The 2008 Chicago Innovation Awards
Past Winners 2006
37signals—Basecamp
37signals offers a portfolio of unique Web-based tools, including tools for project collaboration and communication, for personal and business uses. The company’s Basecamp, Backpack, Campfire, WriteBoard and Ta-da List products are designed to provide users a more efficient and simplistic way to perform their tasks.
“Check, Please!”—Television Show
“Check, Please!”—WTTW’s highest rated local program ever—gives local residents the opportunity to share their thoughts and opinions on Chicago’s diverse restaurants. The first of its kind, the show allows viewers a unique look into the Chicago restaurant world by offering diverse commentary on a wide range of Chicago eateries.
The Community Energy Cooperative—Energy Smart Pricing Plan
The Community Energy Cooperative introduced the Energy Smart Pricing Plan as an effective real-time tool for reducing the strain on the electricity infrastructure, encouraging energy efficiency and saving consumers money. The success of the pilot program has demonstrated that the nation’s first residential and market-based tool for measuring electricity use is the wave of the future. It will become available in Illinois in 2007.
FeedBurner—The New Communities Program
With its Feed Management technology, FeedBurner helps publishers of blogs and podcasts measure their audiences and sell ads, as well as enhance normal, everyday feeds so that publishers have the ability to distribute the feed for use in any RSS reader.
Goettsch Partners—111 S. Wacker
Goettsch Partners’ architectural design services have won multiple awards for environmentally friendly buildings. The firm designed the first project in the country to receive the LEED CS Gold rating, a national standard for sustainable design. The design and construction of the 111 S. Wacker building focus on flexibility, efficiency and economy with some of the latest office building technologies.
LoggerHead Tools—Bionic Grip Wrench
LoggerHead Tools developed the Bionic Grip wrench, a new, open-ended gripping tool that combines the versatility of an adjustable wrench with the functionality of a pair of pliers. This hybrid universal tool symmetrically distributes force around the workload-distributing force over 240 degrees.
Motorola—Finger-Writing Recognition Software
Finger-writing technology brings the convenience of text messaging and email right into the user’s finger by using a smooth keypad on the phone with special sensors and cutting-edge, finger-writing recognition software. The latest Ming PDA phone that uses this technology has quickly established itself as the best-selling smart phone in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Ocean Tomo—Live Intellectual Property Auctions
The intellectual capital merchant banking firm Ocean Tomo has created Live Intellectual Property Auctions that enable the sale of expertise and intellectual property in a revolutionary way. The auctions were the first of their kind to facilitate the buying and selling of patents, trademarks, copyrights and domain names.
Sara Lee—Soft and Smooth Made with Whole Grain White Bread
Sara Lee’s new Soft and Smooth Made with Whole Grain White Bread looks, tastes and feels just like white bread but is made from a blend of enriched white flour and whole-grain flour. This innovative bread product redefined one of the largest food product markets in the country.
USG—SHEETROCK® Brand Lightweight All Purpose Joint Compound–with Dust Control
USG’s SHEETROCK® Brand Lightweight All Purpose Joint Compound–with Dust Control has a special patented formula that binds up fine residue during sanding to form heavier particles that fall to the floor instead of clouding the air. Construction dust is greatly reduced, which increases worker productivity, keeps air dust-free and reduces the cost of cleanup.