April 2011 Crowdsourcing and the TIE

The April 21 meeting of the TIA was a presentation by inventor Rusty Jay. Rusty updated the group on his invention and the changes he made when the TIA crowdsourced his invention and marketing ideas. The second half of the meeting was an open discussion of the Tennessee Inventor Expo (TIE).

The meeting kicked off with our featured speaker Rusty Jay. Rusty is an instrumentation engineer who works as a contractor installing peaking power plants around the United States. He appreciated how the TIA offered tips and advice when he first joined the group.

Rusty's invention is a suction cup securing liquid. A little dab on a suction cup will keep the suction cup stuck to a windshield until it is ready to be removed.

Rusty's invention is an earth friendly, natural, non-freezing, non-toxic, and non-staining formulation. Currently, he is manufacturing the product himself. He sells the product on Amazon and on his website: MawMaws.

Spurred by the outpouring of tips and advice, Rusty rethought the marketing of his invention. The big change was the packaging. Originally, Rusty sold his Suck It Up product in a 2 fluid ounce bottle. He is now packaging his product in a single use dispenser, similar to a ketchup package. Member Joe Martin has been instrumental in helping Rusty with the design and other marketing of the product.

Rusty gave a demonstration of the holding power of his invention. He placed a dab of his invention on a suction cup and stuck it to a glass plate. He tied a 10 pound dumbbell to the suction cup device and then held the plate up. The 10 pound weight was easily supported.
 

Tennessee Inventor Expo (TIE) Update

After Rusty's presentation, Joe Martin gave an update on the Tennessee Inventor Expo (TIE) project. He has spearheaded a search for a venue. He told of the different features for various venues downtown and surrounding Knoxville. Joe was then joined by Carl Papa and Tom Kulaga for a panel-type discussion of the Expo.

After a lively discussion, the timing of the Expo was determined to be the last week of January to mid-February. Joe Martin was going to investigate the availability of venues in that time frame.

Tom Kulaga pointed out that there are three aspects to the Expo: the program being offered, the vendors who will be exhibiting, and the people who will be attending. He lead an open discussion of each aspect. Potential speakers and vendors/exhibitors were identified for further research.

The meeting wrapped up with a call for volunteers to help organize the TIE. Several people volunteered.