I received an e-mail this morning regarding an open online casting call for season 3 of PBS’ Everyday Edisons. If you have never seen this program, each season a dozen people’s ideas are selected and the show teams them up with professionals to help them commercialize their inventions. This show has actually slipped under my radar and I have only seen bits and pieces online. From what I gather each selected participant goes through a tremendous learning process that takes them from an idea on a napkin, to developing a prototype, and finally to a product they can market and sell. I think this could be a great opportunity for any amateur inventor with an idea who is trying to figure out where to go with it.

If you are interested in entering here’s what you need to know:

Submissions will be accepted until Monday June 23rd.

“In order to be considered, all you need to do is log onto Edison Nation (www.EdisonNation.com) and create a profile. Look for the Everyday Edisons logo to submit to the sixth, virtual casting call.”

“All you need is a well-communicated idea. We consider concepts of all levels, whether it’s just an idea, a prototype, a finished product, a patented idea, etc. all are welcome.

Simply create a short description of your invention (300 words or less) and submit any supporting electronic files you might have (digital photos and a 2 minute video presentation of your invention).”

In case just the experience is not enough “If selected, you will have your invention/new product concept commercialized by Everyday Edisons and enjoy a 20-year annuity on future product sales. The television show takes care of all expenses involved in bringing the product to market.”

There is a little bit of fine print here, there is a $25 submission fee and they expect you to have a gold membership at Edison Nation which costs $10 a month. However, even if you don’t get selected for the show, your idea can be submitted into a Live Product Search for different companies to review and hopefully invest in. There is a contract when submitting your idea, so make sure to completely read it before submitting any of your intellectual property, to ensure that you are comfortable with their terms.

The timing of this final casting call falls conveniently within my goals time line that was posted just yesterday. I think this might be a good place to try out one of the ideas that I generate within the next two weeks. Hopefully I can report back with news from Everyday Edisons, but I will definitely have more information (good or bad) on Edison Nation.

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This entry was posted on Friday, June 6th, 2008 at 6:21 pm and is filed under Ken's Tab. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.