Should there be a statute of limitations on “Best of” awards? I live in the Boston area and every year Boston Magazine does its “Best of Boston” awards. They list those in the magazine and then the businesses mentioned often post a “Best of Boston” banner in their window. The other day I framed two small drawings at Framer’s Workshop, a do-it-yourself frame shop where they cut the frames and the glass and the mattes and you just put these things together. I did this. One piece of glass had a huge scratch. I returned that. One matte was not cut to the right size. I returned that. The people working there were very helpful and it was a slightly amusing adventure putting these frames together. But overall it was not a great shopping/service experience. And on my way out the door I picked up one of their cards. And noticed it reads “Best of Boston 1997.” That’s 10 years ago! Personally I wouldn’t advertise the fact that I used to be best of Boston. If you were once ‘best’ and now aren’t, that suggests that your service or product has not only not improved, but it’s gotten worse. Reminds me of those places you pass by and say, “That place used to be really good.” Kiss of death, right. What does “Best of Boston 1997″ say to you in 2007? “Used to be really good. I wonder what happened?”
