Business Idea of the Day

Sporkings: PepsiCo, the owner of Mountain Dew soda brand has rented a bowling alley in Brooklyn to throw a “taste test” party. They were testing the brand new “Ultraviolet” diet soda. Most of the guests were Twitter users and fans.

cnet News: URL-shortening services are abundant and becoming more so. They’re usually designed with a priority on minimum character length, not easy reading: Is.gd, Bit.ly, Twurl.nl, Tr.im, Sn.im”, Cligs, and TinyURL. So what’s new now?

examiner.com: Crowdsourcing is a phenomenon that is gaining fast acceptance in the business community and beyond. It has the potential to affect business quite fundamentally and can usher in radical changes to business models and business processes everywhere. Crowdsourcing is a method that involves and uses “crowds” (i.e., large, undefined, randomly distributed, undirected, unsupervised groups of people) to performs tasks and accomplish goals. Here are 2 live examples of successful crowdsourcing: MOBILE PHONE DESIGN As recently as April - June 2009, LG crowdsourced the design of their next mobile phone. In a job posted to crowdSPRING in April 2009, LG has issued a challenge to people everywhere: Design the future of mobile communication device.

FT.com: In recent years, some forward-thinking chefs, who believe that personal expression and creativity are more important than slavish devotion to symbolic luxury goods, have abandoned the antiquated approach of haute cuisine, a style of cooking traditionally based on a few select ingredients. These forward-thinking chefs are seeking out the highest-quality ingredients, usually from their area, without regard to their place in the traditional fine dining canon.

FT.com: There is a new movement afoot. Just as the self-build trend is gathering pace, so too is a new wave in do-it-yourself (DIY) projects for the home – embracing everything from plumbing, woodcarving and pottery to robotics, electronics and recycling.

Packaging Digest: Clever spin on packages such as bottles with diffusion closures, multi-dimensional shapes, feel-good visuals. Winners of the 46th Annual Package Awards competition of the National Association of Container Distributors (NACD, www.nacdnet), evaluated in February in seven categories, demonstrate clever shapes, functionality and decorating options. Honored during the association’s 2009 annual convention in Las Vegas, in April, the winners include Gold, Silver, and Bronze Awards that were presented to the top three containers in Cosmetics/Personal Care; Drug/Pharmaceutical; Food/Beverage; General Industrial; Household Chemical/Automotive; Novelty; and Pet & Vet categories. Other awards presented include one for a creative Use of stock components, the Bernard M.

Chalfont St Peter: Mums from across Bucks are set to unite when Chalfont St Peter hosts what could become the first of many baby fayres. The event, which will take place on Saturday, September 13, is designed so that women working in the baby industry can promote their businesses to other parents. Paula Atkinson, of Lansdown Road, Chalfont St Peter, came up with the idea after she started her own business, Chiltern Baby Massage. She said: “I have met lots of women who are in my position, running their own business but struggling to find the time to promote what they do