Call For New Products! The Next BIG THING In 2010

Calling all inventors, product designers, fashionistas, and anyone else who can come up with the next consumer must-have.  The Dallas Market Center, the world's largest wholesale marketer, is searching for The Next BIG THING.

What do you need to enter? 

• A drawing or photo of how you would present your product in a 10' x 10' booth;
• 2 - 3 color photos of your product(s), no more than 2MB each if emailed;
• A completed Next BIG THING application, including...
• Your signed "Release and Hold Harmless" statement, provided in the application. 

The application deadline for this year's Next BIG THING contest is March 26, 2010. 

Three finalists will be chosen by a panel of industry experts and Dallas Market Center representatives and will be announced on April 12, 2010.  The finalists will receive airfare and hotel accommodations to show their products at the Dallas Total Home & Gift Market FINDS Temp Show, June 25-28, 2010.

Finally, judges from consumer and trade publications will help select the winner, based on the finalists' product, trade space presentation, and production plan.  The public will also have a chance to text their votes for their favorite product.

The Next BIG THING winner will be announced on June 26, 2010.  The award includes $15,000 worth of products, including...

• a $5,000 cash prize,
• exhibit space at the Dallas Total Home & Gift Market, January 19-25, 2011,
• a profile in one of the Dallas Market Center's publications, and
• consultations from leading industry experts regarding branding, public relations, visual merchandising and more. 

Last year's BIG THING was the clever Sipatiniz spill-resistant party glass!

The Dallas Market Center is the world's largest wholesale merchandiser.  Retail buyers throughout the world visit its 5 million square feet of merchandising space to choose the hottest products for their customers, including home furnishings, gifts, decorative accessories, lighting, textiles, fashion accessories, and men's, western, women's, and children's apparel. About $8 billion in estimated wholesale transactions are conducted annually at the Dallas Market Center complex at wholesale shows and establishments of wholesale vendors located at the Center.

What are you waiting for?  Go!  Read the application and start getting your plans together!

The Next Big Thing announcement, The Next Big Thing application