SmartPower Taps Crowd Power in $10,000 Video Contest

Posted: December 9th, 2009 | Author: Steve | Filed under: Business | Tags: Business, Collaboration, Collective, contest, doritos, smartpower, social media, video, x-prize | View Comments

According to non-profit marketing organization SmartPower, even though 80 to 90 percent of the public agrees that energy from renewable sources is better than energy produced from fossil fuels, and they are willing to pay $5 or $10 more per month for that energy, the market penetration of renewable energy products still remains below 5 percent. The company aims to change that by researching exactly what barriers consumers face when they are considering a clean energy or energy efficiency purchase, and then combining innovative marketing campaigns with grass-roots action to overcome these barriers.

SmartPower’s latest campaign is the Energy Smart Ad Challenge, offering a $10,000 prize for the best 30-second Public Service Announcement (PSA) promoting how young adults can save money by being Energy Smart through energy efficiency and conservation. The 10 finalist videos were posted on YouTube Friday, and viewers are invited to comment on how well the videos “speak to young people about being energy smart.” Each day, one video will be eliminated from the competition, presumably with the viewer input weighing heavily in the decision. As of this writing, the video titled “Generation”, (posted at the top of this article), was far and away the viewers’ favorite.

Open data isn’t just a good idea, it’s Factual

Posted: October 14th, 2009 | Author: Steve | Filed under: Technology | Tags: Collaboration, Collective, Data, factual.com, Information, linkedin, open-source, Technology, Transparency | View Comments

“Decisions. They are made every day. Some are made on the fly such as when a low fuel alert prompts me to stop at the nearest gas station. Some are more considered, involving detailed research and analysis, perhaps on the Internet or consulting with friends or experts. And others are made for us, by our friends and family, or our government. An important question is: are we all, given the data available to us today, making good, well-informed decisions? One thing is nearly certain, if your data isn’t accurate and accessible, a good decision isn’t likely to follow.” - Factual, Inc. CEO Gil Elbaz

As anyone who has ever tried to write a business plan knows, good, reliable data is hard to come by, and can be very expensive. Los Angeles-based startup Factual.com aims to change all that by creating a free “open data platform”.. The company believes that allowing the crowd to create, edit, discuss, share, substantiate or disagree with the data data will bring true accountability and openness to data.

Endossa Collective Retail | Cool Hunting

Posted: June 20th, 2008 | Author: Steve | Filed under: Business | Tags: Brazil, Collaboration, Collective, Shopping, Stores | View Comments

From Brazil comes a new concept in retail: collective selling. This store rents individual “cubicles’ to small designers. This gives a cohesive look-and-feel to the store, and gives the designers affordable access to a prime retail location.

I like this idea, because it represent one more way for the little guy to compete with the big retailers. I also like it because it doesn’t have the haphazard look of a consignment shop.

As design, manufacturing and production becomes more and more affordable for individuals, we can expect to see concepts like this for all kinds of products, not just clothing.