Publication Date: Friday, June 03, 2005
Weekly launches expanded 'Best of Palo Alto' contest
Weekly launches expanded 'Best of Palo Alto' contest
(June 03, 2005) 20th annual readers' poll goes electronic to strengthen consumer value, names 'Hall of Fame' winners
by Allen Clapp
An electronic-voting system has been added to this year's "Best of Palo Alto" contest, now in its 20th year -- to expand the contest and make it even more of a consumer's guide to the best stores, restaurants and services in the area..
Launching today and running for five weeks, the Weekly has retooled the poll for its 20th anniversary, replacing paper ballots with easy-to-use online voting in all categories. Online voting will help with the accuracy of the count while making it more difficult for anyone to ballot-stuff in specific categories.
"For several years we've been discussing how to make 'Best of ...' an even stronger measure of local consumer opinion," Weekly Editor Jay Thorwaldson said. "The new automated voting system enables us to handle far more ballots quickly and accurately. We really want input as to the best parts of our community."
Because the new voting system is so easy to use, he said the Weekly hopes to significantly increase the number of persons voting.
The online-voting system -- with safeguards to detect and prevent multiple balloting by the same person -- was developed by Frank Bravo, the Weekly's director of information technology, with input from contest organizers Assistant to the Director Amy Renalds, Promotions Coordinator Nikki McDonald and others.
When voters go to the ballot through the Weekly's community Web site, www.PaloAltoOnline.com, they are presented with a list of categories, each of which has a pull-down menu with 15 contestants -- top vote-getters in last year's poll -- plus a "write-in" field. Contestants with the most write-ins this year can qualify to be pre-listed in next year's contest.
To honor Palo Alto's perennial winners, the Weekly has created a special designation for 2005. "Hall of Fame" businesses are those who have won the Best of ... at least five years in a row. Some regular winners are running out of wall space to display plaques from past years.
They will be honored with a special "Hall of Fame" plaque, and will be able to rest on their laurels for three years before reentering the fray, giving up-and-comers a shot at stardom in their category (see sidebar). Voters will see "Hall of Fame" honorees listed in their respective ballot categories, but there will be no way to vote for them.
"The Hall of Fame distinction is a special honor that recognizes consistent and recognized excellence over several years," Renalds said. "The acknowledgement will top the list in every category in which there is a Hall of Famer."
In the spirit of honoring our past winners, Palo Alto Online will post a list of winners from 1994-2004.
Winners of this year's contest will be announced Aug. 31. To cast a vote, visit www.PaloAltoOnline.com.
Assistant Editor Allen Clapp can be e-mailed at aclapp@paweekly.com.
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