innovation-michigan-working
It was super hot and sunnyday at Meijer Gardens at the Innovation Michigan awards http://tinyurl.com/27jqk2w . One of the very best reasons participate in an expo, tradeshow is to meet other interesting people and to connect. One table by me was an interesting gentleman and his company was Ruwach Design http://spraylite.com/ruwachdesign/ . This company has a patent pending space heater that uses ion technology to reduce at a substantial savings. On this blistering hot day he stood by his black table to show his space heater oh holy irony! He was tall and had a tie on and brought his large model airplane. I wanted him to fly that airplane…On the other side of my table was Stryker Corp, http://www.stryker.com/en-us/index.htm with their Flyte Personal Protection System. This suit protects surgical staff and patient from infection during surgery. They had their patent out and framed and a great blue surgical dummy donning the whole Flyte suit. I couldn’t help but ask if they had been approached by Hollywood to use their suit in movies or shows and they said an earlier version was on Grey’s Anatomy. I said, “Oh man you need to get that clip and show it! Even if they got a still from the clip they should put it up. Stryker is a global company that has many innovative medical devices…they didn’t need my Grey’s Anatomy suggestion. Had a fun conversation about social media with Michael Yoder a social media strategist from Deksia, www.deksia.com and organizer of the Pink Slip Party http://www.pinkslipwm.com/home and Craig Clark from Clark communications, http://www.clarkcommunication.com suggested I should have candy bar “doody” (nod to the movie Cadddy Shack http://insidemovies.moviefone.com/2009/07/06/caddyshack-movie-quotes/ ) out on the sidewalk to attract attention—Good One—“It’s in da hole!”

Had the heady experience to talk with some students at Kendall School of Design in Grand Rapids, Michigan, about my experience of being an entrepreneur and the development of ClipCleany. I got this gig because their instructor worked on my project along with an intern. It was EXTREMELY important to me that the design be smart, sophisticated a piece of art. Over the top? Yeah, but the hallmark of my products are that they are smart and sophisticated and artful. I can design crap. I aspire to work with really smart people that know design to make it better. Industrial designers do just that. I was lucky to find Jon Maroney and Tiger Design Studios and I was also lucky that I had a really talented intern, Andrew from Kendall working on it as well. One of the most fabulous days as a developer was when I went down to the studio and saw all of the drawings of my product. I loved of the unique possibilities that they came up with. I wanted to take all of the drawings and use them as wall paper. If you are considering developing a product think about working with an industrial designer or call Kendall and see if they have some students that can work with you. Your core idea may be good, they can make it great. Check out Kendall’s link http://www.kcad.edu/