Schedule and Rules – Coolest Thing California

Schedule

Nominations Accepted: July 27 – September 7

Nominations must be submitted through this website. Late nominations will not be accepted.

Popular Round: September 14 – September 17
All products nominated are voted on during this time. Voters will have the ability to vote up to five times per day, per device. The top 16 vote-getters in each of two categories will move on to the bracketed rounds: one bracket for products made by large manufacturers and one bracket for products made by small-to-medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs).

Bracketed Rounds
Voters may vote in each bracket up to five times per day, per device.

Top 16 Round: September 21 – September 24
Top 8 Round: September 28 – October 1
Top 4 Round: October 5 – 8

New in 2026: SMM Bracket
The Top 16 bracket typically ends up with products made by large manufacturers. This year, the Top 16 products made by large manufacturers will compete, while the Top 16 SMM (small-to-medium manufacturer) products will also compete in a separate, simultaneous SMM Bracket. Learn more on our SMM page.

Winner Announced: October 28

Both the large manufacturer winner and the SMM winner will receive an award recognizing The Coolest Thing Made in California, a feature about the company and product on coolestthingcalifornia.com, a company celebration at the awards ceremony, and of course, unlimited bragging rights.

That 20-day gap between voting and the big reveal? We use it to craft custom trophies for our finalists and put the finishing touches on the awards ceremony.

Does my product qualify?

Products must be made in California. The manufacturers’ headquarters do not need to be in California.

Products must be manufactured using a manufacturing process. For example, a restaurant that makes pizzas would not qualify, but a plant that mass-produces frozen pizzas would.

Products that made it into the Top 4 Round in the competition in 2025 are not eligible to be nominated for the 2026 contest.

If you’re not sure your product qualifies, email us at communications@cmta.net.

Do I have to be a CMTA member to nominate my product?

No! You do not have to be a member of the California Manufacturers & Technology Association, but if you would like to learn more about the benefits of membership, contact communications@cmta.net.

How many products can I nominate?

There is no limit on the number of products a person may nominate.

Can a company have multiple products in the contest?

Yes, but only one product per company can make it to the Top 16.

How will a company know that one of its products is nominated?

CMTA will make every effort to notify a company when its product has been nominated and selected for eligibility in the first round. If a company declines to participate, their product will be removed from the contest. Following outreach, CMTA will seed the tournament-style bracket.

How do you vote, and how does a product advance in the contest’s brackets?

Voting is open to the public. A voter may vote five times per day, per device, in each match-up round of both brackets (large manufacturer bracket and SMM bracket). Votes will be submitted on the website only and not by any other method.

Products will compete in weekly head-to-head matchups. The top 16 vote-getters in the popular round advance to two separate head-to-head brackets—one for large manufacturer products and one for SMM products. Products receiving the highest number of votes in the Top 16 head-to-head matchups will advance to the Top 8, and so on to the Top 4.

The four products that advance to the championship round will compete for the most votes during the last week of the contest. The product receiving the most votes in each bracket during the final round will be announced on October 28, 2026.

The number of votes received will be reset at the beginning of each round.

How are products assigned to each bracket?

After the Popular Round, products are split into two separate pools. The Top 16 vote-getters among large manufacturers advance to their bracket, and the Top 16 vote-getters among SMMs advance to a separate, simultaneous SMM bracket.

A product’s bracket is determined automatically by its manufacturer size, not by how it compares to the other pool. A product cannot compete in both brackets; every product competes in one bracket only, based on whether it qualifies as a large manufacturer or SMM.

What qualifies as Small to Medium-Sized Manufacturer (SMM)?

For the purposes of this contest, a product qualifies for the SMM Bracket if its manufacturer has 200 or fewer employees. Not sure if you qualify? Contact us at communications@cmta.net and we’ll help confirm status.

CMTA will review all product nominations to determine their categorization and eligibility.

Do I need to vote separately in each bracket?

Yes. After voting in the large manufacturer bracket each round, you’ll be prompted to “vote in the SMM bracket” too. You don’t have to vote in the SMM bracket, but your vote helps put a spotlight on small makers across California. The style and rules for voting are exactly the same in both brackets.

Rules

The product must be made in California, but the manufacturer’s headquarters do not need to be located in California.

Nominations must include the name of the product, the name of the manufacturer, link to the product/manufacturer’s website along with the name, email, and telephone number of the person making the nomination. The nominator’s information will not be made public but may be used for verification or follow-up questions from CMTA staff.

Nominations must be made through the coolestthingcalifornia.com website. Written, emailed, or other nominations will not be accepted.

A company can nominate multiple products, but only one product per company will be allowed into the First Round (Top 16 products) of the bracket. If a company has more than one product in the Top 16 round after the Popular Voting round, the product with the highest vote total will be that company’s sole entry into the contest in the Top 16. This rule and all others apply to the SMM bracket as well.

Products that made it into the Top 4 Round in the competition in 2025 are not eligible to be nominated for the 2026 contest.

In all rounds of the contest and both brackets (large manufacturer bracket and SMM bracket), voters can vote up to five times per day, per device.

In each bracket, there are eight head-to-head contests in the First Round (16 total products), four head-to-head contests in the Second Round (8 total products), and one Final Round contest with four products competing.

During the First and Second Rounds, the product with the most votes in each seeded, bracketed contest will advance to the next round. The large manufacturer product with the most votes in the Final Round will win the title of The Coolest Thing Made in California for 2026. The SMM product with the most votes in the Final Round of the SMM bracket will also receive recognition as the Coolest Thing Made in California by a Small-to-Medium-Sized Manufacturer.

Votes will be tabulated and confirmed by the California Manufacturers & Technology Association, and verified by the website developers, at the conclusion of each round before winners are announced.

Products nominated can be from any sector of the manufacturing industry.

The number of votes will be reset at the beginning of each round.

Products nominated are subject to qualification verification by the California Manufacturers & Technology Association. In case of questions about nominations, CMTA will make every effort to contact the nominator for additional information.

The California Manufacturers & Technology Association will attempt to contact all companies with products nominated for the Coolest Thing Made in California for every round of voting.

Anti-Fraud & Disqualification Clause:
To ensure fair competition, voting is limited to five votes per round, per device, per bracket. CMTA reserves the right to monitor voting activity and identify irregular patterns, including automated voting, bots or scripts, or other methods used to cast multiple votes from a single source. CMTA reserves the right, at its sole discretion and at any point during the contest, to disqualify any product, nominee, or company engaging in fraudulent voting activity. CMTA is not responsible or liable for any fraudulent voting activity, including activity by third parties, voters, or individuals affiliated with a contestant, whether or not such activity is detected or results in disqualification. Monitoring is conducted on a best-effort basis and does not guarantee the identification or prevention of all fraudulent activity.