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YOUNG INVENTORS ASSOCIATION:
Building A World Class Program
SUMMARY REPORT
Delivered to the
GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP SUMMIT ON LEARNING, EMPLOYABILITY, and
CITIZENSHIP
November 2002
Greg J. Micek, J.D.
Betty Karlson
Young Inventors Association

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YOUNG INVENTORS ASSOCIATION of AMERICA --
BUILDING A WORLD CLASS PROGRAM
Table of Contents
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
2. HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF YOUNG INVENTORS ASSOCIATION of AMERICA
and its parent HOUSTON INVENTORS ASSOCIATION
Houston Inventors Association(1983 - 2002)
● Historical Overview
● Organizational Definition & Structure
Young Inventors Association(Showcase) (1988 - 2002)
● Historical Overview
● Organizational Performance
3. OPPORTUNITIES
● Characteristics of a SuccessfulOrganization Model
● Challenges Faced by the YIAA Program
● Partnership Opportunities
● YIAA Organizational Composition& Structural Recommendations
● YIAA Relationship with Volunteers
● Budgeting Process
● Fundraising Activities
● Summary and Conclusions

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1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
● The concept for an inventors' association in Houston began at a special
conference sponsored by the US Patent Office and the University of Houston.
Held at the university in November 1983, it was attended by more than four
hundred people. It was there that Houston businessman and attorney Greg
Micek was given a mandate to go forward to establish an inventors group.
During the next two years, Mr. Micek helped maintain a productive relationship
with the patent office and the university, and volunteered the use of his offices
for dozens of monthly meetings for local inventors. Today, the Houston
Inventors Association (HIA) is a Texas non-profit corporation. From the
beginning, founders acknowledged the need for high quality educational
information for members and the public at large, as well as a priority for outreach
to children. HIA's mission is to provide education, technical assistance, and
supportto creative thinkers in the greater Houston area and across the nation.
● The early Young Inventors Club programs, set up as a subordinate project
reporting to the HIA Board and operated under its 501 (c) (3) sanction, have
grown into an independent organization - the Young Inventors Association of
America (YIAA). With 15 years of success in three elementary school districts in
Texas, the impact of an expanding regional program is significant. When
integrated into the curriculum for one grade level, over 32 children in 100
classes can participate, totaling 3,200 children. The program has been pivotal
for average and "C" students who may not excel in a structured academic
environments yet are gifted at creativity and invention. Often the program is the
only avenue of "success" for at-risk children. Participants typically experience
significant improvements in self-esteem.
● The Young Inventors program is designed as a multi-week program conducted
at schools during after school time for one day per week, or it may be
incorporated into the formal curriculum. Using a written guide designed
especially to facilitate the program, a teacher coordinates the invention process
activities and is assisted by volunteers. Students research, design, and build an
invention or product which they enter for judging in their school's "invention
convention."

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The positive financial, social, and community-wide impacts of a creative, vibrant
Young Inventors Association are substantial. The YIAA organization can take
advantage of its "Growth" level for many years. Such a structure will allow the
YIAA to build positive support, accumulate human and financial resources, and
implement a successful fundraising development program to capture substantial
existing funds targeted toward helping children via education and science. In
addition, parents of young inventors provide a well-motivated and enthusiastic pool
of potential volunteers who can contribute substantial growth, energy, money, and
manpower to the organization. Outstanding opportunities for community
development and positive public relations effects are possible to accrue quickly, not
just for one year but over the anticipated long and expansive life of the youth
association, improving the lives and self-esteem of thousands of creative young
people.

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2. HISTORICAL OVERVIEW -
YOUNG INVENTORS ASSOCIATION of AMERICA (YIAA)
and its parent organization
HOUSTON INVENTORS ASSOCIATION (HIA)
Historical Overview - Houston Inventors Association(1983-2002)
● From a single conference in November1983 at the University of Houston, local
interest and supportfor the invention process has expanded into an established
non-profit organization and regular public monthly meetings. The conceptfor a
Houston inventors' association began with support from the university and the
US Patent Office and continued with the mentoring of Greg Micek, a Houston
businessmanand attorney.
● From the beginning, founders acknowledged the need for high quality
educational information for members and the public at large, as well as a priority
for high ethical standards of conductand outreach to children.
● Mr. Micek served as first presidentof the association until 1988. His vision
included four founding principles: 1) the association exists for the benefitof its
members,2) it will remain a volunteer organization, 3) it will maintain "purity of
interest" - that is, the association functions as a non-profit organization with no
financial gain for individual members or the organization as a whole, and 4) the
organization's focus and format are concerned with the needs and issues of its
members as a group, never as individual inventors.
Organization Definition and Structure
● The Houston Inventors Association(HIA) was incorporated as a non-profit
organization in Houston, Texas in March 1986. Its articles were amended in
1989 to clarify its purpose as educational, and to specifyits intention to comply
with IRS guidelines for non-profits in Section 501 (c) (3) of its code. The
founding directors of the organization included Greg J. Micek, Jim Harness,
James L. Head, Ms. Tina Hinds, and Kenneth A. Roddy,all of Houston, Texas.
● HIA's mission is to provide education, technical assistance,and supportto
creative thinkers in the greater Houston area and across the nation.

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● The organizing purpose stated in the HIA bylaws is to support the Association's
missionthrough:
1. Fostering and promoting the invention professionwith the highest
standards of professionalism,
2. Establishing mutually beneficialrelationships among those involved with
the invention process,
3. Providing a forum for membereducationand assistance,
4. Participating in the economic developmentof the Houston business
community, and
5. Assisting members,employers,and employees indeveloping beneficial
invention policies.
● Membership is by application and approval upon payment of an annual fee. This
fee has increased over the last ten years from $25 initially to a current annual fee
of $45. Since 1995,the fee has been prorated on a monthly basis. Annual
membership as tracked by the organization follows a distinct seasonality.
Cumulative paid membership is typically lowest in January and increases
throughout the year to a Decemberpeak.
● Membership in the Associationcan be effectedforthree categories: Individual,
Proprietorship,or Corporation. All categories share the same dues amount. No
categories are defined forHonorary (special recognees)or Spouses/Families.
● Membership geographytypically includes the five-county Houston metropolitan
area, but may also include participants from Clear Lake, the NASA area, The
Woodlands,and sometimes Austinand Dallas.
● General membership meetings are held on the fourth Wednesdayof each month
currently at the Bayland Community Center in southwest Houston. There is no
charge for members,and a nominal fee for guests. Light buffetrefreshments
are available at cost. The meeting includes HIA announce- ments, light
business,"show and tell" for a particular invention, and a keynote speakerwho
presents a topic program for the evening. Attendance has reached 200
attendees depending on the program topic.
● Private "review" meetings are held on the third Wednesday. These closed-door
sessions allow serious inventors the opportunity to have their inventions seen
and evaluated by experienced peers,without risk of public exposure. Attendees
are required to sign non-disclosure agreements.

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● Workshop meetings are held on the second Wednesdayat the Bayland location.
These are intended to be educational in nature and focus on a specific partof
the invention process. By attending these sessions overa period of
approximately two years, one can learn the details of the entire inventing
process necessaryto take a new idea successfully from conceptto market.
● In December1999,the HIA joined a nationwide organization of inventor groups,
the United Inventors Associationof the USA. This organization assists with
public relations and promotional activities, helps identify and educate the public
about unscrupulous businesses and firms, and provides various avenues and
opportunities for government affairs interaction, especially with the U.S. Patent
Office.The national Associationis affiliated with Inventors Digest magazine.
● As part of its community outreach program, HIA has provided speakers and
programs for the Scouting "Blue and Gold" banquets.
● HIA implemented its web-site www.inventors.org in 1999. By the end of that
year, site "hits" averaged 60 - 70 per day. The site has attracted approximately
35,600 hits during the 28-month period since then, including the first four months
of 2002. Annual hits have averaged 14,228 per year, with hits per month of
1,270 and daily hits averaging around 40. Web-site contentincludes basic
organizational information, meeting schedules,and connections to other sites of
general interest to inventors.

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1. HISTORICALOVERVIEW - YIAA and HIA (continued)
Historical Overview - Young Inventors Association(Showcase) (1988 - 2002)
● Annual young inventors' competitions have beenheld in Texas since 1988. The
young inventors' program began with a conceptfor after schoolscience
activities. It included a young inventors competitionin the Houston Independent
SchoolDistrict City Science Contest.
● The early program began with enthusiasm in the Alvin ISD,and was included in
the curriculum. Donna Stavinoha of Walt Disney Elementary Schoolprepared
10 lessonplans, which became the basis for a teacher/student guidebook. Jean
Barrow, also of Alvin ISD, played a major role in the early program's successful
implementation.
● In 1990,Ms. Iris Story, a science PTA coordinatorfor the Spring Branch
IndependentSchoolDistrict, saw a newspaperarticle on the Young Inventors
Showcase and took the initiative to becomeinvolved with the program. She
followed up with Gene Horstketter of the HIA and helped "sell" the program to
the Spring Branch ISD district science supervisor.
● In 1995,"Butch" Graham served as the deputy director of the HIA School
Outreach Program. He spoke at the Brookside Intermediate School's science
club and encouraged the club to hold its first invention convention.
● By 1999,the program was underway at ten schools and involved over 500
young inventors from fourth through eighth grades.
● The most recent regional Young Inventors Showcase competitionheld in April
2002 was the 15th yearly event.
● The Young Inventors Club programs have been set up as a subordinate project
reporting to the HIA Board, and operated under its 501 (c) (3) sanction. The
Young Inventors programs have been administered as an activity of an HIA
working committee,the School Outreach Committee.
● The Young Inventors "Convention" program is designed as a multi-week
program conducted at schools during after schooltime for one day per week, or
it may be incorporated into the formal curriculum. Using a written guide
designed especiallyto facilitate the program, a teacher coordinates the invention

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process activities and is assisted by volunteers. Students research, design,and
build an invention or product which they enter for judging in their school's
"invention convention."
● The highest level performers in individual schoolor district "invention
conventions" are chosento participate in the regional "showcase."
● Currently, the regional Young Inventors "Showcase" is a competitionopento
schoolchildrenin grades K through 8. First, second,and third prizes are
awarded for every grade level. Two patent applications are awarded as grand
prizes to those students with the most "patent-able" invention or idea.
● In 1999,the HIA board elected Iris Story as chair for the Regional Young
Inventors Club programs. She functions in a part-time executive directorrole.
Her responsibilities include promoting the programs to area schools and
teachers, preparation and distribution of the teachers' guide books,mass mailing
of program literature to schools,assisting with "invention convention" site
judging and coordination, and directing the annual Regional Young Inventors'
Showcase.
Organizational Performance
● The YIAA program has been especiallyappealing for average and "C" students
who may not appear to excel in a structured academic environment yet who may
be gifted at creativity and invention. Program concepts include brainstorming,
problem identification, and problem solving. Organizational and presentational
skills are also developed. The children learn to use a methodical approach to
projectdevelopment,and how to turn negatives into positives.
● Significantly improved self-esteem is a major benefit for many of the children
who participate in the program. Often the programs are the only avenues of
"success" forat-risk children.
● The program has been taught in many differentsettings including school
classrooms,Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts,gifted and talented programs,after-school
programs,schoolday units, young inventors clubs, science clubs,"Odysseyof
the Mind" teams, and in self-directed programs.
● The program has been most successfully implemented in grades 3 through 5. It
seems particularly appealing to elementary aged children and/or teachers.

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● The Young Inventors Showcase has received significant television and
newspaper coverage in several prior years. Houston TV hostess Debra Duncan
interviewed Showcase winners who were awarded patent applications. A
feature story "Those Amazing Kids" was filmed. The media has expressed
renewed interest in airing a new show about the kids.
● The potential impact of the program is significant. If implemented as an after-
schoolprogram in 20 out of 50 schools in the district, more than 400 children of
elementary schoolage could participate. If it were integrated into the curriculum
for one grade level, then over 32 kids in 100 classes would participate, a total of
3,200.
● The Spring Branch Council of PTA's has been very supportive. Their newsletter
is a significant promotional tool for the program, and has helped the program
succeed and expand in the SBISD.
● Brookside Intermediate Schooloffersthe program through its after school
science club and over 90 students participate.
● Katy ISD has offered the program as part of its gifted and talented activities.
● The 2002 YIAA Showcase had about 80 kids. Previous years' attendance has
included as many as 125 young inventors.
● Budgeted expensesforthe Young Inventors Showcase totaled about $5,100 in
1999. Much of this amount was funded by a donor grant and in-kind vendor
donations. Expenses forthe 2002 Showcase appears to be about $4,125,but
could reach as much as $6,450 in the next few years.
● Corporate donors for the 2002 YIAA Showcase include: Albertson's,CamLyn
Entertainment, Camp Invention, Churches Fried Chicken, CiCi's Pizza, Coca-
Cola, HEB, Hollywood Video,Kroger,Lundeen and Arismendi,LLP,
McDonald's,Randalls, US Patent and Trade Office,WashingtonMutual,
Whataburger, Inc. Corporate sponsorship included in-kind support, products,
and product discounts/coupons.
● Other donors for the 2002 YIAA Showcase include: Andy Arismendi,
Experimental Aircraft AssociationChapter 712,Greg Micek, and Spring Woods
High SchoolOdysseyof the Mind Team.

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3. OPPORTUNITIES
Characteristics of a SuccessfulOrganization Model
● Organizations are living, breathing entities that must be program driven and
constantly connected to their communities to survive.
● A strong passionfor the vision of the organization provides the energy to
accomplishits mission year after year.
● A complete organization is composed ofits programs,its board of directors,its
management, its administrative and supportsystems,and its financial
resources. As priorities and resources within an organization shift, its systems
change. Each of these systems may function and expand at differentrates as
the organization matures.
● The vibrancy of the organization at any point in its life cycle is the reflectionof
the maturity, efficiency,and smoothinteraction of its systems.
● Organizations may be successfulat any point on the life cycle chart as long as
they match their resources and the skills of their board members,staff,
volunteers, and members to the organization's changing needs.
● A successfulorganization is governed so that the maturity of each of its systems
is matched as consistently as possible.
Challenges Faced by the YIAA Program
Program Participation
1. Convincing principals to approve the use of schoolfacilities for after-
schoolprograms
2. Convincing principals and science coordinators to include the program
in the curriculum
3. Expanding the interest and involvement of teachers
4. Expanding the interest and involvement of student participants
Public Relations and Community
5. Increasing broad public awareness of the program's successes,
including building a national presence

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6. Increasing parent interest in the program to initiate action within the
schools,increase the volunteer pool,and expand community interest
7. Partnering/coordinating with other school/educationalprograms, such
as "Communities in Schools" CIS programs that provide funded after-
schooltutoring and programs for at-risk children across grade levels
Staffing/Volunteers
8. Establishing a separate specific structure to support the YIAA mission
9. Recruiting and training volunteer facilitators (usually parents)
10. Securing a more sustainable pace of program implementation to avoid
staff burnout
Financial Resources
11. Increasing teacher funding incentives (currently $150)
12. Increasing cultivation of corporate, foundation, and individual sponsors
supportof YIAA programs and Showcase events
Partnership Opportunities
● Publish and distribute annually directories of MemberCreative/Professional
Activities/Skills
● Join and becomean active memberof the "Community of Science," a worldwide
web community of nearly half a million research and developmentprofessionals.
They provide access to significant grant information, research, patents, and
worldwide business opportunities. Their web-site is www.cos.com.
● Participate in industry exhibitions, sponsorships
● Promote inventiveness/young inventors to business organizations and the
community
● Restructure and redesignsome of YIAA's programs,projects,and services to be
revenue based. Examples of fee-basedprograms and services could include:
● YIAA Inventors Conference
● YIAA "First Course in Inventing"
● YIAA Survey Course
● YIAA "Inventors CertificationProgram"
● YIAA Audio Conferences
● YIAA Invention Marketing "Institute"
● YIAA Position Papers
● YIAA ResearchPrograms
● YIAA Directory of School/Business Partners

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● YIAA Directory of Inventing Talent
● YIAA Inventors Job Bank, with YIAA News and Professional
Postings
● YIAA "Inventors Day"
● YIAA "Inventors Bill of Rights"
● Identifyappropriate fundraising venues and assignments for volunteers and for
the YIAA Board, after reviewing budgetneeds and market research. Require a
basic level of training in fundraising techniques and the cultivation process forall
volunteers at all levels, including board members.
● All social and appreciation events and fundraisers aimed toward individual
appeals should be assigned to the volunteer group to administer via committees,
as are all individual "membership" solicitations.
● Typically, the volunteer support group will solicit individuals for memberships,
man-hours, and social participation at all types of events, socials, "thank you"
donor parties, inventor parties, retail sales, retail shops,book sales, etc.
● All foundation and corporate grant solicitations should be assigned to the YIAA
Board. Significant "homework" and documentationpreparation must be done
before the YIAA organization can begin grant solicitations. For a wide variety of
corporate grants available, stewardship documentation must be detailed to
insure monies are not used by or funneled to individuals.
● Typically, the YIAA Board (or its representative) will prepare and submit
foundation and corporate grant applications, and make public appeals for
endowments,planned giving, etc. In general, the YIAA Board will not solicit
individuals for memberships,man-hours, or social participation at events.
● Work from one central, shared, easily accessible database to void "donor double
dipping."
YIAA Organizational Composition& Structural Recommendations
1. Establish a nine-membersteering committee,with representatives from
each schoolthat has participated, certain key dignitaries from the
community/and or media, key parent volunteers, corporate executives,
affiliated organization executives/volunteers,etc. to becomethe backbone
of supportfor the new YIAA organization.
2. Have the steering committee develop a"charter" of beliefs and priorities
which emphasize dedication to "the mission," teamwork, respect,

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motivation, appreciation. Have it neatly printed, framed,displayed and
reviewed at all meetings.
3. Allow the steering committee to establish itself as the board of directors for
YIAA during a reasonable transition timeframe.
4. Establish and define job descriptions forall staff positions. The "executive
director" position should be the first staff positionto be implemented.
5. Plan and execute an "announcement" event, that includes recognitionand
appreciation for as many people and past achievements as possible,which
will not include solicitation for anything, and which will publicly acknowledge
past good works by all - a "We made it to the new millenium" celebration.
6. Sponsorand advertise an interesting contest to name the new organization,
and provide an unusual prize. Announce the winner at the "announcement"
event.
YIAA Relationship With Volunteers
7. Establish rapport with volunteers in all stations. With such transience in the
young inventors "memberbase," a significant portion of the volunteer base
may be easily lost, or feelunappreciated. This creates significant lost
revenue and resources forthe organization, and increases expenses for
advertising and marketing to overcome the impact in the community.
8. Identify/contact/invite participants, parents, and supporters to establish a
sense of "ownership" of the new YIAA organization.
9. Identify and list specificand reasonable areas of service for a volunteer
group. Develop volunteer requirements and "job descriptions" for:staffing
a retail sale shop, planning and implementing fundraiser events, maintaining
a central database, providing administrative assistance to the YIAA
Executive Director, planning and implementing appreciation events,
coordinating a "young inventors" alumni association, helping write and
publish a combined "invention convention" newsletter, etc.
10. Establish an ongoing volunteer appreciation processwhich identifies the
specificappreciationpreferred by each individual volunteer, and which
ensures that such appreciation is consistently and persistently delivered in a
timely and personal way.

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11. Acknowledge creativity and sincerely considervolunteer input and
suggestions. Maintain a balance of freedom,responsibility,and information
flow in all projectassignments.
12. Establish an on-going volunteer and sponsorship partnership with local
organizations such as bar associations,business service organizations,
other non-profits,and scientific interests.
Budgeting Process
1. Adopta two-year planning timeframe for an operating budget, and a five-
year timeframe for a fundraising plan.
2. Adoptreasonable growth objectives.
3. Ensure that governing rules define multiple membership types,including
individual, child, adult, family, sustaining, honorary and others with
appropriate dues structures.
4. Implementa fundraising plan comprisedof projects which conserve
manpower, have high revenue to cost ratios, and which have a high
likelihood of successfully reaching each year's contribution goal.
Fundraising Activities
5. Have a YIAA representative attend the National Science Foundation
Regional Grants Conference to be held in Charleston, S. C. October15-16
2002 or in Albuquerque, N. M. in Spring 2003,and pursue grants from that
agency.
6. YIAA should join the "Partners in Education" (PIE) organization as soon as
possible. Their phone is 703-836-4880. Their web-site is
www.partnersineducation.org.
For more than 30 years, Partners in Education has helped develop school
volunteerism, community service,and business partnerships across the US.
It is the only national membership organization devoted solely to the mission
of providing leadership in the formation and growth of effective partnerships
that ensure successforall students.

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7. Pursue the 2002 SBC National Telecommunications Partnership Awards.
Two grand prize winners will receive $10,000 grants. Application is
available at the PIE web-site.
8. Pursue the researchand preparation necessary to identify potential grants
from the numerous foundations and corporations which have given to youth
scientific educational endeavors.
Summary and Conclusions
The positive financial, social, and community-wide impacts of a healthy, thriving
Young Inventors Associationare substantial. The YIAA organization can take
advantage of its "Growth" maturity level for many years. Such a structure will allow
the YIAA to build a positive support structure, accumulate human and financial
resources,and implementa successfulfundraising developmentprogram to
capture the substantial funds targeted toward helping children via education and
science. In addition, parents of young inventors provide a well-motivated and
enthusiastic poolof potential volunteers who can contribute substantial growth,
energy, money, and manpower to the organization. Outstanding opportunities for
community developmentand positive public relations effectsare possibleto accrue
quickly, not just for one year but over the anticipated long and expansive life of the
youth association, improving the lives and self-esteem ofthousands of creative
young people.