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The Forrester Groundswell Awards honors excellent and effective use of social technologies to advance an organizational or corporate goal. The award categories – Listening, Talking, Energizing, Supporting, Embracing, Managing and Social Impact – are based on the ideas laid out by the book. Groundswell was written by Forrester analysts, Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff. Based on consumer data and case studies from dozens of large and small companies, Groundswell takes a look at the permanent, long-lasting shift in the way that the world works. The awards began in 2007, prior to the book’s release on April 21, 2008.

We’re entering the competition this year in the ‘Social Impact’ category.

Entry Description:

Second Rotation is the company behind Gazelle, a Web-based service making a social impact by encouraging consumers to sell or recycle their unwanted consumer electronics in exchange for cash. Consumers first answer a few questions about their gadget’s condition, then Gazelle determines an offer by aggregating data from popular online consumer marketplaces like eBay and running algorithms against the current market price. If the offer is accepted, Gazelle provides consumers with a prepaid shipping label and free box. Once Gazelle receives the gadget and confirms its condition, consumers receive their payment via check or PayPal or can donate the value to charity. Gazelle ensures that gadgets with no resale value are recycled responsibly. To put things into perspective, a Gadgets for Gas widget shows consumers how they can subsidize high gas prices just by cleaning out their closets (e.g. a Motorola Razor equals 5.2 gallons of gas).

Goals:

Second Rotation’s business goal is to promote reCommerce, which is a new green approach to selling. This economic model was created to reward both consumers and businesses for prolonging the lifecycle of a product. The Gazelle service provides a free and simple way for consumers to get fast and fair offers for gadgets that they no longer use or need, supporting the products’ reintroduction into the consumer consumption cycle more efficiently.  If a gadget no longer possesses any resale market value, Second Rotation promotes responsible recycling by shepherding the item into the appropriate channel free of charge. This model provides a no-risk, economically rewarding outlet for consumers who are intimidated by the complexities of peer-to-peer selling or recycling options. So far, Gazelle is making a social impact by preventing tens of thousands of consumers from dumping over 5 tons of potential electronic waste into landfills

The site came out of a 12 month beta on 7/28/08 and is open to the public.