Ron,

Some people are only interested in winning the contests so if they knew what EE and EN were using as guidelines and had more info as to what would be a good fit and what wouldn’t and why theirs didn’t make the cut, then the next time they enter the contest, wouldn’t they have a better shot at meeting their needs and winning???

I think others that will take their invention that have been rejected by EE/EN and try to bring it to market on their own are using these contests as experience and EXPERT FEEDBACK.

I think they believe that because EE/EN are in contact with retailers and know what they are looking for, then they might be able to trickle that infor down to the contestant so they know why the retailer (indirectly) wouldn’t want their product so that they could improve their inventions and come back stronger.

As far as the beauty contest thing goes, how do you know they’re not getting feedback after the contest? I don’t think that’s the type of thing they would want to broadcast. Or maybe they’re not because they could get sued.

Maybe EE/EN could have an agreement that if they gave feedback they wouldn’t be sued or held liable.

It’s more like taking a test in school and they just tell you that you failed and don’t show you which ones you got wrong or right! How can you ever pass the test???

Patrice….new invention or product marketability evaluation is SO INTRICATE.

In your evaluation through the research you will give yourself a yes, then a no, a yes, good,bad…it changes Patrice…on all products.

I doubted Handi-Straps for 8 years!!! Thought it would hurt people if used extensively.

A proper evaluation costs LOTS of time which can also cost money and time itself is money.

If it was your invention, I’d have to trust your opinion as the first source, you know best. The rest would be an opinion by me…and my opinion would be less accurate than me picking who is going to win the Super Bowl this year if I picked now!

Rather than discourage you, I can advise you on how to improve but really not say whether your product would make it or not. This would be UNFAIR, maybe insulting to you!

Patrice, tell me your idea and I will evaluate. I will give you ideas to improve but tell you DO NOT RELY ON MY OPINION…GET MORE! Where? Potential consumers….unbiased people you do not know well who won’t be partial for a very first step.

Edison Nation should not be put into a position where they can insult, proper evaluation is worth THOUSANDS!!! The inventor must do it. Just to research the market properly to evaluate marketability takes about 80hrs.!!!! Don’t forget, not just marketability…but can you bust in the market…or is it locked up.

Then there are the other 3 or 4 major questions like manufacturability etc.

Roger Brown….his pizza scissors and his new kitchen invention…he don’t know how many will sell or if the products will last and keep selling…it’s a crap shoot. Roger knows that with all his experience.

So how do you evaluate? Are people willing to walk around wearing Handi-Straps or do they look like handicapped or just plain stupid? Will they take the time to put on?

Their doctor will tell them to put it on…but will they?

Can I get it to catch? The first guy to wear a necktie must have looked like a real idiot…so will the first guy wearing Handi-Straps.

Will Handi-Straps make it in the market? Where I can get some big time sales numbers to make it worth it?

My so educated honest answer: ??????????

Ok…so let me see if I can wrap my mind around this….

At the end of the day, research is the most important part of the process – because it’s the FIRST step in the process.

Contests like those on EN can serve several purposes to an inventor. For those who are selected it means a way to market, for those who are not, a chance to run the product through some level of evaluation.

This brings me to “evaluation” as a general concept….

The term itself is a really broad brush to paint with….Evaluation comes from many people and in many forms. From family and friends to professional product developers, they are all just opinions based on life experience, personal preference, professional experience….and the one most people never think about is Intuition.. Some people do have a natural intuition about products, what will sell, what won’t…..

Although it’s rooted in many different things -. The fact of the matter is, it’s all just an opinion so you can’t take any one of them as fact.

I can tell you based on my experience, life is a series of patterns, and if you spend enough time looking at your product market you will defiantly see the pattern in the market and consequently where your product falls in it.

Really good Mark…I’d hate like hell to be pressured or forced into giving you an evaluation on your invention. I don’t know more than you about your field of invention you have been studying…and suppose I am wrong and you listen, and scrap your idea? Suppose you would listen to me as a deciding factor, I don’t want that burden!

Improvement to an idea takes MUCH work as well as the research to improve.

Sorry, this is the inventor’s job, the evaluation and the rest…not EN’s or anyone else in the end. Why? Because the inventor needs to know best. It is their evaluation and decisions that matter.

Give me your invention for 3 months and I can put 80 hrs of research into it to give you an educated opinion…but that will cost ya. You don’t want a 10 minute evaluation on your invention from me. I WILL be off.

Evaluations are educated guesses based on experience dealing with the comsumer and previous trends. Even with the best background and experience no one can claim 100% accuracy. Take Harry Potter’s creator, she was turned down numerous times being told it was to complex for the general public. I am sure those that turned it down are kickiing themselves. But at the time it was their experienced guess that it wouldn’t sell. Just another case to show that no one is always correct and you can’t accurately guess what the comsumer will do.

http://www.rogerbrown.net

I think you’re all missing my point here.

Why would I care what EE/EN’s opinon or evaluation of my product is?

Because THEY are going to either MAKE ME WIN OR LOSE!!!!

So YES, their OPINION or EVALUATION DOES matter because they are the JUDGES!!!!

If I have an understanding of how they evaulate or what makes THEM think one product is better than another, doesn’t that knowledge give me a leg up on the competition for future contests???

And aren’t they actually communicating with retialers and asked them what THEY want? I think they probably have a damn good idea of what those retailers are looking for. It’s their JOB to know what those retialers are looking for – not to GUESS what they are looking for!

If I am a headhunter and I am employed by a company to go out and find candidates for a specific postition, do you think I would be GUESSING what the company is looking for or do you think I would KNOW what the company is looking for based on our communications with each other???

EE/EN will only get paid if they bring a winning product to the retailers so I think they would be trying to fill that need to the best of their ability based on the criteria that the company’s have shared with them. That is real solid information and NOT OPINION!

Actually Patrice…It’s still opinion :) but it comes wrapped in the experiance of the retail buyer. They don’t always get it right any more than anyone else.

That is also a process that EN uses, most product deveopers work off just the market and never even talk with retailers during the development process….because it’s just ONE retailer….and you need to designe the product for the market – not normally a single store.

That is just the way EN does it….

But to your other points…I agree with you….there is research at every level that needs to be done.

There’s been a lot to read on this post, and a lot of opinions flying around, so I’m only going to comment on Patrice’s & Mark’s latest:

Trying to guess what EVERYBODY thinks is impossible.

Trying to guess what a very small group of people with particular criteria are going to think (EE/EN in this example) is a LOT simpler. You know the people. And you know their criteria.

That’s 100% true Brett – I think Ron was saying in the case of EE/EN it is a set of criteria that applies to that effort. So you can’t take it and apply it to the entire market….or let that set of criteria define your invention for the entire market.

Unless of course EN is your target “market” …and then you should use that criteria to define your product. No question

To mainly Patrice….how can Edison Nation’s operations and judging be totally fair and perfect in the first place?

You could hand them a BLOCKBUSTER that they have no door to go through with. Obviously this is the case as Edison Nation nor anyone can treat all’s idea as it warrants.

What could they say to you? How could they answer you? Who would answer you?

Patrice, Home Depot, Lowes, Ace Hardware and some of the largest safety distributors know very well of Handi-Straps. So far they have turned me down as by a “no reply”

Why? Who knows why? Who cares…screw ’em. Yet I continue to build my approval on my own through users, medical people etc.

One main thing Patrice…is retailers WILL NOT prove your invention for you. This is a big gray area and no way to respond correctly as to why because “why” is not available…just a “no, I don’t think so”

Your invention may be great…but how hard is it to get the public to think so and make it a hot product with bustling sales?

EN nor I, or other experienced people just can’t give an accurate answer and EN can’t give an answer how they can win their contest because suppose they have an uncooperative buyer of Home Depot judging who is a person of few words as they usually are.

The riddle to solve of the invention is the RESPONSIBILITY OF THE INVENTOR…NOT EN, AND THEY SHOULD NOT PARTICIPATE IN THAT RIDDLE.

I just strongly feel people come down too hard on EN for answers and feedback that is so hard to do. Not fair to EN. They can’t admit they know nothing about your market which many great products in their hands have slipped away because of.

How do I know? Because that is the way it works in the inventing field.

Here’s an EN story for you:

At the Providence RI EN casting call a guy came up to me with a computer. Showed me a product that news had already covered.

It is like a material bag with a cloth strip. You put over your car mirror and slam the strip in the door so no one will take the bag. It is to cover the mirror so before a winter storm so you don’t drive with ice on your mirrors.

EN reject, no reason why, the guy was disappointed and I thought the product was GREAT. I keep in touch with the guy, tried to help him.

My EMS contacts thought it was great because they have a problem with icy mirrors. Call comes they can’t wait. A big car dealer liked my idea of giving with new cars and to protect mirrors on the lots. The inventor had the idea of embroidering Ford, GM etc.

People drive with icy mirrors very dangerously for 10 minutes until they melt. You can’t scrape so much, they will scratch.

GREAT idea….will help MANY…but it is a seasonal product and won’t help enough to become a mass market nationwide great seller.

EN cut him. they have that right. Their contest and it can’t possibly be perfect. We all know EN is looking for BIG products. Many entries will sell a good amount….but not enough to win a contest where everyone will make some profits off.

This must be understood.

I care about feedback from a group of 20 or more 14 year old girls…that’s about it :-)

once you get through all the talking at the same time, giggling, jumping up and down, slapping each other and screaming, it’s really quite helpful lol

That’s a good one Tania…you are creating the specific focus group that you need to supply the correct answer!

My toy invention, I opened up the case in a pack of very young girls a number of times. They went nuts over the product.

This gave me the correct evaluation. do I have a winner? YES!

If I submitted to Edison Nation, I can’t expect them to go get 3 different packs of kids and test for the real evaluation. They just don’t have the time to do that for everybody.

Besides, I saw a number of EN product submissions. They get HIGHLY specialized! I wouldn’t doubt people submit surgeon’s equipment even! Who at EN could give feedback on that! No kidding…people brought some real technical stuff! Real science! Ain’t gonna end up on a shelf at Target!

One guy I saw brought, some crude contraption 6 feet by 3 feet, lugged it into a casting call. Some other ideas were downright ridiculous. Does EN honestly give the correct evaluation….“What are you nuts?” Best to just keep quiet sometimes as EN smartly does.

I DON’T even want to know what was in that guy’s head!!!! Evaluate that and give feedback???

1) Overall, I would love to have a one sentence feed back from EE for why the product does not fit their particular search. The live presenters get something, excitement, attention… etc..
2) (Ron especially) We all know it is not always a gamble, it is about dialing in the formula. Need, manufacture cost, branding,and the clencher price point,especially in tough times. If you can’t make the price point while hitting the longevity of the trend it is game over. If the need is everlasting, the wolves will make the knock-off at a lower price point.
3)Harry Potter is about marketing. It is not about the book. The publisher who didn’t reject it had the path to market already in place. They could see the product need and elevated it to a trend that could maintain until it becomes a modern classic.
4)Roger’s Pizza scissors definitely fills a need, trend, price point. But if it is made too cheaply, all is lost. If it is made to be durable, feel in the hand, at the impulse point of purchase at the right price, millions are to be made!(that is a salute to Roger)
5)Handi-Straps are a long-lived product with brand recognition, yes. The price point is marginally high for many justifiable reasons. A way to overcome this is perhaps, Ron, you can try several different marketing strategies at once. What if you market a slightly lighter version to those hot dog vendors as “Vendor Friend” at a smaller price, while marketing a heavier version to bodybuilders as “MaxMass”? Well, you get the idea. I just learned of this strategy at my local meetings. I thought this may be a receptive forum.

We are talking about feedback from Edison Nation correct? I thought that was the topic of the thread?

Tania – is your product that you have the teen girls entered into an EN contest? If it were and it were rejected, wouldn’t you want to know why? Even if it were their opinion, maybe it would give you some insight into some factors that you might not have even thought of before? Factors that you could take and use to make your product better?

Or maybe there isn’t anything wrong with your product at all, maybe it’s just a matter of EN doesn’t have any contacts or relationships with retailers in the market that your product is in? Fine, just state that. Then I know it wasn’t my product that they didn’t like.

Is it their opinion – YES! Is it the opinion of the retailers on what criteria will sell in their market – YES! It’s all opinion YES!!! But if you’re entering THEIR CONTEST AS A MEANS OF BRINGING YOUR PRODUCT TO MARKET WITH THEIR RETAILERS – AND YOU PLAN ON ENTERING MORE CONTESTS IN THE FUTURE, THEIR OPINIONS ARE WORTH KNOWING!

Now, if I choose to sell my product on my own website, what would I care what EN thinks about it? It might help me, but it’s not as important to me as when I was using THEIR CONTEST AS A METHOD OF GETTING MY PRODUCT TO MARKET!

Ron, I think you’re thinking I have one product to sell HANDI-STRAPS and if I entered it into EN and it lost than I would move it on to other methods of bringing it to market like selling it on my own. In that case, than their opinion wouldn’t matter as much to me because I’m moving on and I am venturing into other methods of bringing it to market.

But, if I am just developing products based on their contests that they are advertising in order to win $2,500, and have a shot at getting my prodcut to market with only $25 invested – then their opinion might help me with the next contest that I enter. I might not make such a complex product or I might make my product market a little wider or unique based on their opinion in order to win their contest.

Do you see the difference???

well Patrice, I guess I wouldn’t mind feedback, but it wouldn’t really make a difference to me.
I would just take it as an adult personal opinion.
But I don’t see anything wrong with people wanting that feedback either.
I see the difference that you are talking about. It would be helpful for the contests, as you say, because EN are the judges.If manufacturing costs are a problem,then that might be something interesting to know about,but beyond that I really don’t see the need….it’s only an opinion.
So for the contests, I think it’s beneficial to know,so people have a better chance specifically for the contests.
I wouldn’t put any tween ideas into the current EN searches. I will most likely take all my tween ideas to market without EN

No you wouldn’t put any of your tween products into the current searches because they don’t fit into the searches at all.

You might want to put it into the season 4 casting call because that has a broader scope and it’s focus is showing the audience how to develop a product from idea to shelf. So for $25, you might want to put one of your products in the casting call.

The topic of this thread was opinion and feedback from EE/EN after entering a contest.

If my goal is to win a contest from EE/EN, than THEY ARE MY TARGET MARKET!!! Their opinion and viewpoint and feedback is what’s going to get me closer to winning!

If my goal is to get my product on store shelves by another method like licensing directly to retailers or manufacturing and selling myself, EE/EN’s opinion wouldn’t really mean as much to me.

Now take that same tween focus group and their opinions and use that to win an EE/EN contest. I don’t think that would help you very much.

Take those same statistics when negotiating a licensing deal or publish those statistics on your website and you’ve got some great marketing tools!!!

It’s also the research you NEED to do before you decide to persue any product through ANY method!!!

Here’s another point I want to bring up -

We just ended the Spencer’s Gag search not too long ago. How many of those hundreds or thousands of entries do you think were inventions sitting in someone’s inventor’s journal just dying to bust a move? I would bet very little.

I’m thinking the majority of those entries were ideas that were thought up on the fly to WIN THE CONTEST! So, that means, people just wanted to win that contest!

So how many of those people then went and thought up another product idea on the fly for the next contest in order to win? Probably more than half.

So, if they are trying and trying to win this contest, than I think EE/EN’s opinion of what makes the cut based on their criteria is key.

That doesn’t mean these people don’t have other inventions that they have been working on for years and they are developing on a more serious basis with focus groups and market analysis, etc. But I’m just explaining the importance of EE/EN’s opinion on the contests!

I thought I already agreed with you ;-)for winning the contest, then yes it would be helpful. For any other reason, the answer would be that it’s just an educated opinion.

Why you DO NOT want feedback on your invention from Edison Nation… I didn’t see the “after entering a contest” part.

I really believe that generally the feedback for these contests is- “good idea, just not quite good enough”, or “retailer just not interested”.
There’s no secret feedback that will change anything. If you believe in it, keep plugging away. Don’t count on others to validate your idea.

I had signed representation for my ShoeSkirt, for 5 months before I pitched it at the EE audition. The agent loved it (he really did), but the infomercial company he worked with, liked it but didn’t love it. Nothing bad, just wasn’t interested. By my request the agent signed it back over to me just a few weeks before the EE audition. And we know the rest of that story…. Nothing had changed with the product- no improvements- just a different day, different situation, to different people.

what a good decision you made there Holly :-)

Tania, who is Sally???

what are you talking about toni? ;-)) heehee

SmartA** :D))

Tania – I know you were agreeing with me, I am just gearing up for Ron’s defense against me because he never agrees with me :)

It’s ok, I still love Ron’s fire!

Holly – where do you get that general feedback? It’s not given out from the online searches. Are you talking about the casting calls? I don’t think that’s very informative feedback either that you could use to improve your invention. It’s too general.

Constructive feedback might include:

• “Product is too similar to other products BECAUSE….blank blank blank” and then they provide links to similar products.

• “Product is not cost effective” meaning there wouldn’t be a large enough profit for it to be worth persuing.

• “The materials used are not durable enough because …blah blah blah.”

• “Could potentially become a hazard because of…”

And the list goes on.

So Holly, if I invent a pet stick and put clothes on it and I really really believe it’s a good product, does that mean that it will sell? Or sell well? I might get some nutball to back me but that doesn’t mean I have a market for it.

Maybe I might get a handful of other nuts like me but it wouldn’t make me a HOLLY TUCKER now would it :)

Your idea was brilliant and it didn’t need work, but I definitely don’t think that all ideas are brilliant or sellers or perfect just as they are. They might be diamonds in the rough and you just need to find out how to polish them!

*

Patrice…you are very determined in your thoughts.

Do this, spend some time with an inventor’s group. i have spent years not missing one meeting. Witness the GREAT controversy over people’s ideas/inventions. Some will think the idea is great and the other half will think it SUCKS. This opinion is from pretty experienced people.

Spend time at an invention show. Again, some will think ideas are good and some will thing that same idea is ridiculous and can’t make it.

Time and time again Patrice…when you take yourself in a more professional surrounding of inventors, you will see what I am saying is true…EVERY time.

This is why you don’t want an anonymous opinion, a scribbled thought from Edison Nation which may influence your journey.

Your invention is YOUR BABY…your responsibility to shine it up and get it to fly right. YOUR opinion matters most.

If Edison Nation was a manufacturing plant and not a contest, yes, a sit down or phone call with the industrial engineer and top marketing guy would be helpful, but still, even those guys in your field of manufacturing can only give you an opinion.

I know Patrice…I’ve talked to those guys many times on different ideas with different companies.

Holly…you are dead on…correct…right place at the right time..keep trying…it’s all a gamble and a matter of opinion…just keep trying…

I think it would be great to get a one line feed-
back, but I do understand that there are just
too many entries and legal situations involved.
What I do like about these contests is that I am
coming up with new ideas that
without these contests I probably wouldn’t
even think of. For $25.00 I can have some
fun and if I get lucky that would be
terrific. I know I went off subject,
Sorry.

I like the ‘polish’ thought. That is what is helpful to me!

The difference between a $125.00 and a $10.00 haircut is all in the polishing, or the product finish :-))

What does poilshing mean? you should use
spell check. Just kidding :D)))

you just crossed the line toni…careful

yeah…now add the just kidding…very funny..not

SOOOOOOOOOORRY ;(

Toni…one line of someone’s bull isn’t going to do anyone any good unless it came from Matt, Louis or a couple other very smart people at EN that not many know. these guys can’t TRULY evaluate 5000 entries and give an educated, correct indepth opinion.

Patrice…the reason for this thread is this. For you and others…put your head down and keep charging forward with your invention. all kinds of advice, opinions and nasty statements will come from the sideline. You really can’t pay no mind. They don’t know the full scope like you do.

Do you know how many people I want to tell…just SHUT THE HELL UP! In 10 seconds of evaluation they want to tell me how to do what I have been doing for 4 years better..but no, I gotta listen and smile.

Take CREDIBLE, PROFESSIONAL advice along the way…improve, re-engineer a little, but remember, you will know best….charge forward.

Patrice, you’re missing the point- other than thinking my idea was brilliant- that you totally got correct :-)

Feedback is not given out because basically it’s worthless. I’m pretty sure you’re not going to like the answer, and won’t agree with it anyway- so why bother!

Do you remember the kitchen witch. It was big in the early 90’s I think. So your pet stick with clothes has already been invented! And by the way, that guy make millions and retired early. Had EN had a contest and that had been entered, I’m guessing they would have dismissed it :-)
If somebody doesn’t want your idea- who cares what the feedback is. Move on to other people or other ways- Work out the answers yourself about profit margin, durability, hazard potential, etc.

The difference between the $110 and $10 haircut is price margin.

Ron, c’mon, reply.

See Ami’s comment? She says Handi-Straps price is too high. Many do. People don’t understand the quality in the way it is built or how in one day it can pay for itself easily by a person lifting heavy stuff for most of the day. They will do twice the work.

After that one day, the next 10 years it will last Handi-Straps will make them money. Ten years and you are not wearing out those shoulder pads or breaking those stitches rated at 5000 lbs.

People don’t want a cheap Handi-Straps made in some foreign country that breaks after using it a few times. It is made here under my eyes my way….TOP QUALITY…says my users too.

See…there are opinions…people just don’t realize…but the inventor needs to.

Handi-Straps is set at the price of a good pair of jeans or sneakers. That is where I want it to offer the kind of quality I want to give.

Handi-Straps is SOOOO IMPORTANT to many users especially injured and handicapped, EMS, people who constantly lift. They can pay for Handi-Straps like they would for a good pair of sneakers or jeans.

Handi-Straps will outlast any pair of sneakers or jeans too. It is also a very important piece of equipment that really is needed by everyone…it’s not just something nice to have.

ALL that receive are very surprised at the heavy duty, durable quality. The two metal buckles are rated at 5500 lbs! I use the same methods, materials and government regulations for fall protection harnesses that catch a falling worker. Why? Because I want it NEVER to break or wear out. If it breaks in use…I just might get sued for hurting someone too.

also not understood the difference between the 2 priced haircuts. I charged $125.00 I know what my training was ;-) not a price margin…a cost in training difference.

I like quality Ron….I don’t mind paying for it either.

Patrice, here’s an example. I have another invention that I believe is bigger than the ShoeSkirt. My patent agents thinks so too, so do all my friends. It made the Fortunate 124. The retailers loved it- but EN simply doesn’t Love it. There isn’t any feedback that I’m going to get from EN that is going to change my mind. I’m dusting off my dead horse one last time for EN, going to put some pretty bows in it’s mane and enter it into the ASOTV. I think it’s perfect for an infomerical- I actually invented it for an infomerial contest and although it was one of the winners it wasn’t picked up by them. Oh and by the way, that’s the same infomerical company that passed on my ShoeSkirt too. After that,if it’s not selected- I’m taking my baby and we’re going on a journey-who knows what we will see, or where we end up at. Remember different day, different people, different situation.

Ron and Holly are talking about your invention and your baby and bringing it to market. And if you choose to use a contest to try and bring it to market and lose, don’t let that get you down. Try other methods and believe in yourself and all that jazz…very true!!! I agree!

But if we’re talking about winning contests than I think using the terms feedback and opinion should be substituted for “THE REASON WHY YOU LOST!”

There is a reason that you lost, a specific reason. Whether that is EE’s opinion or not, it’s the reason that you didn’t win.

If you become a finalist and EN pitches your product to the retailer and it then loses, there is a specific REASON WHY YOU LOST!

Now, if you are using these contests as a way to penetrate the market, any market and make a name for yourself as a new product developer – than wouldn’t it be in your best interest to have some insight as to WHY YOU LOST BEFORE? I think so.

Let’s say that Envizion is having a tween accessory search. Anyone can enter and it’s only $25. Envizion’s policy is that they tell you why you lost every time!

Tania is a contest junkie and has entered two contest through Envizion in the past. She lost our “Child Safety Search” a month ago because we thought that her product wasn’t uique enough and we listed 3 links to other similar products. So for the tween search, Tania really drills in on the fact that she has to make sure there are NO similar tween products so she invents the first ever light up sparkle belt for tweens that flashes your own personal name!

Ron enters the tween contest too. He has never entered a contest through Envizion before. He has no idea what we’re looking for or what our priorites lie so he just takes a shot in the dark with his totally tubular lip balm.

Envizion picks Tania’s belt over Ron’s lip balm well, because there are hundreds of other lip balms on the market!!!

Sorry Ron, I guess you could have used that feedback huh?

Now, does that mean that Ron has a bad product and he should give up on it? No! If Ron loves his lip balm than he should try to license it himself or sell it over the net or some other method and not give up no matter what Envizion tells him. It might be in his best interest though to get some more feedback from tweens on whehter they would buy his lip balm or not before he goes investing in a patent and manufacturing costs, etc.

Tania’s goal was to win an Envizion contest and she did that by listening to our feedback.

Ron’s goal is to get his lip balm to market no matter what method he chooses.

SEE THE DIFFERENCE NOW???

lol I didn’t get it for a moment…I do now

yayyyyyy I won!!! :-)))

I don’t think it’s that cut and dry- there’s not always a “reason” you lost the contest, other than it just wasn’t as good as others, or in the end it just didn’t appeal to them. You’re a CPA so you think in finite terms- and judging a contest is not finite. I have judged a few contests in my days and when your’e out your’e out. There are guidelines but in the end it’s all a judgment call- and that is not finite enough to explain.

Holly, I’m not a CPA, I’m a Financial Analyst. I know in your mind there probably isn’t much difference but I just thought I would correct you :)

I completely disagree with you on the reasoning for winning or losing a contest. Whether or not you completely thought out your reasoning when you were judging contests, your brain had to be going through some processes to come up with the “NO” result that you got. If you really think about it, there were reasons.

If you didn’t have a reason for saying yes or no than you were just randoming speaking out “yes” or “no”.

Even general reasons like “wasn’t as good as others” has more specifc reasonging behind it. There was a reason others were better. Say your shoeskirt was better than my shoe rack. Your product was better becuase:

• It is cheaper
• It is conveniently hidden under your comforter
• It is not ONLY for shoes but for remotes, etc so it’s versitile.

So there are specific reasons for the “wasn’t as good as other” but your brain didn’t take the time to list them out, it just sped up to it’s final decision at that time.

Patrice, I think the biggest problem is
not hurting someones feelings. Because
the invention is really so dumb and
they don’t want to tell anyone that.
I have seen some really dumb
inventions on these marketing promotional
sites. Really stupid but hey – that’s
the best some people can do. Just my
opinion – don’t kill the messenger.

While I agree that a lengthy evaluation or opinion about the invention from EN would not be practical and would likely not be worth the time it takes to write up such an opinion, I have to say that I think EN could help out its inventors a little more and without expending any additional time or resources than they already put into their evaluations. I deal with buyers from major retailers all the time, and I’ve come to get a good feel for what sways them. I truly believe that it would help to convince a buyer to give a finalists entry a closer look, and perhaps even purchase it if EN provided finalists with some document (perhaps a certificate) showing that the invention placed among the top X of hundreds or thousands of entries. This would require no opinions or evaluations. Simply a statement saying where the entry ranked. As an evaluator of new technologies and a decision maker in the field, I myself would give such contest finalists a little more attention. I do recall Matt saying that EN would look into offering such statements. I would like to see that happen. Just a thought.

Toni – you are dead on. That’s why they don’t do it. I know why they don’t do it, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a NEED for it.

I think there has to be some sort of happy medium between the reasons why EE/EN won’t give out specific reasons and the desire for that knowledge.

There are ways of saying things tactfully without offending people.

An idea is “dumb” for a reason. It might be dumb because no one would buy it so your feedback would be: Product does not solve a problem, there are no clear benefits to the product. Or something like that.

Then maybe when they go back to the drawing board they focus on a need or benefit when designing their product for the next product search.

Wow…there are obviously many ways to say the same thing

The facts is…if you can find a set of reasons why you select a product, then you can find an equal and opposite set of reasons you rejected one.

I have to side with Patrice on this one Holly… They know why they rejected it…and that’s feedback that can be very valuable to an inventor…just like knowing the reason you selected it can be valuable to the inventor for use in the development of their next product

That being said…it would take a lot of time to give feedback to each person who asked for it under the contest format….The best I think you may ever get is some form of catagory level feedback.

This process is all about learning….and feedback from anyone is all part of the education process…family, pros, EN, Eachother….it all adds up to the big picture

Hey..off topic….but i’m at home on my laptop and don’t have the link to the EN chat room…does someone have that please?

I’m done now…carry on… :)

There is no one in there Mark.