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.