Disc-It!™ Inventor Takes A Spin at INPEX®
"Have you ever had a CD in hand with no place to put it?" That was the question that inspired past INPEX exhibitor Michael Scanlan to invent Disc-It!, a promotional product that stores discs such as CD's, CD-R's, CD-ROM's, DVD's and game discs that are frequently used. It elevates and separates them from each other by a stacking ring that is built around the holes of all CD's.
Scanlan first discovered INPEX while surfing the Internet. "I found out about INPEX through my own research, and I wanted to try to get some recognition for the Disc-It!," he said. "That's when I decided to attend the show in 2003." Scanlan was delighted when his invention was recognized at the INPEX International Awards Dinner, where he won a Gold Medal in the Advertising category and a Bronze Medal for Office Products.
Scanlan also met a company interested in licensing his invention while at INPEX. "I had my booth set up, and people were taking flyers about the product. The month after INPEX, someone from a licensing company called and wanted to talk about my invention. From there, the next step was getting a license agreement."
That someone was Mark Scatterday of Proinnovative, a licensing company that focuses on high quality promotional products. Disc-It! was licensed in December of 2003 by Proinnovative, and one of the company's manufacturers began producing it in China. "We just felt the idea was truly unique, and we thought that it would be something that would fit in well with our current product line," said Scatterday, CEO of Proinnovative.
In 2004, the invention began appearing in the United States on promotional web sites, courtesy of companies like Art Promos, Corporate Logo, Garrett Specialties, Gimmees and Proinnovative.
The invention was also picked up by Evriholder Co., a distribution company that promotes products to big chain stores, such as Wal-Mart or Target. Evriholder signed a distribution deal with Scanlan in August of 2004. "It's not currently available in stores such as Wal-Mart or Target, but Evriholder has told me that they showed it to one of their major distributors, and they seemed receptive to putting it in their stores, so I'm hoping that will happen soon."
Scanlan himself is in talks right now with a retail company in Japan who approached him after finding the Disc-It! through web sites and press releases. He hopes to send 30,000 units there within the next few months to be sold. Proinnovative also located companies from both the UK and New Zealand, and Scanlan is also working with them to reach an agreement for distribution in those countries as well.
"INPEX was certainly the best trade show that I've been to," he said. "It gave me the advantage of mingling with like-minded people." Scanlan also said, "Everyone there was so positive, and it was refreshing to see everyone rooting one another on."
For more information about Disc-It!, visit www.mydiscit.com.
