Best of Baldwin is Baldwin County’s largest annual readers’ choice contest, celebrating the people, businesses, and organizations that make our community special.

Winners are celebrated not only at the Red Carpet Event and in the Best of Baldwin magazine, but also throughout the year in newsletters, articles, social media posts, and other Gulf Coast Media coverage.

The contest is hosted by Gulf Coast Media, which prints four weekly newspapers, various magazines and runs www.GulfCoastMedia.com in Baldwin County.

Nominations begin Wednesday, Sept. 16, and run through Wednesday, Oct. 7. This is the “open round,” meaning you can nominate any person, business or organization located in Baldwin County. Nominations are accepted once per week, per category.

In each category, you can either click on the name you want to nominate (see Image 1 below) or type the name into the text box at the bottom if it’s not listed (see Image 2 below). Write-ins take up to 2 business days to be approved and appear on the ballot, but don’t worry — your votes still count right away. Keep nominating weekly because only the Top 5 in each category move on to the voting round.

At the end of nominations, the Top 5 in each category advance to the final voting round. We’ll do our best to begin notifying finalists during this time, but with thousands of finalists, it may take a little while.

During the voting round (Oct. 21 – Nov. 18), you can only vote for those Top 5 finalists. Again, you can vote once per week, per category.

Anyone can nominate and vote, and we encourage nominees to get customers and supporters to vote. However, any “pay for vote” scheme or utilizing an outside company to “buy votes” or “guarantee a win” outside the spirit of the local contest will result in disqualification.

All determinations on voting legitimacy are made at the sole discretion of Gulf Coast Media.

The weekly limit helps keep the contest fair while giving everyone an equal opportunity to support their favorite businesses and people throughout the contest period.

Never. There is no cost to be nominated, to vote or to win.

Advertising packages are available to increase brand visibility during this high-traffic time, as the contest receives hundreds of thousands of votes each year. These advertisements include ballot placements, print and digital ads. Advertising helps offset the costs of producing this contest, including the event, as well as supporting everything we do at Gulf Coast Media — from news coverage to promotions and more.

Keep in mind, advertising does not guarantee a win (and never will) — but it does connect your brand with Baldwin County’s largest recognition contest.

We heard you! Based on participant feedback, Gulf Coast Media is trying something new this year. Some participants told us that keeping up with daily nominations and voting was starting to feel like a full-time job. We want Best of Baldwin to be fun and easy to participate in, so we’re moving to a weekly format. The same contest rules apply, but participants can now nominate or vote once per week, per category instead of daily.

Instead of voting every day, you can submit one nomination or vote per week in each category during the applicable round. Your weekly participation resets when the next voting week begins, giving you another opportunity to support your favorites.

Each nomination and voting week runs from Monday through Sunday. Your weekly nomination or vote resets each Monday, so you can participate again in each category.

If a nomination isn’t already on the ballot, it must be reviewed by our team. Please allow at least two business days — though it’s often much quicker. Once approved, the nomination will appear on the ballot.

Don’t worry! All write-in votes will continue to tally toward the nominee even if it hasn’t yet been officially added to the ballot.

The more details we have, the better. Some nominations will not be approved without enough information. For example:

• If you’re nominating “Scott” for Best Chef, include at least “Scott at Baldwin Grill” if you don’t know his full name. Full names are best in every situation, as there may be two (or three) of the same name at a business.

• For teachers, write “Rachel McQueen at [School Name].”

Basically, if we can’t figure out who they are from the information you give us, we won’t be able to find them. Additionally, other people who are nominating may agree with you — if they know who you are talking about.

Absolutely. Many businesses nominate themselves. We encourage you to nominate yourself only in categories that genuinely fit your business or profession.

It is also not technically against the rules to ask your employees to vote for your business as well.

Yes. Winners receive recognition for every category they win. Additional promotional items and recognition opportunities may also be available.

Any business or individual participating in Best of Baldwin who does not represent Gulf Coast Media or the competition in an appropriate manner may be determined to be ineligible and removed from the competition at any time, at the sole discretion of Gulf Coast Media.

Businesses or individuals who demonstrate an unwillingness to follow the rules of the competition may also be removed from the ballot or disqualified from winning.

Gulf Coast Media reserves the right to make eligibility and disqualification decisions as necessary.

The auto-populate feature is handled by Google, not Gulf Coast Media. It helps keep the ballot organized and prevents misspellings. If your business isn’t showing up, make sure it’s registered and active on Google. Please note that if you have moved and not updated your address on Google, it may appear incorrectly on the ballot. For more information, visit Google Business.

What businesses appear depends on your location and how the business is listed through Google Business. For example, if you are voting in Fairhope and type in “McDonald’s,” the results may include McDonald’s locations in Fairhope or nearby communities. If you are in Gulf Shores, the results may instead show McDonald’s locations in Gulf Shores or other nearby areas.

Google Business is not the same as Google Search or Google Maps. Google Search is a search engine and Google Maps is a mapping service. Google Business is a free tool from Google that allows businesses to manage their online profiles, which can appear in both Google Search and Google Maps.

For more information or to manage your business listing, visit Google Business.

And sometimes, even if you are registered, technology can just be a pain. It may take some time before Google updates.

Absolutely. Our ballot software recognizes similar spellings and lets us combine them with the correct one. Once a misspelled vote is merged, any future votes with that same error will automatically count toward you.

If the correct business is already approved on the ballot, simply select that one instead. If it’s not on the ballot or you can’t change your selection for any reason, email us at promotions@gulfcoastmedia.com and we’ll help you get it corrected.

If you notice any incorrect information on the ballot, email us at promotions@gulfcoastmedia.com and let us know the issue. To help us correct it faster, please include the category where the mistake appears along with the correct information.

Each year, we review the previous ballot and make adjustments based on what we noticed. Some categories are added based on reader feedback, while others may be dropped due to low engagement. Categories may also be combined or reworded for clarity. To keep the contest manageable, we can’t accept every category suggestion.

If you have a category idea, email us at promotions@gulfcoastmedia.com. While we review all suggestions, not every idea will make it on the ballot.

Absolutely! With over 400 categories, we know it can take a while. As long as you’ve registered by entering your email on your first nomination or vote, you can pick up where you left off. When you return on the same device, you should be automatically logged in and see your previous selections.

If you aren’t logged in but have already registered, click the “Already entered?” link at the top of the ballot and enter the email address you used.

Yes. You can change your nomination or vote as many times as you'd like before the end of the current week. Your most recent selection before the weekly deadline is the one that will count.

Once the week ends and a new week begins, your previous week's nomination or vote is locked in and can no longer be changed. You can then return and submit a new nomination or vote for the new week as part of your once-per-week participation.

No. Nominees are displayed in a randomized order.

With more than 400 categories and thousands of nominations, we do our best to keep the ballot accurate. However, sometimes the community nominates a business in a category that doesn't specifically fit the nominated entrant.

If you've been nominated in a category that doesn't apply to your business, or you'd prefer to be removed from a category or the contest altogether, simply email us at promotions@gulfcoastmedia.com, and we'll be happy to help.

First, check your spam folder. If the email isn’t there, follow these steps:

Sometimes emails get caught in an Email Service Provider’s (ESP) spam or virus filter before reaching your inbox. Each provider has its own filtering standards, and occasionally messages can be delayed or not delivered at all.

While Gulf Coast Media cannot control how an ESP handles emails once they leave our system, we recommend asking users who haven’t received their verification email to whitelist the From Address: gulfcoastnewspapersweeklies@secondstreetmessages.com as well as promotions@gulfcoastmedia.com. This can help ensure the email passes through spam filters and reaches the inbox.

There are several online guides that walk through the whitelisting process. HubSpot has a helpful article covering many email service providers — check it out here.

Once you receive your login link, it’s valid for 90 days, so you can access the ballot anytime without requesting a new link (unless you use a different device during that time).

If you’re still having trouble after following these steps, contact the ballot software company’s Consumer Support team at secondstreet-consumersupport@uplandsoftware.com. Please note, this is not Gulf Coast Media support — they handle only software issues.

Our ballot software requires an account to track your selections. This protects against fraudulent voting and lets you return to the ballot before the deadline to make changes or add more nominations.

No. All nominations and votes must be submitted through the official ballot platform. You must create an account using a valid email address.

Best of Baldwin is a big operation. The ballot includes around 400 categories and thousands of nominations, and we see a significant increase in website traffic and users during the contest. While Gulf Coast Media does everything we can to keep the ballot and website running smoothly, there may occasionally be moments when a page loads slowly, freezes or is temporarily unavailable. These interruptions are rare, but they can happen.

We also work to make the Best of Baldwin ballot as mobile-friendly as possible. However, your device, internet connection, Wi-Fi speed and available data can affect how quickly the ballot loads and how well it functions.

For the best experience, we encourage voters to use a reliable, stable Wi-Fi connection or a computer with a strong internet connection. If the ballot is not loading properly, try refreshing the page or waiting a few minutes before trying again.

Please don’t do this. While you are welcome to ask your customers to nominate you in multiple categories (or even nominate yourself), the best approach is to focus on the categories that truly fit your business. Think about what your customers already say makes you the best and lean into that.

If nominations are submitted in categories that don’t actually apply to you or your business, we reserve the right to remove them.

Absolutely not — these are scams. Gulf Coast Media will never charge for nominations, votes, or winning. Unfortunately, some fraudulent companies try to profit off contests like Best of Baldwin. Our ballot software automatically tracks voting activity, and any attempt to buy votes will result in disqualification. Utilizing these “don’t pay us unless you win”-type companies may also result in the disqualification of your nomination.

Another common scam is offering finalists or winners the chance to purchase plaques, signs, or awards. These companies are not affiliated with Gulf Coast Media, and any awards they sell are not official.

Official winners receive a framed certificate at no charge, and all recognition comes directly from Gulf Coast Media through the Red Carpet Event, the magazine and official online/social media announcements from us.

💡 If you ever doubt the legitimacy of an email, offer or promotion, reach out to promotions@gulfcoastmedia.com before responding. As an extra precaution, make sure anyone reaching out to you is using an email address that ends in “@gulfcoastmedia.com.”

We aim to notify finalists after nominations close in October, typically by email or social media, before the next voting round begins. Winner notifications start in December.

Because contact information isn’t always readily available, we may not reach every finalist immediately. If you haven’t heard from us, you can call our office at (251) 943-2151, email your sales representative — Frank Kustura for North Baldwin and the Eastern Shore, Jazmine Gonzalez for Central and South Baldwin — or email promotions@gulfcoastmedia.com.

When reaching out, please provide your business name, location, and contact information, including both phone number and email address.

With over 400 categories and thousands of nominees, keeping an up-to-date contact list can be challenging. If a nomination or voting round has ended and you haven’t been contacted, please call our office at (251) 943-2151, email promotions@gulfcoastmedia.com, or reach out to your sales representative — Frank Kustura for North Baldwin and the Eastern Shore, or Jazmine Gonzalez for Central and South Baldwin.

They can help confirm whether you advanced to the next round. When reaching out, please provide your business name, location, and contact information, including both phone number and email address.

Each winner receives:

1. A free framed certificate
2. A Best of Baldwin window cling
3. Recognition in the Best of Baldwin magazine
4. A winner listing on the winners’ website
5. The option to purchase one discounted ticket to the Best of Baldwin Red Carpet Event, until they are sold out.

🎬 Best of Baldwin Red Carpet Event: Official date TBA (February 2027)

📖 Best of Baldwin Magazine release: Official date TBA (February 2027)

Winners will be announced publicly at the Best of Baldwin Red Carpet Event in February 2027, and online at www.gulfcoastmedia.com/bestof.

A copy of the Best of Baldwin magazine featuring all winners will be available at the event and on our website. Additional copies will be inserted in The Baldwin Times on the Friday after the Red Carpet Event. If you’re not a subscriber, click here to sign up.

Gulf Coast Media does not publish individual nomination or vote totals for businesses, individuals or organizations participating in Best of Baldwin.

We announce the finalists and winners and recognize them through the Best of Baldwin magazine, website, social media, the Red Carpet Event and other Gulf Coast Media coverage.

Our goal is to keep the focus on the recognition itself rather than on how many votes separated one nominee from another. All voting is subject to the contest rules and our voting platform's fraud-prevention measures, and Gulf Coast Media makes the final determination on the legitimacy of votes and contest results.

Past Best of Baldwin winners can be viewed on Gulf Coast Media's website and in previous editions of the Best of Baldwin magazine.

While an official date has not been announced, the event will take place in February 2027 at the Orange Beach Event Center. Winners and their guests will be celebrated at this exclusive gathering, with the Best of Baldwin magazine released during the event and copies inserted into The Baldwin Times the following day.

Ticket information will be released once the voting round has ended. Winners will receive the option to purchase one discounted ticket per business (not per category won) to attend the event, along with options to purchase additional tickets or advertising. The event venue holds 800 guests, and historically, tickets sell out quickly, so be sure to secure yours in advance.

For questions or to reserve tickets, call our office at (251) 943-2151, email promotions@gulfcoastmedia.com, or contact your sales representative — Frank Kustura for North Baldwin and the Eastern Shore, or Jazmine Gonzalez for Central and South Baldwin.

No. Winners who attend the Red Carpet Event will receive their certificate and have an official photo taken, along with any personal photos. However, if you are unable to attend, certificates will be available for pickup at our office, or you can make arrangements with your sales representative — Frank Kustura for North Baldwin and the Eastern Shore, or Jazmine Gonzalez for Central and South Baldwin — to receive your certificate(s).

Basically, whatever you want. Many attendees wear formal or semi-formal attire, while others wear jeans. Keep in mind that official and candid photos will be taken, so dress in whatever you want to be photographed in.

The Best of Baldwin Red Carpet Event is an awards celebration honoring the best of Baldwin County. Think less "long ceremony" and more "celebration." Compared to prior years, we've created more time to eat, drink, dance and mingle. You'll enjoy a sit-down dinner, entertainment, red carpet photos, raffles, the Photo360 booth and the first look at the Best of Baldwin magazine. It's a night to celebrate Baldwin County in style.

Last year's redesigned event received overwhelming praise from attendees, with many telling us it was the best Best of Baldwin celebration we've ever held. Based on that feedback, we'll continue building on that successful format while looking for new ways to make the experience even more memorable each year.

This is a ticketed event — you must have purchased a ticket and be on our guest list to attend. Check-in begins at 6 p.m., with cocktail hour starting immediately. Certain seats are reserved; tables will be numbered, and the person checking you in will provide your table number.

Start by downloading our Free Graphics to share on social media, in emails, or in your store. Be sure to check out our Promotion Tips for creative ideas to boost your visibility even further.

Advertising is also a great way to stand out. The contest draws thousands of visitors and votes every single day, giving your business a chance to be seen by a huge audience. Advertising options — from ballot placements to print and digital ads — can help boost your visibility and keep your name top of mind with voters. Contact your sales representative — Frank Kustura for North Baldwin and the Eastern Shore, or Jazmine Gonzalez for Central and South Baldwin — for more information.

Text to Vote is an optional promotional feature available to Best of Baldwin nominees. It gives participating businesses and organizations a unique 4-digit code that provides their customers, fans and supporters with a way to vote by text. Text to Vote is a promotional feature available only to participants that choose to purchase it.

The Text to Vote code will also appear on the ballot, allowing voters to easily tap the code on their phone and send a text.

Gulf Coast Media will also provide participating businesses and organizations with a promotional graphic featuring their Text to Vote codes to help them promote the feature to their customers, fans and supporters.

Voters can still support their other favorite businesses and organizations in other categories that do not use Text to Vote by visiting the online ballot and submitting their votes there.

Text to Vote codes are included in select Best of Baldwin promotional packages. Businesses can purchase a code for each category in which they are nominated.

No. Text to Vote is an optional promotional feature and is not automatically included with a nomination. Businesses can purchase packages that include Text to Vote and receive codes for the categories in which they are nominated.

Yes. A business or organization needs a unique code for each category in which it wants to use Text to Vote. If a business or organization is nominated in multiple categories, it can purchase Text to Vote for each category and will receive a unique code for each one.

Text the business's unique code to 251-426-1085. The code must be the one assigned to that business for the specific category in which you want to vote.

Text to Vote nominations and votes are limited to once per week in each category during the applicable nomination or voting period, the same as nominations and votes submitted through the online ballot.

Yes. After submitting a valid text nomination or vote, you will receive a text message confirming that your selection was received.

If you enter an invalid code, you will receive a text message letting you know that your entry was invalid. Check the business's promotional materials for the correct code and try again.

Businesses that purchase a promotional package that includes Text to Vote will receive their unique codes. Businesses can share those codes through their own advertising, social media, email, in-store promotions and other marketing efforts.

Standard message and data rates may apply depending on your mobile carrier and plan. Contact your carrier with questions about potential charges.

Text to Vote codes are included in select Best of Baldwin promotional packages. For more information about available packages and Text to Vote, contact our sales representatives — Frank Kustura for North Baldwin and the Eastern Shore, or Jazmine Gonzalez for Central and South Baldwin.

Nothing — well, almost nothing. Gulf Coast Media and Second Street use your phone number only to match your vote to the business or organization you are voting for and to help enforce the once-per-week voting limit. Your phone number is not used for any other purpose by Gulf Coast Media or Second Street.

All decisions about the contest — from the rules to the winners — are made by Gulf Coast Media and are final.

That said, if you think there’s been an error, send us an email at promotions@gulfcoastmedia.com and we’ll take a look.

The 2027 contest will open in September 2027. We’ll share the exact date closer to the start of the contest, so be sure to check back for updates.

If your question isn’t covered in this FAQ, feel free to email us at promotions@gulfcoastmedia.com. Our team will be happy to help and point you in the right direction.

False. Advertising with Gulf Coast Media does not determine who wins Best of Baldwin.

Businesses can choose to advertise during the Best of Baldwin campaign, and many recognize the value of doing so because the competition brings a large audience to our publications and digital platforms. Advertising can help keep a business top of mind while readers are considering their votes.

Some advertisers win and some do not. Many Best of Baldwin winners have never advertised with Gulf Coast Media.

We believe advertising can be an effective way for businesses to reach customers, but advertising does not buy votes or determine the winners.

False. Advertising can help a business increase name recognition and reach potential customers, but it does not guarantee a Best of Baldwin win.

It may seem like many winners advertise with Gulf Coast Media. There is a practical reason for that. After voting ends, we need time to verify results, contact winners and prepare the Best of Baldwin special sections and other promotional materials. Many winning businesses choose to advertise their accomplishments after they win because they see value in promoting the recognition to their customers.

We appreciate the support of businesses that advertise with us, but advertising is never a requirement to participate or win Best of Baldwin.

False. Businesses are not required to pay an advertising fee or any other participation fee to be included in Best of Baldwin.

Our goal is to include any eligible business that wants to participate in Best of Baldwin.

However, Gulf Coast Media reserves the right to remove a business or individual from the ballot if there is a reason to do so. Nominated businesses, organizations or individuals may also request to be removed from the ballot.

Gulf Coast Media also reserves the right to remove a business or individual that we determine does not appropriately represent Gulf Coast Media or the Best of Baldwin competition.

Gulf Coast Media reviews the Best of Baldwin categories each year, considering feedback from readers and businesses, popular categories from previous years and trends in Baldwin County.

We try to stay around 400 categories each year. While we want to give readers plenty of opportunities to recognize their favorite local businesses and services, there are practical limits to how many categories we can manage effectively.

We know there are always more categories that individual businesses and readers would like to see. We welcome those suggestions and keep them in mind when reviewing the ballot for the following year.

Once voting opens, categories generally cannot be changed except in extremely rare circumstances. We save feedback and suggestions throughout the competition and revisit them as we begin planning the next Best of Baldwin.

Best of Baldwin is a readers’ choice contest, so yes — the winners are determined by the community by popular vote. The businesses, people and organizations that receive the most legitimate votes win.

And yes, Gulf Coast Media is a small business, and Best of Baldwin generates revenue that helps support our work. Advertising opportunities are available during the contest, but purchasing advertising has no effect on nominations, votes or the selection of winners. Businesses are not required to advertise or pay to participate.

Revenue from Best of Baldwin, along with advertising, subscriptions and community support, helps fund the local journalism we provide throughout Baldwin County. That includes reporting, photography, sports coverage, election guides, breaking news, school events, business news, festivals and the stories that keep our community connected.

Supporting Best of Baldwin helps us continue investing in the local journalism and community coverage that we provide throughout the year.

Just as advertising does not increase a business's chances of winning, donations or other financial support for Gulf Coast Media do not increase anyone's chances of becoming a finalist or winner.

If you'd like to support Gulf Coast Media beyond Best of Baldwin, visit www.GulfCoastMedia.com/Support.

Each year, our staff receives emails, messages and comments about Best of Baldwin. Many are thoughtful questions or helpful suggestions, but some are unnecessarily negative or even hateful. We understand that people can be passionate about their businesses, their communities and the people they believe deserve recognition. We also understand that not everyone will agree with every result.

But we think it is worth taking a step back and remembering what Best of Baldwin is all about.

The contest is free to participate in and is designed to celebrate what our community believes is the best of Baldwin County. The winners are chosen by the public, not by Gulf Coast Media. Our role is to provide the platform, facilitate the voting process and share the results.

Even being nominated for Best of Baldwin is a huge compliment. It means someone in the community thought enough of a business, individual or organization to nominate it as one of the best. Winning is certainly something to celebrate, but a nomination itself is meaningful recognition.

There will always be businesses that don't win and people who disagree with the results. That's part of any public-voted competition. Our staff may not always agree with every winner either, but that is not our decision to make. The public votes and the public decides.

So while we welcome questions, suggestions and constructive feedback, we hope everyone will keep the spirit of the competition in mind.

Best of Baldwin is ultimately about celebrating Baldwin County and the people who make it such a special place to live, work and visit. We are proud to provide a platform for that celebration and grateful to everyone who takes the time to nominate, vote and participate.