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Here is a link to a video of a guest lecture GSS partner, Ashton Udall, made to Stanford University's Design and Manufacturing Forum last Friday.  The topic was Offshore Manufacturing for Start-ups and topics of discussion included basic steps in the process of offshore manufacturing and key factors for success.  Just click on View ME396 Seminars Online, and the video is Lecture 8. 

Ashton Udall will be giving a similar talk this upcoming Saturday on May 30th, at 10:30am, for the Inventors Alliance of Silicon Valley.  Event details can be found here. 

oDesk.com, a global service marketplace for small and medium sized business to hire, manage, and pay remote freelancers or teams, has announced their top 100 offshoring resources, and Global Sourcing Specialists' Product Global blog has earned the #16 spot out of 100 blogs and websites.  We came in just behind Forbes Magazine (#15).  According to oDesk.com:

We hope you can join us at the upcoming Stanford University Entrepreneurship Week "Bring Your Product to Life" Workshop and DesignSight, an event hosted by the San Francisco Chapter of the Industrial Designers Society of America.  Ashton Udall, of Global Sourcing Specialists, will be speaking at these two upcoming events on the topics of sourcing and managing overseas manufacturing.  The events are geared to delve deep into practical, nuts and bolts practices and stories of design and manufacturing in the entrepreneurial process.  Specifically, Ashton will focus on the process of successfully moving products from development and low volume manufacturing to high volume manufacturing with qualified offshore manufacturing partners.  Event details are below.  We hope you can join us!

• Industrial Designers Society of America DesignSight Event

TUESDAY FEB 24th ~ Join Us!

DesignSight is a new event series developed to help stimulate important conversations within the design community.

The mission of this month's event is Creative Entrepreneurship - Design Business. Any designer considering entrepreneurship or those looking to fine tune their business practices in the face of the recession should attend. Come ready to discuss your concerns with experts on topics such as: business frameworks specific to design, intellectual property, sourcing, entrepreneurial best practices and product development.

BUY Tickets

$35 - Dinner, Drinks and Great Conversation
7:00 pm
Andalu Restaurant | in the Mission District of San Francisco
3198 16th St., San Francisco CA | (415) 621-2211

Please RSVP with your top 3 table choices.

Table 1. John Edson - President - LUNAR
Table 2. Ashton Udall - Global Sourcing Specialists
Table 3. Mathew Lawyer - MD, JD, MPH, registered USPTO Patent Agent and Entrepreneur
Table 4. Mike Strasser - Managing Member - Think2Build and ReactorSF

Stanford University is hosting their annual Entrepreneurship Week from February 18-February 25.  The event agenda promises great opportunities to gain insights about entrepreneurship and hear stories from scholars, consultants, and entrepreneurs from perhaps what is the most active entrepreneurial area of the world.  Ashton Udall, of our firm Global Sourcing Specialists, will be speaking on a panel at the "Bring Your Product to Life" Workshop, which will be held Saturday, 1-3pm, February 21. 

Lead by Marc Theeuwes, Consulting Associate Professor of Stanford's Mechanical Engineering Design Division, and hosted by Stanford's Product Realization Network, the panel will cover topics of creating, manufacturing, protecting, and marketing products.  Marc will be a particularly interesting panel leader to hear from.  Prior to coming to Stanford, Marc worked in management roles in areas such as product development, operations, and business development, at companies such as Gracenote, Nokia, Lifechart, OmniCell, J&J/Lifescan, and Syva.  It should be a great workshop, as I know Marc will ensure that real-world experiences and practical insights are discussed.

I've been asked to make some remarks and answer questions on the critical entrepreneurial phase of sourcing and engaging overseas suppliers for product development and manufacturing.  The event is 2 hours and there will be a Q&A session.  The event details are below.  We look forward to seeing you there and saying hello afterwards.

I will be joining the Inventors Alliance this Saturday (9/22/2007) at 10:00am, in Silicon Valley, to lead a workshop on manufacturing in China.  For those in the Bay Area, feel free to join us as there should be plenty of good dialogue regarding insights and challenges in manufacturing in China.  I'll be covering topics on the process, players, tips, myths, risks, must-do's, must-not-do's (yes, I just made these terms up), and more.  You can attend in person or order the video.  The details are below and hope to see you there:

Event Details (Registration - Price - Location - Date - Time)
------------------------------------------------------------------

REGISTRATION: These are the ways to experience this event.

1)**Attend In Person**
at 120 Independence Dr, Menlo Park, CA 94025
35 minutes South of San Francisco, CA. 25 minutes north of San Jose, CA
http://inventorsalliance.org/092207.html

2)**Order The Video**
For those of you not living in the San Franciso, Bay Area or just short
on time and not able to attend in person, you can order the video online.
http://inventorsalliance.org/092207.html

We will send you the download link three business days after the event.
Download the video and watch it whenever you want on your computer.

3)**Bundle**
Attend in person + get the video for only $5 more.
http://inventorsalliance.org/092207.html

PRICE:
Attend in person of buy video
$15 Members
$25 Non-Members
$60 Membership
http://inventorsalliance.org/092207.html

LOCATION: Tech Shop 120 Independence Dr, Menlo Park, CA 94025
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=120+independence+drive,+94025&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=39.456673,92.548828&ie=UTF8&om=1&ll=37.485313,-122.179341&spn=0.011714,0.028667&z=16&iwloc=addr

DATE:
Saturday, September 22nd

TIME:
Check In & Networking:
9:15 - 9:45am

Welcome:
9:45 - 10:00am

Workshop:
10:00am - 12:15pm

The Small Business Administration has asked me to lead a seminar next week at their San Francisco offices on the subject of "The Basics of Manufacturing Your Product Overseas".   It should be a lot of fun because I've outlawed the use of bullet points in our company presentations AND we should have ample time for Q&A.  Hope to see you there.

The Basics of Manufacturing Your Product Overseas
9/10
6:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Competing in the Global Economy today requires access to global manufacturing resources to produce and sell your product on the market.   Learn the basics of manufacturing overseas, the steps and decisions involved, the players, and critical insights into making your operations a success.  Find out how to obtain accurate production quotes from qualified vendors, manage the communication process, protect your intellectual property, and assure high-quality product. If you are a business with products on the market, currently developing products or a product line, or an entrepreneur starting with a product idea, this seminar will prepare you for the next step.

The Small Business Administration offers a variety of classes for business owners in our Entrepreneur Center, located at 455 Market St., 6th Floor in downtown San Francisco.

To register for classes, go to: http://www.acteva.com/go/sba

TiE, The Global Network of Entrepreneurs, organization will be hosting an event in the Bay Area this evening on the topic of What is the Right Channel to Take Consumer Products to Market?. For those able to attend, it should be a valuable roundtable discussion with several executives from leading national retailers, including BestBuy, and Walmart.  I will be attending this evening and for those of you who aren't in the area or cannot attend, I will blog on the main points and highlights of the event in the next few days.  Should be interesting.  You can click on this link to register or view the event details below:

Time and Place:

Tuesday, August 21, 6pm-9pm

TiE Conference Center, Suite Number 108

2903 Bunker Hill Lane

Santa Clara, CA 95054

Online registration closes at Noon, or you can register at the event.  Member fees USD 20.00 online; Non-member USD 50.00 online; Member USD 30.00 onsite; Non-member USD 60.00 onsite.

Topics of Discussion:

TiE Consumer Technologies SIG is pleased to announce its next event, focused on "What is the right channel to take consumer products to market? Understand how your target customer (consumer) will learn about the product, and how will they want to buy it? impulse or considered purchase? how long is that consumer sales cycle?

If you are in the business of Consumer products, and would like to know how to choose the right channel for your company this panel cannot be missed.

Some of the questions this group will discuss:

- What are the choices for taking new product to market?
- Common mistakes to avoid? what are some of the most spectacular mistakes you've seen?
- Direct mail campaign with phone support?
- What about infomercials? shopping channels like HSN? how to work with this channel and not waste money in that channel?
- How do I compare the effectiveness of the various channels? how to measure? quantitative vs qualitative components. (where do the impressions go? what's the typical response rate, conversion rates, click-through rates & typical sell-through rates? return rates? etc.)
- What is a hard goods retailer looking for? What should I be prepared to pay for? what should I be ready to support? returns? what are typical terms? how long will a retailer try a new product category? how much inventory is required?
- How to balance channels: what is multi-channel retailing? should I pursue a multi-channel strategy? when is it right for me - why should I care? (because you have limited marketing funds - prioritize and spend funds wisely) - use the right channel for the right audience
- How to think about direct marketing - such as BestBuy's direct mail program? is this something startups should think seriously about?
- Does direct mail still work? if so, when should it be considered?
- Q&A

I apologize for the late notice.  For anyone in the Sacramento or Bay Area of California, I will be giving a seminar with the Sacramento Chapter of the Inventors Alliance this Saturday on the Basics of Manufacturing in China.

During the seminar, I will be covering the issues related to small businesses and inventors manufacturing in China.  I will cover aspects of product design, product development, obtaining price quotes from manufacturers, sourcing, the manufacturing process, quality control, IP protection, and all through the use of many slides loaded with interesting pictures, images, and few bullet points.  I'll also show some video of some factory facilities and processes from our recent trip to China. 

The event is from 2pm to 4pm in Sacramento, June 23rd (this Saturday).  The address is 925 3rd street, Sacramento, CA.  The event fee is $20 at the door.  The presentation will be worth your while.  I look forward to seeing those of you in the area and interested at the event.