TIMING...

is everything...

I got a bit ahead of myself and time has just been flying.

The next event will be in the first 2 weeks of November.  I have realised it is more sustainable and do-able to host and organise and run these events quarterly.

I am looking for a new venue as our last place is temporarily closed till the new year.  Do let me know if you know of somewhere wonderful.

x Keri

Knock-offs...

Who Moved Apple’s Cheese? The Role Of The Knock-Off Effect In Innovation

CHRIS HAWKER

Saturday, September 8th, 2012

17 Comments

Chris Hawker, the founder of Trident Design, LLC, has over 20 years of experience developing and commercializing his own and others’ inventions. His most famous product, the PowerSquid, was the subject of a six-part series published in TechCrunch called the Song of the PowerSquid.

As the president/founder of Trident Design, LLC, I’ve been inventing and commercializing products for 18 years, and all the successful ones get knocked-off.

Even the not-so-successful ones are eventually flattered in this way. It’s pretty quick, generally. If you’re lucky, you’ll get a couple years, but if your product is on shelves and people are seeing it, they will be “inspired”. It’s not even necessarily nefarious. It’s human nature. People see a possibility they didn’t see before and it opens their mind: to something very similar to the new innovation. They become blinded by the innovation and can’t see any other possibilities. Sometimes it is ill-willed, however, and companies make intentional rip-offs. Some companies actually specialize in this. The only thing that will discourage them is the threat of patents. So the inventors’ objective is to come up with an innovation that can be reasonably protected with a patent. If the product really takes off, you can try and hold on to your market, at least for a time. However, a patent does not enforce itself and you will have to be proactive to protect your territory. This can get very expensive (over $1 million for a lawsuit), so it will typically only make business sense for big-time products, like the iPhone....

Keep reading:   http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/08/who-moved-apples-cheese-the-role-of-the-knock-off-effect-in-innovation/

Some interesting reading

Via Designsponge.com
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/08/dont-put-a-bird-on-it-saving-craft-from-cuteness.html

I am particularly enjoying Grace Bonney's interviews in the segment called 'After the Jump'
Some definite inspiration for me on where to take the Creative Entrepreneurs Evenings and how to keep them going.

Check out all the talks here and you can download them as podcasts:
http://www.heritageradionetwork.com/programs/79-After-the-Jump

And just in case you haven't seen the Portlandia 'Put a bird on it clip'
www.putabirdonit.com 

Reminder about what it's all about

This was carefully crafted by Keri Muller and Heather Moore.

Heather, thank you for all your help with this.  Check out Heather's site skinnylaminx for gorgeousness

So, when are we going to do it again?

So, when are we going to do it again? 
This seems to be the question on everyone's mind...

I am planning the next one for the end of September.  This mailing list will be informed first and sent the link to book tickets.

A few recommendations have been made which I like the sound of 

1. Start the event at 18:15 so that the talking is all wrapped up by 19:45 (latest)
2. We don't really need snacks - they are nice to have if we have a food orientated speaker but it might be nice to spend that bit of cash on something else or donate it to a charity.  Or put it in a pot to sponsor a school child.
3. Streamline the discussion topic so that it is more specific and doesn't cover so much ground.  
4. Email Keri questions before the time so that these can be worked into the discussion
5. Allow more time for questions as we didn't to get to quite a few people
6. Put the speakers on a slightly raised platform so that everyone can see them
7. Attendee stickers with the name and business name

** do you have more feedback - please tell me **

There has also been much feedback regarding more seats.  I would like to keep the event small so that the event retains a more personal feeling and encourages discussion/questions/statements from the floor.  We will have to cap it at 50 as the venue also does not have more space.

Currently the following 2 topics seem to be HOTT for the next event...

• Shop talk  - a panel of shop owners and maybe a buyer from a major retail chain
• PR (not marketing) - how it works, press releases, what do journo's want?

What do you all think?

Please do remember, these events are for passionate business owners who went out there and did it themselves. So don't forget to bring your questions, thoughts and general willingness to interact as the owner of a self started business.

The Video... I can't seem to get this to load up to youtube despite my fast adsl... so if you would like a copy do let me know and we can make a plan.  As it was our first time doing this we landed up running out of disc space so only got about 40 minutes of the actual talk and 10 minutes of that is me wittering on about housekeeping... aargghhhh.  The good news is the sound was great and we can hear everyone talking clearly.

As always, feel free to forward this on to other business owners who you think might be interested in joining us.

Update

The video...
For some reason I can't get it to load up - it might be the length as I do have good, fast (ish) internet.  Any advice would be most welcome.
Hum ho

Next event
It's definitely happening at the end of September.  Options are either a PR/Marketing discussion OR a chat with Shop Owners.  I am currently leaning towards Shop Owners but will keep you updated.

AND DON'T FORGET PEOPLE...

Onward and Upward

 (my new motto after a rather disheartening experience... but now I know)

Video of the event

I have been trying to upload the video of the event to youtube but have not been having much luck.

I keep trying and trying and it keeps timing out.... gggrrrrrr

So sit tight as I am hoping to get it up by the end of the week.