I know most of you have by now heard, seen, or experienced some of the changes that we’re making at IdeaTango. As with all change, sometimes it can be a bit of a learning curve, but it will end better than it started - I guarantee.

We’re moving lots of areas of IdeaTango over to InventBay, so I’m sure you’re asking, WHY?
So that InventBay and IdeaTango are not duplicating the tools and information you receive, we’ve decided to have each site focus on not only different tools and information, but different stages of inventors.

• IdeaTango, as it has always, will focus more on inventors just starting out. We will be having more of a educational, news, and informational focus on the future. That means more interviews, more great articles from experts, and information that can help you take that first or second step.
• InventBay, with its solid positioning, will accommodate inventors that have already decided to work on their product. This includes inventors who have done design, engineering, or even a prototype. The new invention listings will be only for people who have some sort of intellectual property protection on their invention (provisional patent, trademark, utility patent, etc.).

So in a nutshell, IdeaTango will cater to those with an “idea.”
InventBay will cater to those with a “product” or “invention.”

IdeaTango helps the early-stage inventor.
InventBay helps the middle to late-stage inventor or business.

You LEARN HOW to invent on IdeaTango.
You INVENT using InventBay.

Of course, while we’re making some of these changes, you may have to re-learn how to use one or both of our sites. Although we’re doing our best to make the transition as seamless as possible, you may occassionally experience broken links or irrelevant information. Rest assured we are continuing to clean up both sites and make everything as clear as possible.

You can always contact us if you have any questions.

Bryan Daigle
President & Founder of IdeaTango

by Michael Collins, CEO of Big Idea Group and author of “The Million-Dollar Idea in Everyone.”

When the Hunt criteria and prizes are agreed upon by the client, we announce the Hunt to the inventor community. Then we wait while thousands of inventors from across the country (and some from across the globe) start dreaming up ideas and solutions. In the early days of running these innovation contests, I sometimes feared we would not receive many submissions or that the ideas would not be worth showing to the client. I have since learned to trust the inventors in the Big Idea Group network who never fail to impress me with their creativity and effort. Those who do particularly well, however, tend to do the following:

1. Follow the rules. One of the primary benefits of Open Innovation is that you have a client telling you exactly what they want—and are ready to buy. To make the most of that opportunity, follow the guidelines as closely as possible. Now I recognize that sometimes a good idea fits most, but not all of the requirements given. That is okay. We still want to see those ideas. But submitting something totally off course, like fishing gear to a garden tools Hunt, for example, is not going to work. (If you have a great idea that does not fit a Hunt, schedule time at one of our Big Idea Group Roadshows instead.)
2. Do your homework. Just as you would with an invention of your own, look in stores and look online to see if your idea is already out there. One tip for online research is to put the product benefits into your keyword search criteria. For example, if you search for Racquet Smackit, the name of your new tennis teaching tool, you probably will not find a match. But if you look for keywords describing your idea such as racquet, slice, training, you will find a few products with similar descriptions already on the market.
3. Look for prior art. You do not need to hire someone to do an exhaustive patent or trademark search, but a layman’s online search for prior art is recommended. If you find something similar but are not sure whether or not your concept infringes on the intellectual property, make a note of it in your submission and we’ll take a look at it ourselves.
4. Create a visual. Again, you do not have to spend a lot of money to get your idea professionally rendered, but a visual image created with Photoshop, clip art, or a picture of your popsicle stick prototype will go a long way towards helping us understand what your idea is. When we are sitting in front of stack of submissions to review, those with pictures or sketches are much easier to digest.
5. Give it to me in 10 seconds or less. Although in our sample submissions, we ask for marketing ideas, competitive products, and a variety of other specifications that may take several pages for you to explain, those details simply help us dig deeper once we have an understanding of what your basic product concept is. A quick sell sheet on top of the submission with a picture and a list of benefits is a tremendous asset in helping us quickly assess the viability of your idea.

Although we get hundreds of submissions for each Hunt, we do read through each and every one of them. Following these guidelines will help you create a more memorable presentation and help us to quickly assess the overall potential of your idea.

by Michael Collins, CEO of Big Idea Group and author of “The Million-Dollar Idea in Everyone”

Once we decide to stage a BIG Hunt, we work with the client to put together some guidelines for the contest and to decide on a prize structure. We have learned over the years that we are more apt to receive submissions that meet the client’s needs and have a good chance of being implemented if we provide a clear set of requirements. Below are a few of the key elements we focus on:

• Function. In the Staples’ Manila File Folder Hunt, the client wanted to increase sales of this well-known office product by adding features, but the winning submission could not change the function of the manila folder (hold and organize papers), add costs to the manufacturing process, or add features that would necessitate a change in supplier. In the Bell Bicycle Accessories Hunt, the client wanted accessories that installed easily and could be added to bicycles aftermarket (not part of the bicycle manufacturing process itself). In the Deflecto Compu-Desk Organizer Hunt, the client preferred modular designs over those that required any form of installation.
• Form. Shelf-life and stability are big issues for our food and beverage clients. They typically want products that can stay on shelves for a reasonable period of time without perishing or losing flavor or quality. Acceptable fruit forms, for example, may be those that are jellied, dried, freeze-dried or frozen. Sometimes form is equally important to non-food clients. The European lingerie company wanted new bra fastener and adjustment suggestions that would be durable and machine-washable.
• Cost. Although it may be hard for inventors to really have a sense of how much a product will cost, elements like electronics, sensitive materials, tiny parts that break easily, and designs that require extreme precision can sometimes make a good idea too expensive to produce. Other times, the application of the product drives the cost criteria. In the DEMCO “Date Due” Hunt, for example, the client needed inexpensive products to help patrons remember to return their library books on time. Since the product would be given away to patrons, the cost to produce needed to be as low as possible.
• Extensions. Products that have the potential for expansion are more desirable than those that are limited to one form or function. Most of our clients want a platform—a product they can build upon. The Backyard Safari Bug Vacuum we licensed to Summit, for example, turned into a plethora of Backyard Safari products including an adventure set, flying bug catcher, talking magnifying glass, bug habitat, and more.

While it may be tempting to submit products that do not meet the specifications asked for, chances of winning a Hunt without following the guidelines are slim. When the client is asking for something in particular, we try to give it to them. This is especially important because one thing innovation contests and the traditional invention licensing process have in common is that signing the deal is just the beginning of the many steps required to get a product onto the shelves and a royalty check into your mailbox.

Since a number of people and processes get involved after we hand over the winning entry, we work with the client to set up a prize structure that compensates winners upfront in case the project later gets derailed and royalties never materialize. Where possible, we also ask clients to provide additional cash and merchandise awards to significant contributors—people who are especially creative, submit several potentially good ideas, and who put in notable efforts. We like to recognize and reward as many people as possible in each contest.

In he walks, like a caricature. You can hear him before you can even see him. What is that sound you ask yourself? A kazoo. When you turn around to look at him, there is a 6 foot something, skinny, African-American man wearing a watermelon hat, a watermelon shirt, black slacks, and watermelon shoes.

That, my friends, is Wally “Famous” Amos in a nutshell. This exuberant positive energy exudes the room, lighting up everyone who sets eyes on him.

I had the pleasure of meeting “Famous” Amos, founder of “Famous” Amos Cookies, and hearing him speak at the INPEX show the other week. Here are the important points from his improvised talk.

Wally on History
Wally started with a history lesson, telling us that Ruth Wakefield invented chocolate chip cookies in the 19th century. She owned an in called Toll House, and her cookies became known as Toll House Cookies (like the brand that exists today).

Wally on His Life
Before starting retail stores that sold chocolate chip cookies, Wally worked in the entertainment business. As an agent for various entertainers – he booked the Supremes and other well known acts – he needed a way to stand out. Using a recipe given to him by his mother, Wally started baking chocolate chip cookies and using them as his calling card. Now he was memorable.

One thing led to another, and Wally became better known for his cookies over time. Quincy Jones suggested he open a store. After finding, losing, and re-finding investors (including Marvin Gaye) to back the first store to sell cookies, “Famous” Amos Cookies was born.

From what I gathered, his business was successful. However, somewhere along the way he didn’t manage the business properly and was removed by the company. Now a major conglomerate owns his name “Famous” Amos and has even sued Wally over trademark infringement.

After losing his business, Wally was in a rut. However, he pulled himself out of the rut by merely changing his attitude from one of negativity, to one of positivity. He has been the kazoo-blowing, watermelon wearing Wally ever since.

He has used his fame to improve literacy rates among children. Recently he has decided to again open retail stores selling cookies and toys. Find out more at www.chipandcookiestore.com.

Wally’s Words of Wisdom

• Life is funny. Life takes unintended directions. But that’s okay, just keep a good attitude and you’ll pull through.
• Work together – “I am more than I am, but less than we are”
• The small person wants credit, the big person wants nothing
• Everyone has access to the same resources he did, just look around, ask the right questions.
• Don’t worry about what others think – use that energy instead to move your product forward
• Don’t be defined by stuff, what you do, friends, or status – what really matters is that you know yourself.
• Everyone is unique. Everyone is a collector’s item.
• Giving is receiving

When a cell phone went off in the room. In true Wally fashion, he hummed his kazoo to the ringtone melody.

We briefly spoke to Wally and he agreed to do an interview with us. Stay tuned for more Wally!

Here is a short video we made with some of the inventors and inventions at the show this year…

IdeaTango headed up to Pittsburgh last week, for the INPEX Invention Show. For those of you that don’t know, the INPEX show is the largest invention show in the US, with roughly 330 exhibitors from across the US and World. This is a brief recap of the event with things we thought make the show a great event, and areas where the show could improve to make it up to the standard of industry shows such as the Housewares show, Hardware show, and Toy Fair. If you’d like to know more about the INPEX show, you can see our recap from last year.

Changes From Last Year
The most notable change from previous years, was the venue. This year, INPEX scored space at the eco-friendly downtown Pittsburgh convention center. The new location gave the show a much more professional feel than the Expomart out in the boondocks of Monroeville, PA. However, the trade off was more expensive booths (50% more!), hotels, and parking. Even with the added exhibitor costs, I much prefer the new convention center to the previous.

What Makes This a Good Event

• From my experience, this show is at least 4 times larger than the next largest US invention show (Yankee).
• The Inventors University education classes from 8am-noon each day, although grueling after spending the entire previous day on your feet on display, have world-class speakers. Generally they are not only very informative, but also engaging. This years speakers were many of the same from previous years, Jill Lublin, Eric Hanscom, Howard Lim, etc. Unfortunately, our very own Lisa Lloyd, who spoke last year, wasn’t able to make it to this years show. Nonetheless, the caliber of the speakers is always high. I’ll post some notes from some of the speakers later this week, so stay tuned…
• In addition to the other speakers, this year’s keynote speaker, Wally “Famous” Amos, the founder of Famous Amos Cookies, was an excellent choice. He was a very positive individual, and although not from the world of inventing, knew the struggles that inventors and small business owners face. He went from poor, to rich, back to poor, and back to well-off. I’ll post notes from his presentation too.
• This show is run very well by the full-time show staff. Everything is on time, in its place, and very professional.

What Could Be Improved

• The first and most important thing that can be improved, which was mentioned last year was well, is that INPEX need to figure out how to draw in MORE FOOT TRAFFIC. I’m not talking foot traffic such as the public, but consumer product companies that are looking for new, innovative products (think Bed, Bath, & Beyond, Clorox, Proctor & Gamble, Sharper Image, etc.). They need to somehow attract the same companies that attend & exhibit at the industry tradeshows, into Pittsburgh this week every June. Otherwise, like many exhibitors I spoke to, they won’t come back because the buyers aren’t there. All in all, I saw about as many buyer type companies at the INPEX show as I saw at the Yankee Show (75% smaller) in Connecticut.
• I will add a small caveat to the number of exhibitors. Roughly 80 or so of the exhibitors were from Malaysia and Croatia. Most of these inventions, although perhaps good products, were highly technical and out of place at an “invention” show.
• Although the speakers for the most part were interesting and informative, sometimes they get in the habit of making the presentation too much of a sales pitch. Of course 5 minutes at the end is okay, but try not to make it too obvious that you sell products or services to inventors.

I hope to see the INPEX show improve it’s buyer/licensor foot traffic. Like I told many exhibitors, there, even if they are at INPEX, they should be going to their industry trade show to get more visibility. Stay tuned for pictures of the light bulb hat (in our Community Photo Gallery) and notes from some of the speakers.

by Michael Collins, CEO of Big Idea Group and author of “The Million-Dollar Idea in Everyone.”

Though some companies sponsor innovation contests as part of a publicity campaign (“Send in jelly bean flavor ideas!”), at Big Idea Group (BIG), Idea Hunts are typically the result of identifying a problem that needs solving.

When I started BIG, I had a simple goal: bridge the gap between some of the world’s largest manufacturers and the people on the streets who often have some of the world’s best ideas. To do this, I set up a series of Roadshows and traveled the country meeting with literally thousands of innovative thinkers and creative problem-solvers. I reviewed their product ideas, offered criticisms and suggestions for improvement, and gathered the best of the lot into my “A-list” portfolio of products.

Then I systematically called on manufacturers to present these products for possible licensing. Though the iterative process worked well—review products, present products, back and forth, etc.—I did not always have what the customer wanted. For example, I might have three new water toys in my presentation while the client secretly hoped I would pull out something to boost sales in their sand toy division. Or I might show a slicer-dicer kitchen gadget to a manufacturer who wanted an effective soft cheese shredder instead. When a disconnect like this happened, I took the opportunity to learn more about what the company needed and then kept those requirements in mind as I headed back out to meet with inventors.

One client, however, wanted to be more proactive. His company had just developed a new lighting technology and he wondered aloud if I might get inventors to dream up cool ways to use it. Our conversation led to the first of many BIG Idea Hunts in which we publish a list of product requirements and invite people to pitch their solutions. We now run several Hunts a year, most of which get started in one of the following ways:

• A client has a specific problem to solve. For example, in the Bra Fastener & Adjuster Hunt, a European intimate apparel company wanted to make it easier for women to fasten and adjust their bras—a problem area for some women.
• A client has an area of business they want to improve or expand upon. In the Welch’s Hunt for Afterschool Snacks, for example, Welch’s sought to extend their line of fruit-based food and beverage products into the snack category for kids six to twelve years old. In the Faultless Helping Hand Innovation Hunt, on the other hand, the client wanted to add innovative new hand tools to their already successful Garden Weasel brand.
• A client wants input from thousands of creative minds. In the Kraft Branding Hunt for Men’s Beverage Sticks, the client simply wanted new names and packaging ideas for individual powder drink mix sticks. They were not interested in ideas to reinvent or retool the actual product.
• BIG identifies an opportunity. Sometimes we get an idea or see a trend in the market and want to capitalize on it ourselves. We might launch a Hunt to expand on what we have already developed or simply to test the theory of what we believe is a big opportunity.

Having run several BIG Hunts since that first lighting exercise, we have learned a great deal and refined our process considerably. In the next several articles, we will talk more about the evolution of our Hunts and give insight into how you can make the most of the opportunities presented by BIG and other Open Innovation sponsors.

by Michael Collins, CEO of Big Idea Group and author of “The Million-Dollar Idea in Everyone”

Judging the Hunt submissions is an iterative process. We go through each entry several times to make sure we understand the big idea in each, find best features, and uncover hidden jewels. One thing I learned from reviewing products at BIG Roadshows applies here as well—it doesn’t matter how many ideas I see or in what order I review them, the good ones will always stand out. A Hunt review goes something like this:

• After the Hunt deadline closes, we gather all the submissions, check that the entry agreements have been signed on each one, and we start the winnowing process.
• In the first pass, we simply familiarize ourselves with every idea submitted. Entries that have a sell sheet or some type of visual are tremendously helpful this stage. When you’re staring at a two-foot pile of what looks to be white-paper reports, those submissions with pictures, drawings, or a bullet-point list of benefits seem to jump out of the stack.
• Next we sort the entries into good, better, and best categories. The best submissions are those that meet the requirements of the Hunt, are unique, could be a springboard for a line of products, and have few barriers to actual implementation. We also look for good ideas that we can improve on behalf of the inventor, or ones that if combined with another inventor’s submission improve both of their ideas—making sure to compensate each person accordingly.
• Finally, we put the best and the improved ideas into a formal presentation for the client. Although some of our customers like to see every submission, most prefer we use our judgment to narrow the list first.
• Following the presentation and a brief period to let the ideas germinate, we conference with the client to select Hunt winners. The client has another, more extended, time period to decide whether or not to put any of the ideas into development.

Although we would love to give feedback to all participants in a Hunt, the number of entries prohibits us from getting back to each person individually. And confidentiality requirements prevent us from publishing winning ideas. The only inventors who will hear from us directly are those who won a cash or merchandise prize or whose entries the client is interested in pursuing. Once the names of the Hunt winners have been announced on our web site, however, inventors are released from the submission agreement and are free to pursue the submitted ideas on their own.

Here is a short video we put together from the Houston Inventors Association presentation in February.

We’re always stressing the importance of market research and due diligence before spending too much time and money on your product. A great way to get a sense of what already exists, and what potential customers and manufacturers might think is to attend an industry trade show.

No matter where you live, you’re probably near a city that has a convention center. The taxpayers need to earn back all that money they spent building the convention center, so they try to schedule as many events as possible at these places. Most likely that convention center near you will have at least a few trades shows or expos in your product’s industry. Many times it’s free to go to trade shows if you pre-register, and less than $20 if you buy at the door.

When you get to these shows, get a lay of the land. Scope out similar products and potential competitors. Ask questions about pricing, marketing, and retailing. Be sure to take notes and write all this information down as it will be crucial in putting together a marketing plan.

If you feel comfortable, you can even ask some of the exhibitors what they think of your product, if they have any recommendations or insight.

Spending a little time at trade shows and events, meeting industry professionals and companies, can really give you much better insight into whether you have a viable product or not. Remember the goal is not to be working on AN invention, but working on the RIGHT invention.