WEST CARLETON – In a brief email this morning (Oct. 1), West Carleton Online learned it is a finalist in The Ottawan’s Best of Ottawa Awards 2020.

The first annual Best of Ottawa Awards is based on votes from readers. If you are reading this today or tomorrow (Oct. 2) until 11:59 p.m., you can throw us a vote and it will be very much appreciated.

There are 65 categories to vote on ranging from food, service, media, social media and local celebrity to name a few.

“We had hundreds of nominations to which we have distilled down to a pretty competitive list,” The Ottawan’s Darren Atwater released in a statement. “Even if you don’t want to vote, take a look at the nominees. We guarantee you’ll see something new.”

West Carleton Online is a finalist in the Best Local Website category competing with popular sites such as Apartment 613, Ottawa Artisans, Reddit Ottawa and, our second favourite nominee, Stittsville Central.

We are the only subscriber-based website to make the list.

“It was a surprise to receive the email this morning as at the time, I was unaware of the competition,” publisher Jake Davies wrote in this story. “It is an honour to be listed with so many popular local websites. The one thing that sticks out, is how different each site is from one another. Good luck to everyone nominated in what is really, still an emerging industry in the Ottawa area. We’re proud to be one of the first daily-publishing community news outlets in the Ottawa area and the only one serving a rural community.”

Voting ends tomorrow at midnight, so we are writing this story as fast as we can. Winners will be announced on Oct. 5.

“If we win, you will definitely hear about it,” Davies said.

Voters that provide an email are entered in to a draw for a $100 gift card “at your favourite Ottawa business.”

The Ottawan is a daily newsletter encapsulating the news and issues of the day surrounding the city.

“The Ottawan cuts through the noise,” Atwater said. “We read everything, listen to everything, follow the Tweets and the Instas and the feeds and synthesize it into one daily morning news brief. We’re creating a new media for Ottawa – one that is not beholden to any one and free to cover what we like, and to cover what really matters to the people that live here.”

If you would like to vote on the Best of Ottawa Awards, especially if you promise to vote for West Carleton Online, you can do so here.

If you would like to visit The Ottawan website, click here.