By Marcia Heroux Pounds
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted March 17 2007

Kristen Nevils wowed the Venture2 "Inventor Search" judges both with her husband's "Watersafe" invention idea and her presentation polish.

On Thursday in Delray Beach, Nevils, 37, proudly unveiled the emergency water storage product that she and husband Michael Nevils, 44, developed after South Florida was hit by hurricanes two years in a row. The Fort Lauderdale residents' product is a solution for the homeowner to keep up to 65 gallons of emergency water supply in the bathtub or sink, avoiding the prehurricane scramble for bottled water.

"When you see those palm trees starting to bend, you fill it up," Nevils said, demonstrating how the plastic storage bags are filled with tap water and secured.

On Friday, the couple were named the contest winners. "I'm blown away. I'm so excited," Nevils said. "I love my product and see so much in it. But to have other inventors say, `You really have something here,' that's amazing. That legitimizes it."

The contest was sponsored by Venture2, a consulting firm founded by Michael Docherty, a former consumer products guru for Sunbeam.

"It wasn't an easy call," Docherty said about the contests' three finalists. A gift-wrap cutting and storage product invented by David Richards, 52, of Palm Harbor, for example, "was less developed, but potentially bigger opportunity," he said.

"In the end what pushed us toward Watersafe is that they were the ones who took the total business approach," Docherty said. The Nevilses also are willing to devote their time to developing the product, he added. Several contestants were looking for someone else to market their invention.

The winners receive 60 days' consulting from Venture2 in refining their concept and licensing or launching their product in the marketplace.

Judges ranked inventors on whether their idea addressed "unmet customer needs, was unique, and an attractive financial opportunity."

Nine inventors were chosen to make presentations, set up American Idol-style with three judges giving on-the-spot feedback. But the judges, who included Docherty, inventor Bob Robbins and MIT Enterprise Forum of South Florida President Amer Akhtar, were gentler in their advice than judges of TV fame.

The judges liked the Nevilses' water storage product, but questioned how Kristen Nevils arrived at the price, $34.95 for the large and $12.99 for the "mini" version.

The judges praised Eva Thomas, a Boca Raton inventor, for her passion, but couldn't see the potential that she does in her locking mailbox designed to make homeowners safe from identity theft. "Drive along A1A. They have multimillion-dollar homes and they have $10 mailboxes. It drives me nuts," she said.

"You're underestimating what's involved in trying to build a business around this," Docherty told her.

Finalists John and Gwendolyn Corn drove from St. Petersburg to participate in the contest. The couple invented what they call the "Bath Fiddle," a back scrubber made of quick-dry, exfoliating material.

"It's a great idea," said "Judge" Robbins, who has invented many products including the Conair hair-braiding device for teenagers. He recommended the couple take their back scrubber to a bed-and-bath trade show in Las Vegas.

"I like it, too," added "Judge" Akhtar, who saw potential in using the product to put on suntan lotion at the beach. "I would buy one."

Robbins saw potential in Richard's gift-wrap idea, saying his device to cut paper was more valuable than the storage idea. Even though he didn't win the contest, Richards said he found the judges helpful. "I picked up a lot of information, and they're open to providing guidance on this.

"I didn't know how to proceed. I haven't done this before, and I don't have much time because I have a family and a job. It was a great experience."

Marcia Heroux Pounds can be reached at mpounds@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6650.