MEALTIME is a publicly acclaimed pilot of the Internet Home Alliance, now a part of CABA. It has generated more than $14M in PR value. It has been the highest impact PR event for Whirlpool Corporation for 8 consecutive quarters in 2003 and 2004. Here is a list of hits from Google that allow you to understand further how big the impact was. A crisp fact sheet is available online.
I was the main project sponsor within Whirlpool, and our team took the lead in the pilot. It was due to our hard work, especially by the project manager Joanne Belanger tiredless effort that this whole thing came together. I provided guidance in the beginning (the idea to have each participant compile a short list of questions, no more than 5, proved to be critical for the success), access to criitical resources, and the political pull to get top level management attention. The video on the side was an interview done for Squawk Box on CNBC.
Here is a testimonial from Carla Stanmeyer, who with her company DynaBrand managed the PR for the pilot:
“I had the pleasure of working with Jay for several years while he was leading the Mealtime Pilot for Internet Home Alliance and Dynabrand was doing the PR. In addition to being a terrific guy, Jay's a great thinker. He has a gift for asking the right questions. He challenges himself and others to think more deeply and more creatively about solving problems, which leads to greater success.” (November 14, 2005)
Mealtime was a real-world test of a connected kitchen solution that enables consumers to use network-enabled appliances to simplify kitchen and meal preparation tasks. Pilot sponsors included Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Icebox, Sears, Roebuck & Co., and Whirlpool Corporation. A short video outlining the success is available online.
Consumers managed kitchen and meal preparation tasks from an oven, Web-enabled refrigerator tablet, Web-enabled entertainment/command center and WAP (wireless application protocol) cell phone, testing various capabilities around remote interface and control of the oven as well as internet access for recipes and creation of shopping lists.
Here is the technical architecture for this pilot.
The insights we gathered were substantial in so much as they proved (or disproved) several of the Urban Myths we had about the Connected Home.
MEALTIME is a publicly acclaimed pilot of the 
