You’ve probably heard about or seen the Calvert’s Best 2013 publication. In case you missed it, I’ll tell you more about Calvert’s Best and how to participate in the future.
The idea was brought to life by Manish Dureja, a Calvert County resident and local business owner. This year Calvert’s Best also partnered with the Chesapeake Current to extend the reach and participation. A few days ago, I reached out to Manish to get more information and answer a few questions I had so I could give you the most information possible.
Calvert’s Best was created to showcase the best local businesses as voted by local residents in the Calvert County community.
Calvert County residents were able to vote. The voting process was open for more than a month and all ballots had to be submitted by March 31, 2013. The process was promoted in the Chesapeake Current, online using social media, multiple business groups, as well as many small business owners encouraged their customers to vote.
Voting was completed using an online ballot to ensure accuracy. Entrants or voters had to complete at least 25% of the 45 categories. IP addresses were also recorded to ensure results weren’t skewed in any way. The categories could be filled in with any business name, no choices were given so it was completely up to the voter to type in who they wanted their vote to go to. This year there were more than four times as many ballots received than in the previous run. When I completed the ballot it took me about 45 minutes to complete.
Advertisements were solicited from local businesses in order to help cover costs of printing and mailing the publication. Money given by an advertiser in no way affected the outcome of the results.
I was informed that this whole process did not result in any profit this year. In previous years any profit earned was given to the Future Business Leaders of America program at the local high school (they helped process ballots) and the Humane Society.
This year the publication was mailed to all physical Calvert County addresses and an additional 6,000 copies were printed and have been distributed to places around the county.
I think Calvert’s Best is a great tool for Calvert County residents. It is the perfect go-to book when looking for business or a reliable service provider that you weren’t already acquainted with. In addition, businesses that are mentioned in the book could see a measurable increase in their business. I know of several businesses that have received more than a half dozen calls directly attributed to this publication.
If you missed voting this year or want to ensure you don’t miss voting next year sign up for our email updates and we be sure to pass the word along next time.
If you had a great experience with any business in the Calvert’s Best 2013 publication post a comment in the comments section below.
For more information please see the Calvert’s Best website at http://www.calvertsbest.com.