Posted: April 18th, 2012 in Innovation, Chicago Innovation Awards
Tom Kuczmarski, founder of Kuczmarski & Associates, discusses the Chicago Innovation Awards.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1eEaPx3rRM&list=UUB4EVHvVJGfFHaYIGEW1KNQ&index=1&feature=plcp
Posted: November 9th, 2011 in Chicago Innovation Awards
By Gabriela Mendieta
On November 8th, 2011, the 10th annual Chicago Innovation Awards were held at the Harris Theater in downtown Chicago. Every year the event continues to outdo itself in celebrating the creative spirit of the Chicago region and recognizing the city’s most innovative new products and services. This year’s winners encompassed the entire spectrum of organizational scale, from small start ups to larger, more established companies.
It was incredibly impactful to see how excited all of the winners were when they were called up to receive their awards. Red Frog Events, which creates fun and extraordinary athletic events through innovation, had almost their entire organization in the audience and were easily the loudest cheering section in the theatre. Narrative Science, whose proprietary artificial intelligence platform turns data from structured sources into insights, brought their entire organization to the ceremony and each employee was brought onto the stage. And Fresh Moves, a mobile product market which operates out of a retrofitted city bus, had their entire team present on the stage to receive their People’s Choice Award--plus each team member wore a bright yellow t-shirt over their business attire to commemorate the event.
Seeing the excitement and passion of the winners, particularly from those companies who brought every single employee to the awards and onto the stage, accentuates just how important recognition is in innovation. Recognition and Rewards are a key component in creating and building cultures of innovation, however, many organizations tend to put this on the back burner based on the standard view that “Everyone is supposed to be innovating all the time, so why recognize employees when they’re just doing their job?” In reality, innovation requires time, resources, and dedication on the part of those individuals who are working directly on innovation projects and an organization’s (particularly Senior Management’s) recognition of that dedication and hard work can have a profound impact on those individuals. It can deepen their commitment and dedication to the organization, as well as their work in innovation.
Ultimately, based on the excitement and enthusiasm exuded by this year’s winners, it will be very exciting to see what they do next! I won’t be at all surprised to see the 2011 winners being honored again at the Chicago Innovation Awards in the future.
Posted: October 26th, 2011 in Innovation, Chicago Innovation Awards
by Rishu Mandolia
One of last week’s Sun Times’ editorials discussed the constant need for Chicago to demonstrate its innovative spirit to attract entrepreneurs. The editorial, City needs to show it’s a magnet for innovation showcases the Chicago Innovation Awards as an example of an effort promoting innovation in Chicago, and highlights past winners and prominent Chicago starts-ups, Groupon and Turbo-Tap.
Innovation is not easy, and needs all the support it can get. Civic associations, such as the Chicago Innovation Awards, provide a way to encourage entrepreneurship in cities - with tangible results. For example, 27 of the winners have generated over $20 billion in revenue and 10,000 new jobs in the last decade. Unsurprisingly, the Chicago Innovation Awards has also inspired others outside Chicago. For example, the Indiana Innovation Awards was modeled after the Chicago Innovation Awards and shares similar goals to promote innovation in its region.
These efforts are great case studies in how cities can help create a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship. Key to the Chicago Innovation Awards’ growth has been support by the City of Chicago and many other business associations in the city. The awards’ Board of Directors lists members from many prominent groups in Chicago – all working together to reach similar goals of economic growth in Chicago.
Disclaimer: Kuczmarski & Associates is the co-founder of the Chicago Innovation Awards. Established in 2002, the Chicago Innovation Awards promotes innovation and the creative spirit of Chicago by focusing attention on the most significant new products and services introduced in the region.
The 2011 awards ceremony is on Nov. 8th at the Harris Theater. If you are interested, you can attend for free by registering with the invite code 'celebration'.