December 2010 General Meeting

The agenda for the December 18 TIA meeting included a discussion of what members would like to see the TIA do in the next year. Members also presented their inventions at the meeting.

The December meeting was an informal meeting where the members discussed several topics. Tom Kulaga asked the members in attendance for planning ideas and meeting topics for next year.

The following suggestions were made and discussed:

1) Patents meeting/presentation: Why, what and when was suggested to be a topic for next year by Dr. Alexeff. Tom said he would have a meeting with this topic in the next year.

2) A presentation on Internet marketing and social marketing was suggested by Carl Papa.

3) Entrepreneurs of Knoxville (EOK) has weekly meetings and a monthly meeting. Every Wednesday morning from 8 to 10am is a "meet and greet" in a local restaurant. The members of the EOK evaluate the presentations from the business point of view and provide constructive feedback. Average attendance is about 25 people. They also have sub groups. The focus for EOK is for Knoxville businesses to be successful. They also have live streaming of the meeting /events.

Carl Papa suggested merging the two organizations: TIA and EOK, and having a joint meeting.

Alternatively, Tom suggested that we have a EOK member give a presentation about EOK and what they offer.

4) In 2010 we went through the "A-Z" of Inventing. We may be at "G" and not "Z" yet for what we have presented. The question is should we follow up and continue this topic? Tom is going to investigate possible next steps for presentations.

5) Carl Papa suggested to got to local trade shows and have lunch together that might find/spark some new ideas in the shows.

6) Ann Alexeff will check if TIA is still a member of the Chamber of Commerce. If it needs renewal, she will find out how much will it cost.

7) There is a Tool show in Atlanta during the March time frame.

8) New attendee Mark Ritchie suggested that TIA reach out to those TIA members who have been successful with their invention through TIA information and assistance. Their success stories could provide testimonials that could be posted as a video of 45 sec to 1 min on the TIA website. This may be a good advertising vehicle to attract new members.

9) Igor Alexeff suggested having a members directory and service directory on the TIA website. A members directory should have a snap shot of what the members do and service directory should have what service they provide to other members. Each member should have a picture of themselves on the website. Dale Burress volunteered to take pictures and Tom Kulaga volunteered to put together a form to collect members' skill sets and to get confirmation of what information the member wants posted in the website's member directory.

10) Gordon will find out who is the technology transfer spokesman at ORNL and see if he can come to TIA for presentation.

11) An inventors fair idea was suggested. This would be a half day fair to let inventors exhibit their inventions. The fair may also be a membership drive.

12) Igor Alexeff brought up that there is an inventor's workshop in Pittsburg 15% off tickets. It is a show put on by InventHelp, an invention promotion company. There was a warning that this workshop may be associated with Davison, the company that was ripping off inventors.

13) Igor told everyone about the book: The Mom Inventors Handbook. He suggested that anyone who is interested should go get one. He thougtht the book was interesting.

14) Igor is working with the Tennessee Small Business Development Center in Oak Ridge for his new invention. Members can go to this organization if they have a new invention that needs to be marketed.

After the discussion period, several inventors discussed their inventions:

Gordon Campbell hopes to have his latest invention ready in the next two months; he may share with us his invention then. An alarm clock with a scent was one of the inventions Gordon patented but not marketed. A Japanese firm is doing something similar now.

Dale Burress discussed his StrikeOne invention: a ball for locking a trailer hitch when the trailer is not attached to a vehicle.

Visitor Bill Schneider showed his patented invention: a propeller that changes the pitch angle of the blades. The blades change the pitch angle during rotation such that the propeller has uneven flow that can act as a steering mechanism without rudders or dive planes.

Keith Waters had a table set up with examples of prototypes he made with his 3D printer. Keith has the capability of creating a CADD file and then printing a 3-dimensional prototype of a part or assembly. Keith showed an example of a bearing that he printed. The inner race rotated with the balls spinning between the two races.