• A Great Place to Start...
  • Knowledge & Networking
  • Ideas into Inventions
  • Connecting Creativity Since 2004

Have an invention idea but need help? Join us for monthly meet-ups & special events to get the help you need.

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About ICKC

The Inventors Center of Kansas City (ICKC) is a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to providing inventors and product developers networks, resources & tools to develop ideas into viable products. We help first-time inventors bring their ideas to fruition, serving as a source of education and a guide to entrepreneurial success. We provide a learning forum for inventor/entrepreneurs and those in allied fields. We help guide inventors through the idea development process from validation, evaluation, competitive analysis, business planning, funding, prototyping, patenting, marketing, distribution and licensing.

We believe some of our country’s most valuable resources are:

  • new inventions,
  • new technology
  • the unique individuals that create them.

ICKC currently meeting on zoom until we are able to meet in person.  Our meet-ups are held the third Tuesday of each month with attendance of 60 to 80 people and boasts a large member-base throughout the region.

Road Map to Invention!

Download our “Concept to Commercialization” flow chart and identify where you are and where to go.
ICKC idea concept

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Events

Inventors Showcase – April 15, 2025
Featuring Special Guest Speaker: Dana Knowles

Get ready for an exciting evening!

We’re thrilled to welcome Special Guest Speaker Dana Knowles, a nationally recognized inventor and licensing expert. Dana successfully licensed her invention, the Hanging Shower Caddy, to Grand Fusion Housewares and has been featured on QVC Sprouts, Inventors Digest, and other prominent platforms. As the Director of Inventor Relations at inventRight, she brings deep industry experience and insider knowledge. In this session, Dana will share what works—and what doesn’t—when it comes to getting your product licensed.​

Topic:
What to Say and Do (and What NOT to) When Pursuing a Licensing Deal

Whether you’re just getting started or already pitching, this session will give you the edge.

The Board of Directors would like to thank all our donating members for making events like this possible. Your support helps us continue to bring expert speakers and real value to our inventor community.

6:30–8:00 PM — Inventors Showcase
📅 Date: April 15, 2025
📍 Location: Zoom Meeting

ICKC – Dana Knowles

Via Zoom : https://zoom.us/j/997705742

 

2023 Meetings You May Have Missed

March 21st, Inventors Showcase Featuring Don Skaggs

Join us as we welcome Don Skaggs; Inventor, Entrepreneur and Author, Don started his first business in 1991 and has since become a consultant for a wide range of businesses. Don is known for assisting inventors, entrepreneurs and business owners through Inventors Network of Kentucky, Empowered Inventing Academy Consulting and Coaching, as well as the Empowered Inventing TV YouTube Channel.

Via Zoom and In Person at Westport Flea Market, 817 Westport Rd, KCMO

February 21st, Showcase All About Injection Molding! Featuring Tony Machado

In 1990, Tony Machado began his journey learning the machinist trade. Soon he moved to a tool and die shop that specialized in manufacturing injection molds for the automotive industry. By 2005 he had worked his way up in the ranks taking over as General Manager. Just four years later Tony decided to strike out on his own and founded Mid Missouri Tool & Die. Mid Missouri Tool & Die, or MMTD for short, works with a variety of customers molding everything from automotive parts to consumer good. Tony has worked with inventors through the Make48 competitions and is experienced with taking ideas from concept to production.

Via Zoom and In Person at Westport Flea Market, 817 Westport Rd, KCMO

5:30-6:30 Meet and Greet

6:30pm – 8:00pm Inventor’s Showcase

Zoom Link https://zoom.us/j/997705742

January 17th, 2023 Inventors Showcase Featuring Tamara Ghandour.

Happy New Year! Please joins us while we host Tamara Ghandour! Tamara is a human centric innovator, whose innovations include ‘The Innovation Quotient Edge (IQE) which has made innovation a tangible and accessible goal for everyone! An accomplished author, business owner, creator and innovator her numerous breakthroughs have been acknowledged by companies like Procter & Gamble, US Army, and Disney! Come be inspired and share your own dreams with us!

The Board of Directors would like to take a moment to thank all of our donating members for helping to keep the Inventors Center of Kansas City going. During 2022 we launched “Fast Track Your Invention”, to provide more personalized coaching to our  membership.

Now as we begin 2023 we promise to continue to provide great speakers and support to our members.

5:30-6:30 Meet and Greet

6:30pm – 8:00pm Inventor’s Showcase

Zoom Link https://zoom.us/j/997705742

There are no upcoming events at this time.

Past Speakers

2019

2019 Speakers

January

Thomas Randy Pierce – Topic- Finding a reputable designer and consultant for your product

Audience – tell about their products, where they are in the process and who they’ve used to move their products forward
For more Entrepreneur activities/meetings visit https://www.kcsourcelink.com/calendar

February – Meeting cancelled due to snow storm

March

Colin Elwell (Lawrence) – Developed a utility-patent-pending topper with a proprietary connector to the keg. His topper sells retail or in liquor stores. www.draftpak.com

Joe Crane joe@smartideasonline.com – Joe markets his products to solely on Amazon, no website. Expertise ranges from the inventors perspective of coming up with an idea, sourcing from China and making large order deliveries to place on Amazon.
For more Entrepreneur activities/meetings visit https://www.kcsourcelink.com/calendar

April

Larry Muck – www.NearZeroLLC.com Years of experience in helping inventors transform their ideas into products and production with optimum efficiency working to keep all sources for products within the United States.

Mary Moeller – www.campgroundcommander.com Topic: Creating and vetting ideas and products before successfully bringing them to market.
For more Entrepreneur activities/meetings visit https://www.kcsourcelink.com/calendar

May

The Shark Off – www.thesharkoff.com Shark repellent surfer jewelry

Groove Washer www.grovewasher.com Steve Chase a talks about the Groove Washer now in the markets all over.
For more Entrepreneur activities/meetings visit https://www.kcsourcelink.com/calendar

June

Peak Energy Technology – www.peakenergytech.com Product to recycle electricity saving up to 25% on electricity bill
For more Entrepreneur activities/meetings visit https://www.kcsourcelink.com/calendar

July

Modus Light – www.moduslight.com Manufacturing and sourcing company working with smaller companies, start ups and larger companies and have 15 core manufacturing plants

John Meyer – product liability; upc codes; packaging for Shipping
For more Entrepreneur activities/meetings visit https://www.kcsourcelink.com/calendar

Submit your #GEWKC idea for a workshop, panel, presentation etc., by August 18. https://www.kcsourcelink.com

August

Midwest Regional US Patent & Trademark Representative
For more Entrepreneur activities/meetings visit https://www.kcsourcelink.com/calendar

September

Sally Williams Technology Development and Commercialization Consultant MO SBDC – Topic: Market Analysis – Product value Proposition & Product Differentiation Analysis https://info.umkc.edu/sbtdc | williamssall@umkc.edu

Jack Harwell – Business Advisor SBDC Kansas – Topic – Business Production Strategy Analysis – Financial Analysis, Make or license analysis & SBIR application assistance jharwel1@jccc.edu | 913-469-2464

October

November – Global Entrepreneurship Week!

Panel Discussion of Specialists
For more Entrepreneur activities/meetings visit https://www.kcsourcelink.com/calendar

2020

2020 Speakers

January

February

Allen Little
His website https://www.rethinkbig.org/
Topic: – “How To Quash your Fears and Motivate Yourself with Your Inner Voice”
He will discuss overcoming your fear of success and fear failure so you can motivate yourself to achieve your goals by using your inner voice to get into action. Also discuss the value of having a planned elevator pitch ready.

Kathy and Susan
Topic: Show and discuss the challenges of getting their product to market.

Members Inventor presentation of several items they have on the market, what they did wrong and then right.

March

April

Benjamin Harrison featured Entrepreneur and Inc. magazines
Topic: Learn how to get your ideas into companies without making dreaded cold calls.

ICKC Lightbulb Moment: A short video on Searching your new idea using Boolean

Randy Pierce, Inventor, shows and discusses his latest invention and its challenges getting it developed and to market.

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

2021

January

February

Ryford Estores was working as a registered nurse in NYC and not liking it, He started cutting his own hair, and then friends hair till he hit upon an idea. So far 15 million in retail sales. Hear his story of the plan he set up to achieve his goals. It’s inspirational

March

Warren Tuttle; Over 1000 products licensed, several billion in retail sales! A Special Motivational Video – “30 Million Dollar Sales Inventor Shares Her Insights to Success”

April

Dana Knowles has an engaging presentation, sharing her story of the diligent inventor. You will be inspired by her perseverance and determination!

May

Carmine Denisco is a successful Entrepreneur, Inventor, Author, Podcaster, Investor, Patent and Trademark Holder. He has designed, developed and manufactured many products sold in retail stores, TV shopping channels, online and infomercials some have gone on to be licensed by major chain stores. Denisco is dedicated to helping inventors correctly navigate the invention and manufacturing process, giving each inventor their best shot at success.

June

Carlos Alvarez is going to talk to us about getting your product ready for Amazon, getting it on Amazon, and then promoting it on Amazon. Carlos is a current top 1% Amazon Seller (2020 Gross Sales of 169 Million).

July

Patent Attorney Julie Scott described where and how patents are vital, and when patents might not be your best option. She laid out all the steps to get a patent and how to defend a patent that gets infringed upon

August

Fast Track Your Invention Multi Speaker Platform Showcase

September

Author, Coach, Mentor Dennis Hodges facilitated our meeting, helping us to refine an Inventors Cards game/tool to be both fun and thought-provoking.  Dennis believes that we’re all creative and have simply forgotten. Serving as a creative catalyst (or creatalyst), Dennis shares strategies for reclaiming our innate gifts and turning ideas into action. He is the Managing Director of Creatalyst, a global strategy boutique that teaches how to unlock creativity and drive innovation in organizations and individual lives. Dennis has led strategic marketing and customer experience initiatives for many companies in Europe and the US over the past 30 years. He is also a fine art photographer. In his talks and workshops, he mixes strategy, photography and creative thinking to challenge the audience’s perspective and ignite their personal creativity.

October

November

December

2022

January

Tina Foy, inventor of the Sword of Joy

February

Lesia Farmer, Head of Inventor Relations within the Digital Law Group, As well as multiple patent holder to include the Trap Door Colander by modern chaos designs.

March

Marcy McKenna will be our featured speaker, sharing with us her 5 Step Product Validation Formula. Marcy is an acclaimed inventor and product designer. She has been featured on numerous TV, radio, and podcast programs. As inventors, we have lots of ideas. Quickly filtering them and being able to focus our efforts on those that are market-worthy is a skill that is critical for inventing success. Don’t miss hearing her insights and formula!

April

Stephen Key is the acclaimed author of “Invent Right”, and founder of a product licensing business by the same name. He has helped countless inventors to quickly, efficiently and profitably license their ideas to others. We’ve featured Stephen in past years, and his counsel remains some of the most memorable and popular content that we are blessed to share.

May

Deepak Dashairya, Regional Outreach Officer for the US Patent & Trademark Office will show us some new tools for searching the USPTO database. Searching the USPTO is a necessary part of the invention process – for ensuring that your invention is patentable, and for ensuring that your idea does not violate the patent rights of others.

June

July

August

September

October

Rita Crompton The Inventor Lady! Founder of FleCusa International speaks about her experiences and her workings on ‘Trade Shows from Both Sides of the Isle’ and ‘Inventors Roundtable’.

November

2022 Kansas City Global Entrepreneurship Week

December

Become a Member

Join the ICKC community today! Membership is only $30 ($55 value) for the full 2021 calendar year. In addition to enjoying free admission to regular Monthly Meet-Ups, you also benefit from Member Only discounts to Special Engagements. Your donation and participation help to make ICKC one of the premier groups in the country. Starting in 2021 your Membership now will entitle Members to access to club videos shown at the meetings and some of the guest speaker's presentations. Another benefit is Members may list products on the market on our website with links to their own websites. Also your membership is 100% tax deductible and there are Mentor Levels of joining ICKC that enjoy additional benefits.

$30per year

Member

  • Free admission to regular Monthly Meet-Ups
  • Discounts to Special Engagements
    • Signup Now

Become a Mentor

$50per year

Bronze

  • Name Listed on Website
  • Name Listed on Welcome Sign
    • Signup Now

$100per year

Silver

  • NAME LISTED ON WEBSITE
  • NAME LISTED ON WELCOME SIGN
  • NAME LISTED AT THE REGISTRATION TABLE
    • Signup Now

$250per year

Gold

  • NAME LISTED ON WEBSITE
  • NAME LISTED ON WELCOME SIGN
  • NAME LISTED AT REGISTRATION TABLE
  • MAY INVITE 1 GUEST PER MEETING
    • Signup Now

$500per year

Diamond

  • NAME LISTED ON WEBSITE
  • NAME LISTED ON WELCOME SIGN
  • NAME LISTED AT REGISTRATION TABLE
  • MAY INVITE 2 GUEST PER MEETING
  • RECEIVES 2 MEMBERSHIP CARDS
    • Signup Now

Current Mentors

Bronze Mentors

Christian Corley
Marc Price
Chris Shankland
Jodi Sifers
Paul Steinke
Eric Strautman
Claudia Toomin

Silver Mentors

Woodrow Boles
Keith Bowman
Wilbur Caldwell
Don Dickey
Brian Hagger
Rev Billy Hupp
Billy Hupp SR
Maynard Nelson
John Meyer
Mark Ross
John Seise
Robin Westlin

Gold Mentors

Sarah Balhuizen
Chuck Dolbeare
Steve Pope

Diamond Mentors

Rich Brull
Bob Coulston
Randy Pierce

Be Our Speaker

Be Our Speaker

Do you have an invention that needs resources or review?

Do you have an invention that is already becoming a success?

Do you have experiences and insights that can help and inspire others?

Have an Invention? Present at Our Inventor Meet-Ups!

You can present your story, perspectives and products at one of our upcoming meetings or events. Help to educate, motivate and inform our audience, in KC and abroad.

Each monthly meet-up showcases 2 speakers, one inventor and a headline keynote.

Our Inventor presenters are pursuing their invention ideas and providing something fresh for the consumer market. By presenting your idea, you create awareness, discover resources and collect valuable feedback from potential customers and qualified providers.

Our keynotes dive into more detail and discussion on their pursuits, revealing honest observations beneficial to every-stage product creators and entrepreneurs.

To apply to present at an upcoming meet-up or event, please contact us.

Each speaker will be allowed up to 15 minutes for presentation and 10 minutes for audience Q & A.
Inventions must be protected (patent, patent pending or provisional) and will be featured in our newsletter the following month.

Contact Us

Inventors Center of Kansas City
PO Box 410343
Kansas City, MO, 64141

ickc@inventorscenterofkansascity.org

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    Our Board

    ICKC Board and Committee Members

    Our board of directors and committee chairs are comprised of a talented and knowledgeable cross section of inventors, entrepreneurs and service providers. Through their volunteer efforts, these individuals will be listening, planning and leading the continued goal to provide inventors and Kansas City with one of the best inventor groups and resources in the Country. In fact, in 2018, the Inventors Center of Kansas City was given the prestigious award of “Premier Inventors Organization in the US”.

    ICKC Board meetings are the first Tuesday of each month and are by invitation only. If you are interested in being a part of ICKC leadership, to help with a committee or to be a part of the advisory board, please contact us and let us know how you’d like to serve. Our board is self-electing each November and all positions are volunteer 2-year terms.

    Board of Directors Positions

    President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Member Retention, Social Media and Web Production.

    Committees

    Maker Faire, Secure Monthly Speakers, Email Notifications, Special Events, Sponsorship, General Meeting Help

    Presidents Emeritus

    CJ Boylan – Founder | Steve Pope | Carrie Jeske | Curt McMillan | Christian Corley | Mary Moeller | John Meyer

    Current Board

    President – John Meyer

    Vice President – John “Johnny Avocado” Mester

    Secretary – Jodi Sifers

    Treasurer – Don Dickey

    Website Coordinator – Brian Long

    Social Media – Eric Strautman

    Membership Education and Retention – Kenya Mester

    Board Member – Jordon Root

    Board Member – Chris Shankland

    Premiere Meet-Up Sponsor: KC PROTO

    KC Proto helps startups, small businesses and agencies create physical products.

    LEARN MORE ABOUT KC PROTO

    Inventors Center of Kansas City
    PO Box 410343
    Kansas City, MO, 64141

    Road Map to Invention!

    Download our “Concept to Commercialization” flow chart and identify where you are and where to go.

    Click Here to Download Invention Flow Chart