Not too long ago, we got Zipcar, eBay, and Netflix. We got Prosper and Kiva and Kickstarter. What do they have in common? They ask people to share in one way or another. These days, sharing is an industry thanks largely to new technology. And it's critical to the environment, the economy, and the way we live together as a society. It's also an industry that we don't know much about yet. In 2010, Latitude Research and Shareable Magazine conducted the first-ever comprehensive sharing industry to establish benchmarks for awareness and adoption of existing sharing services, as well as sharing attitudes and behaviors relating to everything from information to food to transportation to workspace to travel accommodations. The study also sought to understand the new "psychology of sharing". What are the perceived benefits of sharing? What motivates someone to try sharing initially? What are the barriers to sharing, and how do we overcome them? Looking to the future, the study was able to answer what user demands exist, but aren't yet being met, in this new economy of sharing?
Dori is one of the co-founders of Itizen, a platform that provides a way for people to attach digital content to physical objects. Users can check-in to an object and add their own digital message that can include text, photo, video, and/or audio notes for others to access. Notes are saved to users’ accounts and travel with the object no matter where it goes. Itizen’s objective is to create community around the things that we give and share.
Prior to launching Itizen, Dori spent 12 years in the advertising industry using emerging technology to develop large-scale marketing campaigns for retailers such as Target, Kohl’s, and Best Buy. During this time, Dori gained expertise in building brands and developing the trust and loyalty needed to establish meaningful connections with end users. Her background and vision helps Itizen provide turnkey marketing and user engagement solutions for businesses. Both Dori, and her business partner, Mary Fallon, also have extensive experience in the offline world that includes product development, print design and production, and a deep understanding of the brick-and-mortar retail environment. The management team’s combination of interactive and print expertise provides the company with the unique ability to create a compelling user experience both online and offline.
John Zimmer, the 26-year old co-founder of Zimride moved from New York City to Palo Alto in the summer of 2008 by carpooling across the country. At the time, John was (luckily) leaving Lehman Brothers, where he spent two years after graduating first in his class from Cornell University’s Hotel School.
John and Zimride have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and on ABC World News. He was recognized by BusinessWeek in 2009 as one of America’s Best Young Entrepreneur’s 25 and under.
John leads business development efforts at Zimride leading to over 100 university & corporate clients as well as exclusive partnerships with Zipcar and LiveNation. John’s favorite Zimride is New York to Ithaca.
Kim Gaskins is the Director of Content Development for Latitude, an international research consultancy exploring how Web technologies can further enhance human experiences. She holds expertise in psychology and consumer insights research, Web communications and marketing, and thought leadership consulting for organizations like The Knight Foundation, MTV, Wired, and The New York Times. Currently, Kim oversees content creation, visibility efforts and strategic partnerships for all of Latitude's open innovation studies: generative research initiatives that explore ways to improve everyday life through Web-based innovation, from future city design to education to the new, social capitalism. Kim is a contributor to Shareable Magazine and ReadWriteWeb. She is also collaborating on Swaptitude, an in-development skill exchange platform for the interactive community.
Neal Gorenflo is the publisher of Shareable Magazine, a nonprofit online magazine about sharing. As a former market researcher, stock analyst, and Fortune 500 strategist, Neal is perhaps an unlikely voice for sharing. A revelation in 2004 inspired Neal to leave the corporate world to help people share through Internet startups, grassroots organizing, consulting, and a circle of friends committed to the common good.
During this career shift, Neal worked on several sharing Internet startups including peer-to-peer asset sharing platform Moogul.com founded by Joel Maske in 2004, an online DVD exchange with Sunil Paul, a spinout of Cisco's corporate asset sharing platform, and white label asset sharing platform Divvy.com.
Neal also worked for green social network Care2.com and FAS.research. At FAS, he lead social network analysis projects to help restructure a leading foundation and map the agriculture industry for a sustainability strategy. To build community in the space, he co-organized monthly salons about alternative economy called The Abundance League for over five years.
Through his exploration of sharing, Neal met those who would co-found Shareable Magazine with him. Neal has become knowledgeable about the sharing economy through hands on work, primary research, writing, speaking, event organizing, and partnerships with leading innovators in the space. He has consulted with Institute for the Future, Claro Partners, Lowe's Home Improvement, and numerous startups.
In addition to his work at Shareable, Neal serves on the board of nonprofits Independent Arts & Media and ForestEthics, and is a Strategy Fellow at FAS.research and a member of Stanford's Persuasive Technology Lab. Neal earned a masters at Georgetown University's Communication, Culture & Technology program, the first graduate program focused on the impact of the Internet on society. He lives in Mountain View, California with his wife Andrea, a pediatrician, and son Jacob.
Prior to Rentalic, Punsri spent the first decade of his career in software, operations, and management with familiar names such as LinkedIn, PayPal, Oracle, InstallShield and Zynga. This, along with honors from University of Wisconsin, gave Punsri what Hacker.com called "business and technical chops and social networking credentials" while dubbing Rentalic "the most promising" player among emerging peer-to-peer sharing platforms.
Punsri built a team of Silicon Valley professionals, developed a patent-pending verification technology, launched the Rentalic.com site across the U.S., and quickly catalyzed the access-over-ownership cultural shift. He has since been fielding interviews from dozens of technology, business, and mainstream media while garnering awards from PayPal X Innovate,and even MakerFaire, and making calculated improvements to Rentalic. Recognized as an authority in the emerging sharing trend, Punsri has spoken on numerous panels and serves as an advisor to Sharable.net.
Rentalic began with a backyard project. Needing to haul some dirt, Punsri hesitated to repeatedly ask neighbors to borrow a wheelbarrow. Knowing this to be a common dilemma in a consumer society, he thought of peer-to-peer renting as a solution. With some security measures and a little bit of compensation, suddenly the idea of borrowing tools doesn't feel like sponging off a neighbor. In fact it's a fun way to save money and reduce consumption!
* More Information About Punsri: htp://www.linkedin.com/in/punsri
* More information About Rentalic: htp://www.rentalic.com/about
