What Is Best of the 207?

The Best of the 207 is a vote based contest focusing on and highlighting the best businesses, companies, groups, locations, items and services in the state of Maine.

How Does Nomination Process Work?

Nominations are provided by the community and after the nomination period is completed the  names of nominated businesses, people and places in each of the categories will be finalized and make up the official voting ballot. At that point our audience is asked to vote on one choice in each category. Per our guidelines, voters are allowed to nominate without limits and once voting period has begun, one vote per subcategory per 24 hour period allowed.

Nominees should be individuals and businesses that serve the state of Maine. The community and business owners nominate their favorites by selecting one of our topic areas (Eat & Drink, Education, Health & Beauty, Home & Garden, Marine, Motors, Services, Shopping, Stay & Play, and Things To Do).

To nominate simply enter a name and city in text entry fields. It’s possible, but not required, please provide additional information on the nominee so that we can verify them (Phone number, address, URL). If needed you may return any time before Wednesday, October 22nd at 05:00 pm to add nominations.

In the event that a business has multiple locations, it will appear as a single nomination for the voting phase. Business associates and advertisers of Portland Media Group and any other owner affiliated company are not given special treatment or extra votes, including but not limited to our presenting sponsor.

Nominations is not required in all categories within a given topic, but in order to submit the survey users must select the "submit" button on the ballot cart. Nominating a single business in more than one category is permitted provided they meet the requirements in that category or sub-category.

The nomination period begins Wednesday, October 1st at 12:00 pm and ends at Wednesday, October 22nd at 05:00 pm.

Do I Have To Register?

To validate the nomination process, registration and basic information from the submitter is required. However, we do offer you the opportunity to share your name, email and telephone number with us so that we can keep you up to date on the program throughout the competition.  You can submit nominees in any area and complete the survey any time before deadline.

In an effort to promote fair voting and prevent voter fraud and tampering registration may be necessary in the voting phase. Voters maybe asked for name and email address.

Can I Vote IN person or through a paper ballot ?

No. All voting is done online through our website  and links to our voting platform.

Once I've been Nominated, what's next?

Businesses, organizations or individuals that are nominated by the community will be placed on our ballot after they are verified. Should a business earn enough votes to be in the top three they may be required to complete a simple online questionnaire with 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 in the Best of the 207 program.

DOES EVERY BUSINESS NOMINATED MAKE THE BALLOT? 

For a category to qualify for the ballot, there must be a minimum of four (4) separate businesses that are competing in that category for votes. If a category does not qualify, we will make reasonable changes to move the nominee to a similar valid category. Once a category is qualified, we will ballot each individual business that has been successfully nominated.

ARE "WRITE-IN" NOMINATIONS ALLOWED DURING VOTING PERIOD?

Any and All nominations must be verified prior to being placed on the final ballot regardless of category. During the nomination process, we welcome all submissions.

Our ballot is a closed ballot, however; we will consider late entries into an established category by request. All late entries must be received by Wednesday, October 29th at 12:00 pm. All late entries must be emailed to for consideration.

How Are Votes Tabulated?

Nominations and votes tabulations are conducted by Elite Insights, renowned for the accuracy and objectivity of their "Best of" campaigns across United States, Canada and the Caribbean. Portland Media Group and its affiliates do not know the results of the contest until after the votes are tabulated and do not have access to the voting data.

In each category, the community votes on their favorite nominee. Voters are permitted to vote in each subcategory once per day. Businesses, organizations, individuals and schools are encouraged to promote the contest in order to encourage voters to vote for them.  Non-Competitive contesting and advertising where voters are offered free items, special items, goods or services in exchange for votes (quid pro quo) are NOT allowed and risk being disqualified from the ballot. Competitive advertising, and campaigns ARE permitted.  Elite Insights and Portland Media Group, 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 suspected of voter tampering or fraud will be disqualified from the count.

Business associates and advertisers of Portland Media Group and any other owner affiliated company are not given special treatment, including but not limited to the presenting sponsor.

The regular voting period begins at Wednesday, October 29th at 12:00 pm and ends at Wednesday, November 12th at 05:00 pm.

When Will Winners Be Announced?

The names of the winners will be posted and announced on Wednesday, February 25th at 12:00 pm on the Best of the 207 website. All winners will be honored in our Best of the 207 special winners magazine.