Assignment 20A Growing Your Social Capital

Domain Expert

1. Donna is a custom product specialist at Up Country in Providence RI.
2. She is a Domain Expert, and she fills this slot by having numerous years of experience designing custom pet collars.
3. I found this person by doing an online search for pet collar manufacturers in the US. I found this company called Up Country and on their website they had information on who to contact with inquiries about custom pet collars. I emailed her at the email address given on Up Country's website.
4. I did receive an email back asking for more detail about my custom product. I sent her a Napkin Idea description about the Smart Collar but haven't heard back yet about it.
5. If I do get any feedback from Donna on my idea, I believe she could be a great first contact for future information when it comes to producing a Smart Collar.

Market Expert 

1. For this expert, I first contacted customer support at Coastal Pet Products Inc.
2. This contact will fill the Market Expert Slot. This company is a supplier of pet collars not only in the US but in other parts of the world as well. This company is targeting a market similar to mine by offering pet collars that are safe, functional, and stylish.
3. I found this company by doing an online search for pet products. On their website, there is a contact form to fill out with your information and what you would like to know. I filled the form out and requested information about pet collars that would be similar to the Smart Collar.
4. I received an email back that same day in which an invention form was attached. The email said that if I had a patented or patent-pending product, I could submit it for consideration. Without a patent or pending-patent, they could not consider my product. That was as far as this conversation went because I don't have a patent or pending-patent for the Smart Collar.
5. This contact would be a great resource because they are very knowledgeable about the pet collar market.

Industry Supplier

1. QQPETS is an industry supplier of pet collars located in China.
2. This contact fills the industry supplier slot. They are located in China and have been supplying dog collars to retailers all over the world since 2005.
3. I found this company by doing a quick online search for dog collar suppliers. On the website, there is a form to fill out to contact them with your questions. I requested information on supplying collars to US-based retailers.
4. As of writing this post, I haven't received a reply other than the automated reply they sent stating they have received my request. They do have a phone number for contact but it's an overseas number, and I have no idea what the charge to call them might be or if they even speak English if I did call them.
5. This contact would be useful as far as price is concerned, but I'm not sure if they would actually help me knowing they are located in China and communication may be difficult.

Reflection

This is not an easy assignment at all. It is very different from just running into someone and asking them a few questions. It is hard to find the people who are experts in what kind of information you're looking for regarding your product idea. Another thing is when you reach out to someone you do find there is no guarantee they will get back to you. I had better success in getting a reply from a smaller company than I did from a large company in China. In future networking events, I would focus on communicating with smaller corporations or family-run businesses that are in the US.