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Index to Letters from Inventors who Auditioned for ABC's American Inventor
SpiderStick Story
Mary Munjed – Bottle
Booster Invention
Chameleon Guitars
Audition
My Trip To ABC’s American Inventor and
www.spiderstick.com
My name is Chris Crowley and I am a normal guy, with a
normal family, from a normal neighborhood. A mechanical
engineer by training, I’ve spent my whole life
thinking and tinkering.
I have an early memory of a friend telling me
“…your brain is ALWAYS trying to figure out
HOW to do something, or how to do something BETTER.”
Pretty astute for a 12 year old. We were cutting through
his bedroom subfloor to install a secret compartment above
the kitchen lights… his mom wasn’t home.
Skip to today… We had an infestation of creepy
centipedes in our house. Most bugs I just grab with a
tissue, but spiders and ESPECIALLY centipedes give me the
shivers.
My wife won’t catch them, and my kids won’t
either. We smashed them against the wall, but that left big
“splash marks”.
The final straw came when I left for a business trip. When
I returned my wife had several bugs trapped underneath
drinking glasses throughout the house. Apparently, it was
my job to catch them and put them outside! Yuck.
Thus was born the SpiderStick. A simple device
really… a one-foot long strip of thin stiff plastic,
with an adhesive “patch” at the end. Expose the
adhesive, then just “reach out” and grab the
bug. Once the bug is “stuck”, you throw the
whole thing away!
Finding the correct adhesive was a tough job. It needed to
be quite sticky, thick and “spongy”, but not SO
sticky that it left residue on carpets, drapes, walls,
windows, or the TV screen.
I made several prototypes for family and friends, and
talked to vendors for manufacturing quotes… But then
I got busy with the rest of my life.
A few months later, I visited a web page called
boingboing.net They mentioned the American Inventor
auditions. I downloaded and read the 35 page application
and talked to my friends…But then I got busy with
the rest of my life.
Three weeks after that, I was driving home from work and
pushing buttons on the radio. Now, I am 40 years old and
not much of a rap music fan… but I paused for a
moment on an Eminem song called Lose Yourself. It starts
with the question:
“If you had one chance, one opportunity, would you
capture it, or let it slip away?”
Something came over me. I literally pulled over the car,
and sat in stunned silence. The American Inventor auditions
were the next morning.
I turned the car around and went to the pet store to buy a
box of live crickets, then rushed home and told my wife.
That whole night was spent filling out the American
Inventor paperwork, submitting a Provisional Patent to the
US Patent Office, writing a speech, and ironing my best
shirt. I was up until about 1:00 AM!
I rose at 4:30, showered, dressed, ate, and hit the road. I
was at the Denver Convention Center at 5:55 am and there
was a BIG line! Luckily they were just letting people into
the building – it was a cold morning.
Then the lines started…
A line for the security check and metal detectors, a line
for filling out your paperwork, a line to get into the
waiting room. Then we spent a long time in the waiting
room. Next it was off to a line for a quick video
interview, and then the line for the judging!
The best part about this whole process was the people. It
is great to meet so many like minded people from so many
different slices of life.
I’ve found that everybody I talk to has a
“Great” invention, but they never do anything
about it! The difference is that the Inventor actually
follows through! The Inventor pursues through good and bad.
The Inventor commits. Those lines were full of people with
strong belief in their inventions.
The people I sat with went through the phases of polite
nods, some chit chat, “Can you hold my place in line
while I use the restroom”, “What is your day
job”, (and finally, hours later) “Will you talk
about your invention?”
Then it becomes a game of “you show me
yours…” Everybody was just great. I’ve
stayed in touch with several of those people.
The biggest lesson I learned from these great people is
that “Just Because YOU Want A Certain Invention,
Doesn’t Mean That EVERYONE Wants The
Invention.”
Early customer feedback is the KEY. DO NOT spend thousands
of dollars on prototypes and patents until you are SURE
that you can sell your invention to people. Asking your
friends doesn’t work. You really need to set a price,
get a drawing or rough prototype, find strangers and
question them! When several strangers try to buy your
prototypes, THAT is when you commit to the big expenses.
Back to the lines…
I finally went before the judges at 2:20 in the afternoon.
I was excited, and did my best. Luckily my audition was
with Liz Bronstein, one of the Executive Producers. She was
pleasant, nice, helpful, and excited about the SpiderStick.
Even when I dropped four live crickets on her table!
She laughed and laughed when one of my crickets jumped at
another judge! I had to go around their table to grab the
last cricket with the SpiderStick.
I got the standard “Thank you very much”, and a
letter explaining that they could ONLY call the people who
were progressing… no call, no trip to LA.
I agonized for a while, but mostly forgot the whole event.
There were SO many people auditioning that knew I probably
wouldn’t make it.
Shopping one day the following month, my cell phone
rang… It was my wife calling to say that there was a
message from “Lacey” at American Inventor. WOO
HOO. I AM GOING TO HOLLYWOOD!! I literally collapsed into a
couch at the mall.
Now my mind was racing!
I couldn’t think of anything else for the next few
weeks. I wrote a speech, made more prototypes, did internet
research, wrote a business plan, and ordered a new bunch of
bugs!
On the plane to LA, I overheard a woman talking about
American Inventor! Another contestant was sitting right
behind me. It was Lori Hell, with the invention “Hail
No”, for preventing hail damage to your car (a big
problem in Colorado).
Then Bob Messman of www.link2socks.com joined in. Then
another group and another and another! They booked at least
six of us on the same flight! Things were starting to get
really fun!
They picked us up at the airport, and shuttled us to the
downtown Marriot… Veeeery nice.
I had dinner with my new friend Bob, and then went to my
room to work on the speech again. Didn’t sleep very
well of course…
The next morning I had breakfast and went to the lobby for
my ride to the studio. While waiting, I met a nice older
woman from San Francisco. She had auditioned the day
before! Hmmm… she had a story about being treated
rudely by the judges… but I didn’t think much
of it.
Once we got to the studio (actually a converted warehouse),
we sat in lines again. Hmmm… this seems familiar.
Security line, another paperwork line, and then into the
waiting room.
Where we waited. And waited…. And waited some more.
There was some production delay, and then there were
several very large inventions that needed to be filmed
outdoors, but only while the light was good.
Then the judges needed a lunch break. We waited. Then the
judges needed a dinner break. The sun set, and the
“rest of us” (those with indoor inventions)
started filming. And we waited.
Luckily, the production crew brought some bag lunches,
lemonade, and doughnuts. Otherwise there was no food.
Each inventor did a short interview either with Matt
Gallant (the Host) or with a production supervisor. Then we
waited some more.
It was getting very late, but I was ushered into ANOTHER
waiting room! Woo Hoo! At least it was progress.
FINALLY, I went before the judges. It was 1:20 AM. Yup, IN
THE MORNING. I had been there almost 14 hours…
hungry, tired, sitting on a metal chair. Liz told me not to
take “No” for an answer, reminding me that this
was my million dollar chance. She was right.
Deep Breath…. Approach the judges… Throw the
Crickets on the table… Get the SpiderStick
ready… GO!!!
I did get some “No” votes, and I did have to do
some convincing… it was my million dollar chance!
Finally, the judges said…….
[to be continued]
Back to Letter Index
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An “American Inventor” Audition Story
Robert “Erick” Taylor
I was caught by surprise by the “American
Inventor” show in more ways than one, while watching
the ABC 6:00 local newscasts I learned there’d been
an audition for a new inventor reality show right across
the bay in San Francisco. I was shocked that I was learning
about the local audition after it was over. How did those
who went to the audition learn about it?
I was in a quandary, over a year earlier I had broadcasted
an email to numerous media outlets and production companies
with eight shows and news ideas they might pursue about me,
my product and inventors in general, including one that had
a “reality show” theme, I had to make it to an
“American Inventor” audition. The audition in
Chicago on December 4, 2005 was the next one I could make
it to, this was just one week before I was scheduled to fly
to Vietnam to perform with a Vietnamese Performing Arts
Company (no I’m not Vietnamese, a whole other story).
The only way I could make this happen was to cut my trip to
Vietnam back by two weeks and spend the money to go to
Chicago. Subsequently I got on line and made arrangements
for a round trip ticket to Chicago and a reservation for a
car, I was committed, and there was no looking back.
I didn’t know what I’d gotten myself into; I
downloaded the audition application and suddenly found
myself overwhelmed. I decided to demonstrate three
different inventions; an ergonomic hands-free painting
device that had already been patented, and two pieces of
exercise equipment, one that was in prototype testing and
one that I had just conceived. This meant that I had three
applications to fill out and three sets of invention
descriptions, a real nightmare. On top of this I was still
in rehearsal for our Vietnamese show with an informal
performance as sort of dress rehearsal the day before I was
to fly to Chicago. Needless to say I found some inventive
ways to handle the duplications in the applications; still
I barely got things collated in time. After leaving the
Vietnam going-away-party I went on the hunt for some cold
weather cloths and a couple of outfits for the audition to
compliment my different inventions (I wanted to put on a
show).
My flight to Chicago was on a redeye scheduled to arrive at
6:00am, after losing two hours due to the time difference
and leaving me with less than four hours of in flight
“sleep”. I arrived to find Chicago blanketed
with snow, how beautiful it was this was the best time of
year to be in Chicago. While driving to Navy Pier where the
auditions were being held, I reflected on the fact that I
just arrived from a moderate climate of about 65 degrees,
to a frozen city of ten degrees, and in a week I’ll
be in a land that is about 80 degrees, it was remarkable.
I made it to the Navy Pier around 7:00am; I was running on
pure adrenalin. When I arrived at the audition site I found
that there were already a few hundred people in line in
front of me. While waiting in line to see the judges, there
was some time for hob-nobbing, most notably was a fellow
named Shawn (I called him little Einstein because he
reminded me of a young Einstein) and his wife Christina. It
turned out they were on Dr. Phil’s show some time
back about Debt Denial. Apparently this inventor stuff can
get you in some real pecuniary predicaments. Some time
latter I got my ID wrist bracelet and went into one of the
holding rooms, shortly thereafter I found myself in a wide
ranging philosophical discussion with a fellow contestant.
After he left to see the judges, I decided to show the
other contestants my painting invention and received a big
applause.
A short time latter it was my turn to sit in the
judge’s line, while waiting to see the judge I was
asked to exchange seats with the person at the front of the
line. Then a photographer showed up and took a picture,
there was an indication that I had been called out for the
photograph. I was then ushered into the judge’s
chamber only to find myself waiting for the videographer to
reload his camera.
I was roaring to go, standing there in the first of the two
outfits I bought for the audition; an all white painters
outfit for demonstrating my painting tools. I was given my
cue to go ahead and flew through my first invention
presentation. I had been told that I had only two minutes
to
demonstrate my inventions no matter how many I was showing.
Suddenly everyone was shocked as I ripped of my clothes, to
reveal myself in an all black workout outfit to demonstrate
my exercise equipment. I knew the show was going to be
about the inventor more than the invention, so I wanted to
be inventive even in my demonstration.
They took more pictures of my prototype; I had a good
feeling that I would be one of the runner ups if not a
finalist. I could not see them passing me by, because I
know I would set the standard for all of the subsequent
shows, like what Richard Hatch did for Survivor.
A few days latter, after a rest at my dear Aunt
Luella’s house north of Chicago, I flew back to
California and a day latter left for Vietnam. It was an
eventful two weeks in Vietnam, from performing at the Ho
Chi Minh (Saigon) Opera House, to visiting children in an
orphanage and handing out books to 850 excited screaming
children at a poor school in the jungles of Mekong on a
road with three blown out bridges. Vietnam is a most
amazing place and it kept me from fretting over the
audition results.
After returning to the states, I began a countdown for the
show results. It was clear in my mind that I was to be on
the show, after all, if I’m not who they’re
looking for I don’t know who, after weeks passed I
discovered that I most not know. What went wrong, I think
that my honoring of the two minute rule was a disfavor to
me and I should have taken my time, though I put on a show
I may not have addressed enough of the benefits of my
inventions. Who knows? It would be nice to know to inform
the future contestants; maybe it would contribute to an
improvement of the show over time.
Well I didn’t make it through to the next level, so I
had to do something new to promote me and my inventions. I
decided on a strategy to get one of the networks to do a
show about the “American Inventor” rejects,
shoulda, coulda bens and emailed it to all of the major
networks. While surfing around for more updates on
“American Inventor” I stumbled upon your
website; it’s a good start. Also while working on a
new email to broadcast to the networks, I revisited my old
email and discovered that not only did I suggest a reality
show for inventors, I even gave it the name “American
Inventor”, yes folks it is quite likely that I am
also the inventor of the “American Inventor”
reality show. I mentioned this to an attorney friend and he
wanted to look into it, but I don’t know if I would
sue in any case, unless I have too. All I ever wanted is
some recognition for me and my inventions, is that so
wrong?
Erick Taylor
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Mary
Munjed – Bottle Booster Invention
Being a stay at home mom of 2 boys, I am in the local
chapter of Moms Club. One day while sitting at my computer
I get an e-mail from the National Moms Club chapter with
the press release containing the information on American
Inventor. They did a very good job of getting the word out
in my opinion. I was reading the e-mail getting more and
more excited. I almost deleted it when I saw Simon
Cowell’s name however knowing the abuse he gives out
on American Idol. I kept reading and thank goodness, he is
not going to be a judge! I thought, “this is so
unlike me to do this but what the hell! I am going to go
for it. What do I have to loose!” If nothing else, it
gets me a trip to Atlanta for a couple of nights. Having
two kids under 3 that’s pure excitement. I called my
husband and said we are taking a road trip!
First, I should explain how the Bottle Booster came about.
I became the mother of a preemie named Connor. A beautiful
baby with fortunately no major medical problems except Acid
Reflux Disease. He was diagnosed at 14 days old. His
problems required him to be fed sitting up
and remain there for about 45 minutes after feeding. His
car seat was a logical place to sit him. I suspect, due to
his pain he became very colicky. I am lucky enough to be a
stay at home mom but
Connor was not a stay at home type baby. He
loved to stroll around outside or through the mall etc. It
seemed to calm him down. After several failed attempts at
propping his bottle with a blanket, the idea of the Bottle
Booster just came to me. I worked on several prototypes and
came up with what I feel is a great invention. It is very
versatile and was heaven sent when we were out and about to
just be able to feed him without taking him out of his car
seat. Connor now has a brother named Parker and with two
kids the Bottle Booster became even more useful. In no
way is this invention meant to replace the touch of a
loving parent feeding their child. It is designed only
as a convenience, in my case, to feed the child sitting up.
In other cases, to enjoy a nice meal out, endure a long car
ride, stroll through the mall, make a phone call, grocery
shop etc. I have known several parents of multiples to find
it to be a lifesaver as well.
The design is such that it allows the child
to be able to pivot it away without the bottle falling
over. It lies across the child's stomach with a weighted
base to hold secure. The weighted base may also help to
reduce gas in the tummy. The Bottle Booster bends and
conforms to any size bottle and holds it snuggly. The great
thing about the Bottle Booster is that it works anywhere,
the car seat, stroller, high chair, swing, bouncer, boppy
pillow etc. I take it with me everywhere I go. In fact,
while using it with my son Connor, I had people stop me and
ask, “where did you get that?” “That is
the best invention I have ever seen!” Then others,
“if only I had thought of that” or “if
only they had that when my kids were young”. My
husband was skeptical about the “awesomeness”
of it until I sent him to the mall with my son on an
errand. He couldn’t believe all the moms that stopped
him. He said he could have sold 50 if he had the chance.
So that’s it. I soon applied for a patent and went
into business. I named my company If Only, LLC, and started
selling the Bottle Booster on my website, eBay, in several
local stores and craft fairs.
Back to American Inventor. The day we were to leave Orlando
and travel to Atlanta was cold (for Florida standards). We
were planning to take both kids and my mother to help with
the kids. I know my husband was thrilled about that but he
was a great sport. The further North we drove, the colder
it got. Having a two-year-old and a 7-month-old in the car
for 7 hours is not fun. We stopped as much as we could but
wanted to make it before dark. All in all the kids did
great. Once we got to Atlanta and checked into our hotel my
mother offered to watch the kids while my husband and I
went out to dinner. What a treat! I was nervous and
practiced my presentation over and over. I didn’t get
much sleep that night, as my 7-month-old was not feeling
well. Finally, I decided just to stay up and get ready. I
wanted to be there early. My husband and I left the hotel
around 5:15am and walked a few blocks with my stroller and
a doll to demonstrate the Bottle Booster. I wasn’t
about to use my baby because I knew when the time came he
wouldn’t cooperate. We got there and thank god, they
were letting people inside to line up. I was about 21st in
line (don’t quote me on that). I met up with Maria
who was a couple of people in front of me. We met online
after participating in Mary’s American Inventor blog.
It was nice to have something to talk about. We met a lot
of great people but no one was spilling the beans on their
inventions yet. After about 2 hours of waiting, the reveals
started. I must say, from the ones I saw, I thought I had a
fantastic chance. I thought the odds were on my side. After
all, my product was very marketable and could easily be
mass-produced. Isn’t that what they said they wanted?
Finally I was called in. I was not nervous at all. I was so
pumped up. I don’t remember who the guy was that
auditioned me but he really seemed to like it. He even said
he and his wife were expecting a baby and I offered to send
him a Bottle Booster. I was asked to take photos with the
Bottle Booster and he strongly encouraged me to be
interviewed afterwards. I was in there about 5-6 minutes if
not more. I thought it went very well. Actually, I was on
cloud nine. I thought no matter what happens I had a blast.
It was so much fun talking about the Bottle Booster, my
idea and how I planned to pursue it.
The trip home was not eventful but we were glad to be in
warmer weather. Now the waiting began. Following
Mary’s blog, I started to get worried when people
were commenting about their calls from American Inventor.
The ups and downs, the reversals, and so on. I started to
realize I was not going to get a call when others from
Atlanta started hearing. I actually felt a little relieved
I didn’t get a call. Following the blogs and hearing
the way most were treated, I thought what a shame to make
light of such serious people and their inventions. I do
understand the entertainment value and the fact that this
is TV.
Well, that’s it, the rest is yet to be… Stay
tuned! And visit my website – BottleBooster.net.Back to Letter Index
**************************************************************************************************************
Chameleon Guitars Audition For American Inventor.
Hello Fellow Inventors,
In late November we received an e-mail from Dr. Natalie
Petouhoff (http://www.drnatthetechnocat.com) telling us
about the ABC Auditions. Dr. Nat was one of the judges from
the “Hammacher Schlemmer Search For Invention”
Contest in October 2004. We went to “American
Inventor” web site, downloaded the application form,
and filled it out. (Something like 38 pages per team
member!)
The Audition location closest to us was at Washington DC,
on December 11th. We arrived at the Ronald Regan Building
in Washington DC at 6:15am. The line was already long,
there was more paperwork to fill out, and it was about 4pm
by the time we auditioned. It made for a long day,
(especially while Mary was still healing from a major
surgery), but we met some really nice people, saw some
interesting
ideas, and got to promote the guitar to a lot of people. We
think our judge (Daniel Soiseth) liked our guitars, and was
also interested in our personal lives. What were our day
jobs? How did we know how to do these things? What were our
hobbies? He especially seemed in one of our hobbies of
making chain mail and armor. Our audition was at least 10
minutes long, and we left with a really good feeling. Next,
it’s just sit and wait for “the call”.
On January 7th, about 8pm, we got a phone call from Scott
Kirkland at American Inventor! We were invited to go to the
next round, and were also requested to bring some chain
mail armor stuff with us. They let us know that they would
pay for the flights, and the hotel, and probably have some
cash for food for us too. We received another packet of
questions by priority mail. (Another 28 pages for each team
member). We filled them out and mailed them back, again by
priority mail. During this time we decided to make an outer
guitar body with “AMERICAN INVENTOR” in raised
letters. Our hopes are that, even if we don’t get
selected to move on… maybe that will get just 2
seconds on TV, maybe before going to a commercial.
On January 28th, we went over to BWI to verify that the
guitars were not going to have any problems as carry-on
luggage, or through security. All looks good!
On January 30th, they flew us from BWI to DEN, to LAX.
While waiting for our flight from Denver to Los Angles, we
talked to a husband & wife inventor team (Mr. &
Mrs. Tapp), who happened to be a client of Ladd’s
Porting (Mary’s day job), a long time ago. (What a
small world).
A representative from American Inventor was at LAX to meet
and we circled the airport several times to fill up the
van, before heading to the Marriott Hotel. We checked in,
got our instructions for the next morning, went up to our
room and checked over our guitars and luggage, and then
went out to dinner with the “Tapps”. Nine
blocks away was “The Pantry”, and our hotel
promised it would be worth the walk. We questioned the
recommendation upon appearance, but we went in anyway, and
the food was Great!
After dinner we walked back to the hotel, and visited the
restaurant/bar there. Most inventors we met there had
auditioned already, and were not selected for the next
round. We all agreed, “This is just the opinion of 4
people. Don’t give up on your invention.”
Making it this far, out of thousands of inventions, says a
LOT about our products! Most thought our guitars were a
great idea, and thought the judges would really like it.
Several people told us that we had that whole “sexy,
rock and roll” thing going for us. After the bar
closed, we went back to our room and set up the guitars and
equipment. During traveling, the letters we made for the AI
shell, had the paint damaged. So we stayed up for a couple
more hours, fixing the letters, and making sure that
everything was now ready for the next day. Then we were
able to get a couple hours of sleep.
The next morning we went to breakfast at the hotel.
Throughout the morning we met a lot of other inventors. We
were all waiting in the lobby for various calls to go to
the audition location. Our call was early in the afternoon.
Upon arriving at the audition location, we had to read and
sign more legal paperwork. Some people complained that they
didn’t get a copy to re-read later. They had a stack
of them on the table, and if you asked for one,…
they put it in your hand.
Again, we socialized with other inventors. Those without
patents were still cautious about exposing their
inventions. We all respected the level of exposure each of
the other inventors were willing or not willing to give.
The day was long, but finally we were called back to the
staging room to see the Judges.
( This Part Removed Until After The Show Airs ! )
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