TAHOE/TRUCKEE andamp;#8212; Our residents and businesses are what make our communities thrive. So why not celebrate their achievements, as chosen by their peers?Nominate your favorite businesses, places and people in the region in the 2012 Best of North Tahoe andamp; Truckee online competition brought to you by the Sierra Sun, North Lake Tahoe Bonanza and Tahoe.com. Find the contest here: http://www.sierrasun.com/bestof2012Based on positive reader feedback, we are moving forward with the same type of contest we did in 2011. This year, we have 68 different categories, under the grouping of Best People, Best Food and Drink, Best Business and Best Places/Events.You can nominate any person, place or business in the Truckee/North Tahoe area, including Incline Village and the West Shore.As for nominations, we encourage honesty among our residents and readers andamp;#8212; that means no multiple entries from the same IP addresses to get a leg up on the competition. We will closely monitor multiple votes coming in from one IP address andamp;#8212; as well as instances of automated voting andamp;#8212; and we reserve the right to disqualify any nominee if we feel there are abnormal patterns.By being honest, it allows for the best possible results, and it also encourages local businesses to develop their own campaigns, especially through social media, to encourage residents to participate.Submissions begin the morning of Friday, July 13, and it ends at midnight on Friday, Aug. 3. From there, we will tab up all the nominees, and those with the most entries in each respective category will be named Best Of for 2012. Winners and runners-up will be announced in a special section in late August.Questions? Email Kevin MacMillan, the managing editor of the Sun and Bonanza, at kmacmillan@sierrasun.com.Happy voting, Truckee/Tahoe.