I’ve returned from Las Vegas and the ERA D2C annual convention held last week at the Wynn Hotel. What a great show! There were some great networking opportunities for our inventors in the InventHelp-INPEX New Product Showcase!

As promised, I told you I’d keep you all posted on the winner of “Inventor of the Year.”

InventHelp & INPEX is proud to announce that the winner is…

Chris Schutte, of Suwanee, Georgia, for his invention, “The Steamie.”

Forty inventors from the InventHelp-INPEX New Product Showcase pitched their products to a panel of experts from the Direct Response Industry. Inventions were judged by their DRTV pitchability and DRTV potential. As a prize, Chris received 2 complimentary passes to the ERA Moxie Awards, held Thursday evening at the close of the show. I was honored to present Chris with a trophy at the ceremony on behalf of InventHelp & INPEX, recognizing his achievement at being named “Inventor of the Year.”

Chris exhibited The Steamie at INPEX® 2010 in June, where he presented his product to the ERA panel, and was pre-qualified and invited by them to attend their show in Las Vegas. The Steamie is an adjustable steaming grill that once inserted into a pot, enables foods such as hot dogs, tortillas, lobster or leftovers to be steamed while other foods are boiling. Chris had inventors and business attendees alike waiting in line to taste-test his delicious hot dog samples!

Congratulations to Chris, and to all of our inventors! It was a great week and a fantastic show!

Hello Inventors!

I just arrived in Las Vegas for the ERA D2C Convention that’s being held at the Wynn Hotel September 21-23.

I’m really excited about meeting all of the inventors that are scheduled to exhibit in the InventHelp-INPEX New Product Showcase, and to reconnect with some of the inventors that were at our INPEX® show in June.

The InventHelp-INPEX® New Product Showcase is a part of the larger 2010 Annual Electronic Retailing Association’s Conference & Exposition. The ERA D2C Convention is billed as the only trade show dedicated to direct response retail sales and product development on TV, radio and online.
The showcase is designed to give inventors the opportunity to present their products to companies in the direct response television industry. Each inventor will have several minutes to pitch their products to a panel of expert judges. The judges will pick the top inventor, crowning him or her, “Inventor of the Year.”

Last week, we also received some other exciting news!

For the second year in a row, our inventors participating in the showcase have the opportunity to pitch their product to Anthony Sullivan’s team and the Pitchmen crew! They’ll each have a short amount of time to present their product on camera for a chance to appear on the third season of Discovery Channel’s Pitchmen. After all of the inventors at the show pitch their products, the inventor with the “best” invention, chosen by Anthony Sullivan, will take home a $2,000 cash prize.

We can’t wait to see how this exciting adventure pans out for our inventors, and as always, check back here to see if one of our exhibitors won the $2,000 prize!

Keep watching Pitchmen and wish me luck in Las Vegas!

As many of you know, I often travel to many industry trade shows across the country to meet with potential INPEX exhibitors and business attendees. I recently returned from the International Home and Housewares Show in Chicago where INPEX and InventHelp® had the opportunity to exhibit in the Inventor’s Corner, along with 30 other inventors with new housewares products.

During the three day show, I was pleased to present one inventor with a free INPEX booth for our upcoming show June 16-18. The winners, Chuck and Kristina Beyer, of Columbus, Ohio, received a free 10-foot by 10-foot booth space, as well as two free passes to the INPEX Inventor’s University. The Beyers will be exhibiting their invention, The Calendar Clutch, at our 25th anniversary show.

Congratulations Chuck and Kristina!

For more information about our participation at industry trade shows or to purchase a booth for INPEX 2010, give us a call today at 888-54-INPEX. We still have spaces available on the show floor.

Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet and so is this INPEX deal! During the month of February, enjoy our Sweetheart Special of 15% off any booth price for the 25th anniversary show!

And speaking of Valentine’s Day, I’ll be spending the day in New York City at the 2010 Toy Fair looking to meet toy companies who are interested in attending INPEX 2010. It’s always a great show and a great opportunity to meet toy industry folks. And of course, spending the week in New York City is always fun too!

Booth space on the show floor is quickly filling up, so be sure to take advantage of this offer by visiting www.inpex.com calling one of our sales representatives at 1-888-54-INPEX for more information.

Hello inventors!

I just returned home from the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas. It was so great meeting some of you in the InventHelp-INPEX New Product Showcase at the ERA D2C Show. I enjoyed getting to see everyone’s inventions and prototypes. Many of you received some positive feedback from the ERA members who sat on our Pitchmen Competition Panel. I know many of the inventors mentioned to me how exciting it was to present your products to executives from companies like Guthy-Renker, LiveLink TV and QVC.

I hope that everyone who exhibited had a chance to sit in on the DRTV 101 class! Hopefully you learned something new about the direct response industry that you can take with you. And as some of you know, the crew from Discovery Channel’s Pitchmen was on site interviewing inventors for Season 2 of the series, so be sure to stay tuned for the premiere release date.

I also want to say congratulations to the following six inventors whose products were voted "Most Pitchable Products" by the direct marketers on our panel:

• Terry Lewis – Ab Training Wheels
• Jay Arieli – Cat Litter Sifting System
• Craig Dockal – Cool Caster
• Nick Mazzulla – Smash Yo Trash
• Layne Evans – Selectorized Ab Machine
• Norman Lucas – The Smart Roller

We’ll be sure to keep you updated on the status of these and all the inventors who exhibited at the show.