We’re back from the Stanford Cool
Product Expo! The event, held annually
on the
Everyone
was interested in testing out our products and finding out more about AbsolutelyNew. In addition to networking with other local
companies, we also had the chance to speak with students in the Stanford
Graduate School of Business and
Did
you attend the show this year and get a chance to stop by our booth? We would love to hear what you thought of the
product samples we were displaying and any other cool products you saw at the
expo this year.
Olympic Skiers, Hockey Players
and Skaters have all been using Kinesio Tex Tape to help relieve pain and
promote healing of injured muscles.
Olympic Gold Medalist Lindsey Vonn used the athletic tape to help
recover from a shin injury that almost prevented her from racing in the
Olympics. The athletic tape is the
invention of Dr. Kenzo Kase, a chiropractor who was looking for a better sports taping method to assist in the healing of traumatized
tissue. Kase found that standard taping techniques, such as athletic
taping and strapping, provided muscle and joint support, but also reduced range
of motion and in many cases inhibited the actual healing process of traumatized
tissue. The new and improved athletic
tape that Kase developed is able to aid the lymphatic and muscle systems, while
simultaneously supporting joints and muscles.
Kinesio Taping has become one of the fastest growing sport
treatment modalities in the world. It is
an official medical supplier for the
U.S. Ski and Snowboarding Association and the product is on the international
spotlight in
Do you have a sports-related
invention that could help athletes enhance their form, train more efficiently
or recover from injuries? Perhaps it
could help you win too…
The
Winter Olympic Games will commence on Friday in
Eco-friendly venues: The
organizers of the Vancouver Olympics have had sustainability on their minds
since the planning first began. Many of
the Olympic venues include state of the art eco-friendly designs that conserve
energy and protect the environment. The
Convention Centre boasts a living green roof, on-site water treatment, and a fish
habitat built into the foundation, while the Olympic Centre captures rainwater
and siphons it into the building to flush toilets and urinals.
Carbon-neutral partners: Twenty-five partners of the
Olympic Games have joined forces to help make the Games carbon-neutral. Corporate sponsors, governments and broadcasters
have all volunteered to offset some of their own carbon emissions related to
the Games by investing in a portfolio of clean energy technology projects. Coca-Cola will also be going completely green
for the games, aiming to have a net-zero carbon footprint and net-zero waste at
the Games.
Olympic medals made from electronic scraps: The medals that the Olympic champions will
proudly wear around their necks will be made of
precious metals reclaimed from old electronics.
Gold, silver, and bronze have been extracted from electronics that would
otherwise end up in landfills to make the coveted medals. It would take more than 17 tons of gold ore
to net the same amount of gold reclaimed from the circuit boards of a single junk
PC.
Forbes magazine recently featured 10 “breakout” inventions and ideas of note. We thought the list is so cool we just had to share it. Click here for its full coverage including an online slideshow and videos.
A few highlights to whet your appetite:
1. Moobella ice cream vending machines that mix, freeze and scoop out 96 on-demand flavors in about 45 seconds, at an operating cost of just $400 per month plus ingredients costs.
2. Activeion spray bottles that add an electrical charge to water as its sprayed, which separates the molecules such that the water bubbles lift dirt and bacteria from a surface, for a one-time retail cost of $169 per $12-oz bottle.
3. IdeaPaint paint that makes any wall into a dry-erase whiteboard. This paint isn’t cheap—it apparently sells for about $4.00 per square foot of coverage—but think of all the additional ideas you can come up with when the world is your drawing board.
Does a key really need its handle to be solid... or can that handle give you the hold you need while doubling as a keychain? Amron Experimental has designed with belief in the latter—its Split Key Ring is a key and key ring in one.
Amron is selling “blanks” (2 for $7) that can be cut to fit many leading household locks (we’re no locksmiths here, but a little digging indicates that the blanks work with Kwikset and Schlage locksets, among others).
We love the simplicity of this invention design. And we commend the designer for challenging decades of thinking on the role of the key handle. If only it could help us find our keys too.
(Side note: The inventor’s also selling a 30% stake in his patent rights, according to the Amron website. While this approach certainly isn’t right for everyone, it’s worth noting as one of the ways inventive people are looking for outside means to pursue invention success).
Seen Pitchmen? It’s the relatively new Discovery Channel show featuring infomercial pros Billy Mays and Anthony “Sully” Sullivan working with independent inventors to bring their products to the airwaves.
We didn’t want to rush to judgment on the show, so we’ve waited to see several episodes before weighing in. Our view: entertaining program, offers some good insights to inventors, but not necessarily the greatest invention show ever as some have proclaimed. Why:
We love the attention this show brings to the invention world. We genuinely think inventors make the world a better place, so putting a respectful spotlight on them and their creations is a generally positive thing. The black-bearded Billy and Anglo-accented Sully (and Billy’s son, who of course sports a perfectly trimmed beard just like his dad) really know how to work the camera. Their repartee is especially amusing. Episodes give a good sense of the behind-the-scenes in getting an invention on air, from figuring out the product name and claims to selecting and refining the product demonstrations to letting the numbers drive decisions. Pitchmen shows that not every invention proves to be successful, even when the inventor is absolutely convinced he or she has a winning idea... and those around them support this thinking. Despite the above, we fear the show may lead viewers to unrealistic expectations of success. Episodes start with four inventions, two of which the hosts pick to work on, one of which is usually successful and the other not so much. We wouldn’t want anyone to think 25% or 50% of all inventions will be successful, as industry statistics are less compelling. By expressing serious doubts but still investing in a number of inventions, as Billy and Sully do for this show, they’re suggesting it’s relatively easy for inventors to secure outside funding. The show does this because it makes for good television, especially when there’s a great story behind the inventor. But the cold reality is that cold, hard cash is hard to come by.
What do you think?
But wait, there’s more: The Discovery Channel site offers a fun quiz to determine what infomercial product best suits your personality. What does it mean that we match Ontel Corp.’s Cordless Swivel Sweeper?
The Show ended just minutes ago. So before we pack up our booth and fly home, we wanted to take a moment to share a few highlights while they're fresh on our minds. What we saw in chilly Chicago:
Green is gold... when seen. Everyone at the Show was trying to play up their greenness. Really—you couldn’t walk 10 feet without seeing signs proclaiming products and packages to be “green,” “eco-friendly,” and/or “sustainable.” The Housewares Association even put up its own special exhibit on green materials. None of this is surprising as everyone’s looking to cash in on the green trend; however, the effect of this is that many really cool green inventions got lost in the fray. If you’ve got a green invention, think about how you can get beyond the buzzwords and truly highlight why buyers should be clamoring for your green invention—if you don’t, don’t count on being seen... and seeing greenbacks come your way.
Snuggie wannabes galore. With TV ad rates down and several "As Seen On TV" products (think Snuggie, Aqua Globes, ShamWow, etc.) selling incredibly well, it seems like half the housewares industry wants to go the infomercial route. Thus we saw countless companies that are new to this space or claiming that they’re the leading company in this space in their country (Yes, someone really did tell us “I’m huge on TV in Serbia”), and we also met more than a few people who tried to convince us to partner with them and put our innovations on TV. The model seems to work especially well for products priced affordably under $20. We can’t wait to see more inventive products go this way… but we’re also curious how long the dynamic will last when the economy improves and TV ad rates go up.
Money-savers sell. We saw a lot of cool products this week (our fave: the Sodastream, which easily turns tap water into sparkling or soda water… and of course claims to be green too). But where were some of the biggest crowds? At the relatively mundane booths put up by folks like Wahl—the clippers people—and those 30 or so companies offering coffee and espresso makers. You see, as people look to save money, they’re starting to note all the small expenses that add up over time… so products that enable quality home haircuts and home coffee brewing are becoming increasingly popular (sorry Starbuck!). The lesson: if your invention can save people money, now’s the time to emphasize this point.
BTW, a quick shout out to the many inventors who visited our booth to say hello and see the latest AbsolutelyNew products. It was great to speak with you!
In our never-ending search for the newest in cool, we trekked out to NYC for the New York International Gift Fair. Because nothing says innovative like stationary and gifty perfumes, right?
Seriously, this is a so-BIG-you-can’t-see-it-all-in-one-day show, because just about anything & everything—toys, games, clothing, housewares, home and personal accessories, you name it—can be gifted... and re-gifted. So we wanted to see the latest inventive gifts before they get to the fancy boutiques. Here are a few highlights from our Product Licensing Manager who was there, Evelyn Salguero:
Baby and children’s items were out in force, with manufacturers in these two adjacent categories really making their presence known to the gift industry. We saw a whole bunch of inventive new products created to solve problems for mom and/or baby (ie: check out Petunia Pickle Bottom’s Valet Stroller Clips), as well as a bunch of trendy items aimed at moms more focused on being hip than holding a kid to their hip (thanks Angelina and Reece—you and your many nannies raise the bar for all of us). Evelyn’s pick: Cricket & Monkey’s Amanda Messenger Diaper Bag. Compared to last year, buyers appeared to be doing more window-shopping than purchasing. A number of them said they intend to place orders after, not at, the show. One buyer told us in confidence that she was ordering to take advantage of exhibitors’ Show Special discounts… but hedging her bets by scheduling for distant ship dates so she’d have plenty of time to cancel. The busiest booths had two things in common: 1) They carried products at two to three different price points from moderate to high, so buyers would have more choices, and 2) They carried the highest quality products in their respective category—be it in linen/textiles, furnishings or fragrance—because people are cutting back on things like five-star vacations but still willing to splurge a little when it comes to giving items that create a more luxurious atmosphere at home.
