inventions

Determination and fortitude creates products, good ideas alone are a dime a dozen.

I would start with the the Electrical Workers Union, you might find forums discussing their needs.

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A Blog: Electrical Lineman

Historical inventions International Linemans Museum

Marketing to linemen: TNT Electrical Trades Gift Store

Hello Herman5,

I am an inventor with several patents in both international and US. I decided to respond to this post since no one else did, First, your dad ideas should NOT attract the greatest attention because this can prevent him from getting a patent and expose other deviant minds from stealing the idea. Your dad should only expose the idea to those who sign a NDA agreement and is working with him on the invention process.

Approaching manufacturers is the easy part, You dad is competing for prime property I am talking about SHELF space in the stores, manufacturers can agree your dad idea is excellent but WILL it get SHELF space in wall mart or Home Depot ? You have to market the idea to the manufacturers and sell it to them this is called the PITCH. Your pitch should also come with a small business plan with an executive summary. If you do not take your own product seriously, no manufacturer will take your product seriously. Once done correctly you can choose one of 3 options.

1.Royalty = This is a high percentage of sales

2.Cash = Lump Sum cash payment for the intellectual property rights.

3.Part Cash and Part Royalties = the lump sum will not be as big as option 2, and the royalties will not be as big as option 1.

Once your pitch is good, manufacturers will not want the competition to get their hands on the better product so they are quick to negotiate business.

In reference to your response to online communities, Communities, Manufacturers, Investors,Angel Investors can only RESPOND to your pitch, it is logical to have your pitch perfected and to make your pitch before looking for a response

Thanks
SuperMonster

Be very careful when you "build a need". You may find it very hard to do that. Find out if there is a need first before you try and build something that may not be able to be built. Talk to the people you find and ask them if they have that need before you sink too much into it.

As for finding the forums use omgili.com it will help you find some forums with people discussing it, I did a quick search for lineman and found heaps, both football type and utility type.