As seen on Junkk.com

I have just watched the first episode of The Big Idea with a slew of contradictory feelings.

By way of a prequel to these, I rather suspect that if we do get featured at all (there was almost nothing of those that didn't make it to the studio semis beyond a few microsecond fillers) it will be in three weeks' time. This is based on two Manchester and two London heats, and we were the last. In fact as I write I just saw myself as a nanosecond filler, sped up to make it even quicker, and it could have been worse. I did look barking, which I guess is my niche.

Another thing that stuck me was just how irrelevant the £100k prize is in the overall scheme of things. Even the filler ads from Vodafone would probably have cost more than that per version. Anyway, back to the show...

First up, there was a huge sigh of relief that there was not too much by way of car crash, at least in terms of contestant humiliation. That said, the judges, who were on the whole quite polite and supportive of even their non-proteges, were often pretty tense with each other. And, for good measure, main host Richard Bacon. I actually quite took to him, as he was trying to question some possible shortcomings from a viewer perspective, and some of his critiques were pretty relevant.

However, I am still disappointed that we are not going to enjoy at least the level of coverage that these semi-finalists did. Even if they don't go any further, the invention did get a good airing. And now, here's the sour-grapey bit. As was commentedd upon several times by the panel, I really did not see anything 'BIG'.

Most interestingly, of those three that 'got through' to the evening's final count, I could duplicate two at least, almost instantly, using Junkk.com. One, the 'Message in a Bauble', I have done right now. The evening's winner, while a nifty idea, I had already done for my mum using a piece of plastic from ann ice-cream carton. Stupid me for not thinking of making anything more of it. I will work it up soon. The third, an educational system, is another easily duplicated Junkk.com collection of items, and we are of course looking at bringing our own packaged programme to the educational system.

On balance, no down sides on the horizon, but a certain frustration that we will not get the positive of proper exposure for all the effort.

Still, worth staying on top of. The URL is thebigidea.tv. Tomorrow I'll have a roam on this site to see what's what.

The Big Idea. A Big Opportunity.. Or A Big Mistake?

Covering my bases here. Tonight sees the first screening of the Big idea on SKY.

And as I fell at the first televised hurdle it may be our brief moment in the sun (though there were several heats which may be spread over the subsequent weeks).

Can't say I am not both full of anticipation and a pack of nerves.

The film crew were encouraging and even the judges most receptive. But I was chatting the other day to someone who knows a recent Dragon's Den contestant, and what happened vs. what they managed to edit it to look like was not very nice. Fingers crossed we'll come across sympathetically.

With luck it will add to our PR efforts and not detract. I guess if you don't try you'll never know.