Alamo Inventors, San Antonio, Texas

Once a month, we have a meeting with a presentation about something invention related. Sometimes it's the creative part, like how someone came up with an idea. Sometimes it's the legal parts, like protection, patents, trademark, & licensing. Manufacturing comes up a lot, and so does marketing. We always enjoy our speakers, and we always learn from them. Questions are always encouraged, and our speakers share insights you can't get anywhere else. Before the meeting, you can visit with other inventors. New faces are always welcome, and if you have questions about invention or patents or marketing or ... there are usually members who can help guide you.

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Meeting Date
Wednesday, May 13, 2020 (Online - Beginning at 5:45pm)


Guest Speaker:
Josh Malone

The Amazing Bunch Of Balloons Story

Josh Malone, inventor of the enormously successful "Bunch O Balloons", will share his amazing story of successes and obstacles on his journey to invention success. Having now sold over a billion balloons, Josh has achieved tremendous success. But to get there, he had to overcome many roadblocks including the United State Patent Office. He will share how he got there - the true process of fund raising, product development, licensing, and marketing a new product today. He will also share the hard realities of getting and defending a patent, and present:

1. Creating and Developing His Invention

2 Running an Extraordinary Kick-Starter Campaign – Raising More than ONE MILLION DOLLARS

3. Solving Production Hurdles

4. Confronting Competitor Knock-Offs of His Product – Leading to Expensive Legal Battles

5. AND Overcoming the Ultimate Challenges of Defending His Invention with the United States Patent Office PATENT TRIAL APPEAL BOARD (PTAB).

Josh quit his corporate job in 2006 to take a shot at the Inventor’s Dream. Eight years later, with savings depleted and kids’ college unfunded, he took one last swing before trudging back to the corporate world.

Josh's kids have always enjoyed playing with water balloons. So, he sought to solve the messy water filling problem. After years of experimenting, Josh put a straw in a balloon and sealed the balloon with a small rubber band. It worked! He decided to call it Bunch O Balloons and filed for a patent. Josh put it up on Kickstarter and after a few days, it raised over $1,000,000. After a few weeks, he went on the Today Show. After production started and his patent had issued, infringers appeared. Come to the meeting and hear the rest of the story!

Meeting Flyer: The Amazing Bunch Of Balloons Story (pdf)

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Guests are welcome.

From 6pm to 6:30pm Alan Beckley
Alan will answer questions and offer insights about product marketing and more.

From 6:30pm to 8:00pm Guest Speaker
Zoom video services. See instructions below.

Join Zoom Meeting, 5:45pm or later.
Meeting ID: see above
Password: above
You will be required to identify yourself

Do not come to SATC, as there won't be anyone there.

Zoom Video Instructions:
Download the App or Program from zoom.us website or the app platform. There are several similar looking programs. Avoid them. It works on computers of most kinds, and tablets and phones. Please see the Youtube if this is all new to you. If you don't have a camera, that's OK. Audio is fine, and if you don't have a microphone, that's OK too. Except our hosts, everyone will be muted anyway. You can text within Zoom for questions.

Zoom Client For Meetings, or Apple App or the Android App, visit https://zoom.us/download#client_4meeting

Install the app or program. To attend our Zoom meeting, you do not need to create an account with Zoom.

See above to get the meeting code and password then go to your Zoom program or app and JOIN MEETING using the meeting number and password.

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