Contest Winner - The Economist's March Event

Through yesterday at midnight GMT we ran a contest for a chance to win a free ticket ($1,500 value) to The Economist's event - "Innovation Fresh Thinking For the Ideas Economy" at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley on March 23-24, 2010.

There will be a lot of great, top-flight speakers at this event, including a couple of new additions:

• Christina Romer, Chair, White House Council of Economic Advisers


• Juan Enriquez, Managing Director, Excel Venture Management

Contestants filled in the blank in the following statement on our LinkedIn or Facebook discussion:

• When it comes to innovation, I wish somebody would write about ______________.

Congratulations to the winner - Rick Smyers!

Please contact us ASAP with your e-mail address to claim your prize. Failure to do so before midnight GMT on March 4, 2010 will result in the ticket being awarded to the alternate - Melinda Lockhart!

The winner was chosen at random by my daughter, but here are my five favorite quotes:

1. "When it comes to innovation, I wish somebody would write about philanthropy." - Jenn Lew Goldstone


2. "When it comes to innovation, I wish somebody would write about how to cross the enormous bridge from creating an idea to the challenges of implementing a new idea and gaining acceptance from the people at large." - Melinda Lockhart


3. "When it comes to innovation, I wish somebody would write about vision building. Innovative ideas are no longer hard to find. However, people who can build vision are the ones creating blue oceans and making them a reality. We don't need more ideas....we need more vision builders." - Adam Dole


4. "When it comes to innovation, I wish somebody would write about the desperate need to clean up the current knowledge - of its fallacies and redundancies and help minimize the time wasted on unvalidated verbose" - Jeyaseelan J


5. "When it comes to innovation, I wish somebody would write about what it's necessary for every person start living consciously and caring for every human being. What about innovating on our way of living..." - Pedro Norte

As an added value for our loyal Blogging Innovation readers, we have negotiated a $150 discount when you register using our discount code - "BLINN" - register now.

We hope to see you there!


EDITOR'S NOTE: Winner is still responsible for all travel costs and the ticket is granted at The Economist's discretion not ours. There is only ONE (1) ticket up for grabs in this contest and it will be awarded to ONE (1) winner.


Don't miss an article - signup for our rss feed or our Continous Innovation group today!

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Braden Kelley is the editor of Blogging Innovation and founder of Business Strategy Innovation, a consultancy focusing on innovation and marketing strategy. Braden is also @innovate on Twitter.

Enter to Win a Free Ticket to The Economist's March Event

Want a chance to win a free ticket ($1,500 value) to The Economist's event - "Innovation Fresh Thinking For the Ideas Economy" at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley on March 23-24, 2010?

It's easy, here is all you need to do is fill in the blank on our LinkedIn or Facebook discussion:

1. When it comes to innovation, I wish somebody would write about ______________.


• Fill in the blank in our Continuous Innovation group on LinkedIn.
  
• Fill in the blank in our brand new Facebook page (and become a fan)

Enter by midnight GMT on March 2, 2010. Winner will be announced March 3, 2010.

If you don't want to enter the contest but would like to save $150 off event registration, see the discount code at the bottom of this article.


There will be a lot of great, top-flight speakers at this event, including:

• Clayton Christensen and Michael Porter (by Video Link)
  
• Arianna Huffington - Editor in Chief, Huffington Post
  
• Tim Brown - CEO, IDEO
  
• David Kelley - Head, Stanford Design School
  
• Judy Estrin - Author, "Closing the Innovation Gap"
  
• Scott Berkun - Author, "Myths of Innovation"
  
• Roger Martin - Dean, Rotman School of Business
  
• Paul Saffo - Visiting Scholar, Stanford Media X Network
  
• Matt Mullenweg - Founder, Wordpress
  
• John Kao - Author, "Innovation Nation"

As an added value for our loyal Blogging Innovation readers, we have negotiated a $150 discount when you register using our discount code - "BLINN" - register now.

We hope to see you there!


EDITOR'S NOTE: Winner is still responsible for all travel costs and the ticket is granted at The Economist's discretion not ours. There is only ONE (1) ticket up for grabs in this contest and it will be awarded to ONE (1) winner.


Don't miss an article - signup for our rss feed or our Continous Innovation group today!

---

Braden Kelley is the editor of Blogging Innovation and founder of Business Strategy Innovation, a consultancy focusing on innovation and marketing strategy. Braden is also @innovate on Twitter.

Economist - "Fresh Thinking For The Ideas Economy"

Blogging Innovation will be covering The Economist's event - "Innovation Fresh Thinking For the Ideas Economy" (see discount code below) at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley on March 23-24, 2010.

There will be a lot of great, top-flight speakers at this event, including:

• Clayton Christensen and Michael Porter (by Video Link)
  
• Arianna Huffington - Editor in Chief, Huffington Post
  
• Tim Brown - CEO, IDEO
  
• David Kelley - Head, Stanford Design School
  
• Judy Estrin - Author, "Closing the Innovation Gap"
  
• Scott Berkun - Author, "Myths of Innovation"
  
• Roger Martin - Dean, Rotman School of Business
  
• Paul Saffo - Visiting Scholar, Stanford Media X Network
  
• Matt Mullenweg - Founder, Wordpress
  
• John Kao - Author, "Innovation Nation"

As an added value for our loyal Blogging Innovation readers, we have negotiated a $150 discount when you register using our discount code - "BLINN" - register now.

We hope to see you there!

Don't miss an article - signup for our rss feed or our Continous Innovation group today!

---

Braden Kelley is the editor of Blogging Innovation and founder of Business Strategy Innovation, a consultancy focusing on innovation and marketing strategy. Braden is also @innovate on Twitter.

Calling All Media and Energy Innovators

The Economist is holding two innovation competitions to find the most exciting, game-changing innovations that will have a marked impact in two key areas: new media and energy. Twelve finalists will be invited to present their innovations to an audience of top executives in the field at events hosted by The Economist. Finalists will also receive complimentary conference registrations (value of up to $2,495). The winning presenter will receive exclusive bragging rights and a free subscription to The Economist.


1. Media Convergence

Do you have the next thrilling new interface, electronic reader, social media idea, mobile device or other novel way for people to interact with media? If you have a media or marketing innovation that you believe will change the way people behave, then you should enter to win the Media Convergence Innovation Competition, taking place in New York City, October 20-21, 2009.




The deadline for entries is September 8, 2009 in YouTube video format. Complete details and rules area available here or by email.


2. Carbon Economy

Do you have the game changing solution for climate change, the next renewable energy source, human-powered appliance or breakthrough use of nano-technology? If you have created a product or service that will improve energy efficiency or will add to the renewable energy industry, then you should enter to win the Carbon Innovation Competition, taking place in Washington DC, November 17-18, 2009.




The deadline for entries is September 30, 2009 in YouTube video format. Complete details and rules area available here or by email.


Good luck to any readers who decide to participate!

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Braden Kelley is the editor of Blogging Innovation and founder of Business Strategy Innovation, a consultancy focusing on innovation and marketing strategy. Braden is also @innovate on Twitter.

Book Review - "Inside Project Red Stripe"

"Inside Project Red Stripe - Incubating Innovation and Teamwork at the Economist"
by Andrew Carey
Published by Triarchy Press

I've been reading the innovation tome "Inside Project Red Stripe" off and on for some time now and I must say that it is unlike any other book on innovation that I have read to date. Instead of espousing a single innovation theory and taking 300 pages to do so, the book attempts to provide a neutral, anthropological look behind-the-scenes into the journey of Project Red Stripe.

Project Red Stripe was the code name for a discreet innovation effort at The Economist that brought together six team members for six months to research, select, and develop an internet-related innovation project for The Economist on a budget of £100,000. The project's aspiration was to deliver the organization's next big thing.

I found the book to be very well-written, interesting, and definitely worth the read if you are an innovation practioner or are fascinated by important project deconstructions. There are a couple of things you should be aware of before you begin:

• The book is written in an engaging research observation style, not your typical narrative or essay styles.


• The book is organized unlike most books and often feels more like a web site as you select a topic to follow and then jump around to read the installments relevant to that topic.

It was fascinating for me to see the human behavior challenges the group went through in gathering, selecting, and developing their ideas, and the downsides of conducting their project in such a public way.

If you are currently planning an innovation project or culture change at your organization, this book is an essential read to help remind you of the potential pitfalls that await you in such an undertaking. It also serves as a reminder of the potential disconnects between innovation theory and practice.

I won't spoil the ending and tell you whether Project Red Stripe was a success or a failure. You'll have to buy the book and read it in order to draw your own conclusion.

If you've already read it, what did you think?

@innovate