Return to Quirky.com »

Author Archive

  • Mon, Jun 21 2010

    Summer Lovin’

    By shirley at 11:01 am

    Happy Summer Solstice, Quirkaphiles! It is officially the longest day of the year, which means more sunlight by which to invent.

    During last week’s Town Meeting, the community got to meet the expanded Quirky team, hear Ben describe our amazing progress on many fronts, and engage in a no-holds-barred live Q&A session. Jared Joyce didn’t even need to log on to participate since he was in town and decided to stop by for a visit.

    Naturally, the excitement led to the creation of our new favorite forum thread entitled “You Know You’re a Quirky Addict When……..” where community members confessed (or dare I say, flaunted?) symptoms of their addiction, like:

    “…you know what Persian Red is.”

    “…you talk about Quirky at least three times at a party over the weekend.”

    “You start a thread on the forum called ‘You Know You’re A Quirky Addict When…….’”

    Michael Taylor, creator of the thread, posted “…you call Quirky to see if they can just set the phone down so you listen to the Town Hall meeting and use your Blackberry to post about it in this thread!” immediately after speaking to me on the phone!

    As if there weren’t enough reasons to love Quirky, here’s one more, illustrated quite effectively by the original DigiDude himself, Matt Poprocki!

    • 4 Comments
    • Permalink
  • Mon, Jun 14 2010

    Go Ahead, Make My Luck!

    By shirley at 11:00 am

    From penicillin to Silly Putty, many of today’s best known products were discovered by accident. Don’t fret! Even if you don’t think you were born lucky, there are ways to increase the odds in your favor. The main article in this month’s Psychology Today delves into the mystery of serendipity and how to harness its power for yourself. For the full read, you’ll have to hit the newsstands, but here are some salient points that might increase your Quirkability:

    1. Believe in good luck. By simply believing that opportunities abound in the world around you, you will notice more opportunities.

    2. Be open-minded. Try not to prejudge people and experiences. By keeping an open mind, you may spot opportunities that others overlook. It’s ok to have a goal so that you know in which direction to move forward. But you don’t have to plan every detail in advance. Leave room for improvisation. You never know what the world may throw your way so you want to leave room for nice surprises. In product idea terms, you may want to invent the next great toy, but don’t confine yourself to a narrow interpretation of what that toy must do or be for now. Just look to the world around you once you have a category narrowed down.

    3. Be fearless. New experiences are scary and many people say no to the exciting chances that come their way. Obviously, you need to weigh the promise of an opportunity against the risk it presents, but try not to say no right away. You might be surprised at what happens when you choose to say yes.

    4. Do not be scared to fail. Every fork in the road is a choice. And even lucky people wonder what might have been if they’d followed that other path. Nobody is perfect. Nobody makes the right choice 100% of the time. The trick is to always learn and then to move forward. The point is that even when old opportunities slip away or don’t work out, there are always new ones around the corner. And it’s never too late to take full advantage of those opportunities.

    Good luck, Quirks!  (not that I need to say it!)

    • 2 Comments
    • Permalink
  • Thu, Jun 10 2010

    Inspiration You Can Chew On

    By shirley at 2:38 pm

    The thought of an American diner can conjure up nostalgic references like bottomless cups of joe and hearty slices of apple pie (with cheddar cheese melted on top in some parts of the States).

    Did you know that the idea for the very first diner originated with Walter Scott, a part-time pressman in Providence, Rhode Island? Walter worked the night shift and noticed that his co-workers had no place to go for food and drinks. He began selling snacks on the job to meet this need and eventually used his profits to open his own business. Et voila! A cultural icon was created as a result of identifying a demand and creating a practical solution.

    It’s fitting that diners evolved as a result of good old-fashioned entrepreneurial spirit. After all, both are as American as, well, apple pie!

    Well, Quirks, I hope that inspires you to look at the world around you with fresh eyes. And please feel free to tell us about other entrepreneurs who have inspired you!

    • 3 Comments
    • Permalink
  • Mon, Jun 7 2010

    Compostapalooza Science Fair Project!

    By shirley at 1:52 pm

    The abundance of creativity in the Compostapalooza round was inspiring, so it was a treat when the LES Ecology Center asked Quirky to provide an informational display for their annual Celebration by the East River fundraiser event.

    I took off running with an idea to riff on the classic science fair project by devoting one panel to the timeline of Compostapalooza, one panel to a detailed description of the winner, and one panel to explain the unique product development process that defines Quirky. Within an hour, I had buried myself in a mountain of pink paper flowers, green grass stalks and colorful gummy worms (which I had to remind myself not to eat once they were covered in spray adhesive). I even got to add a woven basket to hold Quirky pamphlets!

    After the display was delivered to the event in the East River Park, guests gathered excitedly to read about Compostapalooza and the Quirky process. Luckily, nobody tried to eat the gummy worms!

    The LES Ecology Center was founded in 1987 to offer recycling and composting programs in New York City. The Ecology Center now offers a number of public programs to teach the community about local environmental issues, including free compost collection and education.

    • 1 Comment
    • Permalink
  • Fri, Jun 4 2010

    Petal Drops Influencers

    By shirley at 3:40 pm

    Great news! Petal Drops is getting ready to launch soon. Although the packaging does not have room to list all of the influencers, we want to thank everyone for the abundance of great ideas which made this product possible!

    Pieter Laga,39.94; kelly saglibene,7.55; david einar,7.08; Bill Burton,5.23; Jenny savariego,1.15; Mindy Kaufman,1.10; josh Spear,0.89; Dan Matarazzo,0.79; Kathleen Lydon,0.79; Catherine Burnett,0.77; quirkyjeff,0.65; Michael Cavada,0.64; Jenny Heil,0.63; Ryan Quarles,0.61; Brian Bouwman,0.60; Chris Tutor,0.60; Matthew Poprocki,0.60; Matthew Toghill,0.58; Micah Goodman,0.58; Ezra Glenn,0.57; Susan Childress,0.55; Ezra Karger,0.55; daniel horton,0.55; HSIN-YI CHOU,0.55; Jeff Jarosch,0.55; L. Downing,0.55; Erik Cohen,0.55; Elad Meshulami,0.55; michael harris,0.55; Mark Howson,0.50; Arezou Beirami,0.50; Christi Helsel,0.50; ethan,0.50; Rees Maxwell,0.50; Darya Gol,0.50; Hamed Nilforoshan,0.50; Spencer Battle,0.50; Michael Manning,0.50; Bruce Bussing,0.49; Scott Galloway,0.49; Renny Fong,0.49; yael miller,0.47; Benjamin Sheung,0.47; regina gelfo,0.46; Jared Fiorovich,0.46; Laurie Fox,0.46; Sandra Lehr,0.43; Delphine Dumon,0.35; Judi Sigler,0.32; Lee Novich,0.28; Paul Natland,0.24; olivier sepulchre,0.23; Wivine Packeu,0.23; David Parker,0.23; mitch lowe,0.19; Ruth Mortensen,0.16; Yvonne Smith,0.14; Margaret Ashenden,0.14; heather bryant,0.14; Sumit Bohra,0.14; Stephen Johnson,0.13; bruce gilardi,0.12; David Isaacson,0.12; sandra gonzalez-toritto,0.12; joshua meyer,0.12; Stacy McDade,0.12; Patricia Earnshaw,0.12; Scott Kehoe,0.12; Tina Peterson,0.12; Chris Jones,0.12; Andrew Troutt,0.12; Holly Bee,0.10; Simon Novich,0.09; Joseph Antolick,0.09; Cody Whitby,0.09; Helena Martin,0.09; Christine Helfrich,0.09; Novich Simon,0.09; Ben Kaufman,0.09; Da M,0.09; John Lambros,0.09; Kristin Ross,0.09; David Kay,0.09; Liz McKay,0.09; Gabriele Mongardi,0.09; Jamie Thomas,0.09; James Gooden,0.09; Simon Novich,0.09; D M,0.09; Michael Mick,0.09; Lisa Zunich,0.09; Robert Park,0.09; StatusQuirk,0.09; Wade Filewich,0.09; Chris Bohlin,0.09; Vicente Di Cunto,0.09; YAO-TING MAO,0.09; Stephen Stewart,0.09; Rachelle Uy,0.09; Clare,0.09; Brendan Donovan,0.09; Florian Hoeper,0.09; Ian Patrick Co,0.09; Carson Kulp,0.08; Aviva Gutin,0.08; Mark Ramos,0.07; David Walczyk,0.07; Liz Carlin-Smith,0.07; Melissa Havens,0.07; Lucille Berry,0.07; Melinda Battle,0.07; Jimmy Bint,0.07; Luk Van Geldre,0.07; millie sloan,0.07; Michael Mueller,0.07; Paul Maré,0.06; Garrett Gourley,0.06; Jennifer Willis,0.06; dond,0.06; nicolas abdallah,0.06; Terry Long,0.06; Liz Studlick,0.06; Kelli Kent,0.05; Martin Gertsen,0.05; Hannah Williams,0.05; Stephen Tan,0.05; Radek Pall,0.05; Graham Rosendorff,0.05; Rafael Soto,0.05; Bill Andrews,0.05; Patrick Dersjant,0.05; Euan Walker,0.05; madnis 5150,0.05; jake ruesink,0.05; Ant Vance,0.05; Katie Cordrey,0.05; matej pelicon,0.05; zhandra tam,0.05; Ivan Chong,0.05; Adam Rosendorff,0.05; James Canning,0.05; Charlene Cunningham,0.05; Steve Levine,0.05; Melinda Himel,0.05; Homer Trecartin,0.05; matthew restucci,0.05; fernando smith,0.05; Jason Moore,0.05; David Roberts,0.05; Joann Burton,0.05; jimmy banaszewski,0.05; Nik Eastburn,0.05; Spencer Daly,0.05; Leslie Darhansoff,0.05; Jennifer Ammons,0.05; Myrna Harris,0.05; Brian Grays,0.03; David Beegle,0.03; Jonathan Rumore,0.03; Jason Kidd,0.03; James Lee,0.03; Michael Ward,0.03; B Durfee,0.03; Sierra Head,0.03; Shawnee Cook,0.03; William Tylko,0.03; Hannah Cherry,0.03; Vincent Cheng,0.03; Mandy Bowen,0.03; Davis Farris,0.03; JJ Gertler,0.03; Ari Salomon,0.03; Alex de Beer,0.03; Carolyn Thompson,0.03; Anna Lin,0.03; Nathaniel Merriman,0.03; Jene Hullett,0.03; Bobby Heuser,0.03; kristyn woodland,0.03; eric ransom,0.03; Hil Omernik,0.03; Duylam Nguyen-Ngo,0.03; Dave Wood,0.03; Nilson Pascoal,0.03; Samuel,0.03; Craig Rich,0.03; RSpencer,0.03; Ryan Meashaw,0.03; Gareth Browne,0.03; Samuel S,0.03; Brian Curley,0.03; Emanuele Fantin,0.03; Scott Shay,0.03; Daryoush Derakshandeh,0.03; Farès Fayad,0.03; Ruth Murray,0.03; Davis Foster,0.03; Patrick Hiller,0.03; Alison Buhler,0.03; david skora,0.03; Daniel Gary,0.03; Michael Mattox,0.03; Lorie Shaull,0.03; Kaari Jae,0.03; Marjorie Sarnat,0.03; Ruthie Arbeiter,0.03; Roy F,0.03; Matteo Bersan,0.03; dean elazab,0.03; Alex Salkin,0.03; Christopher Chiou,0.03; Sam Cowan,0.03; TroyTess,0.03; Nathan Burkhardt,0.03; karry constable,0.03; Christine Hendrickson,0.03; Eric Richie,0.03; Halldór Nilsson,0.03; David Kirk,0.03; Andrew Scott,0.03; Jennifer Soucy,0.03; Stephen Bozzone,0.03; Matthew Taverni,0.03; Christopher Tom Wong,0.03; Mark Barbolak,0.03; Stalias,0.03; Alison Holbach,0.03; Michael McCoy,0.03; Matthew Bellas,0.03; Joao Mesquita,0.03; Aaron,0.03; Marc Barrer,0.03; graycloud rios,0.03; Graham Lee,0.03; Natalia Rakowski,0.03; Levi Breederland,0.03; Jason D,0.03; Steve Goldberg,0.03; Peter Rust,0.03; James Clevenger,0.03; Matt Kopecki,0.03; Carly Perez,0.03; Toren Shahar,0.03; Ed Abrams,0.03; Ian-Sebastien Sweeney,0.03; Thomas Morgan,0.03; Kristen Shamis,0.03; PattiD,0.03; Sam Mathews,0.03; Sergio Rodrigues,0.03; Daniel DeLong,0.03; Robin Carra,0.03; Kathleen Gannon,0.03; Franziska Luh,0.03; Thane Gill,0.03; Blaine Warkentine,0.03; Roger Tobiasz,0.02; T P,0.02; William Potash,0.02; Wendy Pesce,0.02; Rohan Likhite,0.02; Kim Li`,0.02; Jeanne Jones,0.02; Carol Mangis,0.02; Rand Howard,0.02; Sofia Baptista,0.02; luke schulze,0.02; Chunwan Tseng,0.02; Liyang Ding,0.02; Mark Maggi,0.02; Tyron Haberland,0.02; hari patnaik,0.02; LIEN CHAU,0.02; AARON MCCREA,0.02; Rauno Villberg,0.02; micah spear,0.02; Nate Rumore,0.02; Susan Davis,0.02; Todd Davies,0.02; Anita Stevens,0.02; Fung Chi,0.02; Heather Shaughnessy,0.02; steven mccarthy,0.02; Cody,0.02; Jake Cohen,0.02; jason port,0.02; Wan Tseng,0.02; Tal Sharon,0.02; Bethany Bobo,0.02; Aushvill Damonte,0.02; Jean Starling,0.02; Micheal Abbott,0.02; Ashley Rhinehart,0.02; Lundin Cahill,0.02; Brandon Abbott,0.02; Bill Kobs,0.02; April Davis,0.02; Voravut Ratanakommon,0.02; Stephen Poprocki,0.02; Amber OKeefe,0.02; wing li,0.02; Malice Grant,0.02; Annette Sosic,0.02; Carol Flinn,0.02; Amanda Peters,0.02; marilyn tirpak,0.02; Jill Sharon,0.02; Jessica Ngo,0.02; Jill Israel,0.02; Maryeileen Corcoran,0.02; Cynthia Zeh,0.02; April Rollins,0.02; benny ou,0.02; stephanie Burns,0.02; Harmony Dashut,0.02; maren gandy,0.02; Dave Nowak,0.02; Beverly Gary,0.02; Michiko Charley,0.02; Krisann Gentry,0.02.

    • No Comments
    • Permalink
  • Fri, Jun 4 2010

    Coffee Love

    By shirley at 12:55 pm

    It began with a bag of coffee beans, shiny and new and mocking me with its unbreachable packaging. I tugged, I pulled, I came this close to using a hammer on it, but a concerned co-Quirker stepped in with a pair of scissors and common sense in the nick of time.

    Next came the grinder. Given the bag debacle, I was understandably nervous about using a machine with moving parts and blades. It took a while, but I escaped with all 8 fingers* intact and a batch of freshly ground beans releasing their dark musky promise of caffeine into the air. The brewing process went comparatively smoothly.

    I started to think (after my second cup). My difficulties had stemmed from the fact that I needed coffee before I could function enough to make coffee. In a way, Quirky deals with a similar dilemma during the development of each new product because we create market demand for something which does not yet exist. Our community members submit ideas which solve everyday problems. These are problems that people may have been dealing with for years so their natural response is to want the solution right away. However, Quirky still has to take that idea and make it into a tangible product, and do it in such a way that it lives up to everyone’s high expectations. My coffee bean struggles pale in comparison to this challenge.

    This week, as we celebrate Quirky’s first birthday and the incredible goals accomplished thus far, we also look ahead at all the great things we hope to achieve in the future. We are always growing and learning here. And, perhaps it’s the caffeine high talking, but I truly believe that we are building something amazing together, my dear Quirks!

    *Yes, 8 fingers. Thumbs are opposable digits. Oh, did I scare you for a second?

    • 1 Comment
    • Permalink
  • Tue, May 25 2010

    The Power Of Community

    By shirley at 5:47 pm

    Dear Quirks,

    This past Saturday, I participated in the Hudson River Pageant to raise awareness of the special ecology of the river and its surrounding areas. The procession began in the marina behind the World Financial Center in downtown Manhattan and meandered northward along the water.

    The performers were all dressed in intricate costumes that a team of volunteers had crafted during the year leading up to the parade. In addition to the beautiful clothing, everyone marching was painstakingly hand-painted to match his/her costume. I was dressed as a rainbow, and it took 90 minutes for an artist to paint and beglitter me. Around me, people dressed as aquatic creatures, elements of nature, and plant life rushed around the staging area to get ready.

    Once the parade started, we marched to the sounds of a live band, waving and chatting with interested spectators. Along certain points of our route, we stopped for performances which celebrated nature. There was an aria by an opera singer seated on a high cliff wall wearing a two-story long woven dress which hung down a la Rapunzel, a boat dance, and a harmonic chant concert, to name just a few.

    As one of the participants, my day started at 8am and ended at 7pm. Rather than feeling tired at the end, I was invigorated! A cast and crew of almost 500 people had come together to make this event happen. It made me think about the power of a community to reach seemingly impossible goals and how fortunate I was to have been involved.

    As one of the newest additions to the Quirky team, I feel that same happiness every day I come to the office. This is such a unique online community of people excited to work together to make amazing things happen!

    Thank you for inviting me into your world. And please, feel free to share what inspires YOU!

    • 3 Comments
    • Permalink
  • Thu, May 20 2010

    Hello From Shirley!

    By shirley at 5:21 pm

    Greetings, Quirks!

    My name is Shirley Chan, and I am joining the community as your newest ambassador.

    Here’s a little about me. After graduating college, I ran away to London for half a year and earned my beer money with various gigs like being a temp receptionist for a design firm where my head was projected on a 2-story screen to greet visitors a la The Wizard of Oz. Word to the wise: the British find American accents insanely charming. Ironic, huh?

    Eventually, the English major in me spoke up (quite eloquently) and pushed me to explore journalism, magazine and book publishing. Within book publishing, I discovered my strengths as a production manager and built up knowledge communicating with authors, editors, designers and book printers. From there, it was a natural evolution to join the passionate group of people at Quirky to help achieve incredible things.

    To acquaint myself with this new world, I have been reading the forums filled with your comments and suggestions. Of course, I still have a lot to learn so please feel free to introduce yourselves. Chances are, if you’re an active member, I’m already familiar with some of your thoughts and ideas.  Can’t wait to get to know you!

    • 8 Comments
    • Permalink
Page 15 of 15« First...10«1112131415

Latest Tweets

Connect With Us

  • Follow Quirky Inc on Twitter
    Keep up with us on Twitter!

Tags

Archive

© Copyright 2009 – 2010 Quirky Incorporated