Business Networking Contest Ends In 5 Days. Races Are Tight, & Top 50 Lists Change Frequently.

Many people eagerly watching this contest are glued to the Top 50 List of Contenders, those who have received the highest number of votes from peers, so far.  

And that list is now changing quite frequently, as thousands of votes are cast per day, across the vast Alignable network of 8.8 million+ members.  

The heat is on and this very friendly, supportive competition is in its final days, ending on 2/23 at 11:59 p.m. EST. 

While we have many of our most-famous and beloved networkers on this list, we also have some "young upstarts" making their debut in 2024, plucking themselves from virtual obscurity to shine brightly in the spotlight. 

New Top 50 List Of Contenders + Top 50 Communities, Too!

So, not only did we refresh the Top 50 List of Local Business Leaders this week, we're also firing up your hometown pride by highlighting the Top 50 Communities, too.  

Both lists reflect the very latest data collected as of press time -- 2:30 a.m. EST today (Feb. 18th). And they each should create a lot of buzz in the coming week, too. So, anyone who wants to start buzzing in the comments, please go ahead!

As we declared last week, the FINAL Top 50 Lists (Local Business Leaders & Communities) will be revealed a few days after voting closes. 

SO, A LOT CAN AND WILL HAPPEN BETWEEN NOW AND THEN. 

Let's start with the brand new list of communities.

Top 50 Communities Across North America

1. Albuquerque, NM 
2. San Antonio, TX 
3. Port Saint Lucie, FL 
4. Scottsdale, AZ 
5. Omaha, NE 
6. West Columbia, SC 
7. Orlando, FL 
8. San Jose, CA 
9. Tucson, AZ 
10. Tampa, FL 
11. Raleigh, NC 
12. Mesa, AZ 
13. Boca Raton, FL 
14. Knoxville, TN 
15. Phoenix, AZ 
16. Oklahoma City, OK 
17. Fort Worth, TX 
18. Chandler, AZ 
19. Mansfield, TX 
20. Cincinnati, OH 
21. Colorado Springs, CO 
22. Virginia Beach ,VA 
23. Detroit, MI 
24. Indianapolis ,IN 
25. New Braunfels, TX 
26. Baltimore, MD 
27. Grand Rapids, MI 
28. Naples, FL 
29. Wichita, KS 
30. Memphis, TN 
31. Lawrenceville, GA 
32. Atlanta, GA 
33. Santa Rosa, CA 
34. Birmingham, AL 
35. Plano, TX 
36. Arlington, TX 
37. Fort Lauderdale, FL 
38. Columbia, SC 
39. Aurora, CO 
40. Myrtle Beach, SC 
41. Elgin, IL 
42. Gilbert, AZ 
43. Santa Clarita, CA 
44. Oakland, CA 
45. Naperville, IL 
46. Sarasota, FL 
47. Calgary, AB  -- Also, No. 1 in Canada
48. Houston, TX 
49. Delray Beach, FL 
50. Columbus, OH 

How do you feel about this list? Are there any surprises on here or towns that you thought should be reflected in the Top 50, based on their love of small businesses? Tell us in the comments. 

And go to those town leaderboards and vote for more people in that town or city who deserve to be considered as Local Business Person Of The Year in their community.

So, let's shift from the most active communities in our contest to the list that has caused many hearts to beat more quickly and many smiles to appear on once-worried faces. 

The CURRENT Top 50 List Of Business Stars

The most-treasured -- and most-active -- business networkers on Alignable right now are:

1. JB Beckett -- 406 votes
2. Michael Keller -- 238 votes
3. Brian Gregory -- 216 votes
4. Jill Cone -- 206 votes
5. Tony Ransdell -- 200 votes 
6. Helena Smolock -- 197 votes
7. Kimberly Wallace -- 190 votes
8. Shane Hicks -- 166 votes 
9. Steve Levinson -- 157 votes 
10. LaToya Germaine -- 156 votes
11. Paul L. Odendahl -- 147 votes
12. Paul Finkelstein & Amberly Shreve  -- 142 votes each
13. Dr. Karen Fiorillo -- 137 votes
14. Cherri Pedrioli  -- 123 votes
15. Jason Integrity -- 122 votes
16. Anton Burnette -- 118 votes
17. Lesly Jean-Baptiste -- 117 votes
18. Dr. Thomas Hill -- 112 votes
19. Gunther Kramer -- 108 votes
20.  James Clemens & Susan M. Husa -- 104 votes each
21. Sam Rafoss -- 103 votes 
22. Dr. Jamica Nadina Love -- 101 votes
23. Kelsey Dunbar -- 99 votes
24. Yolanda Bennett, Tracee T. Holloway, Angie Card, Angie Carlson, & Mark Robbins -- 95 votes each
25. Colette Martin -- 92 votes
26. Sheron Mingo Y, Steve Kent, Maria Worth & Dr. Mary Welsh  -- 90 votes each
27. Kathy Lowrey & Stacy Mueller -- 89 votes each
28. Tracey Lee Davis -- 86 votes
29. Tom Kavanaugh -- 85 votes each
30. Clayton Ivey -- 84 votes
31. Yvette B. Eldridge  -- 83 votes
32. Todd Mitchell & Phyllis Arnstein -- 82 votes each
33. Jeannine Warrick -- 81 votes
34. Lauren Doll -- 79 votes 
35. Dan Hughes  -- 78 votes
36. Char Ross -- 77 votes
37. Oleg Moskalensky, Diane Steen, & Debbie Smith -- 76 votes each
38. Paula Roberts & Lindsay Pettinicchi -- 75 votes each
39. Evan Raoof, Steve Liebroder, Hans Abbey, Dr. Jo, & Jeremie Watson -- 74 votes each 
40. Harold Bowser -- 73 votes
    
41. Victoria Roth -- 72 votes
42. Victor Felix  & Diane Vo, J.D. -- 70 votes each
43. Pedro Henriquez -- 68 votes
44. Maxwell D. Toliver -- 67 votes 
45. Natalie DeLeo & Mike Robinson -- 66 votes each
46. Beth Brown, Jeff Anderson, Geoffrey Kent, & Len Marshall -- 65 votes each
47.  Kat Sloan & Kerilie McDowall -- 64 votes each
48.  Joe Moore & Sara Finkelstein -- 61 votes each
49. Kimberly Noh, Crystal Groves, Jamie Hurt, & Kristin Ceder -- 60 votes each
50. JoAnne Tuckey & Ashley Call-Williams -- 58 votes each

So Much More Competitive This Week Than Last

Each week, it's becoming more challenging to land on this list. Several great people from last week just missed this week's list by fewer than five votes. 

So, if that's you and you're still hoping to be featured on the FINAL LIST processed next weekend, turn up the juice on your campaigns.  (And remember, go to those who know, like, and trust you first -- whether or not they are in the Alignable network. If they're not, they can join for free at www.alignable.com and then vote). 

You might also ask your most ardent, dedicated supporters to sing your praises more loudly to people posting in the Local Biz Person Of The Year Group, who are looking for others to support with their extra votes. 

And if you're reaching out for support from people who don't know you yet, please offer to get together for a quick Zoom call (or locally for a cup of coffee) to discuss how you each can help each other -- in your businesses or your lives. Referral partners can emerge anywhere. A vote is lovely, but a vote that can lead to a mutually rewarding relationship that far outlasts any contest is much more valuable -- that's where networking really flourishes. 

Beyond that, to everyone else, I'm making the plea, once again, asking that you find a minimum of 10 Alignable members to honor with a vote.  Unfortunately, last year, only 1% of members used all 10 votes -- which means most of the people on Alignable aren't actually taking full advantage of networking opportunities here. 

If you use 10 of your votes, you will also be the winner of a Community Supporter Badge, which has been known to attract referrals, new business, and a lot of respect. 

That's because people want to work with givers -- those who support other small businesses. Here's that badge again:

Embrace The Networking Frenzy

Many people on the Top 50 List above are our very best networkers on the platform. 

If there are people on that list that you don't know yet, reach out, congratulate them,  and suggest a Zoom call.

This can all go a long way with your own local candidacy, as some of these individuals just might hit it off with you and give you a vote, if they still have some to cast.  (Even better, they might become referral partners for the future).

And these budding new relationships with people in the know can also help  you navigate Alignable more effectively for the rest of this year, maintaining the momentum you've established from the contest's natural networking frenzy. 

And, as many people who have given us a Contest Quote Of The Week can attest, going Premium is another great way to keep building upon the contacts and business relationships you made during the contest. And for just five days more, we are offering contestants 30% off an annual premium membership. 

This offer runs out on Friday, so if you're contemplating going Premium, and you want to save $111 for the year, there's no time like the present. Here's the link to take advantage of this cool deal, so you can thrive as a master networker on Alignable in 2024, increasing the chances that you'll attract more referrals and new business. 

See Dr. Karen Fiorillo's Contest Quote Of The Week to see how well she's done with Premium, not to mention the extra attention she received by winning two Local Business Person Of The Year awards. 

But, before we wrap up this update, we want to give everyone the chance to check out their Local Leaderboards and/or other races where their friends or favorite peers are in the running. 

Winners of these races will receive great-looking, personalized badges on their profiles, as well as an extensive media relations kit that I'll provide with templates they can use to let everyone know about their victories. 

Review Local Leaderboards Here

• Your Local Leaderboard is the centerpiece of this contest. And you can send it to other members if you're still trying to drum up more votes for peers (or yourself). 
• We had nearly 4,000 winners last year and we're hoping for even more in 2024, as voting totals are much higher. 
• We just passed the 229,000-vote milestone this morning, reflecting a 45% jump in engagement over this time last year.
• To stay up to date with your peers' leaderboards in other communities, follow this formula: www.alignable.com/(community)-(state or province)/votes.
• As one example of how this works, here's what you would use to see what's happening in Mansfield, TX -- www.alignable.com/mansfield-tx/votes. 

As always, if you have questions about the contest, even in these final days, please reach out to me in our Contest Group, or via email at chuck@alignable.com. 

Keep up the good work supporting each other, everyone! It's so heartwarming to witness this very positive phenomenon every year, and 2024's contest has been the best one so far.