Something to get out of bed for

Lateral thinking is alive and well if last week's three-day Mai Biz programme at Kaitaia College is anything to go by.

Teams of senior students did their utmost to present some extraordinarily innovative products and services to a panel of judges in the most favourable light, each team even ensuring that any judge with a sweet tooth was catered for with treats. The grand finale on Friday afternoon was certainly worth getting out of bed for, and one team had the solution for anyone who might have had trouble doing that.

"Cold Start" was marketing an under blanket that reacted to the user's alarm clock, using a chemical reaction to literally freeze the pad, thereby encouraging the slugabed to get out, in some haste. Within a couple of minutes, CEO John Bell said, the blanket would be as cold as an ice pack.

One or two of the team confessed they were not the most enthusiastic of risers, but none went quite as far as saying they would use their own product.

The "Raiders", who won the medals and bragging rights for 2013, was marketing a fitness in schools programme via a DVD, the package including a programme to get students' blood pumping, while "Green A1" was touting a solar-powered chilly bin, sufficiently effective to keep the contents chilled without need for ice.

Kyla Stanisich, whose family's passion for fishing was at least partially responsible for the brainwave, said three models, rechargeable even under artificial lights, were available (from little to big), with a wholesale price of around $200.

"Titans Inc." had a "drunken app", another gadget for the ubiquitous cellphone that delivered advice such as a warning against drink driving, and if that didn't work information in the form of maps and useful phone numbers for the likes of a taxi and medical services.

The most complicated offering was "Ready 2 Go's" extension for the drawbar of a boat trailer, which would negate the need to get the vehicle's wheels wet when launching and retrieving the boat, while the most chilling was a motorised skateboard (with tracks instead of wheels). It would handle all terrain, the designers said, with a top speed of up to 20km/h, and while they hadn't produced a prototype they reckoned it would sell for around $400.

For a few dollars more they would throw in a crash helmet. There was no mention of knee or elbow pads, or a subsidised St John membership.

Slightly more pedestrian were "Comfortables", purveyors of bras (rack pack) and men's underpants (jock pock), not stunningly innovative in their basic design but featuring strategically placed pockets large enough to take a small cellphone. The jock pock was demonstrated as being handy for a commodity of much greater vintage than a phone, which some blokes presumably still like to carry with them in the event of an unforeseen social opportunity.

And while it was too late to influence the decisions, the assembled students showed some canniness in greeting the judges post-deliberations with thunderous applause. And they were rewarded with high praise.

Without exception, the judges said, they had been mightily impressed with what they had seen, several saying they had picked up ideas they would take back to their own businesses.