Making the Most of a Conference: 3 Nuggets

I'm still in the clouds after attending the Women's Conference 2010 a week ago, but it feels essential to cull some nuggets about making the most of attending a conference. Here are three things I did:

1. Have one or more goals in place before you attend a conference.

At the Women's Conference 2010, I wanted to meet a Caroline Bouvier Kennedy whom I admire for the courage of her convictions. I also wanted to enlist her assistance in getting the KleenSlate Paddle considered for New York Public Schools. Kennedy sits on the Board for the Funds for Public Schools in New York. I met Kennedy at the conference and gave her the KleenSlate Paddle. She autographed two of her books--one for me and one for my mother-- and I give her a copy of The Right Sisters. She was so genuine as she shook my hand, looked me in the eye, and said, "I look forward to reading your book!"

2. Do your homework

Because a number of celebrities were participating in the Women's Conference, including Oprah and Michelle Obama, hotels were sold out, but I was prepared having booked an awesome hotel months in advance. Security was unusually high because of the prestigious presenters, so programs were given out at the last minute. Despite 15,000 women in attendance, I managed to secure a program ahead of everyone and located a seat for the main event close to the stage. The KleenSlate Concepts booth was next to the book store--an ideal location. We had an amazing team managing the booth with 1500 paddles to give away. Most importantly PINK was part of the conference theme, so our Pink Paddles were a big hit!

3. Be Prepared for Unique Opportunities

Maria Shriver opened the Conference with a March on Alzheimer's to raise money to combat the disease. I had joined the Dano Sister Team months before the conference The sister team had inspired me after hearing about their father and this debilitating disease. Never having met them in person, I used my Pink Paddle to find them in the crowd of 1000 women. I wrote DANO Team on the Paddle and walked around until someone said, "Are you looking for us?" The DANO team was declared the #1 fundraisers. We raised four Pink Paddles and cheered as the announcement was made.

Because I carried Paddles and The Right Sisters with me everywhere I went, I managed to give them to Maria Shriver, Jane Fonda, and Sister Terry Dodge (one of the Minerva Winners). As I was leaving the exhibit hall, I heard someone call, "Gayle." When the women turned, I realized she was Gayle King--Oprah's best friend. I handed her a Paddle and asked her to get it to Oprah and let her know I would like to help her school in Africa. As she walked away, I watched her. She was surrounded by cameras snapping her photo. In her hand was the Pink Paddle. SWEET!

I'm grateful for the inspiration I gathered at the conference and totally satisfied that I did a good job of promoting my product in such an awesome setting.

Speak Up 2: Talking to Clubs and Organizations

Last week, I talked about the value of speaking to clubs and organizations. Speaking up helps an inventor/entrepreneur to network and promote a product. It is also can be kind of scary. You only get a few minutes in which to make an impression and convey your message, so it's important to do it right.

I joined Toastmasters to improve my speaking skills, so I do my best when I went out and spoke to organizations. Toastmasters is an international organization that has groups that meet in just about every community--even my small rural community.

At Toastmasters, there is no instructor; instead,you learn from other participants as each speech and meeting is critiqued by a member in a positive manner, focusing on what was done right and what could be improved. You learn skills by filling a meeting role, such as giving a prepared or impromptu speech or serving as timer, evaluator, or grammarian.

Here is what I learned at Toastmasters:

• Humor is important;
• People want to be entertained while being informed;
• Know your audience so you can deliver the right message;
• To be prepared you have practice, practice, practice.

I highly recommend joining Toastmasters to become a better public speaker. And then go out and speak up!

Speak Up I: Talking to Clubs and Organizations

I've never been shy. My first marketing ploy was to dress up in whiteboard clothing at a trade show to demonstrate the eraser I had invented for dry erase markers. One of the first things I learned when I went into business was that I had to speak up and talk to people about my product, my business, and myself.

I'm a tad more subdued in my approach these days, but I know the value of talking ever time I get the chance. Speaking at local clubs and organizations is a particularly delightful and enterprising opportunity. Most organizations, like Lions and Rotary, have lunch or breakfast meetings to which they invite speakers. I've taken to wangling invites to be a speaker at such meetings. I can hear you thinking: Why in the world would she want to talk to Kiwanis or Soroptimist Clubs? Let me speak to that.

Just last week, I gave a talk at a Sons in Retirement (SIR) meeting. SIR is an organization for men who are are retired from full-time, gainful employment. They have a monthly luncheon meeting that includes a featured speaker. The organization espouses no political party, religion or sect of any kind, nor promotes any cause regardless of how worthy. However, they are a bunch of really cool retired guys who are interested in all kinds of things.

So I told my story to the guys at SIR, and as always, I emphasized how my story shows that the American Dream is still accessible. I told them it takes hard work and perseverance to take ideas to market, but for anyone willing to do the work and ask for help, it is possible. Then I told them all the ways that I worked hard, and I closed by asking for help. That's right! I put out a request for investors, and one gentleman approached me after the meeting to find out more. We will be having lunch soon.

So the answer to why I speak at groups is basically this: I like to tell my story in the hopes that it will inspire and inform AND I also know that connecting with people this way opens doors, especially if I am boldly willing to ask for help. Remember, I'm not shy!

In my next post, I will say more about crafting a talk that fits the needs of the group to whom I am speaking. Tune in for more on speaking up!

5 Trade Show Tips

KleenSlate just spent 17 days on the road at four separate trade shows. Early on in my inventor journey, I learned the value of getting to industry specific trade shows. In my case, that meant educational and office supply shows. The most recent round of shows were educational, which brings me to the focus of this post: 5 trade show tips.

You see, it's simply not enough to get to the shows which in some cases cost a bundle to attend. You need to make them profitable. Here are my suggestions for making the most of your time at a trade show.

1. Do your homework. Find out who will be attending the show and what they need. In these tough economic times, it also pays to find out who has money to spend. For example, most schools are taking drastic measures to cut costs, so when I decided to go to these educational trade shows, I needed to find out who had money to spend. With a little investigation, I discovered that there was money in Title I programs, so I made these people my target audience at each trade show.
2. Where comfortable shoes. You are going to be on your feet for hours at a trade show, so invest in the most comfortable shoes possible. It will be money well spent. You need to happy feet to stay upbeat while promoting your product.
3. Give a KISS presentation and then listen: Keep your presentation simple, a maximum of 3 talking points aimed at the target customer(s) you identified by doing your homework. Give your presentation, quickly and smoothly. Then stop and listen to the customer. Ask them questions. Find out what problems they are trying to solve. I asked questions and learned that teachers hated the smell of dry erase markers; they frequently threw them away because the tips collapsed into the marker, and they wanted an eraser on the end. So I created such a marker for my customer.
4. Close the deal. Don't let a potential sale get away. Develop a practiced phrase or two that gets customers to place an order on the spot. If necessary, offer a deal they can't pass up. Keep the ordering process easy.
5. Follow-up. Have someone in place when you get home who can follow-up on every contact you made at the trade show and do it promptly.

Trade shows are one of the best options to show customers our products, but we have to make them work to our advantage.

KleenSlate Gets Around

You never know how, when, or where your invention will show up. I have had email from folks describing the KleenSlate dry erase Paddles being used in places I never dreamed about when I first invented the product. Here are a few examples:

• travelers using the Paddle around the world to help communicate in various languages by drawing pictures,
  
• parents using the Paddle to help an autistic child stay on schedule,
• a nurse who used the Paddle for a patient with a vocal impairment,
• a man who used the Paddle to reconnect with an old friend.

Since I designed this product when I was a teacher, I am always delighted to hear stories and testimonials about how it is being used in the world of education. Recently, my friend Rebecca P. Cohen, one of the woman inventors who is featured in The Right Sisters, took the Paddles into her Outdoor Education program. The story of Rebecca using the Paddles with the kids in the garden is featured on Rachael Ray's Yum-o.org

I'd love to hear your story about how you have used KleenSlate dry erase Paddles.

Philanthropy-Giving Back

Ever since I started KleenSlate Concepts, I’ve looked for opportunities to help others as a way of acknowledging the help that has propelled my inventor journey. For instance, I frequently donate product to schools locally as well as across the country and internationally.



I learned about philanthropy from my mother as well as from the generosity of others. When I was a kid, my family lived in Mexico while my parents did graduate work. Because they were going to school, they had to get resourceful about how to earn money. Mom started selling homemade granola to the local super market. It was soon a reasonably lucrative enterprise. When we were ready to move back to the States, Mom turned the business over to our housekeeper. She taught her about business, especially bookkeeping, and she introduced Maria to the store manager as her business partner.

When I was a single mother at 20, I realized that an education could get me out of poverty. I enrolled in the local community college, Columbia College, where I applied for and was awarded various scholarships. The generosity of people who established these scholarships helped me through tough times. The gift not only helped me financially, but it also boosted my self-esteem because I felt like someone believed in me.

That’s why I’ve chosen to donate a portion of the proceeds from The Right Sisters: Women Inventors Tell Their Stories to fund a scholarship at Columbia College for women like me—young women in difficult situations who recognize that education is a way out of poverty.

My mother’s generosity was a significant influence in my life. Philanthropy is as important to me as the more practical issues in the inventor-entrepreneur life—things like patents and manufacturing and promoting.

I’d like to hear how readers are repaying the help they’ve received during their inventor journey.

Talk About Patenting

This week I head to Washington D.C. with my son Joe. I’ve been invited to be a guest speaker at the 13th Annual Independent Inventors Conference which is sponsored by United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Inventors Hall of Fame. The USPTO leads the way in creating and supporting a market-driven intellectual property system for the 21st Century.

There is nothing more daunting to a new inventor than trying to get an idea patented. There is no one to hold your hand and walk you through the process unless you have a patent attorney. And although it is an important step in the inventing journey, it is not the first step. An inventor has to know as much as they can about the product, the industry, the costs, and the potential customer before they even think about getting a patent or a patent attorney.

That’s why I’m delighted to have an opportunity to speak to inventors. I’d love to help them avoid some of the problems that I faced in the beginning. I’ll be talking about my story as a successful independent inventor and the things I have learned along the way, including:

• the importance of doing your homework,
• how to better position yourself for a successful launch,
• what you can do to protect yourself and avoid pitfalls,
• how to get your product into the right hands,
• where you can go for reputable resources.

You can watch a live web cast of the general sessions of the conference on Friday and Saturday at the USPTO’s website, www.uspto.gov. Log on Friday morning at 8 a.m.EST and follow the instructions to access the web cast.

The truly exciting part of this trip is that my son who is a video photographer will be following me around with his camera throughout the conference to document my adventure so I can share them with you. Look for a follow up next week when I’ll be posting segments of my speech and hopefully some video footage.

Message from Africa

I doubt if there is anything more encouraging to a business woman than the kind of email message I just received from Alison Neumann pictured here distributing my invention, the dry erase paddles, to students at the Deaf School in Mampong, Ghana, Africa.

Alison was on tour as part of her year abroad study in Africa, and she carried with her a box of the dry erase paddles. Here is a segment from her email message:

I wish you could have been there to see the look on the headmasters face as I told her how the dry erase paddles could be used. . . But it was the excitement of the children using the paddles that showed me what a wonderful communication tool it would become for each of them. Their smiles I will never forget as each of them gripped their paddles as a precious gift.

As you can see, your kind donation will ease the frustrations of the limited chalkboard space for the teachers, and provide the young Deaf students a voice when they do not understand the lesson. All of this will greatly increase the success of the teachers' lesson plans in the classroom. This is especially important for a country with a very high level of illiteracy.

Messages such as this make my day. They help affirm all the hard work of taking an idea that popped into my head all the way to a product I can hold in my hand. Now that product is making its way around the world to be of use to others. What more could I ask for?

Staying Inspired

Part of being an inventor/entrepreneur is staying motivated, engaged, and informed about the world. One way I stay inspired is by attending relevant conferences. I recently attended the 19th annual Professional Business Women of California Conference (PBWC ) in San Francisco.

This year PBWC chose to focus on 4 generations of women in the workplace who have broken ground in politics, business, medicine, and beyond. We shared experiences, exchanged ideas, and inspired each other to keep making history.

The highlights for me included hearing Martha Beck--a writer and columnist for the Oprah Magazine--tell about life changing experiences that resulted from choices she made. She said we all have our own "North Star within" and she encouraged us to follow it. Another awe-inspiring speaker was Madeleine Albright, 64th US Secretary of State. Albright shared her hopes of reinstating America to a source of inspiration across the globe and she encouraged us to find ways to deal with challenges while making the most from our opportunities.

I learned so much from the other women at PBWC as well as from stars like Martha Beck and Madeleine Albright. Please leave a comment telling us who is inspring you right now.
J

Everyday Edisons

Back in February, I was invited by the US Patent Office to be a speaker at a casting call in San Jose for Everyday Edisons, the PBS inventor show that documents the developmental process of 14 inventions and the stories of the people who invented them. Casting calls are held in locations around the country.

The program only chooses 14 inventors from the 10,000 inventors who show up for the casting calls. My role was to let the inventors who were not chosen know that it is possible to do it yourself if you have done your homework and are willing to go the distance. It is important to let the inventors who don't get chosen know that their ideas are great even though their project was not what the show was looking for at this time. What I really enjoy about Everyday Edisons (EDE) is that they go the extra mile to inform and educate inventors, even those who aren't chosen.

Since the Casting Call in San Jose, I have participated in two others. The 4th casting call of the EDE was held in Chicago and inventors showed up by the thousands to share their inventions or explain their ideas. I was delighted to run into fellow woman inventor, Krisztov Nagy. I met Krisztove on my first speaking engagement in San Jose and again at the 3rd casting call in Dallas. She was submitting another 4 inventions for review. I love her "Do-not-give-up-or-take-no-for- an-answer" attitude. This is someone who will make her dream happen. It was especially rewarding when she told me that I had inspired her to keep going.

Chicago wasn't all about inventors. I also ate my first Chicago-style hot dogs at Portillos and learned from Louis Foreman that ketchup is NOT ALLOWED on a hot dog in Chicago under any circumstances. But the trip was really about inventors and the casting call. I was delighted and impressed by the smart inventors who showed up. FINALLY someone is inventing the flying car and--a jet-pack that is a must-have item now that gas is so expensive. I can't wait to see what Boston inventors bring the table and what inventions EDE choses for their 2009 season.

jr