February 8, 2008

Search for ordinary people with big ideas is on

Have a great idea? Know what the next big thing might be? Have you invented a must-have item?

Everyday Edisons is hosting a free event to discover inventions from any product category and stage of development, ranging from sketched concepts to patented designs and prototypes.

The event will take place on Saturday, Feb. 16, 2008 at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center, 120 W. San Carlos Street, San Jose. Registration is from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. For information, call (408) 277-5277.

Registration forms are available online at www.EverydayEdisons. com and the day of the event. Participants are encouraged to fill out the paperwork online, print it and bring it with them to the convention center on Saturday to help expedite the process.

Everyday Edisons (www.Every-dayEdisons.com), a nationally televised PBS reality series chronicling modern inventors and the development of their inventions, continues its season three casting calls with a west coast audition/educational expo in San Jose.

Participants with factory prototypes or finished products will be reviewed by the judging panel, as well as representatives from major national retailers, including Bed Bath & Beyond, Home Depot, QVC, PetSmart, The Sharper Image, Staples and buybuyBaby. Participants selected in San Jose will move forward for further consideration for season three.

Those who do not wish to pitch an idea are invited to attend the various free, educational seminars occurring throughout the day.

Everyday Edisons casting calls are free and open to the public. Registration forms, directions, maps, FAQs and day-of details are available online at www.everydayedisons.com. Participants must complete and provide all registration forms in order to audition, and must attend the casting call to be considered for the show.

The Everyday Edisons panel of judges, including product development and patent law experts, will provide a forum for participants to present and demonstrate original ideas for consideration to be featured on this reality show about innovation. In San Jose and throughout the nationwide casting call process, the judges will select 10 to 12 inventors to be profiled in the third season of Everyday Edisons, which chronicles the inventors as their concept is refined, produced, marketed and sold.

In addition to the Everyday Edisons casting calls, participants are invited to a series of complimentary educational seminars, including the unveiling of Edison Nation, an online Web 2.0 inventors' community; an opportunity to meet with experts from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); open forum discussions with Mike Drummond, editor-in-chief of Inventors Digest; Louis Foreman, CEO of Enventys, a leading product development and creative marketing firm; Dr. Natalie Petouhoff, rocket scientist, author / speaker and product spokesperson; and a Q & A session with Michael Diep, featured season two inventor on Everyday Edisons.

Everyday Edisons premiered nationwide on Public Broad-casting System (PBS) affiliates in the Spring of 2007 to educate viewers about what it takes to bring an invention to market. Produced in cooperation with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Everyday Edisons features ordinary people as their original idea is transformed into a retail product.

Selected "Everyday Edisons" will have their inventions commercialized and receive a 20-year annuity on all product sales. The series invests thousands of dollars into each chosen invention, with no cost to the inventor. The name "Everyday Edisons" honors Thomas Edison, the famed American inventor who, with virtually no formal education, had more than 1,000 patents to his credit.

The name implies that everyday people, like Edison, can have great ideas. Everyday Edisons is produced by Bouncing Brain Productions of Charlotte, N.C. For more information and a short video trailer of the series, visit www.everydayedisons.com.