Time Magazine just named Pandora.com one of seven "cool sites" to bookmark. The ultimate in cool sites—type in the name of your favorite band, and within moments the site will be streaming a radio station, featuring songs from that band and similar ones—Pandora's CEO Tim Westergren will be sharing his story about the company and its Music Genome Project at our upcoming BIF-2 Summit.
The Music Genome Project is a mammoth undertaking to analyze hundreds of thousands of songs and catalogue them according to their constituent parts—different elements of vocals, instrumentation, melodies, harmonies and other characteristics—creating a database that could draw links between songs on the basis of these 400 or so musical “genes.”
“I spent a lot of years pursuing a musical career, so I came face to face with the challenge that all musicians face—to get noticed among the tens of thousands of bands trying to do the same thing,” says Tim. “I became very interested in how to solve the problem, from a musician’s standpoint, of how to find an audience”—and, from a fan’s standpoint, of how to find music you like.
With online advances making music more readily available to consumers, and with the Human Genome Project, a monumental effort to decipher mankind’s genetic code, hitting critical mass toward the end of the millennium, Westergren’s wheels began spinning and the Music Genome Project was born.
A great story not to be missed. Head here for more information on the BIF-2 Summit and how you can participate in the conversation.
Posted August 28, 2006 by Chris Flanagan | Permalink
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Social networks may be all the rage among teens and venture capitalists today, but they're also a useful construct for innovation. BusinessWeek's Jena McGregor recently spoke with BIF Board Member Christopher Meyer, CEO of Monitor Networks, about the all-star networks of thinkers he develops to help companies innovate called FutureMonitor.
It's an ambitious online experiment that aims to capture and create a view of the trends that will command the greatest attention from business two years from now. Meyer calls it a first-of-kind global 'sensing network' specifically designed to capitalize on of the wisdom of crowds.
FutureMonitor focuses its discussions and debates on the forces business will be wrestling with in the years ahead. Participants have the ability to learn, listen and contribute their thoughts as well as identify and explore trends, all through discussion forums.
Listen to the BusinessWeek podcast or head to FutureMonitor and engage in the experiment yourself.
Posted August 09, 2006 by Chris Flanagan | Permalink
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Time to lessen the hold business pressures have on us and take a trip with BIF Board Member Michael Samuelson who just returned from an incredible journey to the top of the African continent.
Samuelson, who is also Vice President of Health and Wellness Services at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island says he learned many lessons on the importance of self-discipline, the power of the spirit, teamwork, and leadership. "It was an amazing trip affording a truly innovative 'classroom' learning experience," he says.
If interested, click below and you'll be off to Africa, then just run the slide show or click on individual photos.http://web.mac.com/msamuelson/iWeb/Site/Library.html
You can hear more from Michael by viewing his video transcript from last year's BIF-1 summit here
Posted by Chris Flanagan | Permalink
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Thanks to BIF-2 storyteller Ivy Ross for spending some time with us last month. Ivy is executive vice president for product design and development with Gap Inc.’s Old Navy chain. She shared a great story about her time at Mattel and the development of 'Project Platypus.'
In 2001, when she was head of design and development for the Girls’ Division of Mattel, Ivy was smitten with the platypus. Charged with developing a new hit toy for pre-teen girls, she was looking for a way to fire up her employees’ creativity. The platypus, a unique creature that combines aspects of different species, struck her as a symbol of the ideal project team.
So was born Project Platypus, an experiment in multi-disciplinary design that eventually made a big impact on Mattel’s corporate culture. Choosing employees with diverse talents from various fields, Ross took them away from their regular jobs and moved them into a studio where, for the next 12 weeks, they engaged in an intensive and unusual brainstorming process.
The first two weeks were devoted to an array of eclectic activities designed to break down corporate hierarchies and inspire creative thinking.
Over time, Ross brought in an improv-comedy artist to talk to the group about free association of ideas; a Jungian analyst to talk about creativity; a psychologist to talk about child’s play; an expert in collaborative living systems; and a researcher in music and brain-wave activity.
The ‘mental grazing’ produced big time results. By the end of the 12 weeks the team had produced the Ello Creation System, a building set for girls hailed in the toy industry as ingenious. Mattel employees began clamoring to participate in subsequent iterations of Project Platypus, which also produced new brands that Mattel went on to manufacture, contributing millions to the company’s bottom line.
I just love this idea of mental grazing. To Ivy's credit, this is not some whimsical journey of discovery. But well-informed insights that help drive innovation don't come lightly to any organization and Project Platypus made a difference.
Don't miss Ivy Ross at our upcoming BIF-2 Summit in October where she'll be sharing more great stories. Event details can be found here.
Posted August 03, 2006 by Chris Flanagan | Permalink
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