At least three companies here at DEMOfall07 are relaying the concept that ideas are valuable. Fluid Innovation (its Virtual Ventures offering), Advanta's IdeaBlob Web site and the new spigit Enterprise site attempt this in different ways, but all are basically asking users to submit ideas, offer advice or comment on ideas in the hopes that the "wisdom of the crowds" will prevail and a good idea will emerge.
Whether these sites succeed, of course, is all up to the value of the ideas presented. After its stage presentation, I went to the Ideablob site and saw that one of the "ideas" posted was for a combination mechanical bull / karaoke machine.
Initially, finding a good idea by yourself seems a bit daunting, but the value of these new services is that the community at large begin to start vetting the ideas, eventually building value for the idea, whether it's a karaoke mechanical bull, or something that may eventually be developed.
Rewarding participation in these sites is also interesting – Fluid Innovation offers rewards like "leaderboards," Spigit offers "virtual badges", and Ideablob offers a monthly $10,000 prize for the best idea. Guess which site I'll end up participating in?
Network World's product test editor and one cool dude.
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Virtual Ventures beta
We've opened up the beta for Virtual Ventures and you no longer need an invite code to register. You can register at www.VirtualVentures.com
With regards to making money by participating, we are adding elements that reward players. One of those is a cash reward for linking us to a company that licenses one of the software technologies.
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