Winners of Ideas Competition Announced at AAA

By Timothy Cooke

At the 2013 AAA Conference, the Ida Institute introduced the three winning ideas that captured top honors in Ideas, Speak up - Action and Awareness for Hearing Loss, the worldwide open innovation competition for ideas with the potential to create public awareness of hearing loss.

At a well attended gala celebration, Ida Institute managing director Lise Lotte Bundesen and Niels Boserup, chairman of the Oticon Foundation, unveiled the three winners: Hearing Tone Test Card, a wallet-sized hearing checker; Look Who's Hearing, a public art initiative that fits famous sculptures with hearing aids; and The Three Monkeys: Eyes Checked. Teeth Checked. Hearing Checked, a clever mnemonic that promotes regular hearing checks.

"We recognize that to continue the good work of this project and to achieve increased public awareness of hearing loss worldwide will require a strategic, dedicated initiative," said Boserup. "The Oticon Foundation will investigate ways to develop and implement the worthy ideas."

"The Ideas Campaign sparked the creativity and passion of people around the world," said Bundesen. "All of the ideas focus on bringing hearing health and health loss into the mainstream of public awareness."

Honored at the event were creators of the winning ideas: Kasper Rubin from Denmark, Curtis Alcott from the United Kingdom and Khalid Islam from Bangladesh.

A VIP panel of judges representing thought leaders in communications, philanthropy, advocacy and academia, met in New York City in January to choose the top three ideas from among ten finalists representing the best of the best of more than 400 entries in the international competition.