The Cade Museum Cultivates Entrepreneurial Thinking in Florida with So what? who cares? why you?®

Partnership brings innovative entrepreneurial programming to support Florida’s scientists, inventors and artists in the commercialization of ideas

 

April 6, 2010 - Ottawa, Ontario, Canada & Gainesville, Florida, USA – The Cade Museum for Innovation and Invention is pursuing its mission of inspiring and promoting a culture of creativity and innovation by “injecting entrepreneurial thinking into the DNA” of inventors and innovators of all ages. In partnership with wendykennedy.com inc., The Cade Museum will deliver innovative training and education programs based on the So what? who cares? why you?^® commercialization methodology, which has been adopted globally by organizations seeking to increase the success rate of commercialization and to prepare inventors and entrepreneurs to speak the language of business. 

 

The art and skill of commercialization is often the missing link why a great invention never reaches the market and the consumer. Inventors and innovators are usually not aware of the complexities of bringing their ideas to the end customer. Through this partnership, the Cade Museum will provide an additional resource to innovators in academic institutions, technology companies, government laboratories, artistic circles and the general public by introducing a formula for entrepreneurial thinking. This will enable innovators and inventors of all ages to answer critical questions about their ideas and inventions – questions that must be answered if an idea is to be transformed into a successful commercial product.

 

Richard Miles, Executive Director of the Cade Museum, said: “The gap between a great invention or discovery and a commercially viable product is wide and difficult to navigate.” Through its partnership with wendykennedy.com, The Cade Museum will bridge that gap. So what? who cares? why you?^® provides a structured program platform for instilling a commercialization and entrepreneurial mindset into our state’s most promising innovators.”

 

He added, “It strengthens our ability to sow the seeds of entrepreneurial thinking that will prepare a new generation of company builders and commercially savvy scientists, engineers, and researchers. It also puts us in touch with a global network of resources engaged in commercialization and entrepreneurship.”

 

The first of the programs to be delivered under the partnership is an intensive training workshop incorporated into the Cade Prize for Innovation. A $50,000 cash prize, along with start-up business support, will be awarded to the winning Florida-based innovator. Entrants who are selected as semi-finalists will participate in the day-long So what? who cares? why you?^® commercialization training workshop at the Gainesville Technology Enterprise Center (GTEC) Incubator in Gainesville on April 23^rd, 2010.

 

Training in the So what? who cares? why you?^® methodology – which is used globally by scientists, researchers, inventors and technology entrepreneurs – will prepare the competitors to clearly define and articulate the commercial or business opportunity that their invention, science or artistic idea represents. Finalists will use the So what? who cares? why you?^® concepts and templates to prepare effective venture capital presentations to a panel of expert judges.

 

Wendy Kennedy, President of wendykennedy.com inc. and creator  of So what? who cares? why you?^®, said: “There are many factors that go in to turning a great idea into a commercial success.  At the early stages, the most important of these is being able to engage backers and supporters in understanding the commercial opportunity for the idea.  So what? who cares? why you?^® gives inventors and innovators a framework to discover and articulate the commercial value of their ideas so they can communicate effectively with investors, potential partners, and other key stakeholders in the process of taking an idea from concept to customer.”

 

The Cade Museum and wendykennedy.com will collaborate to design and deliver numerous innovative commercialization programs in the future. Scientists, engineers, artists, and other creative thinkers, young and old, will have the opportunity to acquire the tools and frameworks needed to transform their ideas into useful and helpful products. These programs will span education outreach, innovation competitions, conferences, workshops and more, and will be conducted at various locations around Florida until The Cade Museum building opens in 2014.

 

About The Cade Museum for Innovation and Invention

The Cade Museum for Innovation and Invention – located in Gainesville, Florida – is named for James Robert Cade, the physician, musician, researcher and inventor best known for leading the University of Florida team that created Gatorade. The mission of the Cade Museum is to promote a culture of creativity and innovation. The museum’s programs include:  workshops for inventors of all ages to highlight the inventive process from idea conceptualization to commercialization, from the the laboratory to the marketplace. We will also provide guest speakers and networking opportunities, innovation-themed traveling exhibits (beginning in 2011), a Virtual museum (Brain Science of Creativity), a Volunteer group – “Leading Edge” and the Cade Prize for Innovation (annual program) and Kids’ Programs: Camp Invention® for at-risk children, “Florida Caders" a biweekly innovators club for elementary school kids, LEGO Robotics and Club Invention®, Science Fair Camps (Fall 2010), Junior Cade Prize for Innovation at regional and state science and engineering fair (annual).

http://www.cademuseum.org

 

About Wendy Kennedy’s So what? who cares? why you?^®

So what? who cares? why you?^® is a commercialization methodology and tool set used globally by scientists, researchers, inventors and technology entrepreneurs to identify and articulate the commercial opportunities their ideas represent. It has been adopted by leading organizations across nine countries, including incubators, governments, universities and more and has a global community of more than 10,000 users.   So what? who cares? why you? is packaged as a platform with support tools tailored for incubation, research commercialization, and entrepreneurship.  To learn more about So what? who cares? why you?^® visit:  http://www.wendykennedy.com

 

About the Cade Prize for Innovation Competition

The Cade Prize for Innovation competition was open to Florida-based innovators who are taking their first steps towards commercialization. More than 100 abstracts were received on a wide variety of topics including the environment, biomedical, education and much more. 

Updates will be posted and winners will be announced on Facebook  and Twitter

For more information about how to participate in the So what? who cares? why you? commercialization workshop and other Cade Museum Programs contact Dr. Monika Oli, Program Director, Cade Museum Foundation, moli@cademuseum.org. http://www.cademuseum.org/experience/education.aspx

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