by Genie Z. Laborde
- USA -

• Silicon Valley entrepreneurs (from left to right) Steven Apple, Lynn Douglas and Frank Gow weigh in on the financial crisis. Photographs courtesy of the author. •

Having experienced a downturn in my business after 9-11, I felt some concern about how the bailout and the predictions of further economic chaos would affect my debt and my income. I was more than a little curious about how others in business around me were dealing with this situation so I began asking questions. First, I asked people who know money and investments, then I asked my friends, and then, their friends.

I asked: “What do you think about the financial fiasco?” Sometimes, I re-phrased it as: “How do you feel about the financial fiasco?” Or “Does the financial crisis affect you?”

These three questions are similar enough but the responses I got vary greatly. Each person responded with emotion, evidenced in their voices, facial expressions, and in their choice of words. But each seemed glad someone had asked.

by Genie Z. Laborde
- USA -

It's hot because most people don’t know about it yet and it's cool because it makes money. Crowdsourcing is a way for companies to enlist the help of their own Internet clients to produce their products. Utilizing the "wisdom of the crowd" to its advantage, crowdsourcing attracts customers, content and "clicks" or traffic to a website or online company. The amateur producers in the “crowd” wish to see their creations and this turns them into customers or producers of "clicks," both of which are valuable roles on the Internet.