Sorry for your pain. Hope you feel better soon! I would love to join the group, but I am sure you have already picked your people.. So happy inventing and good luck to you all!!

Hi Ralph, a couple of days ago I sent you an email through EN with my telephone number. I said if you wanted any info on how Talva
is working, I would be happy to help. Hope you are not in to much pain. Get well.

Our group was set up with the understanding that everything would be split equally. We have all contributed ideas and we never know which ones will be picked.

Make sure the one whose contact info and signature on the contract is comfortable with 1099 forms, tax implications, etc. of being the one to split the money. EN is set up for individual inventors right now. You won’t each get an annuity check at the end of year 2013 or whatever. One person will need to sign the contract for the group and agree to manage the (hoped for) money. just fyi. Things may change down the road, but that’s the current situation. You could form an LLC and have the check go there, but you would need to know you had a winning team before taking that step.

Ralph~ I like the way you think. Strength in numbers in regards to working together as a team with a common goal is a good idea.

One question however. What, if any compensiation do other team members receive on your team who did not come up with the intial idea, but maybe helped improve it significantly? Just curious, because that issue may arise later on.

Praying for you health, and hope you recover soon.

Thanks for all the feedback so far everyone, good stuff! Basically what I’m doing is seeing what others think of the idea, throwing it out there and esp. looking for feedback from team Talva (are there others?) to see what they like or dislike about the whole ‘group’ concept of inventing towards a common goal. My thoughts on this topic are as follows:

-Power in numbers, 2 heads are better than one, second set of eyes on the prize, etc… Sometimes we get ‘writers cramp’ or hit that dry well in inventing and it frustrates us. This can be fun if approached correctly. Say you have a small group of 4-5 like minded individuals and a new LPS comes up. Within your ‘group’ you all toss ideas into the virtual hat and you all look them over to see what ones you like right off the bat. The idea with the most votes becomes your number one focus to move forward with. The runner up idea is your back up entry or plan ‘B’. The ideas in the hat that are left over are free for further development by the individual that contributed it. This way no idea is ‘kicked to the curb’ and the ideas that the group favors are aggressively promoted or researched by the group. The group members would all be bound by an NDA of course.

With the groups energies being directed towards the favored ideas, those ideas receive the extra eyes, analysis and polishing from the group efforts. I believe this is a fair way to identify, develop and submit higher quality entries. The group should ideally be limited to 4-5 people as too many cooks in the kitchen spoil the effort. This all came about as a work ‘team building’ exercise we did at work awhile back. We were randomly selected to break up into small groups and everyone in the room was given a small assortment of identical items. We had 15 minutes to ‘invent’ something from our pile of parts and describe (and demonstrate) at the end the item we had created.
The resulting items were amazing and remarkable. The HR person that led the exercise asked us afterwards if we thought it was a worthwhile exercise: All hands went up. They also asked us if we were all given the same materials individually, if we would have had the same amazing results. Only 2 out of 45 people raised their hands. Moral of the story: Together, we are stronger and can create amazing things. I believe this can be applied here as well.

Update on my ‘health issues’. Recently had ACDF neck fixation surgery for C5-C7 vertebrae. Unfortunately my pain and numbness is still with me, but I’m hopeful I will heal in time. The kicker is I have more pain than I did to start with, so it’s kind of a bummer. I will deal with it, regardless and it will not stop my mind from working so I can still carry my share of any tasks. I will send out my ‘resume’ if you will, to some folks I am considering for a group effort. If you think I may be a good fit to work with, we can move forward. If you don’t like my qualifications or lack thereof, no worries- I will not be offended or bothered in any way. This is kind of an experiment for starters that I hope will be very fruitful for all involved in the long run. Besides- team Talva needs some friendly competition! : )

@PapaJim – Yep I’m in Colorado! ; )

Small Groups….Kinda sounds like Church talk to me! :)))))

I gotta lot of growing up to do in the Inventor’s World!! But I’m excited, ready and can’t wait to expand my mind, get even more creative!!!

I know I was ready to jump when I saw that thread last year. When I saw a couple people I admire decide to jump, I jumped too (Colonel and Toni). When several others jumped in too, we decided we had enough to give it a shot.
I think if you see others you know and respect forming a group… and you think you might like to try that at some point… JUMP! You could just try with one submission and see what happens. Or just play with ideas for awhile. It might help if someone already has an idea they want to offer as the first submission, just to have something to start with.

and… thanks, Pete. just random thoughts in there. ;-)

I guess forming a group could work out. I’m all about teamwork but when it comes to most of my ideas they are the simple, ah-ha kinda ideas that need limited attention spent on design, etc. What are all the advantages of having a team as an inventor?

I’m glad to see things working out with Talva. Way back in the beginning of EN, many tried to partner up and it just didn’t work. What are other groups are there besides Talva? Who belongs to each group? Maybe you can share how you make it work.

Where’s Ralph? I hope you’re doing alright, good buddy.

Ralph… I’ve often wondered about the group dynamic here at E.N. as well…
I came across a very informative thread started by Krissie Shields titled COLLABORATION – A COMMUNITY GUIDE:
http://www.edisonnation.com/forums/creativity/t...

Krissie along with Jane J. (member of Talva) offer some great insights!
(btw… Jane J.’s microblog is a fantastic read!!) :-)

I think forming a small group is a great idea! I have always wanted a second opinion on my ideas.. I get an opinion from my husband, but he could care less about inventing.. So, if you guys are looking for someone to team up with and give out ideas, I would be interested.. But, I am no good at graphics or 3D on the computer…

I believe EN will continue to be successful into the future because they have the perfect model to serve the open-innovation needs of a wide variety of clients. The model establishes a sense of cooperation among members, while maintaining competition between them to invigorate the innovation process to its fullest potential. However, does anyone think the establishment of small groups or teams within the EN structure will be counter-productive? My verdict is still out on the team-concept matter, but I know from past experience that most inventors thrive on individuality, and conflicts can occur if any single member of the team is not in tune with the rest.

I actually do team up with a few people on EN but under my name as they let me run the submission so one person is in charge…I suppose we could do it under a different name, but I like the points!! ha ha

I do like the power of two minds to “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” on ideas and function, look and colors…not all of my ideas are with others, but sometimes I need the help of drawings from a specialized area of creating (like action figures, etc) that I cannot find elsewhere so we barter…typically someone I know however…so, I love the idea of a small group I think if it gets to big there will be to many chef’s in the kitchen!! :)

. Ralph, I think you brought up a great question …. Talva has had smashing success, although I still do not know all of its members I applaud their talents, congeniality and dedicated commitment to each other.  It’s a delight to watch the way they work together as they just seem to be just great friends … Established through the bond of inventing …

I think a ultimately a unique group would included talented members coming together and driven by the one true passion of doing what they love. Although this would be the dream team and thinking everything would just fall into place from that point would label me a dreamer, and a dreamer who knows It really takes hard work, orginization and a drive bigger than the sum … Everyone is unique I know and I am first to say I am a true romantic when it comes to inventing, the thrust of an idea and driving it home to completion but my own optimism can get in my own way at times. If you were to base it’s formation on a business model it would be far easier, cut and dry by defining your core strengths and then accentuate with personality types who
will add the diversity the team needs …

I gather most of us have jobs so time zones should be takened into account.

Interesting idea, Ralph. I’ve run similar through my brain; thinking about a post of what would go into an inventor’s group.

Would one look for just pure chemistry, a balance of skills, is multiple perspectives enough to amp things up.

How to balance group needs against individual’s. What do you do if some people have limited time and other’s have plenty. So many angles on it. My main worry is wondering if I could keep up my end without feeling like I’ve magically happened into a second job with a two year delay on paycheck.

Ralph……. step away from the kryptonite………..http://youtu.be/DMewC0uvBMg
Hope you feel better! :)

Ralph, do you reside in Colorado?