It's been a spring season (in the Northern hemisphere at least) dominated by the crowdfunding news coming out of the U.S., but as we prepare to move into summer, the power of the crowd to create and innovate will begin to share a little more of the spotlight. I'd like to share with you two events of interest we've marked on our calendar, and a newly minted crowdsourcing pundit to watch for in the coming weeks as well:

• First up is Vator Spark's "Get Game" conference taking place this week in the Bay Area. The event is all about use game mechanics to innovate and give your startup a boost, something that the art of managing a crowd factors into heavily. As such, Trada's Niel Robertson will be own of the speakers talking about the intersection of crowdsourcing and gamification, as well as Gigya's Matt Foley. Robertson's session promises to provide insights on how to prevent your crowd from turning into a mob -- certainly sounds worthwhile.
   
• A major meeting of the minds is planned for later this month in Brussels with some of the leaders in the world of Open Innovation at the European Open Innovation Summit May 23 and 24. Representatives from Weyerhauser, Philips, Nokia, GlaxoSmithKline and others will talk about challenges and successes in developing open innovation strategies. A few interesting highlights to look forward to include a keynore on how to cultivate innovation amid the financial crisis, a case study in innovation from Lego and a debate on investing in open innovation platforms.
   
• Finally, one appointment of note -- NPR host Bob Garfield (of "On the Media" and also a contributor to Advertising Age) has been named Critic at Large for crowdsourced video ad agency GeniusRocket. Garfield will provide feedback on the platform's crowdsourced projects. 
  
  "Marketers and advertisers have a huge opportunity in crowdsourced content, and GeniusRocket's particular platform is especially attractive," said Bob Garfield. "The idea isn't to sort through haystacks for needles, but to help established creators understand a brief and deliver sound results. Yeah, there are more misses than hits. That's why I have a career. But the solutions are sometimes extraordinary - and extraordinarily unlike what agencies are apt to produce."