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ABOUT THE BEST OF BRANSON

  • What is The Best of Branson?
    The Best of Branson invites, engages and allows you, our audience, to recognize the best businesses, organizations and people in our area. Our focus is on businesses and entertainment that support, serve and do business in Branson.
  • When do nominations and voting start?
    Nominations and voting will take place at votebestofbranson.com.
  • Do I have to register?
    To ensure accuracy, we ask for basic registration during the nomination process. You can also provide your name and email to receive program updates. You can submit nominees in any category and return anytime before the deadline to submit more nominees! For fair voting, registration may be required, including your name and email. Celebrate Local Business does not review or consider factors such as business licenses, trade affiliations, Better Business Bureau ratings, or online ratings when determining nominees or winners. The Best of Branson nominations and winners are solely chosen by the public through online nominations and voting.
  • Can I vote by paper or in person?
    No. All nominations and voting are done through our website and links to our voting platform: votebestofbranson.com
  • How does nominating work?
    ​The nomination period begins 12:00 PM Central Time, Monday, May 19, and ends at 5PM Central Time, Friday, May 30 We rely on our audience to supply us with the names of outstanding people, businesses and establishments in each of over 100 categories. Once the nominees are finalized, our audience is asked to vote on one choice in each category. Per our guidelines, you are allowed to vote once every 24 hours. There are no limits to the number of nominations you can place. ​ Our audience and business owners nominate their favorites in Branson by selecting one of 7 topic areas (Attractions, Eat & Drink, Entertainment, Services, Shopping, Stay in Branson and Things to Do). Nominations outside of the Branson area will not qualify for the balloting, but are welcome to participate as advertisers in print and our digital destination, www.TheBestofBranson.com. Nominating is as simple as entering a name and city in text entry fields. It’s best, but not required, to provide additional information on the nominee so that we can verify them (phone number, address, URL). Users are not required to nominate in all categories. You may return any time before 5:00 PM Central Time, Friday, May 30 to add nominations. Users are permitted to nominate a single business in more than one category. Businesses with multiple locations will appear as a single nomination for the voting phase. Only organizations and activities that are currently in business in the Branson area will be eligible for nomination. Nomination is required to be on the final ballot. Business associates and advertisers of The Best of Branson, Celebrate Local Business, www.TheBestofBranson.com, and any other owner-affiliated company are not given special treatment.​ Users are not required to nominate in all categories, but must submit the nomination form by hitting the "submit" button at the bottom of the page. Users are permitted to nominate a single business in more than one category. ​
  • Will everyone that is nominated be on the ballot?
    For a category to qualify for the ballot, there must be a minimum of 4 separate businesses that are competing for votes. If a category is not qualifying, we will make reasonable accommodations to move the nominee to a similar category. Once a category is qualified, we will ballot each individual business that has been nominated. Nominees are then moved to the voting ballot. Celebrate Local Business does not review or consider factors such as business licenses, trade affiliations, Better Business Bureau ratings, or online ratings when determining nominees or winners. Nominations and winners are solely chosen by the public through online nominations and voting.
  • I’ve been nominated, what is required of me?
    Businesses, organizations or individuals that are nominated by our audience will be placed on our ballot as they are verified. Should a business earn enough votes to be in the top five, they may be required to complete a simple online questionnaire, that includes basic business information including, name, location(s), year established, business hours, phone number, web address (if any) and submit or make available a photo of the business, organization or individual. There is no cost or obligation to participate. Don't forget to download your free promotional assets to use on your website, social media, and place of business to help promote yourself to customers and friends as a nominee during the voting period!
  • How are votes tabulated?
    The regular voting period begins at Noon Central Time, Monday, June 23 and ends at 5:00PM Central Time, Wednesday, September 3. Votes are tabulated by a third party. Celebrate Local Business does not know the results of the contest until after the votes are tabulated. In each category, readers vote on their favorite nominee. Readers are permitted to vote in each category once per day. Businesses, institutions, individuals, and schools are encouraged to promote the contest in order to gain nominations and/or votes. Competitive advertising, special offers, and campaigns are permitted; however, the producers at their sole discretion, reserve the right to exclude from the competition any businesses or individuals that engage in activities intended to “rig” or “fix” the voting process. Votes that are suspect may be disqualified from the count. ​ Use of bots, robotic, repetitive, automatic, programmed, vote exchange websites, vote “farming”, scripts or other automated means designed to circumvent “one ballot per person per day” rule, are not allowed. Contestants discovered using these methods for vote acceleration are subject to suspected votes being disqualified without notice, and the jeopardy of the Contestant being completely disqualified and removed from the competition. Contestants risk disqualification if they use promotions involving quid pro quo strategies, such as, but not limited to "vote for us, and we’ll enter you into a drawing" or "vote for us, and we’ll give you a discount." These approaches create an unfair advantage by incentivizing votes, which goes against the contest guidelines and can result in disqualification to ensure a level playing field for all participants. Business associates and advertisers of Celebrate Local Business and any other owner-affiliated company are not given special treatment, including but not limited to our presenting sponsor.
  • Can I “write-In” a business during voting?
    All nominations have to be verified prior to being placed on the final ballot. During the nomination process, we welcome all submissions. ​ Our ballot is a closed ballot, however, we will accept late entries into an established category by request. All late entries must be emailed to support@shopbestofbranson.com for consideration.
  • When will the winners be announced?
    The names of the winners are posted and announced online at TheBestofBranson.com and honored in our The Best of Branson special winners magazine on Tuesday, October 28. In the event of a tie in any category, more than one winner or runner-up may be awarded. ​ The Best of Branson and the unique logos are registered trademarks of Celebrate Local Business and may only be used with express, written permission. Logos are licensed to winners at a marketing spend or direct payment of $1095 or more. The Best of Branson merchandise does not count towards the logo license spend. If you have already signed your logo agreement and have received your winner's logo, please review the Usage Guidelines here.
  • I'm a winner! How do I get the winner's logo?
    The Best of Branson and the unique logos are the property of Celebrate Local Business and may only be used with express, written permission. Logos are licensed to winners at a marketing spend or direct payment of $1,095 or more. The Best of Branson merchandise does not count toward the logo license spend. Contact us to request your logo. If you have already signed your logo agreement and have received your winner's logo, please review the Usage Guidelines here.

Questions about The Best of Branson?  Contact us

The Best of Branson is produced by Celebrate Local Business. This year’s digital experience is powered by BestOfPrograms.com. Content ©2025 BestOfPrograms.com, part of NERUS Strategies LLC.

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