Emily Pilloton of Project H Design is September Winner

Emily Pilloton Named Winner of National ideablob.com^® Contest for September’s Best Small Business Idea

 Pilloton and her initiative, Project H Design, believe design can change the world 

http://www.ideablob.com/ideas/3107-Design-educational-math-toys-fo

SPRING HOUSE, Penn., October 10, 2008 — Advanta Corp. (NASDAQ: ADVNB; ADVNA) announced today that San Francisco, CA resident Emily Pilloton is the September winner of ideablob.com’s monthly contest for the best small business idea, as voted on by the ideablob community. 

Pilloton’s initiative – Project H Design – is a nonprofit organization that supports, creates and delivers humanitarian and life-improving product design solutions. Pilloton has assembled a team of product designers, social entrepreneurs and manufacturers to get the project underway. After two successful initiatives, the team is now focused on designing and producing toys for elementary math education with applications in both the developing world and the U.S. retail market.

“We believe that the design industry should be less consumer-driven and more need-based to provide real solutions to real people,” said Pilloton, who believes industrial design can change the world. 

Using The Kutamba School for AIDS orphans in Uganda (an Architecture For Humanity project) as a case study, Project H plans to design elementary math education toys for the developing world, with a locally produced version of the toys for a broader distribution world-wide.

According to Pilloton, the $10,000 contest prize will be used for design, development, prototyping, user testing, and to develop a distribution strategy. The team will also invest in entrepreneurship consulting, and will fund the initial production of the math toys for both The Kutamba School and the U.S. retail production of the toy. 

“It is hugely gratifying that so many of our contest winners are socially motivated in their entrepreneurial ideas and ventures,” said Ami Kassar, Advanta’s Chief Innovation Officer.  “I’m happy to be able to say that ideablob is a part of that greater effort.”

Ideablob.com is a vital online community where tens of thousands of small business owners and entrepreneurs actively share business ideas, feedback, advice and support. In addition, experts from various industries take part in weekly ideablob discussions, offering their direct advice to site users for honing and implementing their business concepts. 

Advanta, one of the nation’s largest credit card issuers (through Advanta Bank Corp.) in the small business market, awards a monthly prize to the best eligible idea, as determined by the votes of the ideablob community. In recent months, Advanta has awarded the monthly prize to a “mom-preneur” seeking to put organic food in school vending machines, to software developers, to nonprofit leaders and to several social entrepreneurs.

To view Emily's idea and other ideas submitted by past ideablob winners, please visit www.ideablob.com.

There is no purchase necessary to enter the ideablob.com® Contest. Contest began on 9/24/07 at 12:00:00 am CT and ends on 3/31/09 at 11:59:59 pm CT. Open to legal residents of the 50 U.S. states and D.C. who are of the legal age of majority in their state of residence at the time of entry. Void where prohibited. Official Rules are available online at www.ideablob.com.  Sponsored by Advanta Bank Corp., PO Box 30715, Salt Lake City, UT 84130-0715.

About Advanta
Advanta is one of the nation’s largest credit card issuers (through Advanta Bank Corp.) in the small business market today.  The company’s exclusive focus on this market, as well as its size, experience, and commitment to developing meaningful product offerings and a high level of service tailored to the needs of small businesses, differentiates the company from other issuers.  Founded in 1951, Advanta has long been an innovator in developing and introducing many of the marketing techniques that are common in the financial services industry today.  Learn more about Advanta at www.advanta.com.

 
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08/25

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