Meet the Winners
2011 Edison Green Award Recipients
With Green technologies and sustainable solutions playing a large role in the redevelopment of Main Street, USA, the Edison Green Award™ recognizes an organization's commitment to developing sustainable solutions and Green business models. The Edison Green Award™ is designed as a platform to recognize efforts to reduce participating community's carbon footprint, create Green Collar jobs through new innovation methods and improve community health and self sufficiency.
We congratulate the 2011 Edison Green Award winners, and invite you to learn more about these companies:
Preserve - GOLD
 This packaging manufacturer creates recycled consumer products using plastic resin that is typically not recyclable, and offers its products at an accessible price. Preserve collects #5 plastics (typically the least desirable plastic) via its "Gimme 5" program. Consumers can drop off their #5 plastics at participating stores - such as Whole Foods - to be recycled into toothbrushes and razors offered by Preserve. Preserve combines socially and environmentally responsible business practices with groundbreaking design to create products that people feel good about.
Johnson County Community College -- SILVER
 This college successfully led its entire campus to institute initiatives dedicated to sustainability, ultimately creating a positive impact on the surrounding community as well. JCCC has committed to educating the public about sustainability in addition to training the workforce needed for tomorrow's "green jobs." Programs include a storm water treatment project, planting fruit trees for the "edible schoolyard," solar trash compactors, a cardboard compactor, hydration stations to facilitate reuse of water bottles, and more.
Kaiser Permanente -- BRONZE
 A "Sustainability Scorecard" was developed by Kaiser Permanente requiring all its suppliers to comply with the organization's green initiatives before they can be considered for bids, a first in the healthcare space. The "Scorecard" is a first-of-its-kind tool in health care, requiring suppliers to provide environmental data for $1 billion worth of medical products and equipment used in Kaiser Permanente's facilities.
Click here to view a list of all 2011 Edison Best New Product Award winners. For more information about the Edison Green Award and the Edison Best New Product Awards, visit www.edisonawards.com. |
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A Look at Some Common
Product Development Blunders
New Book by Marketing Vet Calvin L. Hodock
 In his book, "Why Smart Companies Do Dumb Things: Avoiding Eight Common Mistakes in New Product Development," author Calvin L. Hodock employs case studies to address the reasons these errors occur as well as their effects on investors and employees. Hodock examines those who misjudge their markets with "dead on arrival products," the perils of "fatal frugality" and "timetable tyranny," among other such "dumb" practices.
"This book rocks with practical and perceptive candor, and down-to-earth advice. Any company can improve its new product marketing and financial success batting average by adopting Cal's principles," said Peter Klein, recent Senior Vice President for Strategy and Development, at the Gillette Company, and founder of PK Associates.
Calvin Hodock is a former Chairman of the Board of the American Marketing Association. He is a nationally recognized authority on marketing and product innovation. His marketing credentials were earned at the Gillette Company, Bayer, and Johnson & Johnson in senior management positions. Cal teaches at a variety of institutions on the East Coast and is a long-standing member of the Edison Awards Steering Committee and can be reached via email at calvinhodock@hotmail.com. |
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Just Ask Nielsen 
Attendees at last month's Edison Awards' "Meet the Innovators Forum" enjoyed a brief presentation by David Parma, President of Innovation Services at
The Nielsen Company. Parma's remarks, titled, "Inside Innovation - What Matters Most," left the audience hungry for more from the company known as a global leader in measurement and information. Parma's team came prepared with a collection titled "Just Ask Nielsen," containing timely tidbits of valuable market information gleaned from its recent research. Here are just a few enlightening examples:
Q: The average American home now has how manyTV sets
per household?
A: 2.5
Q: Which sports fans are the heaviest social media users?
A: NBA fans
Q: How many US consumers would consider purchasing an
electric vehicle?
A: 7 in 10
Q: What percentage of health & beauty purchase decisions
are influenced by word of mouth?
A: 58%
Q: What percentage of Americans simultaneously watch TV
and surf the web in their home?
A: 56-60%
Watch future editions of our e-newsletter for more valuable "Just Ask Nielsen" data. The Nielsen Company is a prominent sponsor of the Edison Awards, and David Parma is a member of the Edison Awards Steering Committee. |
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What Winners are Saying
"The Edison Award Gala was an event that will live with me forever. Never before have I personally felt so honored and humbled. As an inventor, we take risks every day and disrupt the normal flow of human behavior. Sometimes you wonder if you have enough strength to try once again to make your invention really work. The Edison Award provides ongoing national recognition of our invention, which fuels the fire of perseverance to keep inventing even in the face of failure. The Edison Award is a validation that at CAPS the impossible is possible."
 Donna M. Deeds
Executive Director,
Center for Advanced Professional Studies, Blue Valley School District, Overland Park, KS
The school district's CAPS program won the Gold Edison Gold Best New Product Award in the Living, Working & Learning Environments category. |
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Are YOU an Innovator?
If you and your colleagues are working on a new product or service that will launch in 2011, make sure you're on our list. You'll want to know as soon as nominations are open (September 1, 2011) to be sure you get in the running for a 2012 Edison Best New Product Award. |
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