The Power of YouTube

July 11, 2010

Whether it is a comedic satire, an animated impression or a narrative documentary, there is nothing like the power of video to portray an event or tell a story.

YouTube, video-sharing Web site, was started in 2005 by three former PayPal employees. It was sold to Google for $1.65 billion in 2006.   

YouTube has more than 2 billion views per day and can be viewed in 22 countries in 24 different languages. The average person spends 15 minutes a day on YouTube.

Currently, there are nearly 100,000 videos on YouTube about the BP oil spill. The following video is the most popular and my personal favorite. This is what happens when BP spills coffee . . .

Here is a BP Parody: Press Conference Ends Awkwardly.

Thank goodness for honest, empathetic and heart-felt apologies . . .

Sometimes it is very hard to find out the real truth. This short film shows interviews of fishermen and other coastal residents talking about the effects of the BP oil spill on their livelihood as well as their lifestyle.

Good Morning America sent Weatherman Sam Champion to Louisiana to show the underwater perspective of this disaster.

YouTube is also a vehicle to share good solutions to this Beyond Pathetic (BP) crisis. This informational film shows how a material of switch grass and other natural matter can be used to clean up the oil.

As you can view, YouTube is much more than a way to “Broadcast Yourself.” The videos can be for entertainment, informational or biographical purposes. I am hoping they can also be used to solve this country’s worst man-made disaster.

From Blog to Blog – Update on InnoCentive’s Oil Spill Disaster Solutions

July 10, 2010

As the oil continues to gush into the Gulf of Mexico, InnoCentive continues to reveal solutions to this disaster and offer assistance to BP officials.

(As I talked about in an earlier blog, Ustream is a social media that features live video streaming of events online and lifecasting. It is an emerging media that is proving to be a powerful platform. For live feed, go to http://www.ustream.tv/).

InnoCentive, a company that utilizes online crowdsourcing to solve some of the world’s toughest problems, is still receiving hundreds of solutions for the oil spill crisis in the Gulf. These scientific and mathematical answers are not even being explored by the executives of BP. Why — because BP says they have the situation “under control.” Really?

Dwayne Spradin, President and CEO of InnoCentive, wrote in his recent blog posts,

“The teams at BP lack an urgency to involve the outside world.  They appear to actually believe they have this crisis well in hand while putting forth that stoic, concerned face we’re all now use to seeing – working around the clock and doing everything humanly possible .  BP is not the victim here.  A catastrophic leadership failure, driven by a closed and arrogant culture.  This does not bode well for the Gulf.”

“The issue now is that BP could not even move forward with the two problems THEY identified as vital in this cleanup phase: remote sensing of the oil and better skimming technology.”

Please check out some of the innovative, scientific and creative solutions for handling the oil spill as recommended by some of the world’s experts. These solutions are eco-friendly and many are very inexpensive and easy to initiate.

Some of these solutions include:

1. The Barge Barrier;
2. The Bubble Squid;
3. The Coconut Coir; and
4. The magnetic plug.

How will this ongoing crisis ever be stopped if the executives of BP are unwilling to accept FREE suggestions from outside experts?

BP rejects over 900 ideas by InnoCentive for saving our Gulf Coast!

June 27, 2010

InnoCentive is a global company that uses crowdsourcing to collectively solve some of the world’s toughest problems. This company has offered FREE advice and solutions to BP to help contain the Gulf oil spill.  So far, BP has been saying they have the situation under control and do not need any outside advice from the world of experts. Amazing!!!! InnoCentive is not giving up though.

What is InnoCentive?

InnoCentive is an open innovation company that challenges anyone to solve particular problems in exchange for monetary rewards (up to $1 million). The company publicizes research and development problems ranging from engineering, math, chemistry, information technology, food/agriculture and life sciences to business and entrepreneurship. InnoCentive utilizes social media outlets, such as Twitter, Facebook and the InnoCentive Blog to rapidly disseminate challenges for the experts of the world to solve.

A little History of InnoCentive

The company’s founders worked at Big Pharma Eli Lilly and Company. This group believes in the wisdom of crowds. The concept of InnoCentive was developed to help generate research and development solutions for the pharmaceutical company. By networking with retired scientists, university professors and students and other top people in their respective industries around the globe, many solutions have been developed. The concept grew and there are over 1,000 challenges posted on the InnoCentive Web site.

The Oil Spill Challenge

InnoCentive posted a challenge on its corporate Website on April 30, 2010, for any solutions for the oil spill crisis in the Gulf of Mexico. This was the first challenge issued by InnoCentive that did not offer any monetary rewards. Instead, they appealed to their vast pool of expert “Solvers” to respond quickly with ideas and approaches to help with this emergency situation.

 

 

Track the efforts of InnoCentive on:

      FaceBook at http://www.facebook.com/InnoCentive

      Twitter at http://twitter.com/InnoCentive

      Perspectives on Innovation (InnoCentive Blog) at       http://blog.innocentive.com/