innovation showcase : business innovation case studies : Regional Innovation Strategy - Innovation Showcase facilitates Networking & Market Testing

NETWORKING AND MARKET TESTING OPPORTUNITIES CONTRIBUTE TO BIG YEAR FOR SHOWCASE EXHIBITORS

The Thames Valley Innovation Conference is a chance for start ups and entrepreneurs to showcase their product or service to potential clients and business partners as part of the Innovation Showcase. Last year the conference gave 15 companies the platform to gain exposure and make new leads.

The year following their participation in 2007’s Innovation Showcase (part of the Thames Valley Innovation Conference) has been one of growth and development for most exhibitors, with many crediting their subsequent success to their presence at the show.

For Findtech’s David Connolly, the Innovation Showcase played a big part in what was the information research and consultancy company’s first full year of operation.

“The most significant benefit was making around 30 new contacts of which some have already been turned into customers,” David said. “The others are still warm prospects, too.”

Findtech also identified an opening for a new product and has added IP Edge to its current portfolio of intellectual property (IP) protection services.

“We came across many people in service industries who are active in innovation but unaware of how to protect what they do under the law,” he added. “In association with a partner whom we also met at the Conference, we’ve developed the new product to look at a company’s total intellectual capital, and help develop an IP strategy and drive the commercial development of IP.”

Brand building
For Neil Fairbrother of pod3.tv, the Innovation Showcase was part of a year that saw the founder of the video podcast web TV service ranked 10th in the innovation category of the prestigious 2007 Courvoisier The Future 500 network, compiled in association with the Observer.

“The Innovation Showcase put pod3.tv in front of some very high profile people which has been great for making contacts and building our credibility and presence,” he commented. “You never know where that level of networking might lead.”

Fiscal Technologies’ David Griffiths reports that the show was a catalyst for the strides the duplicate payment detection software company has made since his acquisition of it in March 2007.

“We’ve grown from a staff of three to 15 and won 50 new customers. We launched our brand at the Innovation Showcase and got a big ‘thumbs up’ for the professional image we presented.

“It was a brilliant testing ground for us as we were looking for partners who could help us grow and develop the business, as well as customers. We won one new customer and met up with other entrepreneurs who can help us with the business.”

“A forum for contacts building, networking and sharing ideas” was how Simon Derry of Project Leaders summarised the benefits of being an Innovation Showcase exhibitor.

Project Leaders develops new products for better innovation management that help SMEs and larger organisations turn ideas into practical innovations. “We had access to top FTSE/Fortune 100 companies and research institutions like the Henley Management College and the University of Reading.

“It was a great way of meeting influential people and talking through ideas.”
Steve Lane of specialist electronic product design company, Triteq, agrees. “Being at the show was an opportunity to see what others were doing, make contacts and stimulate ideas to help us move forward,” he said.

“It generally takes a while from establishing a contact to actually developing the project but we’re progressing talks started at the show very well. We also met with a business adviser who put some suggestions to us. While we’ve decided not to progress some of them directly, they’ve nevertheless helped us take a fresh look at our product offering.

“As a result, we’ve added industrial design to the portfolio of services.”

Decent feedback
For Dias Music, developers of the Airsound single point stereo system, being at Innovation Showcase helped quantify some product refinements.

“For us it was a market testing exercise,” said Roger Croft. “We went for the feedback. You can get wrapped up in yourself when developing a new product, but you need feedback on what you’ve done to refine your ideas.

“Twelve months on and we’ve made changes based on what users have told us, including setting the price point, confirming the product’s reliability and managing our Chinese suppliers.”

For other exhibitors, such as VoxIQ, the database and speech technologists, and enviropac, the provider of in-flight drinks in sachets, being part of the Innovation Showcase delivered less tangible benefits, but was an experience that was still very worthwhile.

“We secured about 40 leads, some of which may turn into future business,” admitted VoxIQ’s Archie Macaulay who has seen the company move forward from last year with the securing of two live applications for the technology.

While enviropac managing director David Barber said that “it is always interesting to meet people” at events like the Innovation Showcase as “you never know who might be there.”

This years showcase will include 20 hot new companies, for the ones to watch please visit www.theinnovationconference.net