Nov

20

Wisconsin Ideas to Profit Conference for Inventors

Filed Under Trade Shows and Conferences 

innovation

This Wisconsin inventors conference, sponsored by The University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Innovation Service Center, was held Oct. 1-2, 2009 in Dells, Wisconsin.  The conference was well attended by what seemed like 100-200 inventors as well as plenty of consultants and experts who facilitated workshops on various subjects relating to patenting, marketing, prototyping, manufacturing, raising venture capital, seeking government assistance, forming a company, commercialization, and licensing, and consulted with inventors at no charge.  If the inventor were to pay the regular hourly rate for these experts to consult with them on their invention project the cost could be $500 – $1,000 to get this level of advice.

It’s a great deal to attend a conference like this for under $200, or even under $100, depending on the conference, since you’re able to take advantage of these experts at no additional charge. And this is in addition to the valuable information that you learn from the speakers and workshop leaders.

In addition to the workshop, this conference hosted exhibit booth space for inventors to display their inventions and be judged in an inventor’s contest.  I was one of four outside judges for this inventor’s contest and, as usual, when it came down to the last half-dozen candidates it was very hard to choose which invention may be more deserving of a certain prize than another. We had about 50 or 60 inventions to choose from with the inventors coming from several different states.

Prizes awarded to inventors included free market research and patent services. During our judging process, we attempted to determine what the needs of the inventor were and what stage in the commercialization process they were in so that we could award prizes that would fit their needs.

By coincidence, one of these winners of this contest also had an exhibit booth at the annual automotive aftermarket parts and accessories association tradeshow in Las Vegas where I attended. They had robust activity in their booth and I was able to talk to a couple of manufacturers in the trailer towing and hitch industry that expressed a somewhat favorable response to the notion of including such a product in their product line.

It looks like our judging at least hit the mark on our impression of that invention. And hopefully, in some of the next blogs to come, we can follow that inventor to see what they end up doing after the response they got from the automotive tradeshow.

During the two days of the Wisconsin conference, three simultaneous workshops, each about an hour and a half in length, took place throughout the day. During breakfast, lunch and dinner on the first day, the keynote speakers shared their insights regarding inventors or the invention process. My workshop was a panel of experts, which included Warren Tuttle, former product scout for Lifetime brands, the largest manufacturer of housewares products in the world, who is now an independent product scout in the housewares industry through his company Monashee Marketing. Other panel members included: Doug Reigle, Senior Vice President, Regal Ware, Aina Vilumsons, Director, WI Procurement Institute, and Thomas Motosko, Versatile Housewares and Gardening Systems.

We had a robust question and answer session answering inventors’ questions regarding how to license your invention to a company, how to find a manufacturer, how to get royalties or sell your new product idea, and inside information about the process from those who have been there and done that.

All in all, I had a wonderful time in Wisconsin, mostly owing to the wonderful people and nice hospitality, and I am hoping to attend this conference again next year.

«
»

Comments

Leave a Reply