Only so many new ideas?

I have to disagree with Jim Romanesko's comment today about the MyStarbucksIdea site. He said, "I think that's going to be one of their problems ... and something my readers have noticed: It's become redundant after three weeks. There are only so many good ideas." Jim, have you ever realized how definitive statements like these typically get thrown back in your face in the not too distant future?

Just because there is a lack of originality on this board, having the opportunity to interact with thousands of customers directly is a huge advantage/opportunity for Starbucks. Facebook, CNN, Google, Microsoft, Krispy Kreme, all of these entities were formed by a single idea that generated at a point in time. If we had just ignored all of these ideas because they weren't included in the first three weeks of a brainstorming session with ten thousand of your closest friends, where would we be?

I say, leave the board up and more often than not, a good, if not great, idea will surface periodically. If nothing else, customers who feel they have a voice with the companies they conduct commerce with have been shown to be far more loyal than not.

Let's give it more than 3 weeks before we label this valiant effort by the folks in Seattle as "redundant".

You can read more from Jim at his Starbucks Gossip blog.