The Birth of an Idea-Part 1

Folks are often curious about when, where, and how an inventor first gets an idea for an invention. That's one of the questions I asked the women inventors whom I interviewed for the the book I'm writing: The Right Sisters: Women Inventors Tell Their Stories. Their answers to these questions illustrate the creative mind at work on a very practical level.

I thought my blog readers might enjoy reading a few excerpts from The Right Sisters that zero in on the birth of an idea. Here is a short segment describing the moment when I got the idea to make my first invention:

My younger son Joe wanted to make a gift for his basketball coach. “Mom,” he said, “Can you help me make a dry-erase board with a diagram of the basketball court? And can we get some markers with erasers on the end? Coach is always erasing with his hands and then he wipes his hands on his pants and he’s covered with black smudges.” My fingers were also black at the end of the day as were my fellow teachers because we used our hands to erase rather than reach for the block eraser. I went on the Internet to look for a marker with an eraser, and I quickly discovered that there was a 1.8 billion dollar marker business, but not one company had designed an eraser to go on the end of the pen. Joe and I both had the same thought: A person wouldn’t buy a pencil without an eraser, so why buy a marker without an eraser? Right then I thought, “This is it! I’ll invent an eraser and I’ll take it to market.

Little did I know the challenges that lay ahead that would change my life forever. Best of all, that little eraser helped send Joe to college!








Stay tuned for more excerpts from The Right Sisters. And please if you have your own story about the birth of an idea, drop us a note in "Comments."

Michael Jackson, Inventor

Yesterday, millions of people said good bye to Michael Jackson. His death was shocking, especially to those of us who spent years listening, dancing, and working out to his music.

For several days following his death, stories about Jackson filled the airways, revealing many shocking, as well as amazing, details of the man’s life. As people gathered for his memorial service, I followed the story on NPR and learned this surprising fact: Jackson had a patent. He was an inventor!

Of course, we know he created extraordinary music as well as dance steps, but he also invented and patented a system related to dance. According to “Discovery News,” the title of the patent was: “Method and means for creating anti-gravity illusion.”

It's a system that consists of a special shoe that has a hitch designed to attach to a projection in a stage. When the shoe engages with the component in the stage, the performer can lean forward beyond his or her center of gravity. (To see a video of the shoe in action, click the link above.)

The creative mind comes in many forms: scientific, practical, and artistic—and clearly the boundaries are fluid. Having always appreciated the creativity of the man, I can’t help but feel a sense of satisfaction at having this small connection with Jackson’s legacy.

Homework is not a 4-letter word: Preparing to Meet with Corporate Buyers

If you are in the San Francisco area next Tues., stop by the Mascone Center and say hi! WBENC (Women Business Enterprise National Council) will be hosting their Annual Conference: The Bridge to Quality . Check out the web site for more information: www.astrawba.org/wib_2009
Wendy Steele from Tapewrangler, http://www.tapewrangler.com, and I will be giving an enlightening workshop June 9th from 4-5:30 at the Moscone Center, Gateway Ballroom room 103. "How to Prepare to Meet with Corporate Buyers" Come by, pick up some tools and tips and learn about how certification can move your business to the next level. Hope to see you there!

The Right Sisters: Women Inventors Tell Their Stories

I will not beat myself up over not writing in my blog. My writing time has been absorbed finishing a book that was started 2 years ago! The Right Sisters: Women Inventors Tell Their Stories should be ready to go to press in August and released in Late Sept or early October. It has been a fascinating and inspiring journey interviewing 10 amazing women inventors. I am honored to be telling their stories and I look forward to sharing them with you. My mother's artwork inspired the cover while her encouragement and support throughout my life gave me the confidence I needed to make this happen. I love you Mom!

KleenSlate donating to schools

Inspiring Inventors

Attending the 13^th Annual Independent Inventors Conference was an inspiring experience. I was invited to speak at the Conference, which was sponsored by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, along with Louis Foreman the Executive Producer of the Emmy Award winning program “Every Day Edisons.”

Speaking with Louis was an honor in itself, but I was overwhelmed when I opened the program and saw myself described as “one of the Nation’s most inspirational independent inventors.” WOW! They were talking about me!!

At that moment I knew my job was to join Louis and the other speakers in reinforcing the idea that the “American Dream” is accessible to inventors today. Our message: if you have that idea that makes life a little better and are willing to do your homework, you can take your idea the distance it takes to be successful. We spoke to a room filled with creative minds that were overflowing with unique and clever ideas. Faces were turned to us looking for hope and encouragement.

I am motivated to help other inventors because there wasn’t anyone to ask “how to” when I began my inventor’s journey. I was alone. Now inventors have a multitude of resources and experts willing to share information. The best part is that most of the advice and information you need to get started is free.

One of my proudest moments at the conference was when my son Joe turned to me and said, “You really inspire people, Mom! I am honored to be your son!”

I knew my trip was successful when I returned home to find this e-mail:

"[T]hank your for having the courage to follow your idea to fruition and for being an example to me and countless others - particularly women - on how they too can live the life of their dreams and support their families in the process. I was truly blessed and will be forever grateful and look forward to the time that I can be such a light to others as you have been to me."

Patricia B., Bethesda, Maryland

Conference Attendee, USPTO Independent Inventors Conference, Washington, DC, August 8-9, 2008.

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.