Not long ago we wrote about permaculture and Australian Permablitz's volunteer-based implementation of the concept in urban gardens around Melbourne. Now one of our spotters has come across the first for-profit example we've seen.
Launched earlier this year, San Francisco-based My Farm calls itself a decentralized urban farm that grows vegetables in backyard gardens throughout the city. For anywhere between USD 600 and USD 1,000—depending on size—the company will install an organic vegetable garden in a customer's back yard. My Farm will first test the ground for toxins and other soil-composition issues, and gardens can be as small as 4-by-4-feet or so large as to completely transform the back yard. Customers can also choose whether to produce just enough for their own family or whether to become owner-members producing enough for My Farm to sell as well. Either way, once the garden's in, My Farm will maintain it using organic and permaculture techniques including drip irrigation and a compost pile; the company's employees do most of the work by hand and travel by bicycle whenever possible. Maintenance costs are USD 20 to USD 35 per week, with discounts for owner-members. Then, of course, in addition to maintaining, My Farm will also harvest produce at its peak, leaving a basket of fresh veggies on the consumer's doorstep when they're done. For members, that basket includes some of the abundance produced by other backyard gardens as well, resulting in even more diversity. Finally, for those without their own gardens, My Farm's produce is still available for delivery: a full basket, suitable for a small family, costs USD 35 per week, while a small box for one is USD 25.
A like contender called Your Backyard Farmer reportedly operates on a similar model in Portland, Ore., according to the San Francisco Chronicle, and with food prices increasing the way they are, it's a safe bet that more are on the way. After all, rather than face another week of plastic (and expensive) grocery-store tomatoes from across the planet, who wouldn't invest a little extra cash to get their own garden producing the real thing?
Website www.myfarmsf.com
Contact: www.myfarmsf.com/contact.html
Spotted by: Stacy Jo McDermott
When we wrote about Marziplanner's wedding planning software a little more than a year ago, we noted the related opportunity to devise an online version with more of a focus on the social side. As if on cue, a new site has just launched that brings social networking and Web 2.0 features to the planning of all events, nuptial or otherwise.
As anyone who's ever planned even a simple get-together knows, it just isn't easy, what with all the calls to make, venues to find, reservations to book and schedules to coordinate. Just launched last week, Center'd aims to connect all the pieces and make it easier to plan an event of any size, including picking a place, agreeing on a time, selecting service providers, sending invites, managing volunteers, hosting and communicating. As a way to capitalize on trust, Center'd asks all users to register and interact on the site via their real names, though they can control who may see their profiles. Businesses and individuals alike can participate, making use of the site's local search, social networking features and interactive planning tools. Users of Center'd can search for a local restaurant, read reviews, see if their friends like it and plan a get-together there, for example, all without leaving the site. Center'd also has aggregated ratings and reviews from around the web, so people can get a quick snapshot of what the general audience thinks. Polling tools help get invitees' input on what time and place they prefer for an event, and task-management and volunteer sign-up features make it easy to coordinate who will do or bring what. Users can also browse public events in their area and add them to their own calendars, while optional calendar sharing helps friends stay on the same page. Finally, users are awarded points for all the community-serving actions they take on the site, such as reviewing a restaurant or inviting a new user to join. Soon, those points will be redeemable for "some very cool stuff," Center'd says. Using the site is free.
There are other events-focused sites out there, but the addition of Yelp-like local search, Evite-like invitations and social networking a la Facebook could set Center'd apart. The California-based site, which evolved from an earlier iteration called FatDoor, is currently in what it calls its "first draft"; how it will make money remains to be seen, but local advertising and premium features seem like a safe bet. One to bring to your local event market?
Website: www.centerd.com
Contact: feedback@centerd.com
Spotted by: Corie Pierce
With the rise of virtual worlds, the burgeoning fashion market for avatars brought real-world brands and designs into the virtual realm. Now, the trend appears to be going the other way as companies begin to let consumers get their avatar fashions made into real-world clothes.
Avatar clothes have become big business in the virtual world, and a new partnership between Swedish avatar dress-up site Stardoll and German t-shirt commerce site Spreadshirt could allow users to take virtual clothes they create or see online and get them made into the real thing for use in the real world. To start, users will be able to take logos or graphics from popular labels in the Stardoll world and get them emblazoned on real-life t-shirts, hats and other items. Eventually, though, the possibilities could expand dramatically, Matt Palmer, Stardoll's executive vice president and general manager, told Virtual Worlds News in April. "We know through our research that kids would love to get their hands on them," he explained. "The opportunity allows us to experiment with what we can take from our world that's a simple idea that kids can customize, get made and have sent to them. That sort of translation of virtual world to physical world—I view this as the first step in looking at what that could look like for us."
Virtual world Gaia has also begun selling real-world fashion on its site, and one can't help but wonder how long it will be before Second Life and other popular virtual worlds starts experimenting with something similar. From there, of course, the next natural step will be to let users sell their real-life creations for real-world money, just as they can currently sell their virtual ones. One to watch!
Websites: www.stardoll.com — www.spreadshirt.com
Contacts: www.stardoll.com/en/help/contact.php — www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/Contact-1336
Spotted by: Iconoculture via RK
Several years ago we wrote about Reality TV in a Booth, which gave South African consumers a chance at instant stardom, and now Dutch media entrepreneur John de Mol is tapping the crowds to find the next big ideas in non-scripted television—with big rewards for those that get chosen.
Just last week the creator of ‘Fear Factor,’ ‘Big Brother’ and ‘Deal or No Deal’ launched TalpaCreative, an online community that offers American TV fans the unprecedented opportunity to create and sell their original non-scripted show ideas. Those who become members of the site can submit original format ideas as well as respond to more focused creativity assignments posted by De Mol and his creative team. Two submissions per month are required to retain membership, which is free. Members also have access to the site’s exclusive newsletter and an array of online media resources to help them stay up-to-date on the latest trends. Trend-spotting is strongly encouraged as well, with cash prizes for the most prolific spotters. The best show ideas submitted to the site will be developed by De Mol and his creative team and may be produced and distributed internationally by Talpa Media Group and Endemol, with the creator's involvement throughout the process. A cash reward of USD 500 will be given to the most active and creative member of the site each month, and shows that get put into production will earn their creators USD 50,000 or more (spelled out in clear-cut legal agreements), depending on how far they get.
De Mol explains: "I am certain that someone with little connection to the TV industry is sitting on a truly great non-fiction show concept. TalpaCreative.com offers that person a direct line to my development team, which could be all it takes to make their dream into our next reality hit. We are ready to take creative and financial risks, to bring some of these ideas to life."
From product-design contests by major consumer brands to ad agencies for consumer-created ads, there's no doubt companies are finally starting to realize (and reward!) the potential and profitability of crowdsourcing and the customer-made trend. How can the wisdom of the crowds help your brand compete? (Related: Crowd-managed TV production company.)
Website: www.talpacreative.com
Contact: www.talpacreative.com/contact
Spotted by: Jochem de Swart
For dieters working to lose weight, maintaining a decent wardrobe of clothes that fit can be an ongoing—and expensive—challenge on the way to a target size. With just that situation in mind, Transitional Sizes rents out name-brand clothing for temporary use while the pounds come off.
Maryland-based Transitional Sizes, which just recently launched, offers women's and maternity clothing in a range of sizes for monthly rental fees ranging from about USD 3 to USD 25. (Men's clothes are coming soon, the site says.) Customers order items in the sizes they need and keep them for as long as they want; once they're done, they clean them per the instructions provided by Transitional Sizes and send them back in the original box. Customers needn't be members to order from the site, but membership packages ranging from USD 10 to USD 40 per year are designed to give dieters a range of extra perks, including coupons, discounts, email alerts and weight-loss incentives.
Transitional Sizes' inventory is still very limited, and its site feels rough around the edges. Nevertheless, the concept is a good one, and could be enhanced by personal features such as automatically sending a smaller set of clothes when a customer is scheduled to have dropped to the next size, for example. And how about a partnership with Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig? Either way, dieters are just one group among the legions of transumers out there, eager to be free from the bonds of (unnecessary) ownership. Which creates lots of opportunities for entrepreneurs who can support the new leasing lifestyle! (Related: Baby clothes rental service.)
Website: www.transitionalsizes.com
Contact: customerservice@transitionalsizes.com
There's nothing like a great song to inspire music fans to want to learn to play it themselves, but doing it right is rarely easy. Enter Now Play It, a UK-based site that offers video instruction taught by the artists themselves.
Launched last year, Now Play It aims to get people as close to the artists and songs they love as possible. To do that, it offers downloadable video tutorials on the art and craft of playing hundreds of different songs on guitar, bass, piano or drums, many of them led by the artists who wrote or perform them. Paul McCartney, Blur and KT Tunstal are among the artists currently offering instruction on the site, and users can search for tutorials by artist, song, instrument, difficulty level or tutor. Now Play It's full tutorials, priced at GBP 3.99, are typically split into three parts—lesson, recap and play-through—and are at least 15 minutes long. In-house tutorials follow the same format but with instruction by a Now Play It tutor instead. 'Lite' tutorials, meanwhile, are just two parts—play-through and recap—and are generally between three and six minutes long; pricing is GBP 1.99. Downloads are available in MP4 or Windows Media Video formats.
With Generation C's penchant for content production, Now Play It is sure to find an enthusiastic audience among the many consumers out there seeking to create, to express themselves and to make the music they love their own. Being taught by a well-known artist, meanwhile—even if by video—is sure to give them a heaping helping of status skills and stories to share about the experience. Now Play It currently offers a forum for community discussion, but a logical next step, it seems to us, would be to give consumers a place to show off the results of their instruction with video and recordings of them playing the music they learned—along with opportunities to critique and discuss. If there's anything better than content, it's content plus community! (Related: Music school for generation YouTube.)
Website: www.nowplayit.com
Contact: enquiries@nowplayit.com
Spotted by: Lloyd Salmons
When it comes to entertaining and special occasions, eco-minded consumers can be torn by two apparently conflicting desires: the need to be green and the easy clean-up made possible by disposable dishes. Thanks to a new innovation from VerTerra, however, that conflict can finally be put to rest.
New York-based VerTerra offers a collection of single-use dinnerware including plates, bowls and platters made from pressed fallen leaves. Originally inspired by a technique used in rural India, VerTerra's dishes are 100 percent renewable and made entirely from compostable plant matter and water, with none of the chemicals, waxes or dyes found in disposable paper and plastic options. VerTerra products are made in South Asia, where it ensures that employees have fair wages, safe working conditions and access to healthcare. After collecting the fallen leaves, the company applies steam, heat and pressure to transform them into products that are durable and versatile, and can be used in the microwave, oven or fridge. They biodegrade naturally in two months. Sold in packs of 10 or 12, VerTerra's dishes are priced at roughly USD 1 per dish.
Not only does VerTerra's innovation solve a real consumer problem and protect the environment, it's also a beautiful example of an eco-iconic solution that helps consumers spotlight their "greenness" for all the world to see. As we've said before, when it comes to green, subtlety is not a virtue—make it bold, make it different, make it obvious!
Website: www.verterra.com
Contact: michael@verterra.com
Spotted by: Claudia Allwood
Last year we wrote about Ridemakerz, a store that lets kids create their own toys in Build-A-Bear fashion, and now there's a DIY equivalent for tweens focused on fashion.
Fashionology LA is a brand-new Beverly Hills store that lets young fashionistas design and make their own clothes. Girls begin the design process as soon as they step into the store, which features an array of dazzling designs on the walls for inspiration. Using touch-screen Design Pads, they begin by selecting what type of garment they'd like to create, choosing from an assortment of tops, bottoms and dresses. From there they select a fashion "mood" onscreen—themes include Juku, Pop, Rock, Malibu and Peace, all of which include a colourful array of graphic images. They then pick embellishments for their garments, choosing from options including Sew It, Clip It, Bling It and Pin It. Once a girl completes her design, she proceeds to the U-Bar, where a friendly Fashionologist uses a heat press to add the key design element to her new look and gives her a tray of embellishments to take to the customized Make It table. The girl settles in to sew, bling, pin and clip, and when her garment is ready to wear, she steps in front of the camera to proudly display her creation. With her approval, the picture and her unique design will beam through the store on a 70-inch LCD screen and simultaneously be emailed to her so she can share her new look with her friends. Costs for the experience reportedly range between USD 20 and USD 90, depending on how elaborate the design is. Fashionology says it hopes to expand its brand nationwide by 2012.
We've now written about DIY retail experiences in toys, clothes and wedding rings as well as an array of online ways to design your own clothes and handbags. It's all part of the experience economy—with a healthy dose of the customer-made trend thrown in—and it's going strong. Of course, tweens aren't the only ones who'd love a chance to create their own duds with the assistance of some professionals. Next, how about a similar offering for grownups...? (Related: Sewing cafe in Berlin.)
Website: www.fashionologyla.com
Contact: mail@fashionology.com
Spotted by: Maria Dahl Jørgensen
Aiming to bring affordable luxury to modern travellers, a new hotel brand just opened its doors at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. citizenM (the M is for mobile) is targeting guests who view design as a given, need rooms that are comfortable and efficient, but can't or don't want to spend hundreds of dollars, euros or pounds for a night's sleep. The hotel was founded by Rattan Chadha—who created fashion label Mexx and is also involved with Asian hotel group Oberoi—and designed by acclaimed Dutch architectural firm Concrete.
Like Qbic, a Dutch hotel chain we covered last year, citizenM manufactures its rooms offsite to save time and money. Once the identical prefabs units have been shipped to a site, 240 rooms can be stacked up into a hotel in about 15 days, after which they're hooked up to plumbing and electricity. Rooms are compact—just 14 square meters—but big windows and a smart layout ensure they don't feel cramped. Brand partnerships include Vitra—the hotel is a veritable showroom for its iconic furniture—and Philips, which designed a 'MoodPad' that allows guests to regulate room temperature and lighting, adjust blinds, flip through TV channels and set alarms (including one that gently counts down from 100).
Making up for small rooms that are mainly meant for sleeping and showering, citizenM features inviting common areas, including a self-serve deli selling sushi, salads, hot pasta, etc. To cut costs, the hotel doesn't offer a full-service restaurant or room service. Guests handle their own check-in and check-out, which takes less than a minute. Room prices range from EUR 69–139, based on demand. The company plans to open 20 hotels across Europe, starting off with downtown Amsterdam, Glasgow and two locations in London. While it's not the first no-frills chic hotel we've spotted, we're sure travellers will welcome another brand that offers what Zara, JetBlue, Muji and Target offer—strong design and a good experience for a great price.
Website: www.citizenm.com
Contact: info@citizenm.com
Back in 2003, we wrote about M&M's personalization service, which lets customers pick colours and have texts and logos printed on M&M's. As we pointed out, it's a great example of mass customization. And of what our sister-site trendwatching.com dubbed gravanity. M&M's has now taken the concept a step further by allowing customers to have their own likeness printed on the candy: M&M's Faces.
Ordering is done online: customers upload one or two photos, pick their colours and add up to two different texts to be printed on separate M&Ms. Using a simple interface, they can zoom in or out to select which part of a photo they want to use. A 'graphic specialist' then tweaks the photo file, creating a sketch-like rendition that looks good on small pieces of candy (example here). M&M's Faces are available in 7-ounce bags at USD 14.95 per bag (minimum order: 3 bags); a 5- or 10-pound bulk box for USD 162.50 or USD 312.50; or a variety of 1.6- to 1.75-ounce party favours (minimum order: 20 bags), priced at USD 4.99–6.19 per bag.
M&M's hopes its new personalization option will entice even more customers to tell their stories using candy-coated chocolate, and to share their ultra-personal M&M's at weddings, graduations and birthdays. Given that most people love to see themselves or their loved ones in print, that seems like a pretty safe bet. ;-)
Website: www.mymms.com/customprint_faces
Contact: www.mymms.com/service
P.S. We've covered dozens of businesses that cater to consumers' gravanity. Check them out here.
Planned scarcity is a well-known tactic for enhancing a product's appeal, and a German web retailer is taking that strategy to the max with its new collection of strictly limited-edition lingerie.
On the 12th of each month at midnight, Edition12 will debut the newest piece from its collection—the first one was just unveiled last week. Each design is reproduced for sale in only 120 pieces, and it's on sale for just a month—or until the 120 pieces sell out, whichever comes first. The sets are then made to order, and shipped within 6–8 weeks. Edition12's designs are created by fishbelly, Berlin designer Jutta Teschner's award-winning label, and each copy sold is assigned a unique number. Edition12 lingerie is available online from with free international shipping, but there are no advance orders, no reservations and no telephone orders. Pricing on the first design is EUR 190.
In many ways, Edition12 is much like 20ltd—which we covered last year—only focused on the single niche of lingerie. Whatever the category, however, planned scarcity is an increasingly appealing way to battle the forces of massclusivity and give consumers the status they so ardently desire. When money can no longer buy consumers love, it's just possible scarcity can!
Website: www.edition12.com
Contact: katja@edition12.com
Spotted by: Bernd
When revellers at the UK's Glastonbury Festival 2008 later this week need to recharge their mobile phones, they'll have a free and green way to do that thanks to a charging station being set up at the festival by Orange.
Measuring more than 7 meters tall, the free-standing recharge pod is a self-sufficient unit that taps into a wind generator and solar panels to charge as many as 100 mobile phones per hour. It's actually the next iteration of a portable wind charger Orange tested out at last year's festival through a partnership with Gotwind, and will serve as a trial for using renewable energy sources on a larger scale at future festivals. Orange expects the recharge pod will charge thousands of mobile phones over the course of the three-day festival, furnishing power equivalent to what would be needed to power a DJ booth for Groove Armada for 88 hours. The recharge pod will be stationed within the Pennard Hill camping grounds at Glastonbury throughout the weekend of June 27–29, when the event takes place.
Free love is hard to beat, especially if it happens to be *green* free love at a summer music festival. One to emulate as often as possible! (Related: Jeans brand offers hot showers and clean undies.)
Website: www.rechargepod.com
Contact: info@gotwind.org
Spotted by: RK
Around the world, the number of people aged 65 and over is expected to almost double in the next 22 or so years, going from just over 500 million now to just under a billion in 2030, according to the US Census Bureau. Little wonder, then, that a brand-new health and wellness store in Lyon, France, has set its focus squarely on seniors.
Whereas many existing senior-focused merchants tend to focus on disabilities—ElderDepot.com is one example—HOJO offers a more holistic variety of about 400 lifestyle products dedicated to keeping senior citizens happy, healthy and independent for as long as possible. Inspired by Spain's SeniorStore, HOJO groups its products into categories including wellness and health, daily living, leisure and comfort, communication and security, and they go far beyond disability aids to include aromatherapy treatments and stylish salt and pepper balls designed for one-handed use, for example. On a brick-and-mortar level, the company's Lyon shop is tailored to its target with such features as wider aisles, price tags with larger lettering, and a staff trained in senior issues. It also offers one-off events for seniors on such topics as massage, cooking and computers. HOJO hopes to expand to cover 35 French cities with franchised shops within the next five years.
There's no denying the sheer force of the numbers behind this demographic, and it's a remarkably underserved market so far. Mark our words: address senior citizens' needs in a positive, empowering and pampering way, and you'll see some impressive numbers yourself! (Related: One-stop shopping for wellness.)
Website: www.hojo-generationseniors.fr
Contact: contact@hojo-generationseniors.fr
Spotted by: Déborah Bianchetto
For those seeking a new job, honest information about salaries and workplaces can be near impossible to find. Taking a "give to get" approach to the problem, Glassdoor is a new site that aims to provide a thorough insider's look at what it's really like to work at a company, both financially and otherwise.
Launched into beta last week by two friends who worked together at Microsoft and Expedia (one of whom went on to found Zillow, which we've written about before), Glassdoor's operating philosophy is "You tell me yours, I'll tell you mine" as it gathers real-time reviews, ratings and salary details about specific jobs in specific companies. Users begin by anonymously contributing a review and/or salary survey for their current employer or any position they've held within the last three years. (All users must provide a verified email account, and all reviews are hand-inspected for authenticity by Glassdoor, it says.) In exchange, Glassdoor gives them free access to nearly 32,000 reviews and salary reports for more than 7,000 companies representing more than 80 countries around the world—and counting. Users providing feedback are asked to take a balanced approach—providing both pros and cons along with advice to senior management—as well as rating companies on a range of workplace culture factors, including work-life balance, fairness and respect, employee morale, and senior leadership. And unlike most salary services that report just aggregated information, Glassdoor provides details of salary, bonuses and other compensation for actual positions and titles at specific companies, letting users compare the earnings package paid to a software engineer at Google with that earned by one at Microsoft, for example. Glassdoor also aims to involve employers through an employer advisory panel, periodic surveys and focus groups for the site.
Glassdoor hopes to become the TripAdvisor of the workplace, it says, and it's currently allowing visitors to preview all available data for four “sneak peek” companies: Cisco, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo!. Robert Hohman, cofounder and CEO for the California-based site, explains: "We've built Glassdoor to make it easier for anyone to peek inside the walls of a prospective employer—or even the next cubicle—to get information that will foster more productive conversations and lead to better career decisions. Glassdoor's employee-generated content provides a level of transparency in the two key drivers of employee motivation—compensation and culture—that is not available from any other source.”
For those who hadn't noticed, the era of transparency tyranny (and transparency triumph) has arrived. Yet another stone turned!
Website: www.glassdoor.com
Contact: info@glassdoor.com
Spotted by: Jeppe Morgenstjerne
The average French household receives some 40 kg per year in leaflets and mass mailings, according to Pubeco, a new site that aims to help cut back on that waste.
Launched by Sustainable Development Multimedia (DDM) earlier this year, Pubeco invites French consumers to take an eco approach to the problem by refusing to accept any more print advertising. But rather than simply opting out of all ads in general—80 percent of which are actually appreciated by their recipients, the site says—Pubeco encourages users to view those of local relevance to them online, and it publishes advertisers' paid communications on the site for that purpose. Users begin by ordering a free sticker for their mailbox that reads: "No leaflet, thank you—I'm watching them on the Internet." Using their postal code, they can then create a personal space on the site that displays all the ads for businesses in their area, selecting and searching by the product categories they're interested in. Users earn points each time they visit the website, and those points are converted into grants given to the site's partners, which include GoodPlanet. RSS feeds allow users to access new ads and catalogues as soon as they come out.
Of course, Pubeco's success will depend on advertiser willingness, which it has taken pains to ensure. In addition to publishing all their leaflets online for geographically targeted distribution, companies can create their own pages on the Pubeco site, including hours, contact information, maps and a list of promotions. They get listed in the site's business directory, and social networking buttons allow visitors to add them as friends, favourites or trusted connections, thereby establishing a reputation for the world at large to see.
There's no doubt too much paper is used in advertising today, and Pubeco's solution is one that offers a win-win-win for advertisers, consumers and the environment. One to bring to other parts of the world?
Website: www.pubeco.fr
Contact: romain.sarels@pubeco.fr
Spotted by: Déborah Bianchetto
Travellers to distant lands have long had the option of "couch surfing" for free through the likes of couchsurfing.com, but now a paid alternative from AirBed & Breakfast gives hosts an additional incentive.
Hosts with space to share begin by registering with San Francisco-based AirBed, including the price they'd like to be paid and any extras—like breakfast—that come included. (USD 50 per night seems to be a common rate, though one host recently earned USD 500, according to the site.) As part of the process, they also authorize AirBed to transfer money into their account at any time. Travelers can then search by destination and dates of their trip to find available accommodations. When they make a reservation through the site, they authorize AirBed to charge the stated amount, and unless either party cancels, that amount is charged on the day of arrival and the funds are transferred directly to the host's account. All billing is secured through Amazon. AirBed, meanwhile, charges a transaction fee of USD 5 per night. Both hosts and guests can create profiles with photos and links to their Facebook and LinkedIn accounts, and they can also review and rate each other. Online transactions were recently added to provide better records of a user's activity on the site.
Given the prevailing belief that "you get what you pay for," AirBed's fee-based service could help alleviate travellers' concerns about the quality and safety of their accommodations, as well as encouraging hosts with nicer places to get involved. The site currently serves only the United States; one to bring to a tourist destination near you? (Related: Soccer fans to share beds at Euro 2008.)
Website: www.airbedandbreakfast.com
Contact: contact@airbedandbreakfast.com
Spotted by: Cagla Pakel
Although individuals own more than 25 percent of US equity, only about 20 percent of such investors bother to participate in proxy voting. Why would so many give up their voting rights? A big part of the reason is the difficulty of researching the issues, says ProxyDemocracy founder Andrew Eggers, who is also a doctoral student in Harvard University's Department of Government.
ProxyDemocracy is a non-profit, non-partisan project that aims to change all that by helping individual investors get the information they need to produce positive changes in the companies they own. Owners of stocks in an individual company, for example, can sign up for ProxyDemocracy's email alerts providing advance notice of the company's shareholder meetings as well as information on how respected institutional investors at CalPERS (a state pension fund), Calvert, CBIS (an investment adviser to Catholic institutions) and Domini plan to vote at the meeting. "Just as citizen voters take account of endorsements from respected groups like the Sierra Club or the NRA (depending on one’s political persuasion), individual investors can use these cues from known institutional investors to arrive at a principled vote more cheaply," Eggers explains.
Meanwhile, the free site also offers voting profiles on 77 mutual funds from 33 leading fund families, as well as CalPERS and CBIS. Mutual fund investors can search a database of agendas and institutional investor votes for more than 12,000 shareholder meetings since July 1, 2003, and quickly see how their funds rank on the site's activism scale for director elections, executive compensation, corporate governance and corporate impact. If they don't like a particular fund's voting record, they can contact the company and let them know, or even move their money to a different one.
For some time now transparency tyranny has been causing ulcers among leaders in the travel, hospitality and automotive industries—to name just a few—and now ProxyDemocracy promises to spread the joy of accountability to a wider range of companies than ever. Once again, the Web leaves nowhere to hide!
Website: www.proxydemocracy.org
Contact: info@proxydemocracy.org
Spotted by: Abigail Howell
When we first covered San Francisco-based Crushpad back in 2005, the idea of a winery in an urban centre was surprising. Crushpad has since blossomed, and now a like-minded contender on the opposite end of the nation is picking up on the notion and combining it with a wine bar.
Due to open this fall, City Winery will combine a wine bar and event space with a fully operational winery in the heart of Soho, New York City. The private-label winery—apparently the city's first—will let consumers choose their favourite grape, consult with City Winery's master winemaker and then crush, ferment, bottle and label their own bottles of wine. The company will have the capacity to make about 300 barrels of wine in its first year, and 200 of those will be dedicated to a limited set of members, who will have access to City Winery's state-of-the-art equipment and professional team. Grape varietals will be sourced from vineyards in California, Oregon, Washington State, New York, Chile and Argentina under strict temperature control, and customers will be able to work with City Winery's specialists in person or online to customize their barrel, participating as much or as little as they like in the process. Membership is available on three levels, beginning at USD 5,000 annually plus the cost of grapes, barrels and labelling for about 250 bottles of wine. Wine classes are also included, as is the opportunity to trade bottles with other members; wine sales, however, are prohibited. About a third of City Winery's barrels have already been sold, according to its site.
City Winery's venue side, meanwhile, features a flexible space that can accommodate up to 200 people seated or 400 standing, with an in-house stage and sound system. A full catering kitchen is onsite to serve the venue's multiple dining and tasting rooms, while the wine bar will have more than 50 wines available by the glass each night. Through City Winery's VinoFile membership program, customers can track their wine consumption and get related suggestions from the on-site sommeliers and winemakers. A special cheese bar from Greenwich Village-based Murray's Cheese, meanwhile, will be manned by a full-time expert to create the appropriate wine pairings from a selection of over 30 cheeses. City Winery also plans to create unique pairings of private concerts with such delicacies as wine and chocolates, mushrooms or truffles, port or scotch.
Frequent Springwise readers will undoubtedly notice the way City Winery's efforts tap into the customer-made and still made here trends, while offering consumers some much-sought-after status skills to boot. Will City Winery follow in Crushpad's footsteps and relax its rule prohibiting wine commerce among its customers? We'll keep you posted. In the meantime, one to watch!
Website: www.citywinery.com
Contact: info@citywinery.com
Spotted by: RK
There's no shortage of online booksellers, but a new UK-based store has come up with a novel way to keep users coming back. Shoppers at BookRabbit can upload photos of their bookshelves for viewing by the community at large, fostering comparison, interaction and—you guessed it—more shopping.
BookRabbit, which just went through its public launch in May, aims to be an online bookshop that "dynamically connects readers, authors and publishers through the books they own." It also claims to be cheaper than Amazon on the top 100,000 titles, and offers free delivery within the UK. More interesting, though, are the ways users of the site can share their passion for books, including creating their own personal bookcases and catalogues online and making recommendations to other readers. Each user is invited to upload a photo of his or her bookshelf—along with a user profile—and to tag the individual titles therein. Other users can then view all the bookshelves on the site, compare with their own and make connections with other readers based on the titles they have in common. More than 900 bookshelves have been uploaded so far, and they're viewable by "latest," "most connections" or "most discussed." The winner for most connections so far, for example, is a user named Glynis, who has more than 100 books in common with other readers.
Of course, in the process of viewing and comparing bookshelves, BookRabbit no doubt hopes users might get inspired to buy some new titles and expand their own collections. The site includes an affiliate programme that lets users put links on their sites or e-mails to show off their bookcases and earn a fee if anyone buys anything through them.
With the likes of Amazon.com to reckon with, there's no doubt BookRabbit has some formidable competition. On the other hand, there's something highly personal and compelling about the ability to view the bookshelves of others, as multiple groups on Flickr can attest. In addition to what they contain, it's interesting in an almost voyeuristic way to see how tidy the shelves are and what style of furniture they represent—not too hard to imagine this used in a localized way to foster dating connections among bookish singles, in fact. Alternatively, how about applying the same notion to other hobbyist product categories, such as a "my rucksack" photo section on a hiking supplier's site, or "my make-up bag" on one for cosmetics?" Build some real community this way—particularly if it's localized—and you may just stand a chance against your industry's Amazon.
Website: www.bookrabbit.com
Contact: customerservices@bookrabbit.com
Spotted by: Sharon Smith
Much like LocoMatrix, which we wrote about earlier this year, Swinxs is a new gaming system that encourages kids to get active and play outside.
Swinxs offers a variety of games for kids ages 4 and up, all downloadable for free from the Netherlands-based company's website. Included are traditional games like hide and seek as well as educational quizzes and games focused on adventure. Players wear colourful RFID wrist bands with microchips that communicate with the Swinxs console to start games and keep track of the player's personal profile and scores. The Swinxs console talks (multiple languages are possible) and can explain games, as well as refereeing, cheering and keeping score. It can be used both indoors and out, and it runs on a long-lasting battery for enduring fun in the park, beach, garden or playroom. On the Swinxs website, meanwhile, new games, music and listening activities are available for download, and personal pages store player details such as scores, participants and games played. A software development kit (SDK) is also available that lets players or third parties create their own games for the system. Launched in April, Swinxs is currently available at The Beehive in Holland; pricing is EUR 149.95 including console, 4 wrist bands, USB cable, adapter and seven pre-installed games. A video on YouTube demonstrates the game in action.
As developed nations continue their battle against childhood obesity, active games like Swinxs will increasingly have the support of parents and medical communities around the globe. One to bring to the rest of the world!
Website: www.swinxs.com
Contact: info@swinxs.com
Spotted by: Bjarke Svendsen
As the EU's restaurants, bars and clubs gradually become smoke-free, cigarette butts on the doorsteps of such establishments are an increasingly common sight. Belgium-based Ashvertising hopes to make the best of that bad habit with an outdoor device that combines an ashtray with a medium for advertising.
The company's Ashvertiser consists of a wall-mountable ashtray combined with a TV-sized colour screen above it for installation outside smoke-free venues. As smokers finish and extinguish their cigarettes, the screen displays world news, sports results and weather forecasts along with advertising spots. Mars, Nestlé, Proximus/Vodafone and Sara Lee have been among the early adopters of the Ashvertiser, which is now being used by numerous Brussels restaurants, Ashvertising says.
Given how many other places around the world also ban smoking—or will soon embrace that trend—the potential market for Ashvertising's devices spans the globe.
Website: www.ashvertising.com
Contact: vincent@ashvertising.com
Spotted by: Bjorn Verbrugghe
Earlier this year we wrote about a few members' clubs for moms in the London area, and now a similar South African contender has added a networking twist.
Based in Johannesburg, Triba aims to give mothers physical and mental well-being by providing them with the time, space and resources they need to take care of themselves, seven days a week. Before that can happen, of course, their children must be well taken care of—something Triba assures through classes, childcare, swimming, hair care and even basic pediatric services like vaccination by the on-site nurse. Thus freed up to attend to their own needs, mother members have access to spa, hair, sleep and exercise offerings, along with a cafe, library and quirky retail store; concierge service is coming soon. Triba's conference space features workshops, courses, seminars and presentations designed to uplift, empower, motivate and inform women, while a dedicated office space--much like the work spaces for freelancers we've featured before--is set aside for women to catch up on their admin, surf the internet or otherwise take advantage of the centre's wifi. Perhaps most interesting of all, though, are Triba's recruitment services, through which the Triba team will tap into its network of members both to help mothers find work and to facilitate networking opportunities for consultants or self-employed women who want to promote their services. Membership fees at Triba begin at ZAR 280 per month for a mother plus one child.
Triba says it's planning to expand around South Africa, but as we've noted before, there are few geographical limitations on the market of moms around the world in need of a space to call their own. One to bring to the legions of time-, sleep- and sanity-starved mothers near you!
Website: www.tri-ba.com
Contact: info@tri-ba.com
We've covered pop-up and recyclable hotels on a few occasions already, and now a new French company has come up with a foldable hotel room designed for use at large, temporary events.
Founded in late 2007, Abilmo offers temporary hotel rooms 12 square meters in size with wood flooring, wood furniture and private bathrooms including toilet, shower and hot water. Featuring cloth-hung ceilings and low-voltage lighting, the units also offer thermal and acoustic insulation along with individual heating and air-conditioning. The French-made rooms are instantly available to create a pop-up hotel for use inside or outside at such events as festivals, seminars and sports events lasting anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. Just 4.40m x 2.38m x 4.68m in size when folded, they require no crane to erect—Abilmo's staff can set up as many as 25 per day. Both interiors and exteriors can be customized to reflect any corporate image, and extra services such as catering, network video and extra security are also available.
Given how often the demand for hotel rooms outstrips supply at events around the world, this one's virtually guaranteed to find an appreciative market among events organizers, stadiums and hotels themselves. One to partner with in your neck of the woods?
Website: www.abilmo.fr
Contact: contact@abilmo.fr
Spotted by: Déborah Bianchetto
We've already written about programs to adopt a vineyard or an olive tree, and now two Maine brothers have found a way to offer consumers the chance to adopt a Maine lobster trap.
For USD 2,995, consumers can own a Maine lobster trap and all the lobsters it catches for an entire year through the Premium Trap program from Catch a Piece of Maine. As "partners," as the company calls them, customers of the program are assigned a dedicated lobsterman who will fish their trap throughout the 32-week season. Everything he catches is tracked with a colour-coded band placed on the lobsters' claws, and all data is recorded online so that the partner can view their trap's activity, manage their catch and schedule shipments from anywhere. As lobsters are caught by the trap, the partner's account grows; as lobsters are requested for shipment, it decreases again. Lobsters can be shipped in batches of four as soon as they are caught, or they can be saved for later (in which case the company will substitute one just caught for the original); either way, details are included on when, where and by whom they were obtained. Catch a Piece of Maine guarantees at least 48 1.5 lb lobsters for each partner—totalling over 70bs.—and also 12 lbs. steamer clams, 12 lbs. mussels, and 48 servings of Maine-made desserts over the course of the year. All shipments are sent via FedEx overnight delivery throughout the continental U.S.; shipping costs are included in the fee. Partners are even invited to come aboard the company's lobster boat in Maine if they can, to meet the lobstermen and experience the harvest first-hand. Corporate gifts and single-meal orders are also available, and Catch a Piece of Maine donates 10 percent of its profits to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, educating 5th and 6th grade students about the Maine lobster industry.
At a time when local fishermen are struggling to make a living, Catch a Piece of Maine's partnership program allows lobstermen to receive a premium for their product while also preserving their sustainable fishing methods, the company says. No less significantly, it also gives consumers an active hand in what has typically been a hands-off business. Finally, it dovetails nicely with the still made here trend, giving consumers a geographical connection and a story to tell about the source of their food.
Website: www.catchapieceofmaine.com
Contact: brendan@catchapieceofmaine.com
Spotted by: Andrew Borislow
Over the years, we've covered various businesses for women tackling home improvement and building. From tools and steel-toe shoes to women-only construction crews, the 'do-it-herself' market continues to expand. Our latest spotting? A home improvement magazine for women that has just been launched by Karwei, one of the Netherlands' largest DIY retail chains.
Their new quarterly, Ziezo, is targeted both to women who are considering a first small project, like painting a bench, to their more experienced sisters who are ready to remodel a bathroom or insulate an attic. The free print magazine, which can also be read online, aims to be both instructional and inspirational. Besides plenty of practical, hands-on advice and step-by-step instructions, Ziezo includes articles on interior design that probably wouldn't have made it to the pages of a home improvement publication for male readers.
Like Home Depot, which offers Do-It-Herself Workshops, Karwei is smart to tap into market that's (still) underserved. Since DIY retailers in many parts of the world are suffering from a distressed housing market, attracting female shoppers is an opportunity they can't afford to miss. As for retailers in strong, growing markets—now’s the time to get in on the ground floor.
Website: www.karwei.nl/ziezo
Spotted by: RK
As we're sure you know, jeans are traditionally made from denim, a rugged cotton dyed blue using indigo. Before indigo came around, however, the only source of blue dye in Europe was a flowering plant called woad, or glastum. (How's that for unexpected trivia ;-) The woad industry was wiped out in the late sixteenth century, when traders started importing shiploads of indigo from the Far East.
An Italian fashion brand—Dondup—is now working on the forgotten commodity's comeback. Guado, as it's called in Italian, is being used to dye the company's new 'Essentia' line. Wholeheartedly embracing the still made here trend, Dondup focuses on guado's history, casting it as the original, local shade of blue. Naturally, Essentia apparel is made from organic cotton, and for colours other than blue, Dondup also works with natural dyes that have been used for centuries, like rose madder and blackberry.
What works for once-dormant brands—think the Volkswagen Beetle or Tretorn sneakers, could work for unbranded goods, too, yielding their rediscoverers instant authenticity and stories to share. Time to start digging in the (art) history books ;-)
Website: www.dondup.com
Contact: showroom@dondup.com
Spotted by: Laura Penna
We've featured two businesses that offer custom-blended tea: Blends For Friends in the UK and Design A Tea in the US. Since tea-lovers aren't the only ones to yearn for a hot beverage they can call their very own, we knew it wouldn't be long before one of our Springspotters pointed us to a company offering custom-blended coffee.
From Germany this time, Sonntagmorgen (German for Sunday morning) sells made-to-order coffee blends online. Customers can choose from nine regional varieties and set their own blend ratios. A 250 gram pack of coffee can contain 4/7ths Ethiopian Sidamo and 3/7ths Indian Pearl Mountain, for example. Adjusting is easy: just flick arrows up or down. Once the momentous blend decisions have been made, coffee-meisters specify a grind (or whole beans), and can then move on to add flavouring. Sonntagmorgen offers 13 aromas, ranging from vanilla to chili peppers, and users can select up to three.
Finally, customers pick a name for their personal brand of joe, which is printed on the label along with the varieties and aromas used. Prices for a custom-made blend depend on the types of coffee used, but average around EUR 7 for a 250 gram bag. Until entire pantries can be stocked with personalized food, customization opportunities abound for smart and creative entrepreneurs. (Related: Mixed-to-order muesli.)
Website: www.sonntagmorgen.com
Contact: www.sonntagmorgen.com/index/kontakt
Spotted by: Sven Hock
With food prices soaring across the globe, consumers are understandably concerned. To help ensure that retailers don’t pass on more of the price increases than is strictly necessary, Italy's Department for Agriculture, Food & Forestry is offering transparency by text message. Its SMS Consumatori service tracks prices for over 80 types of fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy products, fish, etc and lets consumers access them when they’re out shopping.
To use the service, shoppers send a text message to 47947, typing the name of the product they want a price for. (The system recognizes both singular and plural nouns, as well as variations.) They instantly receive a reply listing both a wholesale price and average retail prices in the North, Centre and South. If a product has various varieties, the service sends separate messages for each of the most popular ones. For example: text "pear", and SMS Consumatori will return three separate messages, for Kaiser, Conference and Abate pears.
Taking a thorough approach to getting its prices right, SMS Consumatori sources information from 2,200 different stores, ranging from butchers, market stalls and greengrocers to 'ipermercati' and discount stores, and covers all of Italy. Prices are updated from Tuesday to Saturday. The project's website also shows price development over time, and where the highest and lowest prices for each product were found. Shoppers can even fill a virtual shopping cart and see what its average cost would be; registered users can save their shopping baskets for a personal view on historical data.
The service is free, but to keep costs and traffic down, consumers can request a maximum of 5 prices per day and 30 per month. Since it doesn't look like global food prices will drop anytime soon, this is one to set up elsewhere if you're in government or telecom/mobile. For more on how to prosper (or fail) in a fully-informed marketplace, check out trendwatching.com's briefing on transparency tyranny.
Website: www.smsconsumatori.it
Spotted by: Giulia Cuccolini
There's no doubt about it: Italian jeans brand Diesel is hitting the festival circuit this summer. A few days ago, we wrote about the limited edition, mud-resistant jeans they designed for Denmark's Roskilde festival. Another spotting came in from Pinkpop, a Dutch overnight music fest that took place last week.
At Pinkpop, Diesel kindly provided hot showers, including fresh towels, shower gel and a little something for those pesky hangovers. Festival-goers who showed up between 11 am and noon—the 'One Hour Happy Shower'—were also treated to free underwear. Needless to say, the Dutch kids showed up en masse and the undies ran out in minutes, creating a nice bit of buzz for the brand. (Related: Laundromats popping up at music festivals — Swish showers on location.)
Website: www.diesel.nl — www.pinkpop.nl
Spotted by: RK
A few weeks ago we wrote about Bikecaffe's coffee tricycles in the UK, and now another pedal-powered purveyor has been spotted on the streets of Copenhagen.
Ole Skram has begun tempting the pedestrians and cyclists of Denmark's capital city in recent weeks with the smell of freshly brewed coffee from his coffee "chariot"—an espresso machine mounted onto a three-wheeled carrier cycle with a specially designed frame. The machine can brew coffee for several hundred people, but Skram is keeping the details of its inner workings to himself. The "coffee-man," as he's become known, says the idea came to him as he was sipping coffee at his local café; soon thereafter he found a blacksmith who could construct a contraption for mounting the coffee maker onto his bike. "I think it has turned out very well," he says. "It has spirit, flowers and charm, just the way I wanted it." Skram and his chariot can be found around central Copenhagen as well as at Østerport station and planned events.
We've seen Coffee 2.0's ascension into Starbuckian ubiquity; relocalization through homegrown and fair trade retailers; mobilization through motorized coffee carts and now—the eco version—pedal-powered vendors in Denmark and the UK. Where will the next coffee chariot appear? You decide! ;-)
Website: n/a
Contact: +45 60 65 16 01
Spotted by: Lars Hedegaard Pedersen
"Open source" is a term that's familiar to many in technology, but much less so in the fashion world. A new German label, however, has embraced the principles of open source in its launch of a new line of eco-conscious clothing.
Berlin-based Pamoyo was founded in 2007 by designers Frans Prins and Cecilia Palmer to create a fashion label with green vision and creative edge; its site just launched in April. All items in the company's “Styled with Heart” spring collection are one-of-a-kind pieces made from organic cotton with vintage and recycled elements mixed in. Every piece is handmade in Berlin featuring a distinctive rough sewing style and designs inspired by street style and retro images. Pamoyo’s organic cotton currently originates from Turkey and Uganda, and EUR 2 from the price of each item is set aside for investment in social and environmental projects. Together with the Grass Routes Foundation, Pamoyo is also working on a cooperation and training project with designers in the developing world.
So that's Pamoyo's green side, which is admirable even if not totally unique. What really sets the label apart is that all its designs are published under the Creative Commons license for non-commercial use—a first, if the company's blog is to be believed. Other designers and artists are invited to enrich the label with their own creations, and Pamoyo pledges to ensure the high-quality and sustainable production of every product made under its name. The company is currently preparing designs and patterns for download from the Pamoyo site, and ultimately it aims to make it possible for customers to share their own creations and patterns as well.
Palmer explains:”We don’t make designs to protect them, but to spread. The designs and patterns can be found on our website, and anyone can share it and use it. In this way, someone can take an idea or design and build on it. We want to make it possible to build upon each other’s work in such a thing as fashion design, and we’re planning to make a community platform out of that.”
Eco clothing lines are increasingly common, but Pamoyo's focus on sharing takes it into new territory in the fashion world. One to watch! (Related: Crowdf(o)unding an eco fashion label.)
Website: www.pamoyo.com
Contact: hello@pamoyo.com
Spotted by: Treehugger via RK
We wrote about Kluster back in February, and just a few months later the crowdsourcing platform was used to create community-driven news site Knewsroom. Hard on the heels of that launch now comes NameThis, which just entered beta.
Kluster-powered NameThis is designed to provide a quick and painless way for innovators to find a market-ready name for their company, product or service. Those with a thing in need of a name begin by posting a request for help and paying USD 99. Members of the community then have 48 hours to suggest names and/or invest points in their favourites. At the end of the 48 hours, NameThis's system "does some fancy math" and picks three winners. Of the fee paid by the thing's owner, USD 80 is distributed to those who contributed to the winners: USD 40 goes to the person who picked the first-place name, while USD 10 is shared amongst the influencers on that name; USD 16 goes to the second-place namer, while USD 4 is shared among the influencers on that one; and USD 8 goes to the individual who picked the third-place name, with USD 2 shared among influencers.
From creating the news to naming a product, is there anything the crowds can't do better? We'll keep you posted. In the meantime, one to try out! (Related: Crowdsourcing product improvements.)
Website: www.namethis.com
Contact: team@kluster.com
For UK office workers, making tea is serious business with a political component all its own. No one wants to get stuck making the office tea every time, and that's just the problem a new, tea-focused website helps solve.
MaketheTea.com is a new site from UK dairy brand Cravendale that aims to facilitate the tea-making process among groups of the beverage's fans around the world. Users of the site begin by entering their preferences for the all-important drink, including amounts of milk and sugar they like to add. (Options are also available to indicate preferences for those who prefer coffee or another beverage.) Users then invite their friends to join the site as well, forming a group of linked drinkers. Once that's done, users need only click the "Brew Now" button and MaketheTea.com will randomly select a brewer from among the group members to make that round of tea. Post-cuppa, users can then "rate or slate" the maker, depending on the quality of the brew.
Part viral marketing campaign, part life hack and part social network, Makethetea.com was launched in late April. Since then, it has facilitated the making of more than 40,000 brews around the world... Not to mention serving up an undoubtedly strong cup of goodwill for Cravendale, its maker. (Related: Group dining made easy.)
Website: www.makethetea.com
Contact: brewmaster@makethetea.com
Spotted by: Bjarke Svendsen
Back in 2006 we wrote about TOMS Shoes, an organization whose matching program donates a pair of shoes for every one that's purchased from the company. Now TOMS has launched a volunteer program by which customers can hand-deliver those donated shoes themselves.
TOMS founder Blake Mycoskie was originally inspired by the disadvantaged children he saw while travelling through Argentina, and TOMS continues to donate its shoes to South American children in need. The Friends of TOMS program, however, now invites customers over 18 to travel there themselves as part of a series of what it calls Argentina Shoe Drops. Each weeklong Shoe Drop takes groups of 15 volunteers to see the places and people that inspired Blake to create his "shoes for tomorrow," distributing donated shoes along the way. Following the inaugural Argentina Shoe Drop last month, additional ones are scheduled for September, October and November of this year. In addition to airfare, the trip costs about USD 1,800, which includes all lodging, group meals, transportation within Argentina and regional group activities. Volunteers are responsible for booking their own flights to Buenos Aires.
There are plenty of organizations out there that offer voluntourism opportunities, including Ritz-Carlton's Give Back Getaways program, which we covered not long ago. But California-based TOMS is one of the first we've seen to link such opportunities with a specific product, giving customers a rich experience as well as the knowledge that they've helped out. A winning combination to consider for any firm with a charitable component!
Website: www.friendsoftoms.com
Contact: shoedrop@tomsshoes.com
Spotted by: Mila Roberts