Latitude

Greetings, fellow CES-ers!

January is fast approaching, so we’re hotly anticipating (much moreso than new socks and cookie-binge consequences) the 2010 International CES.

We’re looking forward to previewing the latest and greatest tech offerings, forming new connections with people as enthusiastic about tech as we are, and sharing our broader notions about tech (and human-centered) trends vaulting the dazzling expo floor gadgetry at CES.

Latitude’s Idea Generation Contest

This year, we’re trying something brand new.

We’re launching an on-site, team-based idea generation contest to critique a selection of this year’s smartphone offerings – but, more importantly, we’re asking teams to propose concepts for improving upon the devices they review (with regard to hardware, software/UI, apps integration, or all of the above).

In short, we want you to tell us how this year’s leading devices could be tweaked to create maximal value, functionality, and enjoyment for users – and we want you to get creative in the process.

Where will the contest take place?

Idea sharing and collaboration amongst teams will take place on designated Facebook pages.

(Currently, Latitude is planning to host an offline networking meet-up on the 7^th or the 8^th. Details TBD.)

When will it take place?

The contest is ongoing from January 7^th – 9^th in virtual discussion spaces– (you were going to check out the latest smartphone demos anyways, right?). Share ideas as they come up, as a part of your normal social media routine.

What do the winners get?

After CES, we’ll put each team’s concepts to a panel of unbiased voters, and the winning team will receive an extra $100 per member (in addition to the $100 compensation for participating).

The Nitty-Gritty

The activity is limited to 15 people (4-5 individuals per team), so we’re accepting participants on a first-come, first-served basis. If you opt to recruit your own crack team of product analysts, feel free to reach out to your CES-bound friends. Otherwise, if you’re going to CES with networking in mind, leave team selection up to chance.

If you’re planning to attend CES this year and would like to interact with and analyze cutting-edge technology–then share your thoughts in a group innovation setting–we’ll be offering $100 to each participant for their time and thoughtful contributions.

Please email innovation@latd.com to request participation and to receive additional information.

The three teams up for innovation are (tentatively):

Team BlackBerry / Research In Motion

Team Nokia

Team WildCard

What’s Latitude’s objective?

Our primary purpose is to generate intelligent discussion. We believe people-centered, collective research is the way of the future, enabled by daily increasing connectivity.

We have an interest in collaborative idea generation and smartphone innovation—with no brand allegiance.

What will Latitude do with my information?

Latitude may: make public the platforms you publish to (i.e. Facebook) over the course of the contest, list all contributors on its blog, life-connected.com (with permission), publish specific ideas for any subsequent public content created in the spirit of idea-generation and sharing (with attribution). Latitude will not sell your information.

This contest is generated and moderated by Latitude Research‘s Ian Schulte, Director of Technology and Business Development, and Dan Hemmerly-Brown, CTO.

Header image courtesy of smoovey’s flickr, (cc) some rights reserved.

Charles Leadbeater is a researcher and innovation consultant at the London think tank, Demos. He made a considerable splash with his 2004 essay, “The Pro-Am Revolution,” followed up by an increasingly relevant TED talk on “amateur” innovation in 2005.

“Traditionally, ‘the inventor knows what the invention is for…’”

In Leadbeater’s addition to the crowdsourcing/collective innovation dialogue, he posits that a very specific group of individuals – Pro-Ams – are a pronounced and powerful force for bottom-up innovation.

“Pro-Am” describes skilled enthusiasts who, though they derive little or no money from their avocations, apply professional standards (and effort) to their particular pastimes (whether mountain biking, software coding, or anything in between).

Below is Leadbetter’s compelling and thoughtful talk–though I was left wondering when (or if, or in which situations) Pro-Ams are more effective than a diverse crowd in the distributed innovation process.

“… but, more & more, this will be worked out, not in advance, but through use & collaboration.”

Header image courtesy of foxspain’s flickr, (cc) some rights reserved.