Frequently Asked Questions

Best of the 603 is a community celebration of local excellence. During the course of the program, local residents will nominate and vote for their favorite local businesses, organizations, and places. It’s the ultimate recognition, powered entirely by you. Winners are chosen by popular vote and showcased online for one year.

We ask the general public to nominate their favorites starting May 13th, 2026 at 12:00pm and ending Jun 3rd, 2026 at 5:00pm. All nominated businesses will move forward to the voting ballot, no matter how many times they’re nominated. Once the nomination phase has concluded, there is a brief pause for the voting ballot to be validated to ensure those nominated do what they were nominated for.

Voting will begin on Jun 10th, 2026 at 12:00pm and end Jun 24th, 2026 at 5:00pm. During the voting phase, each person can vote one time per day per category by IP address. After voting ends, results will be published on Sep 10th, 2026 at 12:00pm.

There is no cost to participate. It is completely free to be nominated, to rally your community to vote, and to win. Businesses do have ways to amplify their presence during the voting phase; however, participation is completely free.

We ask the general public to nominate their favorites starting May 13th, 2026 at 12:00pm and ending Jun 3rd, 2026 at 5:00pm. All nominated businesses will move forward to the voting ballot, no matter how many times they’re nominated.

We welcome your feedback. Please submit a request for a new category and we’ll consider the addition either for this year or next year.

Submit a category request

To be considered as a late nomination, please complete the late nomination form. Once the form has been submitted, our team will review it and provide an update via email.

Submit a late nomination

All winners will be contacted via email with next steps. If you are not sure we have your contact information, please complete the contact information form.

Provide contact information

Please complete the contact information form to provide your details.

Provide contact information

All winners will be featured in the winner magazine, online and will also receive a winner certificate.

All winners will be listed on the website on Sep 10th, 2026 at 12:00pm.

View winners

There is a licensing fee for unlimited use of the winner badges. Once results are live and you’ve paid the licensing fee, we will send the high-resolution graphics to your email.

View your licensing balance

The winner badge(s) and licensing agreement will be sent starting Sep 10th, 2026 at 12:00pm.

There are two main ways to make your business stand out on the voting ballot.

• Subcategory Sponsor is an exclusive banner that sits on top of each subcategory as a person is voting. This branding banner puts your business name and imagery in front of a highly engaged voter.
• Ballot Button enhances your listing and helps your business name stand out from the other business choices.

Watch how the voting process works

A Custom Voting Page simplifies the process for you and for your loyal client base. With this voting product, you’ll have a voting ballot of your own. This individually branded voting ballot has a dedicated URL and only shows your voting categories; no competitors are shown. The page is easy to share on social media, by text message, and by email, and it comes with a QR code for locations where you can ask foot traffic to vote.

Watch how a Custom Voting Page works

Once an order is processed, within 48 hours our design team will visit your website, Facebook, and/or Instagram to pull your logo and images and create a first draft of your purchased products. These design drafts will include a place for you to provide change requests and upload new images and creative. You can make as many changes as you’d like.

If you’d like to provide your own design, no problem. Download the spec sheet, complete the design, and send the items to our design team. We’ll place them and ensure they’re ready for the voting phase. All designed products need to be delivered before voting begins on Jun 10th, 2026 at 12:00pm.

All finalists will receive a prompt to sign a non-disclosure agreement verifying to not disclose the results of their win until the contest release date.

All winners receive a free feature in the magazine and online. Winners will be emailed a questionnaire to submit photos, descriptions, and contact information, with the option to keep certain details private. You will also see an overview of how the information will be displayed both in the magazine and online.

Please use the button below to confirm your email address so we can send you the questionnaire if you win.

Provide contact information

The winner questionnaire must be submitted by Jul 26th, 2026 at 11:59pm.

No, we don’t provide proofs of the free winner feature. However, when completing the winner questionnaire, the form will provide an overview of how the information will be displayed both in the magazine and online.

There are two types of ad options available in the magazine.

• Adjacent – an adjacent ad represents guaranteed placement and limited inventory.
• Standard – a standard ad doesn’t have a placement guarantee and will be placed where an opening exists in the magazine layout.

After the magazine ad is purchased, the design team will reach out asking for high-resolution logos, images and any suggestions and/or requests for contact information, slogans and additional copy. Once received, a designer will complete a first draft of the design and send it for review. You have the option to request as many changes as you’d like until the ad is approved.

If you’d like to provide your own design, no problem. Download the spec sheet, complete the design, and send the items to our design team. We’ll place them and ensure they’re ready for the magazine. All designed products need to be delivered by Aug 7th, 2026 at 6:00pm.

Download the spec sheet

All ads must be approved by Aug 7th, 2026 at 6:00pm.