5x5 So Far

Yesterday at 4 p.m. found some of the past participants of Pomegranate Studios' 5x5 Night assembled at Reserve Wine Bar for a press conference to talk about how their ideas had developed after 5x5.

5x5 founder Rick DeVos gestured to the former winners (and one participant who ended up succeeding without winning any money at all) saying,
"What's become clear doing this… as we continue the conversation is that it's much more than 5000 dollars. It's much more about having a platform to share ideas. I think we underestimated the sort of hunger that people have to share these ideas, and have an opportunity to move them from ideas to projects."

This idea of the attention and platform being more important than the check is evident in the case of Nicole Infante. Infante's brainchild, The Grandwich, was an idea presented at 5x5, but not an idea that won prize money. However, the interest in the Grandwich was so high that Infante was able to carry out the local sandwich competition to completion this July.

"Twenty-eight restaurants participated and hundreds of people went 'grandwiching,'" she says. "[We received] 4600 votes and we also collected $2300 and 418 pounds of food [for Kids' Food Basket.] We couldn't have done it without the uproot of 5x5 taking it to the next level."

The pulled pork Grandwich winner, The G-Wrap, can be tasted at The B.O.B.

Kelly LeCoy was a participant in May's 5x5 Night. Her winning idea, Uptown Kitchen, is slated to open in Eastown late autumn as a commercial kitchen and event space that can be rented out by contract or the hour.

"So many people came out of the woodwork," she says. "People emailed me after the event saying 'I'd love to help you out…' I left with a lot of resources I would not have had otherwise."

At of the time of the press conference, LeCoy could technically start taking on clients.

Inventor Dave Schemmel had an idea to create a cage made of natural fiber on which to grow tomato plants. He shows a photo of a 9 ft. high plant he's fostered and brings a basket of homegrown tomatoes to share.

Right now, Schemmel is working with logistics -- production, molds, all the things he needs to go to market. As the growing season for tomatoes moves south, Schemmel says they hope to start aggressively marketing Dave's Great Green Tomato Cage in those southern markets soon. Schemmel also says that winning 5x5 Night changed the manner in which he does business.

"I never had a Facebook account," he says. Now, you can find him on Facebook as well as Twitter.

The thing Schemmel says he's the most proud of isn't necessarily his 9 ft. tomato plant. "Going into manufacturing and creating a tangible product is creating jobs," he says. "We're looking at making a million units. That's 22,000 a week, with 16 parts [each]. Turn some machines on, and put some people back to work. I'm excited about that."

Bruce Burgess won a portion of the prize money in April for his invention, Mull-It-Over, a mullion wall cap that would soundproof glass buildings. Burgess came up with the idea from his years in construction -- he was involved in the building of River house Condominiums as well as the Helen DeVos Children's Hospital.

"The big thing I received [from 5x5 Night] is credibility, and with that credibility came confidence," Burgess says. "I think I would have maybe run out of energy if I didn't gain all of that in participating in 5x5. It's a big undertaking to try to create a product to take to market."

As investors come forward and testing in Texas and Michigan on glass structures turns to requiring a product that stops sound, Burgess' product is steadily coming to fruition as well as becoming a necessity.

And finally, there was Jon Bell, whose idea for 599 Club is both clever and practical. 599 Club connects creative freelancers with clients, with a price point of $599 -- a number chosen due to $600 being the magic number where a freelancer must report the job on their tax forms. Why 599?, Bell had joked during his June presentation. Because then there's no need for a 1099.

"I've taken the funds to hire some professionals to help me with the architecture and evolve [the idea]," Bell says. "I'm about two weeks away from having the wire frame business plan ready… I've realized there's something here, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to spend the time with it."

DeVos mentions visibility and flow being the two essential components of 5x5 Night. The visibility of the idea, and the support to "get that flow happening." With both ArtPrize and 5x5 Night, DeVos talks about how providing a platform for a conversation and the attention given to new ideas -- something both events foster -- can create a more interesting place. In the second season of 5x5, which begins Oct. 25, there will be an undisclosed evolution that continues the experiment revealed at the event. The deadline to submit ideas for this new edition of 5x5 Night is Tuesday, Oct. 18 by Noon. Visit 5x5night.com to submit and for more information.


J. Bennett Rylah is the Managing Editor of Rapid Growth Media.
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