Dog beach concept could net woman a pretty nice payday
(sub) Dog beach brainstorm could net woman $10K
By Kevin Herrera
Daily Press Staff Writer
CYBERSPACE — If you were going to put a price on a great idea, 10 grand would seem a pretty good start.
That’s the amount Jack Alter, a former Philadelphia schoolteacher and founder of the credit card issuer Advanta, is willing to give away each month for the next six months as part of an idea-generating contest on the new Web site www.ideablob.com.
Alter’s big idea is to raise awareness about Advanta, as well as reward some budding entrepreneurs.
One such big thinker is Santa Monica’s own Georja Umano, of the group Unleash the Beach, which hopes to establish an off-leash dog park at a local beach — something which is currently prohibited in Santa Monica.
While Umano was in the lead with 223 votes as of Tuesday afternoon, she is facing some stiff competition from the seven other finalists. Voting ends today at midnight. It is free to register and cast a vote at ideablob.com.
“I don’t want to jinx it,” Umano said, refusing to delve deeper into her idea until after the contest. “I guess what I can say is that looking at the number of votes, you can see that there is nationwide support for dog parks at the beach.”
In second place with 204 votes is Kerrin Russell, from Maryland, a father of three who has created the light-up pacifier that glows when it falls out of a child’s mouth.
There is also Thomas Krieglstein, of Chicago, a 31-year-old entrepreneur whose idea is to develop freshman orientation software that integrates with MySpace and Facebook, popular social-networking sites on the Internet that have millions of members. Elizabeth Dehart, of West Jordon, Utah, wants to start a company that designs and installs rainwater collection systems for garden and yard irrigation.
3EF,“We’re thrilled that the initial group of finalists represents the diversity of small business and entrepreneurship across America,” said Ami Kassar, Advanta’s Chief Innovation Officer. “These eight finalists are great examples of the innovative spirit inherent in today’s small business community.”
Beginning Nov. 1, 2007, the ideablob.com contest will begin again with all new ideas. October entrants may re-submit ideas for November and subsequent months. Eight finalists who will compete for November’s $10,000 contest prize will be named one month from now.
If Umano wins, it is unclear what she will do with the money. Dogs are not allowed on Santa Monica beaches, local and state officials said. Dogs are banned at all state beaches because of several concerns, the most apparent being safety. State officials do not want dogs running loose on a crowded beach, especially Santa Monica, which is one of the busiest beaches in the country, said Ron Schafer, district superintendent for state beaches.
There is also concern about dogs disturbing wildlife habitat and their feces and urine polluting the water.
“It is a very emotional issue that people are very passionate about,” Schafer said. “It winds up being very contentious.”
There were talks recently of establishing a dog beach at Dockweiler, just west of LAX, thought those efforts have since waned.
Assemblymember Ted Lieu, who represents Dockweiler Beach, was approached by Umano and Unleash the Beach last year about establishing a dog beach there, but legislation was never introduced, Lieu’s spokesman said.
“I guess what I can say is that looking at the number of votes, you can see that there is nationwide support for dog parks at the beach.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 31, 2007. Read the original PDF.