LOL…shhh…I’m not supposed to be drinkin on duty….wink wink…but I’ll see yah in the lounge…

Well, thank you, Krissie – let me buy you a drink over in the Lounge!

Julie!!!

I am so glad you made this statement!!! Because truer words were never spoken! The amount of caring and sharing that goes on within the pages of this forum everyday is proof of that. This is just one tiny thread in the wonderful fabric of the EN tapestry. There are many other threads out there that show tremendous levels of caring! I think you yourself Julie are a huge part of what makes EN so wonderful!

I need to make a statement here: if some of us choose to not participate, that doesn’t mean that we aren’t caring. Personally, I donate goods and services and time year-round.

Hi Frank, I guess it does seem like I might be trying to rush things along (sorry to take so long to reply but I’ve been ‘out’ sick) but we are actually still very much in the early planning stages. Nothing has been decided yet as to the best approach for handling this idea. We are still determining who is on board and once that is established and a secure means of communication, then we can go from there. your suggestion is very much a viable one and I’m sure those in the group will take it under consideration. The important thing is to do this in the most effective and legitimate way possible. I know it’s not going to happen overnight but we have to start somewhere, build slow and solid and then hopefully achieve success. As much as it is a terribly helpless feeling to stand by and watch while devastating events occur, we can’t allow that to affect our judment by acting too fast.

To Everyone else in the EN family, suggestions are welcomed and very much appreciated!!!!
krissie
05/04/11
17:42EST

It seems, since this is something you want to hurry and get started Krissie, that instead of forming a NP with all the associated legal prerequisites that MUST be in place before launch, members who wish to contribute their royalties to charity, do so on their own to the charity they wish. Members can still be part of the “Group” and even crowd source if they feel comfortable doing so, but will be responsible for their OWN submissions/royalty distributuions/etc.

A LOT less opportunity for potential trouble.

Krissie,
You must pick a board. Upon the board must be officials… This is a task of gargantuous proportions and we must have a single head of state with a plan of selfless success.

Hi Everybody!
Just wanted to give everyone an update on where we stand…I’m waiting on just a couple of confirmation emails addy’s to finalize the first official group. I will be seding out an official group email sometime tomorrow So if you want to get on board this first group get your friend requests in or emails sent by midnight EST tonight. I’ll be checking my email periodically until then to make sure we didn’t overlook anyone.

Tragedies keep mounting…let’s start kickin some butt!!!

Thanks Chris, for your input.
Perhaps it may be a television show concept. Like HGTV’s shows for the better good. Viewers eat it up. Have a group reality show that develops inventions and donates them to worthwhile causes. There is nothing out there like it so far that I have seen.

Just a thought…

Chris! My Heartfelt thanks for the time you have taken to look over this thread and offer such wonderful input! I think we have a remarkable group of people on this forum and this thread is proof of that.

Kat!!!! What can I say….You are Awesome!!!! Thanks for taking ownership of this and getting results!!! That must have been some note!!!

Hi everyone!

Thanks for your note Katherine. I have quickly scanned this thread and have some comments. There are tons of great ideas here and it’s clear your hearts are in the right place. I often remark what quality people the members of our community are, and the group of you who have contributed to this idea are a perfect example of that.

There are two issues I’d like to address. First. we have no objections to inventors forming groups and making submissions of group-invented ideas. In fact, that model has already been successfully utilized on Edison Nation. We do, however, require one person to take the role of the submitter on behalf of the group. That is the person who enters into contracts with us and who is our sole point of contact for matters relating to that submission. If the submission is successful, that is also the person to whom checks will be written. There are a wide range of reasons we need to handle group submissions this way for now. That’s not to say we won’t someday add official group submission functionality to our site, but for now please understand that we are only set up to deal with one single inventor per submission.

Second, we would be happy to see the proceeds from a successful submission ultimately end up going to charity, although we wouldn’t really have a role in that. That would simply be a situation where the inventor (or group of inventors) decides where the money should go and as the checks roll in, the funds could be redistributed by the individual (or group) accordingly.

One final thought – if there’s enough serious interest in doing this, you may want to consult with an attorney to advise you whether it makes sense to form some type of entity (possibly even a non-profit / tax exempt company) to implement your vision in a more formal/structured way. That’s not legal advice – I don’t know if that would make sense or not, but I think having that consultation would help address some of the issues that have been raised. Regardless of what ends up happening, we wish you the very best with it. Your generosity and charitable focus are to be commended.

Chris Clark
Vice President and General Counsel
Edison Nation, LLC

Thanks Chappy…I agree…but I just wanted to put it out there in the universe..and let it decide when the timing for such an idea could be implemented…

but for now we have a lot to work out with the original topic on this thread…I have to go through all my emails and make sure I didn’t miss anyone who has friended ‘see-far’ or sent me their email to the ‘junqdiva’ avatar. I have a separate email set up for see-far so that it is easier to track all of the important group stuff, I get too much mail already on my junqdiva account and I would hate to miss anthing crucial regarding the group. Once we have a solid ‘group email list put together I’ll be sending out a group announcement. I think by the end of the week we should have it put together. I will be double checking to see if anyone is missing and I’ll have see-far or junqdiva send an email to those that have expressed their support but haven’t sent their ‘outside’ email addy’s yet, so we can verify who will be in this initial group.

Also…let’s set a deadline of Friday April 29th midnight EST, to friend ‘see-far’ and get the group going. Please don’t be afraid this will exclude anyone from joing later. We just need to get a little more organized right now and start setting goals and assigning tasks. Maybe down the road we could have ‘New Group Formation Days’ or any other group of folks out there could coordinate their own group and benefit from using this thread as well.

Heavy stuff seefar.

Mark! Welcome!!! it’s really thrilling to have someone onboard who has an established track record of caring for others, I love what you have done for amputees(?spelling) Not to diminish the caring of everyone else who has had the compassion and caring to contribute to this post and made their intentions clear about wanting to be a part of all of this! I am so thrilled at the richness of diverse talents this thread has attracted! Thank you everyone!!!

I thought I’d throw one more idea for you all to consider and you may even feel that it should be a topic of it’s own…

I know that the initial purpose of this thread is to find a way to fund disaster relief, however, we have also talked about supporting more than one charity possibly by having different ‘groups’ working for different charities…The following suggestion isn’t about a charity persay…but the method of funding it could be the same (hence te possible need for a thread of it’s own…but maybe not…after all this thread is a call out to all ‘CARING’ iventors and I think the following subject just might fit that bill.

I’d like to propose the establishment of a Scholarship Fund for young inventors ‘The Komorowski Legacy Scholarship’ The details of who would be eligible to be worked out later but the first receipient would be Ron’s daughter Jessica…I’ve worked out that she is probably abut 14 now and by the time she’s ready for college we could have something viable established…

This is an excerpt from a post Ron Komorowski posted about a year ago…I never got to meet Ron as he died shortly before I discovered EN…but his posting history is such that I feel his presense still..he left a Legacy behind, filled with insight, humor, courage and yes…from his posts I gather that he could be quite forceful in his passion…

From Ron…

Well…I’ll hug my daughter today, tomorrow, and almost surely for some time yet. Maybe one more year as the average with my prognosis, but maybe get lucky and get over 5 years or more. Who knows…but…

…one nice thing….I am an inventor!!! I chose to be for one reason mainly too. When I am gone, the difference I am shooting for, the impact of my invention will go on and this accomplishment will also teach my daughter to strive for her goals too as hard as she can and for her to become something.

My daughter is 13 and I was always like the mom and the dad and she stays with me every night. She is most important to me over any inventions but I am SOOOGRATEFUL that my invention has made it into history and that it has. My daughter Jessica can always be proud. I am lucky for what I have received in life. Many never get as much as I did especially terminally ill children. There is always a sadder story than yours.

Thanks for your support. There is a “present” back here for those that are supporting me. May your day be just a little brighter today after reading this and a little less taken for granted.

posted about a year ago ()

Kat, apologies go out to everyone and I am shouting them " Loud and Clear ". Your post was very clear and well done. There is no way anyone could be confused, unless one was suffering from a bad case of " Hasty-itis " …

I think it’s a great idea and hope it works out that way …

Mark, Habitat for Humanity is an awesome Charity I always wanted to jump in and help build a house and never did .

Krissie,
Count me in for some of the brainstorming. I don’t know how much of the actual work I’ll be able to do. Habitat for Humanity is a very worthy cause.

Unless I missed something – Chris has not yet responded. If my thread below made it sound that way, my apoligies to everyone. I was merely trying to justify the reasoning behind the question I asked him, stating what I felt were the benefits. I could be entirely wrong and it may not be possible, but seemed worth a shot. Again, sorry for any confusion and I’ll let you know if he responds to my email.

Night all!

Wow .. It’s amazing what a day brings !! I am hearing the tune in my noggen as I write… :-) Things can move pretty quickly here at the forum!
That was a fast response from Chris, what a great idea and excellent advise he gave, submitting under a particular Charities name alone I agree cuts out a lot of red tape etc. and keeps us doing what we do best !! Can you imagine how totally thrilled a Charity would be to have such a gift as a donation!! Not to mention with their name attached to the product alone will drive up sales.

Kat & Krissie I never even noticed the edit button after I posted, I will now… too any times I’ve reread a post to be horrified at my ..gulp mistakes. I always thought it was a good thing these pages filled up quickly , out of sight out if mind :-)

If anyone at ENTeam catches this thread. We need your assistence. Could you ask our friend John G. if a nonprofit might work for this opportuity? We need all the expertise we can get. Thanks in advance and have a great day. Charlie

Thanks Kat (boy! I love the way you write and express yourself!)
p.s. back- they took my edit feature button away. :( I don’t know why…but it’s gone gone…not even there for two seconds after I post ):

Well Said Charlie!!!!

I’d also like to mention that you don’t have to have a degree to make a difference in the world around you or even here on EN. I’ve spent the greater part of my life working a variety of jobs whose pay scales hovered just over minimum wage…I had a year of community college many many moons ago. I only have life experiences to draw on, coupled with a strong desire to help others. It wasn’t until I found EN that I found my voice…So I’m just saying…It’s never to late to begin.

One of the questions I asked Chris was could we just submit an invention under a charity’s name? So one submission could be under Red Cross, while another under Habitat for Humanity (just example charities). This way, if an idea was actually selected any royalties would go straight to the charity, so that a “distributor” wouldn’t even be needed. From my point of view, this would be best because even if we had a trusted distributor, bound by legal documentation there are tons of things that could go awry – none of which I wish on anyone, but here are a few examples: distributor gets sued for something, distributor doesn’t pay taxes – future income tagged and banks account seized, distributor passes away…just to name a few. A lot could happen in 20 years. Leaving one person responsible just doesn’t seem feasible to me.

As for costs, the only cost I foresaw was the submission fee. That divided up by a bunch of people isn’t really a big deal. I really don’t think building a prototype is necessary if we have a well thought out idea and can explain how to build it. EN goes for that.

I see starting an NPO as an option, but yes many hurdles there, too – not that I can’t jump! I’ve heard of small start-up NPO’s piggy backing upon a larger one, which can make things a lot easier. Also, there is a big difference in the NPO world whether or not you are a DSP (Direct Service Provider), so that would need to be checked out, too.

They say Rome wasn’t built in a day. But then I went to Rome and learned they would travel to far off land and have aquaducts and colliseums and whole towns up in no time (Florence is better imho). So maybe a few days ;) Looking forward to when all this fussy dust settles.

PS – Krissie, there is an edit reply feature at the bottom of your thread box for a few minutes after you post and you can edit

I was thinking Non-profit as well Chappy. Let those involved that know about non-profits do that part of it. In the forums we have Attorneys, accountants, scientists……… Letting everybody do what they are best at, which is usually what they love and for a great cause. Now you got me saying whoo Hooo! There could be no better way for us to do our part, then by being ourselves.

Yeah, when we start talking about the concrete aspects of an undertaking such as this it gets a little uncomfortable. The good news is that I believe that we have all the elements to make it work. There is a huge responsibility for the CFO. If a Corporation were to be formed it would have to be a “Non-Profit” the tax implications are unique for Non-Profits. There is no private ownership and the surplus of the business activities (i.e. profits) must be retained by the corporation for the preservation of the entity. The Non-profit organization is controlled by a board and board members can recieve compensation but it is according to the responsibilities of your employee status and not the value of your intellectual property. Look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonprofit_organiza... for more information.

There is a lot to be considered. I am proficient in asset protection and formation of corporations. 97% of these types of ventures fail within 2 years. It takes a lot of money and the legal responsibility is what federal trade laws are written for.

Let’s take our time and move at a governmental pace on this one.

When done through EN, wouldn’t they handle the $. And we could decide what available charities to donate to along with what we feel we need. Don’t know how other groups divide up in what % portion, any income.4/21/2011 12:58AM PST

Thank you Kat!! I’m sure many of us will be anxious to hear if Chris or En decide to weigh in on this topic.

At this point there are a lot of ‘What If’s’ that need to be addressed and resolved.

One of the things we need to be concerned about, because of the potential number of people involved in this project, is verifying the validity of those participating. The anonymity of the web, is by it’s very nature, a cause for concern. It has been mentioned many times on many threads that you can be whoever you want to be…

The scrutiny we will have to undergo to insure that everything is legal and aboveboard will be daunting. Our conduct will have to be above reproach. Each participating member will need to feel safe within the confines of the group that all are who they claim to be.

Take me for example…What do any of you really know about me? Can I be trusted? Do I have a hidden agenda? Or am I what I claim to be or seem to be just from the nature of my past posts?

So…that being said…how do the rest of you suggest we deal with this particular issue? As uncomfortable as it may be to discuss, because we all WANT to believe the best of people, it will have to be addressed. it is especially important when it comes down to who will be administering the money…from the money for submissions, covering potential expenses for prototypes to moneys received should the group win a search.

All right ya’all. I took the liberty of sending an email to Chris Clark, VP & General Counsel of EN. Busy man, I’m sure, so we’ll see if he has any time to visit this thread or reply to my email, which just asked if he knew of a SIMPLE way this charity thing could be done or if there are any other legal barriers he might foresee. I cc’d myself and will forward to group if he responds.

You guys are killin’ me. Lol

Roger your skepticism is well earned I’m sure. I too identify closely to it. I’m wondering though if it can’t be set up to benefit the primary inventor as well as the charity.
By law I believe only 15% of gross proceeds from a charity collection have to actually go there. Now before all of us get to pre-judgin’ ole Grego let me say I think that is ridiculous and an invitation to cons. Just for kicks let’s say we allocate 25% of proceeds to primary inventor and split the rest in whatever ratio is adequate to administer the project and the charity. Seems like there could be possibly 50% available to the charity.
This would encourage participation on both sides.
I’m sure I am over simplifying it but I’m just a wannabe biker trapped in a pink room.

due to no edit feature….arrrggghhh….

the ‘any takers line’ should have read ‘#3 and #4…any takers???’

Hi Everyone, Wow you’ve all been busy! I have had a really busy day myself and have to work tonight so I will probably get more in depth with my answers on my break. For now let me say…It’s easy to get excited about an idea, especially one as altruistic as this one and easy to throw caution to the wind in our haste to do good deeds (waving my own hand guiltily here)

Robert and Chappy make great points and Roger does too…I stand by the credo that we’ll never know what we can accomplish if we never try…what will it cost us?…blood, sweat, a few tears, time…yes I’m sure it will. Will we succeed? That is up to a higher power to foresee. Will it happen overnight? …shoot…it probably won’t happen overyear. Just because something hasn’t been tried or done before doesn’t mean it won’t or that it’s impossible…Everyone of you reading this should know that…or else what are you doing here on this site…aren’t you…on a daily basis trying to bring ‘something that hasn’t been done before to ‘light’?

So what we need right now…

1- friend request ‘see-far’ if you haven’t done so already (I’ll accept them tonight at work)
2- email your reg email to ‘see-far’(this is just to get the ball rolling until we decide on a secure way to communicate)
3- someone to take ownership of setting up the secure site
4- someone to take ownership and start working on a viable contract to address issues Robert brought up
5-keep track of ideas you want to submit to the group for when the time is come

1. and #4….any takers?

also we need to figure out a way for an impartial judge of the contract to validate it as sound and legal. Is this something EN could do and would they be willing to do it if it were acceptable…your thoughts???

going to bed now…see you all in about 6-7 hours….

krissie
WED
04.20.2011
17:54 EST

Good points James. I have been watching this thread and wanted to “weigh in” such as it is. I see many of the same issues as you with nightmares of the logistics and need for CYA but the biggest issue I have is the fact that with the exception of a very small number of inventors here that have actually HAD one successful idea come to fruition (let alone start making a dime as yet), most of us are still trying to get our FIRST idea on the shelves. This is a great idea in theory but what are the realistic chances of a group coming up with a million dollar idea?( I know.. I know.. it’s been done once.. but really?) More importantly… while it is all well and good to try and “do our part” to help mankind I myself need to concentrate on getting a product launched and make my million. It’s great that people like Bill Gates promise to donate billions to charity (still waiting to see that)but the key word here is BILLIONAIRE… I know I will likely get flack for this but I think this is an unrealistic idea and while very magnanimous it is not a workable idea. Having said that.. if all involved just want to have some fun and possibly use it as a learning experience.. have a blast. To quote the deadly Dragons.. I’m Out!

Cheers to all.

You can look @ http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=200... for some answers on public domain. There is a lot to be learned about CYA. As a realtor and a RE investor it is a very important subject just as in IP.

With plain email, the problem is security. In fact, Items that are emailed have argument that they are of public domain because of how many servers it hits in just as many states and sometimes servers. Attorneys will not allow you to email important documents… My IP attorney will only allow me to Fax, hand deliver or mail proprietary documents to circumvent the rule. If there is a security breach in the folder Godaddy is liable. Regular communications are fine by email… Mine is mygeocast@gmail.com.

There are way too many issues to be dealt with before we can talk about submissions. Nondisclosures are not going to be enough. We need everyone to sign contracts that protect the individual members and the team. I would like to discuss these issues in detail but not on a public forum.

I don’t want to put the buggy before the horse. There are just too many situations that can be foreshadowed and avoided if we treat this team as a new product idea and do our due diligence in protecting the team along with its members.

I will say this; I love the idea of donating my time, knowledge, and expertise. If these efforts raise money for a good cause I would like to be part of that. Any product going to market through the team would most likely raise more money than all the members of the team donating as individuals.

Right now without the proper protection every member of this team is not only in a position to possibly be taken advantage of (having their donated work benefits an individual instead of the team and the undecided charities). But more importantly every member is currently liable in the event that the team gets sued. It’s great to think we can all play nice, but let’s face it if a submission starts making money we can safely predict some potentially serious legal issues. If they are not dealt with before the team begins saving the world, the world will crush us in the end.

I have a lot to offer but there are issues that need to be dealt with before I donate my time and expertise. The last thing I want to see is any individual taking advantage of the team and its member’s good nature.

These are serious issue’s that require attention before the true work of giving can begin. Every legit charity began as paperwork.

Thanks Jane! I agree keep everything as simple as we can

Jane, That is way too simple… LOL. Cmon we need to reinvent communications that are effective, Right? Good suggestion… :-p

You guys could just exchange your regular email addresses and start using “reply all” until you come up with a more official system. Just a suggestion.

By the way… “IT” was very effective… NOT “I”

In regards to communication:
I was collaborating with a company in the Netherlands and we used a free app MS Share View and then Skype. I know share view enables email envites for real-time conference collaboration initiated by the conference host. Not sure the conference capability of skype or the number of participants. In Share View you can put up documents for examination or download in the conference. I was very effective. On a different project, a state side project. We used a folder hosted by GoDaddy. It was password secured and didn’t necessitate a host and enabled liesurely access. This was effective for the project as well. The folder costs $9.95/month.

I’m sending my email to seefar. This is how we will all communicate right?

Thank you Krissie for this wonderful idea as always :>! I have a portion of my earnings that goes to charity whatever is needed at the time. In the same way a portion or my earnings with inventions will also go to help others. Right now honestly I am not a good team member because of mounting problems I have to solve. Keep it up and go for the gold!!!

I’ll be in touch Krissie

I am with you .. Have some ideas as well .. I’ll zip you out note ..

Rick, we’d be delighted to have you!!!

I was just reading through this thread, If I can be of some help, I’d like to try. Rick 04/20/2011 12:54 AM PST

okay…I’ve had a little sleep and I know we have a lot of issues to sort out…but I’ve had a whopper of an idea for a submission in a search that ends in roughly a month. It will take some time for it to make it through the selection process (as we all are pins and needlely aware)so what do you think of this proposal…

we can form an immediate task force to start working out the submission, (NDA’a signed first and a group email listing of all of those who are participating on this idea)

then we can work out the legalities and problems of how and to who the payment and royalties will go to.

once the group is formed and this particular idea is presented, if anyone feels the idea has no merit, it is with no hard feelings you would be able to withdraw. (there are lots more ideas and searches in our future I’m sure!!!)

Regarding the perfect name for this group… I would like to appeal to our current name Search winners to put your wonderful minds to a ‘Name Search’ for us. PLEASE DO NOT post your suggestions here on the thread.
You have 2 ways to get the names to us, you can ‘friend’ C.C.I.F.A.R. and send an email or email any of the listed members of this group. Then we’ll compile them in a group email and have a vote. Actually…anyone can join this name search including group members.

So…how do the rest of you feel about what I just suggested? Remember…we only have less than a month to submit.

I’ll give you all a hint…this idea I had tonight…it’s a perfect fit for a current LPS and with some slight modifications …the same idea can be tweaked to have a global impact on the reason we started this thread to begin with…

04/20/2011
02:29 EST

Krissie, I hope your sleeping now. Don’t rush this, if it is meant to be, it will come easy. Focus on the end results. Let yourcompassion guide your mind, don’t let your mind take over. There will be plenty time for searches. Sweet dreams.

Kelce….ICRAP….LOL…now that’s what I’m talking about!!!! I think if we keep a great sense of humor in spite of the seriousness of this thread we will achieve a wonderful balace! But guys …before I get too giddy on lack of sleep (36 hours and counting) I’m going to hit the haystacks so I can make a little sense when I post…but please continue… I’ll catch up!

I see that Krissie is following the marketing idea that (I believe) was introduced to popular American culture by the US military: Name projects in such a manner that the first letter of each word forms a memorable acronym.

The “bulls-eye” for such an effort occurs when (1) the acronym is somewhat synonymous with the longer title, (2) it emphasizes a feature of system in way that acts as advertising, and (3) it is similar enough to a word that naturally occurs regularly in normal conversations, that human memory’s automatic association behavior is constantly renewing people’s awareness of the product.

BUT – you can’t trademark a product label that is both ordinary word and descriptive. You need some type of angle. Tactics that might work with the USPTO include unique spelling variation and adding an “e” or an “i” at the beginning of an otherwise descriptive word. For example “Phone” couldn’t be trademarked for cellphones – but “iPhone” could.

With that in mind, I suggest that you don’t title any of your projects: “Inventor Community Relief Aid Project”