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In Memoriam
Scott Kevin Newton -- Creative Cross Memorials
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We are sad to have to tell all of our members that Scott Newton, the inventor of the Creative Cross Memorial, passed away last Friday evening. Scott was at home when he suffered a massive heart attack. Our hearts go out to Annette and the children and the rest of his family in their time of grief.
Scott and Annette had moved to Valentine, Nebraska, last summer but had kept in touch with us as he built his new business in Valentine.
Scott was an active member of the inventor community and supporter of the Inventors' Roundtable. He was a gentle man with a passion for both his family and the inventing life and we will sorely miss him.
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Event News
Don Kessinger's New CW-1 Multi-Socket Can Wrench Receives Utility Products Magazine's 2006 Reader's Choice Award
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Don Kessinger, one of our professional veteran inventors, has just received notice that his new CW-1 Multi-Socket Can Wrench has won Utility Products Magazine's coveted Reader's Choice Award for 2006. For additional details about Don's accomplishment and his new product, click here.
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Tasca's New Zip-ZacTM Towel Available for Purchase Online!
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Rita Hamburg, one of IRT's successful inventors, has come a long way in a single year. She's now selling towels internationally and her first order of 5,000 has successfully been moved out of her garage. She's currently working with a national distributor, which recently had an order for 6,000 towels to an insurance company as a promotional item.
Now, you can buy your very own Zip-ZacTM Towel online by clicking here.
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2007 IRT Annual Meeting
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Our 1st annual meeting, held at the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce on February 8th, was a huge success. The mini-inventor showcase allowed 12 inventors to show their invention to a full house. While enjoying a beverage (adult beverages available) and lots of food, inventors had the time to share their stories and get to know each other.
Rob Rose announced the new Inventor Focus Group Program available to inventors throughout Colorado. The new Inventor Focus Group Program will give inventors the opportunity to get objective input from consumers before pursuing the more costly parts of the inventing process.
The guest speaker for the evening was David Marinelli, inventor of RevFireTM, a revolutionary electronic device that measures the speed and spin of a pitched ball. More spin creates more curve, movement, rise, or hop. It's all about deceiving the batter but, until now, very few could measure it. Marinelli shared his inspiration and challenges over the last few years. Please visit his website: www.revfire.com.
Tony Oliver participated with a “Lesson Learned” and shared his experience with prototypes.
The Annual Meeting was sponsored by Get a Grip Fulfillment. Les Caldwell, vice president, discussed the challenges of fulfillment and distribution that many inventors face but forget to plan for when manufacturing a product.
A special thanks to Betsy Garber who helped with the logistics of the evening.
Many thanks to DMCC and Get a Grip Fulfillment. They made this event a success.
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INVENTION AND INNOVATION: A U.S. COMPETITVE ADVANTAGE IN THE CHANGING WORLD
As we are all well aware, the world economy is changing fundamentally at a dizzying pace. Countries like Brazil, Russia, India and China (the "BRIC" Block that we hear so much about these days) are growing their economies at double digit rates, while the U.S. and the various state economies are experiencing sluggish or, at best, mild growth.
The American way of doing business has been successfully duplicated at this point in each of these accelerated economies; our traditional competitive advantages (i.e., technology superiority, educated workforce, economies of scale, manufacturing efficiency, etc.) are disappearing as foreign economic fortunes improve and educational and employment opportunities increase abroad. The U.S. economy, for the first time in its history, finds itself under siege by a tidal wave of competition that shows no signs of abating.
In light of these developments, as we look to our economic future here in this country, it's essential that we uncover, or rediscover, ways in which to inject vitality and genuine competitive advantage into an economy that has seen better times. An important avenue for gaining this vitality and advantage is through innovation: and the solo inventor is an essential part of this process. Without him, the process, otherwise controlled exclusively by large multinationals with no local allegiance and with a narrow focus on next quarter's bottom line, withers and dies. The result is the flight of both capital and prosperity abroad.
In the past, American inventors have shown that they know no limits. Any age, both genders, and all races throughout our history have contributed to the creative genius that is the American inventing process. The technology envisioned by American inventors has improved our standard of living and linked us across both physical and cultural divides.
Additionally, innovation and the inventing process, along with the inventor himself, have been the key ingredient in driving the growth of the American economy over the past two hundred years. It's time to revisit this driver and to encourage and support those innovative people who are dedicated to the inventing process. It holds the potential for revitalizing our economy.
Here in Colorado, we rank among the top 10 states in patents awarded per capita. In 2005, for instance, residents in the state received 1,972 patents. By the Inventors' Roundtable's own count, there are over a thousand active inventors in the State of Colorado.
Inventors innovate, and in the process help create renewed prosperity and economic vitality. They are the cornerstone of any genuinely-enlighted, locally-focused, economic development effort. Accordingly, it is important that the inventor survive and, not only survive, but thrive. In order for that to happen the inventor needs the support of the existing business community. That support will return back dividends many times over.
The bottom line is that inventors become business owners and employers, create wealth, use the services of other providers and give back to the community. They are both drivers and users of the economy; they both create and consume. They are a vital component of the U.S. competitive arsenal and it's time for us as a society to once again recognize the importance of the inventor.
Other Items of Interest
New Roundtable Locations: If you would like to start an Inventors' Roundtable in your area please contact us at admin@inventorsroundtable.com.
Product Reviews: If you are an inventor or a company with a product that you think might be useful to an inventor and you'd like to have the Inventors' Roundtable review it, please contact us at admin@inventorsroundtable.com. We will have one or our product reviewers test the product and report back, in our special "Product Reviews" section, the results of that testing.
Copyright 2006 Inventors' Roundtable. All rights reserved.
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