Invention 2 Venture: Workshops in invention and entrepreneurship
November 05, 2010
ORONO - We've heard the saying that invention is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration - meaning it's hard work to get your idea off the ground. There's a long and winding road for inventors and entrepreneurs who are just starting out, but it's a road that's been traveled before by many a brilliant mind, and some of them are hoping to be friendly guides at the Invention to Venture symposium at the Black Bear Inn on Nov. 10 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The cost of attending is $10 for students, $25 for faculty and staff, $40 for Bangor Fusion members and $50 for business, community or other. The cost includes continental breakfast, lunch and the participant guide.
"Maine is a very innovative and entrepreneurial state," said Deb Neuman, director of the Target Technology Incubator at the University of Maine, host of the Back to Business Radio Show and contributor to the Maine Edge. "We want to encourage people to be more innovative and entrepreneurial and find the path to success ... The state has a lot of resources to help people and businesses. We want to bring people together with those resources."
One of the events featured is a Pitch Competition, where a certain number of companies or individuals who are creating a new service or product will have three to five minutes to pitch the idea to a panel of investors and business people. There's a $2,500 cash prize for first place. Fusion Bangor is also offering a $500 prize for a student or team of students with the best pitch.
Neuman said it will be similar to American Idol, as there will be several rounds before the winner is revealed.
"The judges will be giving opinions that everyone attending can benefit from," she said.
Miles Maiden is the inventor of the SteriPEN, a portable handheld device that uses ultraviolet light to sterilize drinking water. It was recently listed by Time Magazine as one of the top 100 inventions since 1923, when the magazine first started publishing. He walked down the road of coming up with a concept and brining it successfully to life, but he said the trip was not without its pitfalls.
"I think back over the years, and there were a lot of potholes I hit along the way that I won't hit again," said Maiden. "A forum like this [allows] someone who has hit the potholes [to] warn people not to hit this one and that one so they will save time and money.”
Eaton Peabody is a sponsor of Invention2Venture and Eaton Peabody attorney Jeff Spaulding will be one of the judges of the Pitch Competition.
Courtesy of The Maine Edge
By Katy England
Edge Staff Writer
kengland@themaineedge.com
