Every year, we ask our opinionated readers to tell us about their favorite people, places and things in the Springfield area. Over the decades we've been doing this, we've continued to tweak both the process and the results issue to try to keep things fresh and interesting.
Our readers tried to demonstrate they are cultured, casting the most votes for best museum, with best place to see a play or musical (indoors and outdoors) also making the top 10. But more than one out of every four votes cast this year was in the food category and six of the top 10 categories with the most votes were food-related, highlighting the overall interest in eating out (and getting a massage).
Wondering how all this works? Here are answers to the most common questions we hear:
Q. Are the results real? Don't you just pick your advertisers to win?
A. The Best of Springfield results are based on what our readers chose as the best, which is not always the same as what our staff would prefer. Just ask the advertising department, there are many winners who have never spent a dime with us and others who frequently advertise but failed to win their category. While advertising helps remind people to vote for you, it certainly doesn't guarantee the outcome.
Q. Why did national companies or chain stores win some of the categories? If you're a locally owned business, shouldn't you support other locally owned businesses?
A. See previous answer. We encourage our readers to vote (and shop) local, but ultimately, we don't control the votes.
Q. Why wasn't ______ category included?
A. There are already more than 200 categories, so from a logistical perspective we have to consider the attention span of both the voters and readers. However, we do add and subtract categories based on reader interest and current events. The best places to play pool and darts, best lake club and best local Facebook page were among the new categories this year. We also added categories for best build-your-own bowl and best hibachi, based on the proliferation of new restaurants with those offerings.
Keep in mind that there needs to be at least four or five contenders in a category to make it competitive, so if you're asking for "Best battery store," "Best place to buy a musical instrument," or "Best clock shop" (all actual requests we've had), we're taking that into consideration. If you think of a great category we've missed, email our associate publisher, James Bengfort, at jbengfort@illinoistimes.com.
Q. Why wasn't _______ one of the options when I voted?
A. We hold an initial nomination round beginning in mid-August. The top five vote-getters in each category move on to the final voting. So if you want to lobby for a particular person or business to win, the time to start is in the nomination round.
Q. Why don't all of the winners have a write up this year?
A. We used to publish a short blurb on each of the top picks. However, we do have many repeat winners, and it can be hard to find something different to say each year. Starting in 2019, we switched to a format with longer (but fewer) profiles. We now try to highlight new winners and categories to make it more interesting and informative for the reader.
We welcome comments on this, or anything else in our publication, which can be sent to letters@illinoistimes.com.
– Michelle Ownbey, publisher
Categories with the most votes:
1. Museum
2. Horseshoe
3. New restaurant
4. Best overall restaurant
5. Bakery
6. Burger
7. Massage
8. Place to see a play or musical outdoors
9. Chicken strips
10. Place to see a play or musical indoors
VOTES BY CATEGORY
Arts, Culture & Entertainment 14.3%
Cannabis 2.9%
Civic and Community 5.6%
Drink 10.1%
Food 26%
Goods & Services 14%
Health & wellness 4.9%
Home & garden 8.2%
Kids' stuff 3.9%
Music 4.9%
Retail 5.3%
