I stumbled on your project blog only recently but found the whole effort exciting so I can imagine how you must feel being part of it. After I posted a story to my own readers on your project and some of the results I found interesting, I wanted to learn a little more.

My focus is open innovation and how US associations can learn to leverage it to create more compelling value for its members and society. I write about innovators who are applying open business models, product co-creation processes and those who are rethinking their business and products to become more sustainable (more profit by being more effective and efficient with less external costs to themselves in the way of regulation compliance or protection and to society itself).

I found your comments about trying to define “innovation” interesting. My guess is you chose to be transformative or discontinuous as a result of the business idea you just announced. If this is so, did you have any specific factors that it needed to drive?

Also interesting was your choice of a blog and webcasts to capture and collaborate with the outside world. Are you following any particular process of product co-creation (peer production if you prefer)? Are you planning to engage the outside world to help with the business plan? For instance, you might engage volunteers based on their area of interest and specialty to contribute to say a competitor analysis.

Here is a little more overview of the subject I posted on the subject to further clarify what I mean.

http://freethinkr.wordpress.com/2007/04/30/reward-reputation-part-2/

Also, I wonder whether you have considered crowdsourcing or crowdfunding models to provide some incentive models beyond the altruistic? Examples that come to mind like Cambrian House (Canada) or SellaBand (Germany).

I look forward to following along.

Peter

Peter R. Turner

opensource.association
a resource for remixing the 21st Century association
http://freethinkr.wordpress.com