RULES AND REGULATIONS

Eligibility

In order to be considered for nomination, the nominee must be local to one of the 24 counties of Western North Carolina and must meet the qualifications of the nomination category. These counties are: Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes, and Yancey. 

Local is defined as the following:

If the nominee is a person, they must currently live and work primarily in Western North Carolina. Someone who is from WNC but does not live or work in the area is not eligible. 

If the nominee is a business, (a) the storefront(s) must be located in WNC or (b) the business must operate out of WNC. Online-only businesses are eligible as long as they primarily operate out of Western North Carolina. Large businesses that are a subset of national or international corporations are not eligible for nomination unless they are headquartered in WNC (ie. Chick-Fil-A and Walmart are not eligible, but Ingles is eligible). If a voter is nominating a business with multiple locations throughout the region, please specify which location.

If the nominee is a place or event, it must be located in WNC. If the location is within two or more different counties or states, it is eligible as long as it is partially in WNC.

WNC magazine retains the right to investigate the eligibility of any nominees, and disqualify any that are deemed ineligible. 

If you have specific questions about the eligibility of a nominee, please contact Allison Sherman, asherman@wncmagazine.com, for more information.

Voting

The voting will take place electronically between 12:00 a.m. August 5, 2024 and 11:59 p.m. September 13, 2024. All categories will be open-ended; it is the responsibility of the voter to provide as much detail about their nominee as possible, including but not limited to full names, addresses, and any other necessary identifying information. Many businesses, practitioners, and individuals may share names, and specificity ensures that a vote is counted towards the intended nominee. 

Ballot responses that include vague, incomplete, or otherwise unidentifiable information may not be considered. Voters should be as specific as possible about their nominee’s identity in order to ensure that their vote is counted correctly. 

There is no limit to how many ballots can be submitted per person per day. A ballot contains all 30 categories listed above. Voters do not need to include answers to every category in order to submit a ballot. Ballots must be filled out by a real person. If WNC sees any evidence of electronic interference in the voting process, such as the use of bots, AI, or other automated means of casting votes, those votes will be disqualified. 

WNC magazine retains the right to invalidate any votes that contain vague, incomplete, or otherwise unidentifiable information. WNC staff will do their best to count votes towards their intended candidate based on available information, but will not include votes if there is ambiguity that may affect voting results. 

Votes that nominate candidates that are deemed ineligible are not valid. 

Promoting and advertising

Finalists and winners are determined by popular vote. Any past, current, or future advertiser with WNC or any other publication owned by Gulfstream Communications is not guaranteed a spot as a nominee, finalist, or winner. Winners, finalists, and nominees may be contacted by WNC and/or Gulfstream Communications Account Executives. 

Any entity wishing to promote their business, location, event, or individual in order to boost their votes is encouraged to do so using the marketing materials designated for campaigns. Any electronic campaigning, including but not limited to social media posts (images and video), Stories, Threads, Reels, Shorts, etc. must tag WNC magazine’s relevant accounts and use the designated hashtag (#wncchoice) when using supplied promotional campaign materials. 

Instagram: @wncmagazine

Facebook: WNC magazine

X (formerly Twitter): @WNCmagazine

Once winners and finalists are selected by popular vote, those entities may use designated marketing material in future advertisements. Entities that are not finalists and winners in the WNC Magazine Choice Awards contest do not have the rights to use or share the winners’ and finalists’ promotional and advertising materials. Any unqualified entities found using contest marketing materials that indicate it is a winner or finalist in the WNC Magazine Choice Awards contest are subject to legal action. 

All promotional material is the intellectual property of WNC and parent company DEZ Inc. dba Gulfstream Communications.

Results

Winners and finalists are determined solely by popular vote. Results will be calculated by Gulfstream Communications staff. Any votes made outside of the voting period will not be counted. Gulfstream Communications staff will ensure every effort is taken to count votes correctly and tabulate results accurately. All results are final. 

Winners and finalists will be announced online by October 2024. Winners and finalists will be granted access to special promotional materials signifying their results in the WNC Magazine Choice Awards, and contacted by members of the WNC magazine team and relevant contributors. Winners and finalists will be printed in the Winter 2025 edition of WNC magazine. First place winners are allotted additional space in the print issue. 

WNC magazine will host a congratulatory party in January 2025.