Rules & Eligibility

About Pulaski's Best

Pulaski's Best — “Your Local Favorites” — is a community-driven awards program celebrating the best local businesses and people across Pulaski County, MO. Presented by O'Quinn Media, Pulaski's Best gives residents a voice in recognizing the businesses, professionals, and community members who make this area a great place to live.

How it works

Pulaski's Best runs in two phases: Nominations and Voting.

• Nominations (September 16 – September 30, 2026): Anyone in the community may nominate a business or person in as many categories as they’d like. The 5 nominees with the most nominations in each category become that category’s finalists.
• Voting (October 26 – November 13, 2026): Once finalists are announced, the community votes to choose the winner in each category. Winners are announced December 17, 2026.

Who can participate

• Nominating and voting are free and open to the public.
• Participants must provide a valid name and email address to nominate or vote. No account or password is required.
• Each nomination or vote is tied to the email address and the device used to submit it. Attempting to nominate or vote more than the allowed amount in a category — including by using multiple email addresses on the same device — is a violation of these rules and may result in disqualification of those entries.
• There is no cost to nominate, vote, or be nominated.

Nomination rules

• Nominations may be submitted for any of Pulaski's Best’s 93 categories, organized under these groups: Beauty & Health, Dining, Entertainment & Leisure, Finance, People, Places, & Services, Shopping, Vehicles, Dealers & Services. The full category list is on the nomination page.
• Nominators choose which categories they’d like to nominate in — you are not required to nominate across every category. A category that receives no nominations by the close of the nomination period may be removed from that year’s competition.
• A nomination must include the business or person’s name and a general location or identifying detail (for example, a street or nearby landmark — a full address is not required), so that businesses with multiple locations in the county can be told apart.
• Businesses and individuals must be located in or primarily serve Pulaski County, MO to be eligible.
• A person may nominate the same business or person in multiple categories, and may submit nominations across multiple visits to the site during the nomination window.
• The top 5 most-nominated entries in each category, as determined by O'Quinn Media, will be announced as finalists following the close of nominations on September 30, 2026.
• O'Quinn Media reserves the right to review and, where necessary, merge, correct, or disqualify nominations that are duplicates, incomplete, submitted in bad faith, or do not meet eligibility requirements.

Voting rules

• Voting is open to the public from October 26 through November 13, 2026.
• Only finalists (the top 5 per category from the nomination round) appear on the ballot.
• Voters may cast one vote per category, per day, for the entire voting period. Each new day of the voting period, voters may cast an additional vote in each category — so a voter who supports the same finalist every day can vote for them once daily through November 13.
• Votes are tied to the email address and device used at the time of voting; returning voters are recognized automatically rather than needing to log in again each day.
• The winner in each category is the finalist with the most votes when voting closes on November 13, 2026 at 11:59 PM Central Time.
• O'Quinn Media reserves the right to review, and where necessary disqualify, votes found to be fraudulent, automated, or otherwise submitted in violation of these rules.

Fair play & integrity

Pulaski's Best is meant to reflect genuine community support for local businesses and people. To keep it fair for everyone:

• Do not submit nominations or votes on behalf of other people without their knowledge.
• Do not use fake names, fake email addresses, or automated tools (bots, scripts) to submit nominations or votes.
• Each household may have multiple participants — everyone in a home can nominate and vote from their own device — but attempting to submit repeated entries in the same category from a single device using different email addresses is not permitted and may be automatically declined.
• Businesses may share their nomination or voting page with customers and encourage them to participate — this is encouraged! However, offering payment, prizes, or other incentives in exchange for a vote is not permitted.
• O'Quinn Media may, at its sole discretion, remove nominations or votes that appear fraudulent or that violate these rules, and may adjust results accordingly.

Results & winners

• Finalists will be announced on a special episode of The Fort NOT Lost in the Woods Podcast, listed on flwpodcast.com, in the Fort NOT Lost in the Woods Podcast Facebook Group, as well as other local media.
• Winners will not be publicly announced until December 17, 2026, regardless of when voting closes.
• Winning businesses and individuals will be notified prior to the public announcement.

Changes to these rules

O'Quinn Media may update these rules as needed to ensure the fairness and integrity of Pulaski's Best. Material changes made during an active nomination or voting period will be posted on this page with the date of the update.

Questions

Questions about eligibility, a specific nomination or vote, or these rules can be directed to tracy@oquinnmarketing.com.