Leonard Wit has filed a lovely Q&A with Eric von Hipple, the hot maestro of open innovation. It's a lovely interview and Leonard challenges the MIT professor with some tough questions. But we need a good introduction for those of us new to von Hipple's ideas. So step right up. It's an unparalleled opportunity to showcase your talent. . .

-30-

Once Bill Gates became richer than God, he created Corbis, which was supposed to do for photographs what Microsoft did for word processing.

Corbis has spent tens of millions of dollars buying the digital rights to almost every iconic picture and almost every photograph ever shot that didn't end up in a shoe box in your grandmother's attic.

But now Corbis may turn into a digital dinosaur. The proverbial meteor threatening this 'old line' Goliath is, of course, crowdsourcing - or should I say photocrowdsourcing. Read all about it in Tuesday's New York Times or click here (sorry about the delay but I live in the sticks and can't get home delivery. So I don't dive into The Times' underbelly until it's approaching history.}

-30-

If this were an episode of the television series "Batman," this is the point were the action would freeze and "Zap" would tear across the screen. And, of course, there would be some atonal sound to highlight the impending crescendo.

That's all to say Edward Domain, the lead reporter on the Threadless story, is passionate about the project. His enthusiasm borders on exhilaration. "I have an appointment scheduled with Threadless May 9, as they couldn't do it sooner," he writes in an email. "But to give you an idea of my excitement for AZ, I am taking a personal day to get over there during business hours and get the interview with the Jake's (co-founders) and do the diligence of being there to write a good review."

So feel free to join his team. What should he ask? What do you want to know about this trend setting company? Have you submitted a design? How did it go? What do you think Threadless teaches us about business? About the future of business?

Edward is a prince of a guy. So I have no doubt that he'll be more than happy to front your questions when he visits the company. And his interviews will go much better if he's forearmed with information. So make like Robin and help out Batman - sorry, Edward.

-30-

Greetings. I'm Lindsey and supposedly editing the Business section of the project. But, as a writer, I've never appreciated editors until after the fact. And as a baby boomer, I had a natural disdain of authority - which in journalism is represented by editors. I had to learn with each story that a fresh pair of eyes helped my work, provided a fresh perspective and saved me from making a total fool of myself.

I'm way too old and settled in my ways to switch sides and become an authority.

So I'm planning to edit the section through crowdediting. I see my function as little more than an odd amalgamation of librarian, social director and tour guide. I'm hoping that you'll inundate the business section with information about your passions, desires, experiences, etc. The stories in the business section are really about how people live, love, work and play and about how crowdsourcing is changing the way the world works.

So please don't hesitate to join the fray. Let us know about crowdsourcing gurus, companies and organizations. Who is the crowdsourcing Bill Gates? Who has figured out how to use crowdsourcing to make a buck? Or a billion? How to turn the planet green? To save Africa? Kiva.org, a platform to support entrepreneurs in poor countries, is well known. But who else and what else needs support? Who else and what else is making a difference? And how did they do it?

-30-