Launching a new national awards program only weeks before the Christmas break probably wasn’t the smartest decision we’ve ever made. Extending the deadline to land on Australian Day wasn’t the smartest follow-up idea either.

However, we can assure you that, of the 861 products nominated for our inaugural ‘Smart 100′ Index, some doozies are in our Top 100.

While we can’t announce the winners until 2 April 2009 (with the release of our Apr/May/Jun edition), we can bow to your prolific and very persuasive emails requesting a sneak peak at ‘who has entered’.

Where are the applicants based?

This graph speaks for itself. The two states where most people in Australia live were also the most prolific entrants. Hats off to Tasmania, however. With a population not much larger that a regional city, it produced 3% of the entries!

How big are their companies (How many people do they employ)?

While 51% of the organisations that entered employ less than five people, 19% employ over 20 and 11% employ over 100.

At first glance, this might seem atypical. However, large organisations (such as research institutes) are not renowned for entering competitions (mid-ranking researchers have other work to get on with).

Plus, they are also not known for their marketing flair. (A genuine pity, when you consider the potential at stake.)

To attract over 10% of entries from large multinationals we regard as an extremely promising sign for the program and innovation in general.

Did they come from the tin-sheds of lone inventors or the laboratories of large multinationals?

Once again, while the majority to entries came from private companies, 10 percent came from publicly listed corporations. Surprisingly, an almost equal number (13%) categorised themeslves as sole traders. (There’s innovative potential in them suburbs yet!)

Who completed the actual application?

We often ask ‘who’ in the organisation completed the application. This can say a great deal about the organisation behind it. It will also be interesting to measure the success of applications produced by marketing professionals against those produced by the innovators themselves.

What now? Watch this space, as we reveal further tid-bits on Australia’s most innovative awards program, the Smart 100. To learn more about the Smart 100, click here.