Dan's Best of the Best Is Back! Nominations Now Open for 2014
There’s no denying that the East End has the best of everything. From restaurants and wineries to theaters and art galleries, salons to surfing spots to service providers, the list of extraordinary options for anything and everything gets bigger all the time. Nowhere is that list more celebrated than in the annual Dan’s Best of the Best competition—which is also getting bigger and better as the 2014 nominations begin.
Yes, that sound you just heard was the starting gun going off—the nominations process is now open! And getting involved early is more important than ever. For the first time in the competition’s history, defending Best of the Best winners will not be automatically nominated again. We repeat: If a business or individual won in 2013, they must be nominated anew in order to be in the running for 2014 honors.
So what are you waiting for? After signing up at BestoftheBest.DansPapers.com, you may come back and nominate once a day, every day, in every category throughout the six weeks of nominations. The more you support your favorites, the better their chance of moving on to the voting round that will begin in August.
Dan’s Best of the Best began more than 25 years ago, and it continues to ask Dan’s Papers readers to join us in showcasing the ultimate in East End experiences by nominating and then voting for your favorites in more than 200 categories in the arenas of Arts & Entertainment, Food & Drink, Home Services, Pets, Professional Services, Recreation & Tourism, Restaurants & Nightlife, Shopping and Wellness & Beauty. Both the South Fork and the North Fork will be awarded their own set of Best of the Best winners, with the exception of Long Island Wine, which will encompass both forks in a single category.
Last year, Dan’s Best of the Best, presented by Bridgehampton National Bank (BNB), drew a record-breaking number of voters sharing their picks for who should be honored among the best businesses, personalities and events on the East End—more than 400,000 votes were cast as the 1,500-plus nominees vied for recognition among the vast number of Dan’s Papers and DansPapers.com readers telling us who they think are tops.
After the votes were tallied, we awarded Platinum, Gold and Silver level winners to the top three vote-getters in each category on both the North Fork and the South Fork. With voting as robust as it was in 2013, some races were so close that we had to call a few ties. See our 2013 winners here!
In keeping with tradition, all winners are always invited to attend the annual awards celebration—held last November for the first time at Suffolk Theater in Riverhead. The Dan’s Best of the Best awards party is always a night to remember, a rollicking evening of live music, congratulations and, of course, the presentation of the coveted Best of the Best award certificates.
But the journey there begins with that first nomination…
Dan’s Best of the Best 2014 nominations are open now. You can submit your nominees online at BestoftheBest.DansPapers.com (where the full set of rules is available) from Friday, June 6, through 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, July 20.
After all nominations have been tallied, this year’s nominees will be posted online and voting will begin (again, voting will take place exclusively at BestoftheBest.DansPapers.com), running from Friday, August 8 – 11:59 p.m. on Monday, October 6.