Design Network Brochure Ii

Recreating Michigan’s Future 471 West Long Lake Drive, Harrison, Michigan 48625 USA (989) 339.4998 www.designstudio.pbwiki.com

“Invisible technology...creatively applied.” Challenge for Rural Towns

Solution: Local Headquarters

• By 2018, how many new high paying year-round professional, managerial and technical positions will your town need to thrive when the summer residents leave?

Create companies headquartered locally that produce… • $10,000,000 in annual revenues eventually • Products/services with 15%+ net after tax profits • Serve national and international markets

• If your high school graduates 100 students/year, you will have 1,000 graduates in ten years.

High Profit products/services transferred in from… • Inventors • Lead-Users

• Assuming 30% of the teens stay or return, you will need up to 300+ new professional positions. • How many $10,000,000 per year niche companies would you need to get 300 professional positions? (50 professionals/company) • How much would your town and county invest in an invention and a management team that could grow a $10,000,000 per year “publicly owned” locally headquartered company? Round II--building local Design Studios begins in 2008. Eight rural towns in northern lower Michigan have joined the Design Studio Network in Round I. They will work together to create a culture of innovation and design. Their gifted and talented teens are being challenged to engage in shaping the destiny of their hometowns and creating a design culutre in Michigan. As Round II commences we will integrate each town individually into the Design Studio Network until we reach twenty towns. We are not sure at this time whether there will be a Round III in 2008. Every town needs positions that produce the discretionary income required for your community to thrive. Every town needs locally headquartered companes with national markets to support those higher paying positions in the 21st century.

To a local Design Studio which is… • Organized, led and managed by teens…your most creative and under-utilized resource • Where teens can add value to a product through redesign • Collaborative and virtual using “WIKIMEDIA,” Webex and interactive www sites, etc. Staffed by “Talented & Motivated” teens… • 10 to 30 teens from each community comprise the local Design Studio • 3%+ of the local teen population is “creatively gifted” • This is not a teen volunteer service program but is based upon a deferred compensation model • Teens mentor adults at times, e.g., on being distinctive not just excellent, on internet marketing, etc. As part of a collaborative network of design studios… • Each local Design Studio has project based teams • Regional design teams collaborate virtually on high potential projects • The Design Studio Network builds an inventor network • After adding value through design, the local Design Studios sell their product to their HOMETOWN, another town in the network, another community or investors. • Each local Design Studio should become self-sustaining

What’s “invisible technology?” Invisible technology is people, ideas, products or services that could be the beginning of a new company--if only you knew where to look. Large companies usually spend 90%+ of their development resources on creating or finding visible technology. Historically, more than half of all new products come from technology developed in the invisible arenas; however, most companies choose to ignore this fact. There is great potential in finding invisible technology and then focusing on creative application through design. In a world of microchips, nanotechnology, laser optics, processed foods and designer genes, there are also many “low” tech opportunities. The Design Studio Network specializes in just that -- knowing where to look for invisible technology through an inventor database. Wall Street is recognizing the value of a “Design Society” that complements our engineering and manufacturing perspectives. Over the last few decades we have moved from the Industrial Society, to the Information Society, to the Knowledge Society and now to the Design Society. The benefits of a Design Society to Michigan’s communities are that design can occur anywhere and discovering and designing does not require large facilities or financial resources. Most importantly, distinctive products or services rely on out-of-the-box thinking. Who does this better than our youth? They do not even have to ask permission to redesign a product or service.

Why not more R&D for Michigan? Small towns do not need more R&D. They need to create a mechanism that can identify, creatively apply and position inventions for commericialization. Creating and accessing an INVENTOR network could accelerate a town’s ability and willingness to invest in locally headquartered companies which have value added products/systems producing a minimum $10,000,000 in annual revenues for national markets.

Design Studio Network Ten Michgian rural towns comprise the initial Design Studio Network. Teens in local design studios can access members of the Network in other towns online to share ideas, research and projects. The Design Network will focus on three areas: • Helping to organize local Design Studios • Creating an inventor database • Writing foundation proposals Selected representatives form local Design Studios will meet with Dr. Wilkie regularly on-line and face to face to consider and act on various issues: • Surveying community resources & building databases • Creating collaborative design projects • Writing proposals to foundations & funding sources

Annual Membership • • • • •

Meeting are held periodically around major topics Virtual meetings on www.webex.com in between Representatives from each town participate Cost: $500/team each month for Round II Prepaid quarterly = $1,500/team

Entrepreneurship A Virtual Design Studio represents a complementary effort to many entrepreneurship programs for teens and adults in Michigan’s communities. These are two very distinct cultures. Entrepreneurship programs tend to focus on:

• • • •

Retail type products Average profit margins Smaller economies of scale Serving local markets

These complementary programs should both be encouraged. At least 3%+ of your teens will be involved with a singular focus on redesigning products & higher paying job creation.

Bill Wilkie’s Background Bill Wilkie approaches technology transfer, design and headquarters creation from a background that combines experience at Michigan State University, the Kellogg Foundation, as an auto supplier executive, owner of Technology Search, Inc. and owner of an executive recruiting boutique. Design Studio Network is in part built on Technology Search, Inc., originally created in 1981. Its technology search services were based upon a simple observation: 50% of the new technologies historically come from the invisible arenas of inventors, small labs and garages. However, 80%+ of the R&D budgets are allocated toward creating new technology in labs. Technology Search found invisible technology for several corporations. In 2007, Dr. Wilkie launched a new “open source” technology search and transfer company around a Lead-Users Database.

Bill Wilkie: A Brief Resume • MSU: The Land-Grant University Idea 1969-1973 Analysis of America’s foremost contributor to technology development and transfer in production farming and agri-business while at Michigan State University. • W. K. Kellogg Foundation 1973-75 Program Officer for lifelong learning and economic development: Maine Entrepreneurship Institute • Multifastener Corporation 1976-1981 Value added products in the automotive industry as well as instituting Dr. Frank Bacon’s Planned Innovation process and Dr. Eric von Hippel’s tech transfer process. • Technology Search 1981-82 Identification of invisible technologies for corporations. • College Bound Workshops 1985-96 -www.football-recruiting-tips.com • Executive Search & Coaching 1987 to _____ Identification of leaders as presidents of a division for holding companies in mid-west region of U.S.A.

Dr. William R. Wilkie 471 West Long Lake Drive Harrison, Michigan 48625 www.designstudio.pbwiki.com 989.339.4998

[email protected]

“Transfer and creatively apply invisible technology for...”