News / Innovation
Celebrating innovators in Bristol and beyond
In a bid to spread some positivity throughout January, a Bristol group has launched a campaign to celebrate the people working for positive change.
Kicking off on so-called ‘Blue Monday’, the Standing Ovation awards will seek to highlight the work of individuals across a range of sectors who are at the forefront of innovation and seeking to improve how the world works.
Startup Solverboard, together with the Bristol Innovators’ Group, is leading the campaign and they are inviting people in engineering, health, technology, manufacturing, education, science and more to join in and nominate the innovations or innovators that have inspired them via social media using #standingovation.
Organisers hope the movement will act as the “antithesis to Blue Monday”.
“The business world talks a lot about innovation, but it rarely shines a light on the innovators themselves. And when it does, it tends to focus on superstars like Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos,” explains Charlie Widdows, a co-founder of Solverboard and member of the Bristol Innovators’ Group.
“In 2020, the Bristol Innovators’ Group grew from 50 people to more than 300. It was a difficult year for many, so we focused on bringing people together to create positive change.
“After such a tough year we thought no one wants to spend any more time focusing on negativity, so we decided to launch Standing Ovation to celebrate everyday innovators – the people inside businesses who are on the ground, making positive change happen, day-in and day-out.”
The Solverboard team and Bristol Innovators’ Group want to celebrate the individuals working for positive change – photo courtesy of Solverboard
James Snelgrove, co-founder of Bristol Innovators’ Group and an innovation and growth specialist at Business West, adds: “Innovation is essential to the progress of society, every new product, technology or invention is built upon the innovations of the past – the people behind them, their mindset and determination, can inspire new generations.
“Bristol has a rich history of leading the world in new innovations and the Bristol spirit of collaborative endeavour is essential to our identity.
“Technology innovations have enabled us to connect with our colleagues and loved ones throughout 2020 and driving speedy responses to the pandemic. It definitely feels like the right time to stand up and give the people who are making innovation happen every day the recognition they deserve.”
Anyone keen to get involved can nominate someone via an online form and celebrate the innovators who have inspired them using #standingovation.
The nominations will be combined into a new report that the team Solverboard team hopes to publish in February to coincide with the annual Innovation Day.
Main photo by Joab Smith
Read more: Identifying ‘innovation blockers’ to help businesses succeed post Covid-19
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