Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: You're listening to the Preferred Way, a retirement podcast brought to you by Preferred Trust Company, the preferred custodian for all alternative investments.
[00:00:09] Speaker B: Thank you so much for joining us today for the Preferred Way, the Preferred Trust podcast. Today we're going to do something very different. You know, sometimes you win the best of. But do we know how? Do we know why? Do we know what's happening behind the scenes? Well, today we're going to get to find out. And Las Vegas is a pretty big city. And so we are bringing Deidre Stroud on with us today from the Best of Las Vegas. Welcome, Deidre.
[00:00:42] Speaker C: Hi. Thank you for having me.
[00:00:43] Speaker B: You're so welcome. We're glad that you're here today. And we sent over a list of questions for you because I think a lot of people are kind of wondering how, how does this whole thing work? So let me start by allowing you to do a quick introduction.
Who are you? How long have you been. I don't know. I don't know if you are maintaining, operating, administering the Best of Las Vegas. How long Best of Las Vegas has been around. Give us just a quick intro of who you are. A couple of minutes. Sure.
[00:01:18] Speaker C: So, as you said, my name is Deidre Stroud. I have been with the Review Journal for 18 years.
I have been involved with Best of Las Vegas for about 11 or 12 of those years.
And I love, I love this company. I love what we do. Best of Las Vegas has been around for 43 years. This is our 43rd year, 2024, so it's been around for quite some time.
And I am the director of operations for the Review Journal, but I also administer the Best of Las Vegas contest. So I have the say in what categories get added or don't I resolve any disputes that may come up.
[00:02:02] Speaker B: I'm sure those happen from time to time.
[00:02:04] Speaker C: I do.
There's a few rules that have been put in place by me, things like that. So, yeah, I'm, I am very grateful for the opportunity to work with Best of Las Vegas because it is something that people are so passionate about. Yeah. And the integrity of the contest is very important to us. So there's some things about Best of Las Vegas that I absolutely love and I'm happy that we're talking about it.
[00:02:34] Speaker B: Well, it sounds like you wear a mini hats, and so I have those same sentiments. I wear a few hats around here as well. But you know what? That's what makes it fun. That's what makes it exciting. And it also helps having somebody like you who's kind of overseeing the best of luck Las Vegas. Because one of the things that I think is so important is, you know, really making sure the integrity of the best of is maintained.
So we'll get into that in just a little while because I'm sure that's what people are really wondering. But before we get to that, how did the Best of Las Vegas awards come about? You said 44 years ago, 43 years.
[00:03:14] Speaker C: Ago is when we essentially, you know, most of the people that have. That were here 43 years, we're not here anymore. But I know that we do. I'm still here. I know I was. I was 10.
But I will say the reason that we do Best of Las Vegas is because it gives our readers a voice. It gives our readers the opportunity to give us feedback on the things that we see in the market.
If you go online to read reviews of a restaurant, for example.
[00:03:49] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:03:49] Speaker C: One person's perspective, you're getting experience on a very specific day or time. So that may not be really the full experience that you're going to have when you go there.
[00:04:00] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:04:01] Speaker C: On that one review, Las Vegas allows a lot of people to give their review at one time. And so you get a better picture of the overall restaurant or business that it is encompassing. So there's a lot of different types of business. We get a lot of reader feedback that have reached out to us. They will say, oh, this is a great place. You guys should write a story about it. Or, this is a. Yeah, terrible place. We want you to write a story about it. And honestly, if we did that, we would be a business review company.
[00:04:34] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:04:35] Speaker C: News information to disseminate. But there is the. The people who really make the decisions, the purchasing power in the market are the readers and the voters of Best of Las Vegas.
[00:04:45] Speaker B: Absolutely. So evolution had to occur. Right. So 43 years ago, we were talking about print. Right. So you'd have to get it in the newspaper at that time. And so much has changed since then. I think so much has changed. And we're just trying to keep up with the fire hose. Right. So I think our listeners probably know what happened then, but I'm going to assume was it direct mail voting.
[00:05:10] Speaker C: So originally, as far back as I can remember, I'll say that, yeah, I started working here. We published a special section in the newspaper that kind of listed the different categories that we were going to have. And we had people write in and mail them to us and with their nominations. And then we would take those nominations, compile them, and put together another section in the newspaper and send that back out. And then people would send back their votes. So everybody got one vote per business or per category.
And then we also had, at one point, we had a staff pick and again, kind of lent itself to one person's experience on a particular day. And so as the contest grew, people said, oh, well, you're only doing these three things for. And my business doesn't qualify for that.
So we expand the contest and the bigger it got, the less available we were to be able to do that. And I can tell you, handwritten ballots are very difficult to read and compile and make sure you're getting their sentiments the way they want them in there. So obviously, as technology has evolved, as the contest has grown, we have done some new things.
And the contest sits as it does today, which is primarily an online contest, which I think is better for everybody because we've been able to grow the contest pretty significantly over the last ten years or so.
[00:06:44] Speaker B: Absolutely. Let's talk about that growth, if you don't mind, for just a minute. So from how long have you been involved with the Best of Las Vegas yourself?
[00:06:53] Speaker C: About 12 years.
[00:06:54] Speaker B: About 12 years. Okay, so from 12 years ago till today, what have you seen change? What, what, what has been the most significant changes in the Best of Las Vegas?
[00:07:08] Speaker C: Well, over the, over the years, I've seen different iterations of the Best of Las Vegas contest.
We, we had, we had a different version of an online contest for a few years and it just wasn't dynamic enough so that we partnered with nearest industry or strategies. Excuse me, nearest Strategies. And they were able to kind of take our vision and really expand upon it. And they, they had some ideas of their own. And through that we were able to kind of create this best of program that other markets now have started to copy from us. But a simple. Yeah, yeah, there's, there's all kinds of them out there now.
And you know, we've recommended it to other areas because it makes, it makes a lot of sense. And so now we have a shorter period because we're not, we don't have to print the ballots. We don't have to do it. The nearest Strategies counts all of the votes. So you're not dependent on anybody internally at the Review Journal.
[00:08:12] Speaker B: That's nice.
[00:08:13] Speaker C: Third party, third party vote tabulation. We don't get the full, we don't get the individual results, even. So, like, if I was to say, if, if you were to come to me and say, how many business, how many votes did my particular business get?
I can't tell you, because that's great. All under lock and key. Ye really, it's really important to make sure that, you know, we as a business cannot shape who the winner.
[00:08:40] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:08:41] Speaker C: Relationships with those businesses.
[00:08:43] Speaker B: Yeah, that's awesome. It maintains the integrity of the best of too. Right. Because I think, I think most of us are sitting here thinking that, you know, Deidre's sitting there tabulating the ballots behind the scenes and is getting paid off and all these things. Like you really have to figure out, you know, how you can make that contest one of integrity. So that when people see a business's name as a Best of Las Vegas winner, they now they will know, right. Before I don't think we did, I think we all have probably made assumptions of how things work. So you're really, you know, this is a great opportunity for us and for you to kind of clear the air there. Because I didn't know that and I'm sure others don't either. So thank you for that because, you know, you never know. You don't know how they're run and they're all probably run differently. Right. So the way that Best of Las Vegas and Las Vegas is run versus other cities, I'm sure is, you know, drastically different depending upon size, you know, funds available, those sorts of things. As it relates to that, it is.
[00:09:47] Speaker C: A massive undertaking to do Best of Las Vegas. It's something that we work on, that I work on all year round. Whether it's through the different phases of, you know, nominations, voting and results. There's, there's a lot to be done. And then each year we, we sort of have a, a recap internally and say, what, what did you hear from, from your, you know, businesses? What did you hear from people coming in to see, you know, what we can do to make things better and, and sort of get things to where everybody's really excited about the contest.
[00:10:20] Speaker B: Yeah. And I guess one of the best ways to do that is category selection. Right. You have to make sure that you have the allotted categories for as many people or many businesses to participate as possible. So how are the categories determined and how do you not let that get out of hand? Because it can very quickly.
[00:10:39] Speaker C: I'm sure we have 500 and over 525 categories this year. Last year we had over 500. The year before that I think we had 460 issues type thing. So, you know, every year it kind of grows and every year people come and say, I would like a category for left handed golfers with, you know, red hair, like it's very. Something very. Right.
And you know, we don't, we don't accept every new category suggestion, but we do look at them. And I particularly will take a look at it and see does this fit into other categories that we already have? Is this something new?
[00:11:20] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:20] Speaker C: Secondary to that. The second thing I do is think, are the readers going to be interested in this? Are the voters really going to turn up for this? Is this something that means something to them? And then third, I also make sure that there's enough competition in the market. So if there's only one business that does what that one business does, then they're not going to be able eligible for Best of Las Vegas because there's nothing to compete for. They could be the worst of that business just as easily as they could be the best of that business.
[00:11:49] Speaker B: So. Yeah.
[00:11:50] Speaker C: So, you know, categories are selected obviously as it grows. It's because somebody has reached out and said, you know, what if this category or, you know, we've looked around our city and said, you know, there's a lot of these types of businesses popping up, we should really talk about that. You know, and some of them have a shelf life. Not all of them are going to live forever. I know the one, one of the new ones that we have this year is Avocado Toast. Avocado Toast is very big for the last couple of years, people.
[00:12:19] Speaker B: Oh my gosh.
[00:12:20] Speaker C: But I'm not sure that it's going to be forever. Right. Like it's not going to, that everybody needs to do. But right now it's very big. It's very on top, you know, topic. So we let that one go and we let it go. And as long as there's enough votes over the course of the year, like I said, I don't get the number of votes. But I will ask you what are the categories that got the least amount of votes so that I can. Are these things that people really engaging with is it really makes sense for our market and if there's not enough nominees for a category, then we have to remove that as well.
[00:12:53] Speaker B: Absolutely. Okay, so that's the add ons and that's the takeaways. You answered my secondary question, which was conversely, how do you determine when to remove those categories? So it's, you know, again, it could be trend related. It sounds like so time sensitive, you know, those sorts of things. So there may be a. I'm just going to go out on a limb here and say there's probably a pickleball court group out there. The Best place to play indoor outdoor pickle. I mean, I have to imagine there's some. Some trending ideas that are created from, you know, what's going to be in the Best of Las Vegas and what's not. So what. What advice would you give a business that's interested in participating in Best of Las Vegas? Like, you know, this is assuming that, because I didn't know that we could request categories. So I've just learned a variety of things now. But let's say I don't know that, and let's say that I'm just a business that, you know, I would be interested in getting our business's name into one of the Best of Las Vegas categories. How do I go about doing that? Does it cost me money to do that? Et cetera.
[00:13:58] Speaker C: So we have a nomination period, and that nomination period is generally going to be in July, for example. Okay. So during that nomination period, anyone, business owners, employees, the general public, my mother, they can all go into the nomination form and nominate businesses based on the categories that are already there. And then there's a link that says, if you'd like to email, you know, to add a category or request a category email, you do it. All right, okay. And then I will get that email and I take a look at it. And I think, okay, is this something that makes sense for the contest this year?
And then once you're nominated, you are nominated. There are. You only need one nomination to be included on the ballot. So there is no. There is no fee to get nominated. There is no fee to participate in Best of Las Vegas. There are.
There are fees on certain things, like, you know, advertising in the contest or to use the logo if you are a winner. There is a few.
[00:15:05] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:15:06] Speaker C: Because that is as there should be.
[00:15:07] Speaker B: As there should be. For those that think you should be given that for free, you know, yeah, they don't come free. So.
[00:15:15] Speaker C: So there is a. A significant expense to putting on this contest.
[00:15:20] Speaker B: This is absolutely.
[00:15:22] Speaker C: So there is. There is some great things about it. So people, I get businesses of all sizes that want to participate in Best of Las Vegas, and I tell them, go for it. Absolutely, go for it.
[00:15:36] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:15:37] Speaker C: There are things you can do without spending any money to try to win. But it's not just about winning the contest. It's also getting your name and your brand in front of a huge amount of people who are going to be voting, who are going to be looking at those ballots. We had over 13 million votes this year, so 15 million pairs of eyeballs looked at the ballot.
[00:15:59] Speaker B: And I'm pretty sure our population is not that. So people go, where are all those votes coming from? How do you get to 13 million?
[00:16:07] Speaker C: Well, you can vote once per day during the voting period. Okay. As a business, you know, or as a reader, you might go in and vote multiple times during the voting period.
It's. It's really funny, the psychology of it, because once somebody has voted for you, they have selected you as their team. It's almost a sport now. They're very interested in seeing you win, and they will come each day and help you vote.
And, you know, it's very important that businesses keep in contact with their clients, keep in contact with their customers, and reach new people to grow their business. And part of that is being in front of them. And.
[00:16:47] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:16:48] Speaker C: Brand recognition is very important. There is a reason why Coke and Pepsi still advertise to this day, even though.
[00:16:53] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:16:54] Speaker C: He knows who they are.
[00:16:55] Speaker B: That's right. Or you see the Budweiser commercials during the Super Bowl. Why does that keep happening? Right. It's branding. At that point, everybody knows who Budweiser is, but it gives them an opportunity to continually brand themselves as the pillar of beer. Right. That's just what they're doing.
And there is a cost to that. Right. An advertisement in the super bowl that's not cheap. Why would they do that? Because, you know, it's history. It's branding. It's just what they do. So talk to me a little bit about. So let's say I'm a business that's interested in participating, and I, you know, kind of throw my name in the hat. I have the nomination. I only need one right now. My name's in the hat. Now all of a sudden, I'm faced with, you know, promoting this. How do I promote this, both internally and externally? From your perspective, does. Does the Las Vegas Review Journal or Best of Las Vegas help with that? Are there mechanisms in place or what do you suggest for businesses to do to try to get the. Try to get the word out?
[00:18:01] Speaker C: So there's a lot of things that we can do. Now, obviously, you know, it is, first and foremost a reader contest. It's a reader survey of the Las Vegas Review Journal readers. But it's also, you know, it's become more than that over the years, and more people are engaging with Best of Las Vegas than ever before. Every year we see these numbers climb. And one of the things I would say to do is realize that your message is going to go out to a lot of people. So you want to make sure you're, you're, you're considering this part of your marketing efforts.
There are things that you can do that you can purchase to be on the ballot. So there's banner ads on the ballot. There are what we call ballot buttons. So in the list of nominees for that category, a ballot button will be next to your name. It kind of helps draw your name out of the crowd, so to speak. Yeah, you have a custom voting page which is, it's basically anything that you're nominated for is on this one, you know, page and link and you can send that out. And those are very powerful. I will say you can go, you can attach those to emails. You can put those in, you know, on your website. You can put a QR code on the bottom of your receipt. If you have a brick and mortar location.
[00:19:25] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:19:26] Speaker C: Can, you know, do that? Make sure your employees know what, that you're in the contest and what you're trying to, the contest. They are going to be your biggest advocates and then list your current customers to advocate for you. They are the people that are going to know, you know, what kind of business that you do. So you kind of have to keep them top of mind. And then don't just do it once, you have to do it throughout.
[00:19:53] Speaker B: Yeah. Every day. It sounds like you should.
[00:19:55] Speaker C: Absolutely. There are every day really good at this. And they will go every day and say, don't forget to vote for us today. Don't forget to vote for us today. And there's customers who are like, oh, I just told them to vote for me once. And you know, depending on the category, it might be okay, could be enough. But there are some categories that are very competitive. And you can see the competition obviously.
[00:20:17] Speaker B: Give me, give me the most competitive category. I think I already know what it is because if you live in Las Vegas and you drive on the freeway, you know, but go ahead and give it to us. What is the most competitive category?
[00:20:33] Speaker C: The, the, you know, accident, injury, law categories are very competitive. However, there are also some for, you know, the casinos, the, the players flooring sales is very competitive. Really? Yeah. Yes, very competitive.
Then you've got, you know, the dining categories are very competitive. You know, the ones that are, are maybe smaller, are maybe a little bit more niche. But yeah, they're still within that category.
They want to win. But the ones that are the most competitive are those, those three that are very, you know, accident, injury lawyers, those are very, very, very competitive. And then casinos are very competitive. And then those smaller restaurants that are maybe not in the casino. Yeah, they want to fight for your business. They want you to come and try them. And, you know, as a personal story, I can tell you, I use. When I have people coming into town and they want to go see Vegas or whatever, I pull out the Best of Las Vegas and hand it to them and say, tell me where you want to eat. And yeah, they use that as a guide because they don't know what restaurants are around. And I'm like, these. These people. People have already advocated and said, this is good food.
[00:21:51] Speaker B: So that's right.
[00:21:52] Speaker C: You want to go. I will take you.
[00:21:55] Speaker B: Yeah, it's like. It's like the business directory of Yelp, right, For all types of businesses. It's not just about food. It's about all types of businesses and what the general public has to say about it. So, you know, they always say, you know, ask a local where you should eat. And in this particular case, that's what you're doing. You're asking a local, where should I put my hard earned money? Whatever type of business it is. Even if it is avocado toast. Right? The best avocado toast. Which, by the way, I love avocado toast. That's why I found it interesting. I'm like, really? That's a thing? Oh, my gosh. I'm going to have to go see who wins that category because that's not something I would typically, typically engage in looking at. All right, thank you, Deidre, so much for giving us all this information. It is so compelling to hear what happens from a business perspective of Best of Las Vegas. Stay tuned for the second episode of how does this affect you as a voter?
[00:22:57] Speaker A: Thanks for joining us for another episode where retirement savers meet alternative investments. Can't wait for the next episode. To learn more, visit our website at Preferred TrustCompany Combat.
