Integrated Gourmet Item Data Collection, Recommender and Vending System and Method

• US 20130035988A1
• Filed: 10/12/2012
• Published: 02/07/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/14/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: John Nicholas and Kristin Gross Trust U/A/D April 13 2010
• Original Assignee: John Nicholas and Kristin Gross Trust U/A/D April 13 2010
• Inventors: Gross, John Nicholas
• Granted Patent: US 8,671,012 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7.32
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0203 Market surveys; Market polls
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0217 involving input on products or services in exchange for incentives or rewards
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0278 Product appraisal
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0281 Customer communication at a business location, e.g. providing product or service information, consulting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/12 Hotels or restaurants

Abstract

Items—including gourmet products—are evaluated and rated by participants in a controlled event, which can be coordinated by software locally or at a dedicated website. Event data, including item scores and participant scores can be shared with vendors, merchants and other commercial entities associated with the products. Promotional incentives from such entities for the products (and related products) can then be directly targeted and provided to participants and other members of the public. The participant'"'"'s activities can also be collected and disseminated to affiliates/friends of the participants through social networking sites, personalized web pages, etc.

Claims

1-10. -10. (canceled)

11. A method of marketing and promoting items comprising the steps:

a) providing an item marketing computing system which is coupled through a network connection to a first item manufacturer computing system, a second item distributor computing system, and a third item data collection computing system;

said item marketing computing system including one or more software routines to perform the following operations;

1) coordinating communication of first item event data to the third item data collection computing system from a group of participants sampling a first item;

2) calculating scores for said first item and/or for said group of participants;

3) communicating said scores and/or said first item event data to at least said first manufacture computing system;

4) process feedback data based on said scores and/or said first item event data from said first manufacture computing system and/or said second item distributor computing system which is specific to at least one or more said group of participants;

5) communicating promotional information to said third item data collection computing system relevant to said first item, and/or items determined to be related to said first item to said at least one or more of said group of participants;

wherein promotional information is presented dynamically from a manufacturer and/or distributor of said first item to a participant during said item sampling event and which promotional information is responsive and related to scores provided by said participant and/or other participants in said sampling event.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein said item sampling event is associated with tasting a food or beverage.

13. An item data sampling collection computing device comprising:

a. an electronic interface for capturing item sampling data from a participant for a set of items in an item sampling event;

b. an item sampling processing routine that is adapted to;

i. communicate at least some of said item sampling data with a remote computing system;

ii. present feedback data from said remote computing system, including advertising and/or promotional coupons for items, which feedback data is derived at least in part from a recommender system and is customized for one or more participants in said item sampling event; and

iii. calculate scores and awards for said one or more participants based on evaluating and correlating their respective ratings provided on said set of items sampled during the item sampling event.

14. A data collection system for collecting data from participants in an item sampling event comprising:

a. a portable master controller computing device;

b. one or more portable slave computing devices;

wherein each of said master controller computing device and said one or more slave computing devices having an electronic interface for capturing item sampling data from a participant for a set of items in an item sampling event;

further wherein said portable master controller computing device is coupled to and controls data collection and data presentation for the item sampling event from the portable slave computing devices;

c. the portable master controller computing device being further adapted with one or more software routines to;

i. calculate scores and awards for said participants based on evaluating and correlating their respective ratings provided on a set of items sampled during the item sampling event, and

ii. present feedback data from a remote computing system, including advertising and/or promotional coupons for items, which feedback data is derived at least in part from a recommender system and is customized for one or more participants in said item sampling event.

15-20. -20. (canceled)