In the beginning, we did it a bit cynically. The “Best Of” issue, a booster catalog of Greater Austin, wasn’t really our style. But “Best Of” issues were noticeably big sellers for other alternative weeklies and (let’s be honest here) we figured if we didn’t do it, some other entity might. So we bit the bullet and did our first “Best Of” issue nine years ago. Once we decided to do it, we produced it with much enthusiasm. We love this town, and have taken great pleasure in ranting and raving about its wonders, marvels, and hidden delights. From the beginning, we produced these issues with energy and integrity. The nine years of “Best Of” issues form a shadow history of Austin, not the politics but the people, the events, the color, and the daily life of the city.
Back then, the whole editorial staff would sit at a meeting and work on the list. This became more cumbersome as the staff grew larger and larger. (Imagine a room packed with writers spending hours going over lists.) It was a laborious process; eventually, some of the staff who had worked on every “Best Of” over the years began to lose creative momentum.
In the last couple of years, more and more of the responsibility for editorially producing the issue has fallen to newer staff, trusted freelancers, and interns under the leadership of Kate X Messer (with much input from the senior editorial staff and all our regular writers). This has brought a fresh, enthusiastic voice to this year’s “Best Of,” both the annotated Readers Poll and the Critics Picks. In a way, I feel as though the issue has reinvented itself, with a real intelligence, wit, and affection. The important thing, of course, is what you, the reader, thinks (Naturally, I almost always like the Chronicle).
As we have since September 1990 and the first poll, we have the Readers Poll and the Critics Picks. This year, we present them differently than we have in past years. Instead of separate sections for the readers’ choices and critics’ choices or just combining them all together, we alternate pages in the same sections. (For example, in the food category, both the Readers Poll and the Critics Picks are in one section, separate pages.) In all categories, the Readers Poll results come first, followed by the Critics Picks. Each page is then distinguished as to whether it is critics or readers. Meanwhile, the front section and the whole back section of this week’s Chronicle are the same as usual and there is one politics feature. Everything else in the issue is “Best Of,” either readers’ or critics’ favorites.
The Readers Poll and the Critics Picks were solicited over the summer. We received more responses than we ever have before, many of them coming in online. A great deal of effort went into preparing this issue from every department. The infamous Chronicle intern staff counted and tabulated the ballots and helped annotate the responses. Editorial began working on it months out. Production has been concentrating on getting it done, art director Taylor Holland has worked to make the design distinctive enough so that the alternating reader and critics pages will look different. Writers wrote and photographers shot and interns double-checked everything. Proofreaders were tested to their limits. Display advertising made Herculean efforts. The Classified department sold so many ads that this qualifies as not only the biggest issue of the year but our biggest ever. Of course, the online folks have a nightmare ahead of them getting this issue up, but we know they will persevere.
We are proud of this “Best Of” issue. We hope you enjoy it. The best part is our interaction with you; any responses – additions, corrections and/or contradictions – are welcome.
This article appears in September 25 • 1998 and September 25 • 1998 (Cover).