Crowdfunding is hot right now. You know it – you wouldn't be reading this website if you didn't. Everyone is talking about it. Whether it's the JOBS Act or good ol' fashion Kickstarter-style, everyone wants to get in on the craze. The easiest way is to perfect the art of niche cloning.

Policymakers in the US and UK amongst others have said they want to strengthen the use of evidence in policy making, through a greater reliance on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to establish the impact of programs and interventions. But before they introduce new rules and requirements to do this, they should consider another largely neglected source of evidence - the views of users of services themselves, which crowdsourcing could help to gather for them.

In continuing my string of shorter reviews, here's another beta site that's helping push the traditional workplace out of the realm we consider universally accepted, and introduce it to the wild world of microtasking and creative collaboration - Soylent. Soylent bills itself as a "crowd-powered interface: one that embeds workers from Mechanical Turk into Microsoft Word." It's apparently what happens when you have a crowd inside your word processor.

Today, too many organizations remain trapped in the quandary of accidental innovation. If they happen to stumble onto something innovative while working, then that is viewed as merely a secondary bonus that compliments their primary focus of short-term profit margins. Many established companies are proud of what they have been able to accomplish and achieve, and with good reason. However, avoiding what is thought of as unnecessary risks in order to maintain this success and not “rock the boat” can be a deceiving strategy for the future.

How exactly does crowdsourcing affects your business? In more ways that you'd think. As an innovative force, crowdsourcing shifts our attention from people to ideas. It breaks the egotism that says we, as leaders, always have to be at the center of our organization. What happens when you let your organization be driven by ideas?

99designs recently acquired 12designer, the Berlin-based European design marketplace and the second largest in Europe after 99designs.

The company expects that this acquisition will be able to give them the momentum they need to put in motion its aggressive regional plans and conquer a larger share of the European market. The company has stated that Germany and the other European countries account for around 15% of the 155,000 graphic design contests that the company held to date and that acquiring 12designer will allow them to better meet the needs of European customers.  

uTest, an in-the-wild software testing service built on crowdsourcing principles, today announced it has acquired mobile app quality tools company, Apphance, from its parent company, Polidea, in a seven-figure deal.

To maintain a healthy brain and lifestyle, sometimes it’s necessary to get out of your comfort zone and shake up the accepted formula. I'm not about to go running down the street in a dress and top hat for the sake of novelty, unfortunately, but I can eschew the standard format just once to provide a series of shorter reviews, instead of one big one. And conveniently enough, my next three platform reviews push the traditional workplace out of the realm we consider universally accepted, and introduce it to the wild world of microtasking and creative collaboration.

Chaordix recently secured CAD $1.5 Million in Series A venture capital financing which will allow the company to expand into new markets, as well as invest in its next generation of products. The venture capital financing was led by Yaletown venture Partners and features the participation of the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC).

As a marketer, you’re most likely aware of what crowdsourcing is and know of some innovative examples of how it has been used. But how much do you know about using it for your video marketing campaign? And how knowledgeable are you about the options you have if you do want to consider crowdsourcing?