam folders in case your email client sent it there. If indeed it was delivered to spam, please mark it as “Not Spam” to ensure you receive communications in your inbox going forward.
Bookmark your personalized login link for quick access! Users do not need to sign in daily from the same device unless browser cookies are disabled.
Sign-in sessions remain active for 30 days. Once a session expires, users will need to sign in again using the bookmark in the email or requesting a new email by clicking the “Sign In to Continue Voting” link again.
Before requesting support, please search your entire email inbox for a message from noreply@mail.revfluent.com containing your login link.
If you still have not received the email, contact support by clicking the “Have a Question” near the top right of the contest page in the color bar under the header and contest copy and we will reply as soon as possible. Please provide the email address you believe you registered with.
Nominations and voting
Nomination phase: The contest starts with a nomination period, where readers can propose businesses, organizations and names for all of the categories, including new categories. This keeps the contest fresh as new businesses and organizations come to the area and as existing ones change and grow.
First voting round: In the first voting round, readers vote to narrow the big list of nominees down to just the top five in each category.
Final voting round: The excitement builds with voting on the top five businesses, organizations and attractions in each category! This round determines the top three in each category.
Nomination guidelines
Our Readers’ Choice team does its best to vet all nominees. Here are the guidelines we use, with exceptions as noted below:
We reserve the right to disqualify a business or organization from a category that does not represent a significant focus of its activities.
Nominees must, in most categories, be open to the general public. That is, no restrictive membership organizations. Exceptions include golf courses.
Nominations for individual categories, like Real Estate Agent, must include the nominee’s full name and place of business.
National brands will be accepted in all categories.
Application of our criteria is not an exact science. The Readers’ Choice team uses its best judgment; if you think we’ve made an error, please email best@tribtoday.com.
Fair voting rules
Nominees/entrants are prohibited from soliciting votes by offering payments or exchange of value of any kind.
Voting is limited to one vote in each category per person per day.
Even though we require sign-ups, we recognize that some people, in their enthusiasm, may be tempted to vote several times using different email accounts. Please note that voting under multiple email accounts violates the rules.
We do have systems in place to detect fraudulent voting. When we see evidence of fraudulent voting online, we may eliminate all suspect votes at our discretion. In extreme cases, we will remove entrants, as well.
Category Exceptions and Special Notes
Health & Wellness: In categories where we asked for practices, we exclude individual practitioners, unless they operate solo practices named after themselves.
Professional Services: The Insurance Agency category is open to locally based offices or teams of agents or brokers selling insurance directly to buyers. The category is not intended for individual agents, unless they are sole proprietors of an agency or brokerage, in which case that agency or brokerage may be nominated under their name.
We reserve the right to change these guidelines. Check back on this for current guidelines.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What are the key dates for 2026?
- Nomination Phase: February 15-22
- First Voting Round: March 29-April 5
- Final Voting Round: May 17-24
- Winners announced: July 12
Q: I nominated my business, but I don’t see it showing up on the website in the list of nominees. Why is that?
If you’re looking at the site during the nomination period and don’t see a business you nominated, fear not! All valid entries are considered and reviewed. But in order for a nomination to show up on the site, we have to approve it manually. Because we receive thousands of nominations, we can get backlogged.
The good news is your business only has to be nominated once to make it to the first voting round, assuming it met the guidelines. And if it did meet the guidelines, it does not matter if it showed up on the site during the nomination period.
Q: My business was nominated, and I saw it on the website during the nomination period, but it is not showing up in the voting round. Why?
See the guidelines answer above. After nominations close and before voting opens, our team does its best to vet all nominees. While your business may have appeared during the nomination period, our team may have determined it was ineligible for the first voting round.
Q: My business was nominated, but did not make it to the first voting round. I think it should have. How do I register a complaint?
Email us at best@tribtoday.com no later than 24 hours after the first voting round opens. You must identify the group and category and tell us why you think your business should have been included.
Like most humans, we sometimes make mistakes, and if we have, we’ll add your business within moments of our decision.
Q: What guidelines are used to determine whether a nominated business qualifies for the first voting round?
Please see the sections above on “Nomination Guidelines” and “Category Exceptions and Special Notes.”
Q: Do I need to click a submit button to finalize my votes?
No, users do not need to click a submit button when done voting. Votes are recorded as soon as the vote buttons are clicked. If a user decides to change their vote, the change will take place as soon as the vote button next to a different business listing is clicked.
Q: How are the winners selected?
The Gold award goes to those that received the most votes in their category. Silver is awarded to those that received the second-most votes, and Bronze goes to the entrant with the third-most votes in their category.
If there is a tie, we will announce both.
Q: If my account with the newspaper isn’t in good standing, can I still run in the contest?
No. Businesses or accounts that are not in good standing with the newspaper — including those with outstanding balances, unresolved billing issues, or other account issues — will not be permitted to run in the contest or appear on the ballot. Eligibility will be verified at the discretion of the newspaper.
Q: Why does this contest allow people to nominate/vote every day online?
The Readers’ Choice contest allows daily voting—once per person per day per category—because daily voting rewards entrants with passionate supporters. With a single vote per person, entrants with the best name recognition have a distinct advantage, as some voters skim over categories and cast their votes casually. Name recognition is an important part of finding the Readers’ Choice, but we also want to reward the passionate loyalty some people have for their local favorites, which can be captured in daily voting.
Also: This contest is fundamentally about celebrating and supporting great area institutions by raising their profile and helping them gain new fans. With daily voting, the contest raises the visibility of those businesses and organizations that use it to reach out to new and existing customers to ask for their support, through advertising and through their own channels.