Master in Imagineering

2009-08-20T01:07:00.003+02:00

Practical wisdom - doing the right thing, at the right time - has dimensions (e.g. moment of making a decision, active parts of the brain and (un)consciousness). Malcolm Gladwell gives us some insight into the power of making a right decision, an ability everyone has, in Blink. He not only argues the power of blink, trusting on your insights, snap judgements (that take place behind a locked door: the unconscious) and your gut feelings, but also explains errors of this. Some solutions can only be found in a blink of a moment. "Taking our powers of rapid cognition seriously means we have to acknowledge the subtle influences that can alter or undermine or bias the products of our unconscious." In this way, according to Malcolm, if you take charge for the first two seconds, you can see someone for who they really are...

The importance of EQ & Wisdome in New Business

2009-08-06T21:43:00.003+02:00

To add up to the story about left brain / right brain, I found this nice TED movie about the importance of different elements regarding to the EQ of people: improvising, social meaning, inspiration, wisdome, breaking the rules are tags for this movie. Enjoy.

Why whole-brainers will rule the world

2009-07-15T11:19:00.004+02:00

In popular research the distinction between different functions of the left part and right part of the brains is very common and known. (for example this book). It is argued creativity is something that is located on the right side of the brains, and straight-forward thinking is located on the left side.

However, just to relate to this matter from another perspective Peter Weiler states in his book Mindmapping (ISBN: 978-90-438-0832-3), that it is absolute nonsense that creativity is located in the right part of the brains. Two parts of the brain indeed have different capabilities. This concerns at the left side for example speech and at the right side the capability to understand a situation as a whole. For the Dutch people, this article states the same.

As a result, is is not about which side of the brain is dominant but in what way the parts work together. If the brain were not functioning as a holistic part, humor would be impossible to understand and long texts would be impossible to understand since this is a result of both parts of the brain. Therefore, if you decide to only use 50 percent of your brains, thats fine. But very likely whole-brainers will rule the world.

Favela rising

2009-06-29T18:39:00.005+02:00

Last weekend i saw this documentary on one of the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and how the corrupt police and drug dealers were taking over and causing violence and killings. The documentary is about one man who decides to turn the situation around and with the help of music, start a social project in the slums. It is very inspirational documentary and shows that all it takes is a few guys, an idea and a strong belief in the idea to improve the situation. And look out for the good metaphore at the end! The website of the documentary is http://www.favelarising.com/ and maybe you can also find it in youtube or google videos...otherwise just buy it! :) Enjoy!

Oh happy days!

2009-06-19T09:32:00.006+02:00

Lots of people will be very happy today. According to British psychologist Cliff Arnall, June 19 is the happiest day of 2009.
The scientist created a formula which includes several elements that influence the mood of people.

According to Arnall, the Friday that is closest to the start of the summer is the day that most people are typically happy. It is almost weekend and people realise that their holidays are on its way.

Enjoy!

(source: www.nu.nl)

The world's first and only web-community owned football club

2009-06-15T17:19:00.002+02:00

Ebbsfleet United is a football club located in England, owned by its members.

Quoted from the website:

"Situated in Kent, England, Ebbsfleet United play in the Blue Square Premier, which is four divisions below the Premiership.

In February 2008, the members purchased the football club for £600,000. Just three months later, Ebbsfleet United won the FA Trophy at Wembley – the club’s greatest achievement in a history that dates back to 1890."

Imagineering student wins T-mobile battle

2009-06-15T15:00:00.004+02:00

Hereby I can proudly say that I won the T-mobile battle at battleofconcepts.nl. Their question was: "How can we positively influence the perception of waiting time in the T-mobile shops".

A total of 129 concepts were sent in. The T-mobile jury was very enthusiastic, and rewarded my concept with the first prize and an amount of 1500 euro. The concept is now under consideration within T-mobile to see how they can make it operational. The company does not yet want to reveal anything about what the concept entitles...so I will not either. This achievement ensured me with a 34th place in the category students and Young Professionals. My victory contributed to NHTV Breda’s rising to 8th place in the ranking of Universities (of applied sciences). NHTV is currently represented in the Battle of Concepts by as many as 12 students.

What is Battle of Concepts?

Battle of Concepts is a crowd sourcing platform to which institutions and companies can introduce issues that will be resolved by students and Young Professionals (bachelors and masters up to age 30). This platform makes it possible for companies to generate the most innovative ideas and to get in touch with the people behind them. Contestants have the opportunity to win money and to be discovered by the participating companies. With a Talent Pool of 4000 members, Battle of Concepts is the largest brainstorming institution in the Netherlands. Participating companies are (a.o). Rabobank, Nuon, TNT, Mars, Dutch national and local authorities, TNO, Nationale-Nederlanden en Prorail. These companies have already made almost 300.000 euro available in prize money.

For more information...Battle of Concepts

Google Wave

2009-06-12T15:45:00.001+02:00

A new product will be launched at the end of this year, called: ‘Google Wave’. It is a new easy-to-use communication platform which combines instant messaging, sending e-mail and even sharing files all in one. It should work far more efficient then the other ones we know and it is made by the same inventors of Google Maps. It is told to be the next succesfull application of Google.

I must say I am quite impressed with the options you have as a Google Wave user. I like the fact that is an open-source software so it can be used within companies as well. So far it looks interesting, let’s hope it will be an application that is going to inspire us all.

For the entire presentation about this new application, have a look at the movie below.

Brainsurfen

2009-05-13T15:08:00.002+02:00

How to help your ideas survive.... brainsurfing?

We think, therefore we are

2009-05-06T09:36:00.005+02:00

In addition to Sabria's contribution, another video about mass collaboration and innovation on the web (2.0). This movieclip belongs to the book We Think by Charles Leadbeater. He posted early drafts of his book on the web where people could make comments on, so eventually the book has got 257 co-writers. I can really recommend to read this book, both the content and the way it is published is very inspiring.

">

Together we can make the internet the safest place on earth

2009-05-05T16:59:00.001+02:00

Take a look at this video. It makes you realise that we might want to rethink "trust"

Everybody is amazing, nobody is happy..

2009-03-08T12:58:00.005+01:00

The recession creates a lot of panic at the moment, people are afraid they are going to lose their jobs and won't be able to obtain salaries to support their family. Absolutely terrible for the people who feel the blow, but is there any possitive effects of this recession? Haven't we been in an amazing need for something like this to happen?

Here's a movie I found which shows you some interesting, humoristic insights of what we're actually complaining about at the moment. Surely it is a totally different perspective as what we heard the last couple of weeks, I promise..

The need for a chief innovation officer

2009-02-23T12:36:00.004+01:00

I was reading the innovation part of businessweek.com and the following title grabbed my attention:

"Obama Needs a Secretary of Innovation"

After one phrase about how innovation should be merged into the new government of the USA, the writer of the article, Thomas D. Kuczmarski, continues with some very interesting thoughts about how innovation is a must for companies in the present crisis-situation.

"I often debate with chief executives about the importance of hiring a chief innovation officer. They often don't see the need. They argue that innovation is everybody's job. Or they confuse it with research and development and say it already is being done. My point—and it applies to economic recovery as much as it does to product development—is that innovation is a multidisciplinary and disciplined process that needs to be managed and led. If everybody is in charge, then nobody is, and little gets accomplished, if anything at all. Or worse—and this may sound familiar to anyone who has followed Washington—there is a lot of action based only on guesswork, not on a careful exploration of what really is needed."

"Now, in the midst of recession, companies need to innovate more than ever. Yet too many are choosing instead to hunker down, postpone investments in R&D, and avoid risk-taking until the market has stabilized. The companies that continue to build an innovation culture and make modest investments to keep the innovation pipeline full will be the ones that enjoy a big competitive advantage a few years from now."

Read the whole story here

I got something you can touch right HERE!

2009-02-11T16:48:00.006+01:00

Without expressing my opinion...watch this movie...

It is truly hilarious !!!

Endlessly zooming on Tokyo

2009-02-10T13:27:00.004+01:00

In addition to the message of Dirk below, I will add a link to an extraordinary picture. It consists of 602 photos of 6 Megapixels each. They are merged into a photo of 112,794 x 55,100 pixel or 6,2 Gigapixels. This results in the possibility to zoom almost endlessly. Awesome!

http://photoartkalmar.com/ZOOMIFY/tokyo.html

Enjoy discovering Tokyo!

There also is the website of the memorabilia of The Hardrock Café:

http://memorabilia.hardrock.com

New way of browsing

2009-02-06T13:27:00.017+01:00

I added a picture which seems to be an ordinary picture. But experiment with it after clicking on it (fullscreen would be nice). Pretty awesome isn't it?! It is a made with a program of Microsoft called Seadragon. They say this will be the, hassle-free / scroll-free, new way of browsing...

And what about this one:

It looks like the navigation of picture-viewing on the iPhone. Now we can also do it with pictures on the internet and with our mouse.

Of course, the picture of our class, beside our beautiful faces, is a little bit dull. Imagine what you can do if there is a picture in a picture and an overall rich background. Experiment with the next example (link):

Website Bike

Again it looks like an ordinary picture, but look at the squares. There is text in it and also pictures. Zoom in on them. You can see things that were not noticable in the general picture at the beginning. When you are zoomed in and you press the home button in the screen you go back to normal again and you can see how far you were zooming in without noticing it.

Am I the only one who finds it rather addictive??

'The hidden side of everything'

2009-01-19T19:26:00.001+01:00

Definitely worth reading is Freakonomics in which Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner search for the hidden side of everything.

Steven en Stephen also decided to create a weblog dealing with important questions. Take a look!

Additionally, one of the questions answered in the book is Why crack dealers still live with their moms; definitely worth watching is the following movie in which Steven Levitt gives an answer on this question. Definitely worth watching!

A regular day at Logica

2009-01-15T23:42:00.002+01:00

I love the smell of Whoppers in the morning...

2009-01-04T22:04:00.005+01:00

As a reaction to the contribution of Dirk, the Duracell Energy Drink, I also found quite a sensational brand extension...

Does the smell of grilled meat make your mouth water?

Fast food restaurant Burger King captured the scent of America's favorite burger Whopper. "Behold the scent of seduction, with a hint of flame-broiled meat" (see www.firemeetsdesire.com)

For only 3,99 dollar you are the proud owner of Flame, the fragrance for non-vegetarian men...

New perspective, new meaning; World's First Undersea Sculpture Park

2008-12-20T03:27:00.009+01:00

Imagine diving down deep clear water to explore underwater sculpture park that sing the saga of the lost world. Is it hard to believe? Believe it, for the next few minutes you are going to explore this unique sculpture park by Jason de Caires Taylor. Some may find it eerie and some fantastic, but none can neglect them and pass away, for their tide of attraction is stronger to pull you back to the warmth of the sea underneath.

The underwater sculpture gallery is a project aiming to create a unique space which highlights environmental processes and explores the complex relationships between art and its environment. The project is a platform to promote the re-generation of marine life. It uses sculpture as a means of conveying hope and environmental awareness. It even helps us understand the need to protect the natural world. Jason Taylor was inspired by the works of Richard Long, Christo and Claus Oldenberg, who focused on the connection between the object and the environment.

Currently there are 65 sculptures in the park covering the area of 75 square meters. All the sculptures weigh around 20 tons. Jason started sculpting images from February 2006 and ended the whole project on June 2007. The sculptures, sited in clear shallow waters help the viewers to have an easy access to divers, snorkellers and those in glass-bottomed boats.
( source; www.underwatersculpture.com & http://living.oneindia.in )

Watch the movieclip to feel a new way in experiencing art..

( source; www.underwatersculpture.com & http://living.oneindia.in )

2008's best books on innovation

2008-12-18T11:32:00.011+01:00

On businessweek.com i found a list of the 10 best books on innovation in 2008. I made a selection of three books, with a short introduction, that can be very inspiring for us Imagineers:

1. The Game-Changer: How You Can Drive Revenue and Profit Growth with Innovation
Authors: A.G. Lafley and Ram Charan
Publisher: Crown Business

Procter & Gamble (PG) CEO Lafley and management consultant Charan reveal how P&G and companies such as Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and Nokia (NOK) have taken steps to create fresh products and new markets by making innovation a key corporate strategy. In addition, they look at such practical matters as how to best manage risk when pursuing goals that lack precedents inside a corporation.

2. Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies
Authors: Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff
Publisher: Harvard Business Press

Li and Bernoff, both analysts at Forrester Research, present a clearly written and refreshingly grown-up look at social media used by entire corporations, and not just Gen Y staff. They present real-world business narratives of how companies from Best Buy (BBY) to Ernst & Young use blogs, Wikis, and social networks to create, promote, and share new ideas, both within corporate walls and among consumers outside them.

3. Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations
Author: Clay Shirky
Publisher: Penguin Press

Author and New York University faculty member Clay Shirky describes the profound impact of social-technological tools on contemporary culture—from e-mail and blogs to Twitter and wikis. Shirky's book is an example-laden history of the development—and impact—of such tools. For instance, industries such as music and media writhe in a state of turmoil, with no clear strategies to deal with the rise of mass amateurization and cheap and easy distribution. In the author's view, we're living in the middle of a revolution as momentous as that which followed the invention of the printing press. Society and industry are being radically reshaped.

Also don't forget to look at the entire list which also includes 'the new age of innovation' by C.K. Prahalad and M.S. Krishnan.

Going to the barbershop.

2008-12-17T09:45:00.004+01:00

Talking about digital entertainment, watch this movie. This is really playing with your brains isn't it?

Wii Music: Where is the love?

2008-12-16T15:22:00.005+01:00

Consumers from all over the world don't seem to be blown away by the newest Wii game, Wii Music. According to an analysist of USB business bank, it is possible that Wii Music will turn out to be the first major disappointment of Wii.

Last November, an important present-shopping month, only 297,000 copies of the game were sold in the United States. Both Wii Play and Wii Fit sold twice as much copies.

A spokesperson of Nintendo Netherlands states that due to the new concept and the fact that people have to get used to it, Wii Music doesn't sell as fast as Wii Fit. He also claims that they didn't expect it would be a success right away.

Wii Music players (or musicians?) can either play instruments like tambourine, saxophone or drums alone or with others. Using the Wii remote in the right rhythm, it seems that the players are playing real instruments. Groovy!

The game doesn't contain any form of performance reward, unlike other music games (Guitar Hero!). Especially real gamers have to grow accustomed to this. They say in that way, it is not a real game. Also, the general public doesn't seem to get to concept right away.

Yes, it is all about extrinsic motivation when it comes to gaming!

Hereby a true classic game song! Enjoy! I think the drums sound pretty cool, but the other instruments...

Duracell energy drink

2008-12-16T10:30:00.009+01:00

This is a great example of how a brand can extend their portfolio by thinking outside the box. Duracell introduced an energy drink with the looks of their battery lay-out.

I followed some blogs that also posted about this new product and the reactions/comments were very different. Some found it great and others thought that it was absolutely silly.

I think it is magnificent. The scope of Duracell, with their batteries, was extremely narrow and because of heavy competition they had to come up with something different. I see batteries as mobile energy suppliers. Therefore an energydrink, to my opinion, is a perfect combination. I am looking forward to also have Duracell coffee, fruit, energybars and maybe even sporting clothes/shoes. Why not? They all can supply the consumer with mobile energy. Direct or indirect.

What do you think of it?

Look at their website for more information about the Duracell Energy Drink.

Left or right thinker?

2008-12-05T10:05:00.011+01:00

Because we were so busy with the theory about how our brain works and in particular the difference between the left and the right part i have an easy test for you.

Look at the dancer. Is she moving clockwise or counter clockwise?

Most people see the dancer moving counter clockwise. But when you focus on something else next to the dancer you can see a change in the movement.

If you see her moving counter clockwise you are using your leftbrain and if you see her moving clockwise you are using your rightbrain.

Nice and simple example. Let me know what you observe!

Function of left brain (e.g.):

- Logic
- Focussing on details
- Facts rule
- Words and language
- Mathematics en science
- Recognize patterns
- Practical

Function of right brain (e.g.):

- Uses sense
- Bigger picture (vs. details)
- Imagination
- Symbols and pictures
- Fantasy
- Dares to take risk
- Philosophy and religion

Inspiration, anyone?

2008-11-27T15:00:00.009+01:00

Remember the movieclip of the advertiser and the consumer, sitting in a restaurant and talking about their relationship? The makers of the commercial 'Bring the love back - The Break Up' won already four awards for this creative, inspiring, but most of all funny movie. Right now their second movie is presented on the Internet. He is still an advertiser, she is no longer a consumer. Does he have a plan? And will she buy it? I would invite you all to see this 'Inspiration, anyone?'.

Inspiration, anyone?
Geüpload door geertdesager

Bringtheloveback.com

Innovation for Hard Times

2008-11-27T12:21:00.003+01:00

On businessweek.com i just read the text beneath. To make sure that i will not invalidate or take the edge of the text i shamelesly copied it. I want to stimulate you to read the rest of the text on Businessweek.com

The article is written by John Hagel and John Seely Brown. They are co-chairman and independent co-chairman, respectively, of Deloitte LLP's Center for Edge Innovation. John Hagel writes a blog at Edge Perspectives. Their monthly column, Innovation on the Edge, explores what executives can learn from innovation emerging on various forms of edges, including the edges of institutions, markets, geographies and generations.

(I added the link of his blog in our blogroll)

The intro of the article:

Innovation for Hard Times

"Cutting staff or programs while demanding more of your workers will yield diminishing returns. Executives should seek leverage to create economic value

By John Hagel and John Seely Brown

Everyone is familiar with financial leverage. It is a powerful way to improve performance when times are good. The danger, of course, is that financial leverage magnifies the impact of downturns in demand as well. It can literally kill a company, as we are witnessing in the financial-services industry.

But there are other forms of leverage. And executives should be searching for them in order to navigate the current crisis and allow firms to continue to create economic value, rather than becoming a victim of the destruction in value unfolding around us."

...

Effectively harnessing capability and learning leverage requires another form of innovation—institutional innovation. Companies will have to redefine governance structures as well as the roles and relationships required to effectively mobilize and coordinate activities of large numbers of firms. There's significant complexity in trying to scale the number of participants in networks and conventional rules might not apply.

This institutional innovation should be pursued in rapid increments. Rather than reimagining from the ground up a fundamentally different way of organizing activities across thousands of participants, companies need to find pragmatic ways to move from where they are today in ways that generate near-term financial returns. The well-known case of Procter & Gamble's (PG) "Connect and Develop" program illustrates some of the opportunities that can be reaped by building broader networks to source promising product ideas. Nearly 50% of P&G's products today have benefited from some form of external collaboration. Other companies might follow this example to position themselves to pursue even more powerful forms of capability and learning leverage, especially once the economy recovers.

Business model innovation

2008-11-25T11:07:00.007+01:00

With great pleasure i read the blog of Bas van Oosterhout (basvanoosterhout.com). Earlier this year he presented his thoughts about business model 2.0; manage your value chain. I found this particulary interesting because Bas is a consultant at capgemini and i was very pleased to read that they adopt these kind of thoughts which are closely related to imagineering.

Hereby, the presentation he made about this topic.

| View | Upload your own

Self-scanning at Albert Heijn (Kaatsheuvel)

2008-11-24T21:46:00.011+01:00

Some of you might have heard of the self-scanning system in the Albert Heijn. Since 2006 the organisation of Albert Heijn has been focusing on a new innovative ways of shopping in supermarkets. Since the end of this year’s some shops in Utrecht, Eindhoven and Helmond have used this system and after a lot of adjustments to the method it is now being implemented to other smaller cities in the Netherlands.

As I knew some of you have heard about it but haven't seen it yet, I decided to go to the Albert Heijn in Kaatsheuvel. Here the system has been implemented a couple of weeks ago while the store got totally renovated.
I brought my camera and made some pictures of the system, I have also been able to talk to the supermarket's manager to discuss the efficiency and use of the system.

In general this is how the system works. When you enter the supermarket you bump into a wall full of scanners (see above). You have to put your own bonus-card in front of a big company-scanner which will activate one of the hand-scanners. This way the hand-scanner is linked to your account of Albert Heijn. (You can only use the system if you have a bonus card.)

Once you have your hand-scanner you can walk through the supermarket with both your trolley and hand-scanner to run your errands (see below). While you grab a product you scan it yourself and it will be added on a list which is shown on the hand-scanner (see photo). It is an easy to use system, you can add things easily and can erase products as well. (btw, don't worry about me harassing ladies in the Albert Heijn, she volunteered to be a model..)

Once you have scanned all the items you need, and placed them in your trolley, you can go to the final stand which contains again a company-scanner which is able to make a total list of your errands. Your discounts will be subtracted and you can pay by using a chip- or regular bankcard.(see below)

This system has a lot of advantages for the people who don't like to spend too much time on running their errands. Employees of the Albert Heijn will still be present near the scanner-walls to answer any of your questions, but as these questions are far less than the regular personal attention at a register, the amount of employees which are needed to help the customers have decreased immensely.

Also employees will check some of the trolleys on a sampling basis to make sure people stick to the system. Then again, the management board is aware that even though some people might forget to scan any of the items, or may steal them on purpose, this is an neglect able amount as it does not even come close to the regular costs for personnel at regular registers.

In general an interesting system which could be an incredible efficient system. The only problem that the supermarket experiences so far is that it takes a while to convince everybody (especially the elderly) to use the system. Therefore they are obliged to still use the same old-fashioned cash registers as well. Ah well, maybe it just needs some more time.. Actually I am quite a big fan of the system so far..

Geek Squad

2008-11-16T16:21:00.005+01:00

A good example of using people's common perspective on computer experts, in an appreciative way. This company at the moment is a well-running organisation in the USA and also started new agencies in Spain, UK and Canada.

British Futurist / Futurologist Patrick Dixon

2008-11-15T13:07:00.003+01:00

Some of you already heard of this movie, but I would definately recommend everybody to watch the movie if you have the time.

In the movie Patrick Dixon speaks about the future consumers, lifestyles and online communities - impact of new technology, communications, wireless networking on business and personal life.

In my opinion, pretty in line with what we have been working on the last couple of weeks..

Power of perspectives..

2008-11-15T00:19:00.008+01:00

After the classes of Vincent Platenkamp I started thinking of some other examples which could explain the relevance of different perspectives..

Need of multiple perspectives

As I mentioned during class, one good example of a movie which gives you a good insight in how important different perspectives are is; vantage point. This movie is based on the principle that you need the perspective of all the people involved in one single scene (the assassination of a president) to get the complete picture. Underneath you can find the trailer of the movie. (If you have the time, I recommend you to watch it. If any of you needs a copy of the movie let me know.)

Trailer of the movie 'Vantage Point'

Power of using just one particular perspective

In contrast to this movie, I wanted to show you some pictures of an amazing artist callad Julian Beever (or also called; the Pavement Picasso)

Painting of the Pavement Picasso, made with crayon. As you can see it looks like a nice 3D drawing of our planet, sketched on one of the most busy places in Edinburgh city. His art is amazing as you can see, the only thing is that people can only view his art from one perspective. As you can see in the next picture..

This is just one of his great drawings, for more examples please take a look at the following website; http://users.skynet.be/J.Beever/pave.htm

Imagineering Startpage

2008-11-14T23:56:00.013+01:00

I wanted to inform you that during summer I designed my own startpage on the internet which contains all relevant information on imagineering related subjects. Reason that I started this homepage is that I thought it was pretty difficult to find any platforms that have combined some of the elements of Imagineering the way we know it.

Please have a look at the webpage; http://imagineering.startpagina.nl

(picture above is example of one of the items on the startpage, an office building of Longaberger Basket Company, Newark/Ohio..)

Unfortunately it is in Dutch, but some of the links will be self explanatory even for the foreigners amongst us. Thing that I like is that this startpage contains quite a lot of practical examples on companies that have thought outside of the well-known box.. (or reshaped their box like whe have learned could be an interesting perspective as well.. ;) ) I also included a list of nice buildings/concepts to see when you go abroad during trips. Some of these companies are well known, other ones I bumped into myself during some of my trips.

Most of the items posted on the startpage are found during my own research, or I got inspired by books. I would like to ask you, if you could keep your eyes open, and if you would have any advise on things that could be added to the website to let me know, It would be a nice place to get some sort of an overview on Imagineering related topics for both us as future (imagineering) students.

Google.org; searching for solutions

2008-11-12T17:18:00.006+01:00

Companies nowadays include the wellbeing of the (global) environment in their objectives to spread positivism around their brand(s). Today i read an article about how Google (via google.org) tries to prevent people from getting the flu by letting them know when the risk of being 'infected' is the highest. They are actually not measuring how much people have the flu, but they make conclusions based on the searches that have been done on topics related to the flu and the outcomes are strikingly accurate.

This flu-initiative is one of the outcomes within their overall 'global challenge' aspirations via five major initiaves which are mentioned in the text below.

They state:

Google.org aspires to use the power of information and technology to address the global challenges of our age: climate change, poverty and emerging disease. In collaboration with experienced partners working in each of these fields, we will invest our resources and tap the strengths of Google’s employees and global operations to advance five major initiatives: Develop Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Coal, RechargeIT, Predict and Prevent, Inform and Empower to Improve Public Services, and Fuel the Growth of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises.

You should definetely take a look at their website if you want to learn/know more about it, because they have a lot of initiatives that can boost the wellbeing of the earth (people as well as the environment)

The American Human

2008-11-05T20:13:00.004+01:00

This is not a rant or rave about the shortcomings or greatness of the United States. It is actually a post made because I have found some interesting things on the country and it's position in the modern era and I would like to "spread the wealth around" (little campaign humor) with you all.

I will present you with contrasting views on different subjects and leave things free for interpretation:

First, I would like to present to you a magazine: Adbusters. Written with a, sometimes nauseating, pessimistic editorial line, it likes to critique modern western (mainly American) culture, sub-culture and counter-culture.

The first article has been much talked about and is quite interesting. I highly recommend reading the comments as well.

Hipster: The Dead End of Western Civilization
http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/79/hipster.html

Other interesting articles are:

America’s Slippery Slope
http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/78/america_slippery_slope.html

and

Quit Facebook
http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/80/quit_facebook.html

I recommend you surf around and I'm sure you will find interesting things, you may not necessarily agree on, but will give you a different perspective on a couple of things.

_____________

In contrast, I would like to leave you with a couple of articles about the election that recently took place. Find the links to imagineering, you will undoubtedly see obvious cross-over themes.

What Have We Created?!
http://www.newsweek.com/id/165658

How He Did It
http://www.newsweek.com/id/167582

An excerpt from an article:

Obama’s Third Way
http://www.newsweek.com/id/167607/page/1

"If he truly wants to mold the future, Obama will have to demonstrate similar leadership. His favorite thinker, Ralph Waldo Emerson, wrote in 1841 that "the party of Conservatism and that of Innovation ... have disputed the possession of the world ever since it was made … Innovation is the salient energy, Conservatism the pause on the last moment." To create a new governing majority, Obama must now embody the idea of innovation."

And finally the video of the speech, a great speech, where the tone themes of co-creation, dialogue, innovation, the view of others not as competition or rivals, a great purpose, "big hairy audacious goals", etc. are played in to really connect and get people behind you.

Make the world better through cookies...

2008-10-25T01:44:00.001+02:00

The clip from the movie I spoke of in my literature review:

Hi, I'm a MAC..

2008-10-24T13:10:00.002+02:00

I really am not going to elaborate too much, just wanted to show you some videos I found, that shows how relationships between "competitors" can evolve... as the leaders themselves evolve...

Please look at them in order.

This is the world we know now:

And mainly it is due to this attitude:

What you may not know is:

And:

But why I choose Mac:

To sum up:

' Whereas once I was blind, now I can see. '

2008-10-04T01:19:00.011+02:00

As we start this blog in an inspiring way with a great Ima movie example (thank you for that Mr. Romirez), I would also like to contribute to this kick-off of online co-creation.

In atmosphere of linking Imagineering to the white screen, I would like to recommend you guys also a great movie that has many great touch points with the New Economy we are exploring. I don't consider it as one of the greatest movies ever made, but with eye on service experience & transformation...it really is one of a kind.

The movie is called: The Game ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119174/ )
Synopsis: The main character of The Game, Nicholas Van Orton (M. Douglas) is a successful businessman, but his success has come at the cost of his family life; when the movie opens, he is divorced, distant from his caring ex-wife and cold toward his relatives and social environment. On Nicholas's 48th birthday, his little brother presents him an unusual gift, a game offered by a company called Consumer Recreation Services promising that it will change Nicholas' life.
During the movie the Game takes over Nicholas life, challenging all his norms & values by putting him in situations as being chased, saving people, and give up his material goods. At a certain point of the movie Nicholas (and you as a viewer) comes to the believe that The Game is a scam to expropriate his capital. At the end of the adventure of chasing the people scamming him, he accidentally shoots his little brother. At that moment Nicholas realized that everything he stands for in life, all his core values and principles weren't the ones making him ,or the people that were important to him, happy. But everything was too late now....he killed his little brother and life was no good for him anymore, he decides to commit suicide and jumps off a skyscraper.....

What happened next....check the last 8 minutes of the movie, and you will understand why this is a movie about an ultimate and intense staged experience that leads to a transformation companies in the New Economy can only (wet) dream of...

"In this room all of my dreams become realities...

2008-10-03T17:50:00.009+02:00

...and some of my realities become dreams".

Gene Wilder's interpretation of Willy Wonka states this phrase right before he opens the door to the heart of the Wonka Chocolate Factory, in the original version of the movie.

This, I believe is a truth that mirrors our aspiration in the upcoming year. A truth that should not only manifest itself in the constraints of a university classroom or an application company, but in as many places (physical or otherwise) as we can.

For this reason, I applaud the initiative of our classmates in creating this nook for the free exchange of information, entertainment, sources and other things we deem fit for sharing with each other. After all, we speak so much about communities and co-creation, let's put it to practice: let's customize the learning experience we will go through in this upcoming year.

In this spirit, I will carry on the theme of my post, and share with you one of my favorite movies... of course, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

The story of a man who manages his factory as a kid would, yet with a knack for constant experiments of innovation, a motivated work force (although a uniformed, nameless one) and resulting in the capture of children's dream. The magic that glued this together, as Willy Wonka, says in his song, is Imagination.

Once again, congratulations to the trailblazers, and I'm looking foward to reading everyone's contributions. I leave you with something I hope you enjoy.

Meet the students

2008-10-03T14:20:00.002+02:00

Welcome to this blog!
This blog is a collaborative blog which is created by twenty students of the Imagineering Academy. The Imagineering Academy is part of the Dutch NHTV University of Applied Science who specialises itself in Imagineering ('Strategic innovation from the experience perspective.').

The students attending this 12 month's course have different backgrounds and come from all over the world. In their midst their are students from Finland, Belgium, Germany, Brazil, Venezuela and Indonesia. If you would like to know more about the students, take a look at their personal profiles on the right hand side of your screen.