‘BEST OF’ FINALISTS: WATCH THE MAIL

a bunch of stickers that are on a table

On Nov. 1, the Keys Weekly Newspapers will close out our “awards season” as we celebrate the Best of the Upper Keys, following some of the best parties in Key West and Marathon with the Bubba Awards and Best of Marathon in July and September.

For the winners, earning the top honor in any category is a mark of extreme pride, and rightfully so. But as our staff sat down to debrief from each ceremony, we realized we had a little problem on our hands: Why was it that so many folks who were nominated for an award, but didn’t finish in first, felt they “lost?”

I’ve said this to dozens of people already this year, and I’ll say it again: Without taking anything away from our winners, in my opinion, being named as one of the three finalists for any category is truly almost as much of an honor, if not more.

It’s one of the reasons we shifted our wording to call our top three “finalists” instead of “nominees” this year and moving forward. It’s also the reason why you’ll see new badges making their way around town to all of our finalists in all of our 2024 awards series – and we hope you’ll post them proudly.

Here’s the thing: When we put out our call for nominations, a voter has to read a category, think of your business immediately, and write it in. There’s no multiple choice. No opportunity for name recognition to carry someone through. The bottom line is that if the community doesn’t love and respect a business or person, their name isn’t making the final ballot.

So, if we haven’t said it enough, consider this the Weekly sending all of our finalists the flowers they so deserve. The Best Of/Bubbas events are about three things and three things only: celebrating the businesses and people who make us love our communities the way we do, raising a (word I can’t say) ton of money for charities that absolutely deserve it, and throwing some of the best parties in town when it’s time to announce the winners. 

Even when our venues get packed to the brim and we can’t fit 500 or 1,000 people at the awards shows (believe me, we wish we could), our pledge for 2024 and beyond is to make sure we show plenty of appreciation to all our finalists. This week, we tip our caps to each and every one of them.

They’re on the ballot for a reason.

Alex Rickert
Alex Rickert made the perfectly natural career progression from dolphin trainer to newspaper editor in 2021 after freelancing for Keys Weekly while working full time at Dolphin Research Center. A resident of Marathon since 2015, he fell in love with the Florida Keys community by helping multiple organizations and friends rebuild in the wake of Hurricane Irma. An avid runner, actor, and spearfisherman, he spends as much of his time outside of work on or under the sea having civil disagreements with sharks.