It’s Thanksgiving week, so naturally I’m taking stock of the good people and things in my life for which I am very grateful. This of course includes so many aspects of Fuentek and the work we do as a virtual company as well as my life outside of work. Below are just a few of the (mostly work) things I give thanks for this holiday.

Last week I gave a presentation at a tech transfer workshop for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). This workshop was well timed, given President Obama’s recent memorandum announcing a new directive requiring all federal research labs to bolster and streamline technology transfer efforts to increase the likelihood and efficiency of getting research results to market. Attendees at the DoD meeting discussed the memo as well as possible solutions, as each agency has been tasked with presenting a plan back to the President on how they will achieve his goals. Possible solutions have been at the top of my mind recently as well….

I am proud of how Fuentek has offered knowledge leadership and training for tech transfer professionals across the U.S. through our white papers, webinars, and other educational services. Now, we’ve linked up with a company in Spain to expand that knowledge transfer to European organizations looking to increase the return on investment for research and development through tech transfer. Specifically, we’ve recently partnered with Knowledge Investors of Vigo, Spain, a company that collaborates with universities, companies, and investors to generate and develop business opportunities within the fields of science and technology. If you don’t speak Spanish, click the inglés link in the upper-right corner of their site….

At Fuentek, we’re constantly monitoring industry literature and the blogosphere for the latest news, information, and trends. Several items have come up recently that I think should be required reading for tech transfer pros.

We’re seeing some interesting results for our poll regarding how frequently tech transfer offices (TTOs) attend industry conferences and events to market their technologies or partnership opportunities. As you can see in the chart, nearly three-quarters of all respondents use trade shows minimally or not at all. These responses are not surprising. Attending industry conferences and trade shows is an expensive way to do tech transfer marketing, regardless of whether you have a booth in the exhibit hall. Even if they are local events,…

This afternoon at 2pm Eastern, TrendPOV will be airing an interview I recently did with Dr. Amy Vanderbilt. Some of you might remember that TrendPOV gave Fuentek a Spotlight Award a year and a half ago. (It’s amazing what a little NPR coverage will generate!) As part of the spotlight interview, Amy and I talked about how Fuentek is structured as a virtual business. TrendPOV is revisiting some of their previous award winners, so Amy and I talked again. Some of the topics we covered in this new interview were:…

If you read the Fuentek blog regularly, you’re probably familiar with the technology screening webinar we launched earlier this year. Well, today we announced a new webinar that provides training on what comes next for technologies that show potential for commercialization success. The “Stop Reacting, Start Proacting: Planning for Strategic Technology Marketing” webinar helps you not only be more proactive and efficient in selecting the technologies you market but also develop the right marketing plan for each one. Planning for technology marketing is important. Once you’ve figured out whether an innovation has what it takes to make further investment in commercializing it worthwhile, then you need to…

When you conduct online market research for technology screenings or market-based technology assessments, keywords are critical to finding relevant information about the technology’s potential markets, competitors, and licensees. Fuentek has developed a free webcast to help you understand some of our keywords best practices—tips that you can use to improve your online market research.

Yesterday I went to Washington with about two dozen other North Carolina small businesses to meet with several of our country’s legislative and executive leaders. It was a great opportunity—one that I hope will eventually lead to genuine action that supports the transition of innovations developed with federal funding into commercial applications. And I have a few ideas about how to do that.

We have found that industry conferences and trade shows can be a great way to connect with potential partners and licensees. Not only are they a captive audience, but often they’ve chosen to come to the event because they are interested in talking about collaboration. Having a booth or other display is one way to create opportunities for those conversations. If you choose to go that route, then the type of display or booth you bring should match your goals and the type of event. For example,…