Best of Vancouver 2009

For 14 years the Georgia Straight had put together an annual Best of Vancouver issue.

The BOV combines dozens of reader’s choice categories with staff selections and editor’s picks. This morning I headed to the steps of City Hall to accept my award for “Best Local Blog”, as voted upon by the readers of the Straight.

Best Local Blog
1. Miss604
2. Lainey Gossip
3. Vancouver Is Awesome

I have read the issue front to back and would really like to highlight some of my favourites and friends of Miss604.com who were also honored.

Best Vancouver Politician
Mayor Gregor Robertson

Best BC Beer
Granville Island Brewing

Best Free Wifi
Waves Coffee

Best Local Theatre Company
The Arts Club

Best Local Hockey Hero
Trevor Linden

Best Wedding Photographer
Blue Olive Photography

Best Local Performing Arts Festival
Bard on the Beach

Resort/Hotel – Vancouver Island
The Wickaninnish Inn

Best Local Author
Douglas Coupland

Best Local Sports Team Fan Site or Forum
Canucks.com

Best Local Website for Green Living
Granville Magazine

Best Movie Theatre
Cinemark Tinseltown

As a bonus, there are also some “Editor’s Choice” categories and I was named “Local Tweeter who best balances the social and media in social media”.

You gotta love Rebecca Bollwitt, better known as Miss604. She’s been one of the city’s top bloggers for years and has built a prolific career utilizing and exploring social-media possibilities in the 2.0 world. So it’s no wonder that Miss604 has emerged as Vancouver’s top tweeter. Being a good tweeter is a tricky thing, let alone being a great one. You need to follow, you need to be followed, and, most importantly, you need to contribute, whether in the form of retweets or original posts. Miss604 does a grand job of balancing the “social” and the “media” part of this social-media platform.

Although some businesses use it solely for marketing purposes, Miss604 broadcasts a nice mix of resourceful links with personal notes from her everyday life. Combining both talent and passion for the platform, Miss604 organized a fundraising charity “twestival” earlier this year, with a second one scheduled for this autumn. [Straight.com]

This is really huge for me and I would like to thank each and every person who has come across Miss604.com over the years — and especially those who voted in the 2009 Best of Vancouver awards. I try my best to supply interesting information, while also giving back in terms of contests and sharing content from other great online contributors. Without my fantastic readership I wouldn’t have been able to raise over $10,000 for local charities so far in 2009 (through events I’ve organized and my Blogathon campaign).

The support from readers and the social media community in Vancouver is what keeps this blog alive. For this I am truly grateful, humbled, and I sincerely thank you all.