With a whiff of global warming, the weather in the Northeast this weekend was warm, sunny and filled with the smell of fading leaves. This amazing tree on the left is one that we watch every time we head out to the country. It's leaves have turned a deep, deep purple-y brown. We are planning on taking a photograph of it every time we pass it and see what it does over the course of a year.
This week we get down to evaluating more stores and (for us) figuring out how to move from collecting to voting to deciding fairly. We are currently planning on taking readers votes and comments and having a panel of judges evaluate them for the final outcome (as was suggested by a number of readers). This seems a particularly good way to evaluate these shops and decide on "Best of" leaders.
We will have one new category a day, so don't hold back. Tell us what you think and vote with your mouse. Good shops deserve to be recognized and bad ones deserve to be spanked.
I said not all that helpful because from what I've seen, it seems to be the usual suspects...and I have a feeling that many of the people voting might not have personal experience with the retailers they're voting for which isn't as helpful.
The Surveys are a great idea that will only continue to improve with age, epsecially with everyone bringing their own areas of expertise (can't wait for jamie pup's recommendations on "Best Home Electronics Stores"!!
And while I have nothing much to add on the Appliances category (for example), you can bet I will be scouring the list and reviews when I am in the market for a SubZero (hey, a boy can dream!)
But to Christine's point, this will whole voting thing will work best if people vote what they know.