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Pass The Ideas, Please
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August 11, 2010, at 06:00 AM
In the wild, wild west of the world wide web there is no shortage of ideas. The Internet is the untamed wilderness of ideas, which can be a problem if, for example, you just want to find and develop the best ones on environmental issues facing a city.
That’s where PassThePotatoes.com comes in. The new community crowdsourcing website by Environment Omaha—a partnership between the City of Omaha, the community and Omaha By Design—offers idea generation in a different setting: A virtual dinner table big enough for the entire city of Omaha.
“A lot of issues get discussed at the family dinner table while people are passing the potatoes,” said Connie Spellman, director of Omaha by Design. “Environment Omaha is all about creating an environmental vision for the future of our city, and we want to take this discussion to dinner tables across Omaha.”
Here’s how it works. Every two weeks through the end of September a new topic will be open for submissions. For example, a "Building Construction" focus will open Aug. 13.
When a topic is open anyone can submit as many ideas as they like while also providing feedback on the other ideas popping up on the site. Ideas that get seconded move on to a round of voting. The top ideas from each of the five topic categories will be reviewed by the city and a panel of experts at Omaha By Design.
Spellman said the ultimate goal is to implement one citizen-inspired idea within a calendar year.
The website, developed by Community ReDesigned and designed by What Cheer, went live on July 15 asking for ideas on how Omaha can preserve and enhance its natural environment.
Nick Bowman, a partner with Community ReDesigned, said the early response from the community has been encouraging. In a little over two weeks, the site pulled in 4000 visits and 300 users.
“Everyone’s been really pleased with the discussion that’s taken place. It’s been exciting to watch it evolve and there are still six weeks left so we’re hoping to momentum will keep building.”
A five cent plastic bag tax, something that has cut plastic bag waste and increased funding for environmental initiatives in Washington D.C., was the top vote-getter of the first session.
Currently PassThePotatoes.com is taking idea submissions on Urban Form and Transportation, with discussions to follow on Building Construction, Resource Conservation and Community Health.
