Have a question about The Local’s List? Check out our frequently asked questions below.
What are the important dates to know?
- Nomination Round: Feb. 15 – Mar. 8
- Voting Round: Apr. 7 – Apr. 28
- Winners Announced: The July issue of The Bend Magazine
What is The Local’s List and how does it work?
The Local’s List is The Bend’s annual readers’ choice poll. Every year, The Bend’s staff compiles a list of categories for the ballot. Once the ballot is made public, anyone is allowed to nominate their favorite local businesses, people, places and services once per category. After a three-week nomination round, the top five nominees with the most nominations will advance to the voting round. Each person is only allowed to vote once per category. When the voting round begins, if more than five nominations are listed in a category, it is because there was a tie.
Why is my nomination not showing up on the ballot?
We have a small team of staff members managing the entire Local’s List ballot. Our team manually accepts each nomination for vetting purposes. Reasons our team manually accepts nominations include: category accuracy, spelling errors, merging nominations submitted with different characters, location in regard to the Coastal Bend, etc. Please note, the Coastal Bend radius for The Local’s List includes the following counties: Aransas, Bee, Jim Wells, Kleberg, Nueces, Refugio and San Patricio.
Because of the reasons stated above, it may take up to 24 to 48 hours to see your nomination appear on the ballot. This does NOT affect the number of nominations anyone receives.
It has been more than 24 to 48 hours since I submitted a nomination and it still hasn’t shown up on the ballot. Why would this be the case?
If it has been more than 24 hours since you submitted a nomination and it still does not appear on the ballot, this could be for a number of reasons. Reasons include: our team has not gotten to it yet, the nomination did not fit the category, the nomination is not locally owned and/or operated, the nomination was not submitted with the proper criteria (i.e. a hair stylist nominated without an associated salon or business), the nomination could not be verified through a Google or social media search, etc. If you believe your nomination was submitted correctly and you still don’t see it, please contact tyler@thebendmag.com.
Why is there not a category that fits my business? How can I suggest a new category?
The Bend’s staff sits down each year to reassess the categories. We take into consideration how categories performed the previous year, if a category would allow for five or more possible entrants, etc. While it is too late to add categories to this year’s ballot, we encourage the public to send their category ideas for us to keep in mind in the future. You can send any category recommendations to kylie@thebendmag.com.
Someone nominated me or my business but the nomination contains an error. How can I get this fixed?
If you notice an error in a nomination, please email tyler@thebendmag.com to resolve the issue.
How will I know if I advanced into the voting round?
You will be contacted via email by The Bend upon advancement into the voting round. Our small team does its best to find as many emails as possible for the top five nominees in each category to notify them of advancement. There will be a new set of promotional graphics for download to help you market yourself or your business.
Does The Bend nominate and/or vote for their own favorites?
No. The ballot is solely populated by the public’s nominations and votes. However, in past issues, we have published “editor’s picks,” which appear separately alongside the reader’s choice winners and are selected by our editorial team.
Do I have to pay to be represented on the ballot and/or win?
No! The Local’s List readers’ choice poll results are based 100% on the public’s nominations and votes. Advertisers may use Local’s Loist promotional graphics to try to boost their exposure, but being an advertiser in The Bend does not guarantee anything for the contest. There are advertising opportunities on The Local’s List ballot to help promote your listing. Please visit The Local’s List Voting Packages page if you’re interested in learning more.
Why are there some nominations on the ballot listed as “featured” listings with a photo and description?
The top five nominees have the opportunity to purchase a variety of enhanced listing packages to further promote their business during the voting round. If you or your business would like more information regarding this, please fill out this form to be contacted by a member of our team.
Why are there more than five entries in a category in the voting round?
If there are more than five entries in any category once voting has started, this is due to a tie somewhere within the top five nominations.
How many times can I vote for my favorites?
When interacting with the ballot for the first time, it will prompt you to enter an email. Each email is only allowed to vote ONCE per category.
I tried to input my email address to interact with the ballot, but I have not received the personalized login link in my inbox. What should I do?
When a user interacts with the ballot for the first time, they will be prompted to input an email address, and a login link is then sent to said email. This email might get stuck in the spam/virus filter of the Email Service Provider (ESP), so the email is essentially “quarantined” for a time before it is allowed to be delivered to the email inbox. Each ESP has different standards they use to filter each email, and unfortunately, their spam/virus filter can get backed up. Occasionally, emails get stuck in an ESP’s spam/virus filter, which can result in the email being delayed (so the users may still receive that email within the next 24 hours or so), or not being delivered at all.
Unfortunately, we cannot control how an ESP delays the emails once they have left our system, however, we recommend users who haven’t received their emails to whitelist the email messages@TheBendMagazine.secondstreetmessages.com, as that could help expedite the process through the ESP’s spam filter and ensure that the emails land in the inbox as expected. If you have done all of the above and still don’t receive a link, please email kylie@thebendmag.com.
How will I know if I won my category?
Approximately one week after the voting round closes, all winners will be notified via an email sent out by The Bend.
When will the winners be announced?
Winners will be announced to the public upon the release of the July 2023 issue. Sign up for The Bend’s newsletters to be the first to find out the winners and subscribe to receive the print issue in your mailbox!
Will there be a party for The Local’s List this year?
Stay tuned to find out…
