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 My Casting Call
On Saturday, February 16, 2008, I attended the Everyday Edison’s casting call. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this show, it is a television show for inventors. For those who truly know me, you know that inventions are my ultimate passion. Traveling to a few states they offer would - be inventors the opportunity to show their inventions in hope it will then be chosen to appear on the show.
Their selection process is as following.
- You have 2 minutes - that's TWO MINUTES - to pitch your invention to a panel of 4 very stoic judges. LOL (laugh-out-loud)
- If selected, you then need to pass a basic patent search. If they do not think they can get a patent, you will not go to the next level.
- At the final level, you are allowed 5 minutes to pitch your idea, this time in front of 3 judges, comprised of Louis Foreman, a patent attorney, and a marketing expert. Did I mention that, once you get to this level, you are now being filmed?. Lights! Camera! Action! It cost $10,000 for them to film each person who makes it to this level. If you get to this level, your idea is SMOKIN'!!
What are they looking for? Inventions that can fit in today's general market with MONEY- did I say MONEY making capabilities? PERIOD - That is IT!!!
YEEHAA, THIS WAS MY CHANCE TO SHOW MY INVENTIONS!!!
- I arrived at McEnery Convention Center FRIDAY MORNING to assure myself a partipating number for SATURDAY. Rule: If you do not register before 1:00 p.m., you will not be seen!!
- I scoped out where the line would form and was prepared to CAMP OUT, and I met some other early birds, who came in from Florida, South Carolina, Michigan, etc... At this point, it seemed as if I would be the only local. LOL (laugh-out-loud)
- There are lots of funny fun details I will leave out to keep this report fairly short.
- At 7:00 a.m. Saturday morning, my friend Elisabeth came to support me. Yippee!!
- I got through the registration process and I received NUMBER ONE. Did I mention I got NUMERO UNO?!! LOL :o)
- I presented my first invention to a panel of three men and one woman. They were very impressed and continued to ask me questions well beyond the two minute time limit. Once I was dismissed, I was directed to go to a room and watch t
 he TV monitor to see if my number appeared on the " selected" or "not selected" side (very stressful). After approximately 30 minutes, my number appeared, NOT SELECTED. Reason: "Not appropriate for this show." Although I did not make it to the next level with this invention, I felt unusually uplifted and inspired. It was clear they liked it, but did not feel it could be developed within the time frame of the show.
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT???
- My friend, Peggi, insisted I take along a second invention since they were allowing more than one submission, if you were willing to get back in line and registered before 1:00 p.m. I did not feel quite as prepared to show it (my second invention), So I asked Elisabeth what she thought and she said, “I am not suggesting that you show or not show, but since we are here, why not?" So back into the line we went.
- After approximately three hours of waiting I was called to present my second invention. I requested the same panel of judges, which I was granted. I requested the same panel because I wanted them to see I have very innovative ideas and I am a true inventor.
- The judges were happy to see me again and this time had relaxed expressions on their faces.
- Once again, I presented well and, when my two minutes were up, they continued for another few minutes asking me questions.
 OKAY, GET TO THE POINT!!!!
-
 Back in the waiting room, Elisabeth and I were both so nervous we could hardly speak to each other. Staring long and hard at the monitor, it was Elisabeth who saw it first. Selected! SHEILA SHAW, YIPPEEE!!!! You cannot imagine how awesome we both felt. At this point in the day, there were only 45 people out of over 1500 who got to this level, and I was one of them. I was floating!!!
THE GREEN ROOM
We were sent to go to the Green Room. Now, if you are like me and have never been in a Green Room, your first thought would be to go to a room that is painted green! NOT! LOL This room had ceilings that were 20' high and the walls were gray! I remember thinking to myself, "If they locked us in, we couldn't even climb up the walls to get out." I'm not even sure if "Lara Croft" could've gotten out of there. LOL
Before you can go to the final level, your product/idea has to pass through the patent process. Remember, if their attorneys do not think they can get a patent on your invention, you will not proceed to the final step.
For what seemed like an eternity, we waited to see if I made it. The excitement from getting accepted soon turned into fear of not passing the patent screening. So, I went from elation to deflation.
- My paperwork finally came back. I MADE IT! I MADE IT TO THE FINAL STEP!. It felt incredibly awesome! There were only a few of us standing at this point. There were thousands of products and ideas presented throughout the day, and at 6:00 p.m. in the evening it felt sooo good to have made it to the final step.
Before going into the camera room, I was fitted with a microphone and prepped on what to expect. I was encouraged to relax and to be myself. Heck, at this point, I was so proud to be there, the outcome did not matter. Now I know what is meant by the statement, "It is the journey that counts and not the outcome".
Once in front of the cameras, lights and judges, I was truly in spirit. I went through my presentation as if I had rehearsed it a 1000 times. FLAWLESS is a good word to use! The judges were so impressed, they used words like Brilliant, Fantastic and Amazing! The lights and cameras did not bother me one bit. With the videos I have been making lately, I felt right at home.
 WELL, DID YOU WIN??????
I needed two yes votes.
 Judge 1 (patent specialist) started out by saying he felt it might be a bit of a struggle to get it fully patented. At this point, I felt that he was going to vote no. To my surprise, he gave me a huge YES. I was very confident at this point, that I would be chosen. When I was making my presentation, the judges were commenting and gesturing the entire time about how awesome this was. I could even see the people off camera (crew and other production personnel) smiling with approval. So, with a yes right out the gate, I knew I had bagged this.
 Judge 2 (marketing specialist). His opening was quite the opposite of Judge 1.
Right away, he said, "I really
like this, this is brilliant!" At this point, I wanted to raise my hands in victory like Rocky Balboa. I mean, I am just screaming inside. And, then, he goes on to say, " BUUUUTTT, you know, we had an invention like this in Season One that we went on to produce and market. And while yours is clearly different, the sales from the other has not reached that mark we anticipated". He then said, "With your design, those using it would need instructions and that is not a problem. However, in the marketing world, we use a 3 second rule. If the consumer is not sold in 3 seconds, then we pass." He then went on to say, "So my vote is NO." For those of you who have seen the Rocky movies, after Rocky beat Apollo, he was feeling pretty confident. When Rocky IV came out, and he had to fight " Drago," Rocky was clearly scared. This is exactly how I was feeling. I now needed a definite yes to move forward.
 Judge 3 (the Big Kahuna Louis Foremen). He leaned back in his chair and said, "I would have never expected that bag to do what it just did." While he is saying this, he was smiling, and it was clear that he liked it and me. He said, "That is the most ingenious thing I have seen in that product type." He said, "Sheila, what this show is all about is introducing new products to the market and being able to sell them in THREE SECONDS." At this point, I am screaming inside because I felt like I knew where he was going with this. He then said, "I want you to know that there were 3,000 applicants today and that you are one of 100 who got to this point and you should feel very proud," (which I did). Then he said rather quickly, "I am going to have to agree with Judge 2 and say NO".
Once the cameras were off, the questions continued. The second judge asked me what I did for work. Before I could get on my soap box, another production person hustled me off as there was another participant waiting to come in. And that was it!
At the end of the day, I can honestly say I felt two
feet
taller than I did when I arrived.
About two weeks before I was aware of this casting
call I received this fortune cookie:
And what an adventure it was!
WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO DO???
Wow, Thanks for Asking :o)
The editor of this magazine
wrote this about me
The text in the box reads:
"I know we’ll be writing about a few of the inventors who came by to chat. I really liked the lady who built her own dialysis machine. She also built her own house … and rides motorcycles."
Mike Drummond, Editor (see email address in the original email from me)
Would you write to Mike Drummond and post a comment encouraging him to do a story on me SOON? If you can, be sure to mention my name. Be sure to mention my name as he does not. I am pretty sure he is trying to see if there is an interest. You might include in your note something like, "I know who this woman is. Her name is Sheila Shaw, and she definitely is an amazing person with a great story. Please be creative and do use your own words. For those of you who might receive this email as a forward from a friend who does not know me, please take the time to browse this website and visit these websites: www.sheilashaw.com. www.healthaffirmations.com. In the article, he invites you to leave a comment/blog. PLEASE, if this is the only blog you will ever leave in your life, please leave a blog supporting the idea that he follow up and do a story on me. This magazine likes to feature people who have gone through the patent process without all the bells or whistles (money). They like feel good stories. It is my desire to get in this magazine featuring our PD Security Band™ ( I invented). Throughout the years, Patient's Pride has been offering this product to my fellow patients. The PD Security Band™ has encouraged, enlightened and increased the life style of the many who are using it. See what our customers are saying. If I can get a feature on my company in this magazine, it would help with my other inventions, and perhaps I can get an investor who believes in what we've been doing and will help us. Patient's Pride is a great company that solves a direct need and deserves to be recognized. There are people today who are climbing the ladder of success because of support from people like you. I would love to be one of them :o)
AND WHILE YOU ARE AT IT 
Please feel free to post additional blogs and send emails to other magazines, newspapers and media. Emphasize how appreciative you are of this human being, who is trying to make a positive difference.
"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean.
But
the ocean would be less because of that missing drop."
-Mother Theresa
ARE YOU IN A GENEROUS MOOD???
We are all aware of America's declining health benefit plans and, to add insult to injury, many of our good citizens are not getting the health care and products they need and DESERVE. We are receiving more and more hardship phone calls from Peritoneal Dialysis patients needing our product, but they just cannot afford it.
I realize these are not quite the images we would like to start our day off with. But just for one moment imagine if you were the parent of these children. A potential investor told me "The return is not large enough to invest in".
PD Security Band™ Custom Catheter Support System
Do you think the parents of these children would agree?
Unfortunately, most parents of children have to worry about their small children playing or pulling on their tube. Our PD Secuirty Band™ prevents this. It is not uncommon for children that are doing Peritoneal Dialysis to have two tubes.
While these images may be new to you, this is what we see everyday. I'm reaching out to you because with the economy in the state it is, these calls are increasing, and, sadly, We are forced to turn people away, because they just flat-out cannot afford the cost. For years we've been donating our PD Security Band™ at our own expense, but with the requested volumes we are now receiving, I cannot continue and stay in business.
 SO, IF I DONATE $100.00 IT CAN HELP?
For $100.00 we can custom fit three of our bands (a year's quantity) to one patient with our PD Security Band. Fifty percent of the patients and caregivers who contact us are so overwhelmed with medical bills that by the time they get to us, they are pretty much tapped out. Set a parents mind at ease or restore the pride and dignity of our senior citizens and war veterans, help a young man or woman lead a better quality of life. It is sad that our system is setup in such a way that good people have to fight, scrape or beg for what should be their birth right. We all deserve to live a healthy and enchanting life.
 IF THE SPIRIT HAS MOVED YOU PLEASE DONATE
Click here to view frequently asked questions.
For every $100.00 that we receive on behalf of one of our customers who is experiencing hardship, I will include this audio CD.
This is a fantastic audio recording, and includes tips, motivational and inspiring information, and powerful, uplifting affirmations designed to help those move forward who are living with a chronic illness.
Download your FREE digital copy now!
Six degrees of Separation refers to the idea that, if a person is one step away from each person he or she knows, and two steps away two from each person who is known by one of the people he or she knows, then everyone is an average of six "steps" away from each person on Earth. While the exact number of links between people differs, depending upon the population measured, it is generally found to be relatively small. Hence, six degrees of separation is somewhat synonymous with the idea of the "small world" phenomenon.
I am asking each one of you to email this webpage to at least 6 other people.
The more people who know about our company and the importance of this product, then perhaps we can attract one of those Big Kahunas who is still interested in investing in people as well as real estate. The most valuable investment we can make is to invest in each other. Please feel free to post additional blogs and send emails to other magazines, newspapers and media. Emphasize how appreciative you are of this human being, who is trying to make a positive difference.
PLEASE SEND THIS PAGE TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN
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