finalist q&a

The Playground Guide publishes directories of playgrounds for busy parents and caretakers. Their books are professionally designed, with included hundreds of photos and they tell parents everything they need to know to plan healthy, wholesome, low-cost outdoor activities with their kids. The books include directions, insight on bathrooms, parking, picknicking, equipment, ground cover and more. The books also tell you about cool places to visit like museums, art studios and kid-friendly restaurants and shops.

Safelyfe provides a free service that allows individuals to contact family, friends or neighbors in case of an emergency by just pressing a single button on their cell phones.

Luhrs Media Co. creates the easy-to-use, fun ColorCode Mode^TM Journals to help people of all fitness levels color their way to healthier habits.

I Go Coo creates products that engage infants and toddlers in developmental thinking and activities. Their products inspire learning through intuitive play and innovative design. Their first product to market will be an accordion-style book, designed to unfold and stand on its own so babies can enjoy it during tummy time.

This finalist offers branding and design of companies & software applications, with an emphasis on the overall user experience. Fresh ID will try to provide many other people--from work- at-home mom's with some graphic ability, to already successful freelancers, with a source of work and a community to belong to.

Transformation Underground is a mother and daughter collaborative effort to bring about positive change, following a "pay it forward" concept. They have created PASS IT ON CARDS-- a set of 5 cards that come in a deck. Each card embodies a positive quality, such as generosity, compassion, or kindness.

This finalist makes cards and mails them out automatically on dates specified. The service is great for those that are deployed in the Military; all they need to do is pick out cards they want mailed, give Fairy Tale Memories the addresses and dates for them to be sent and the company will mail them to the people they want.

Lesley Lotto is a veteran radio broadcaster who saw a need in small to medium sized markets for quality news (not rip and read), provided by broadcast journalists with college degrees! Her company provides news and host music and/or talk programming at dramatically reduced rates.

padma media and marketing creates strategic marketing and communications initiatives that target ethnic consumers, including bilingual and bicultural Hispanics and South Asians.

elixer coffee provides the community with a unique platform and destination to get the finest coffee and italian based beverages. They operate a retrofitted 1952 Studebaker truck with a fully equipped espresso bar on the back. It is a classic marriage of Americana with the outdoor cafe feel of Europe. They say they are strongly committed to sustainable practices throughout our business and educating consumers of better choices.