The Montgomery Advertiser article

Kym Klass, a reporter from the Montgomery Advertiser in Montgomery Alabama, contacted us on Monday about doing a feature article on the Rotater.

On Tuesday, we traveled to Montgomery after working all night to take pictures and answer questions. The whole process took about 4 hours, including drive time, but was worth it.

The article is titled “Pair hope patients in rehab turn to Rotater” and appeared in the paper yesterday. I am not sure how long this link will be good, but it is good right now.

A number of people have contacted me about posting a picture of myself on this site. I am trying to get it done, but right now, it’s not a huge priority. However, there are a number of pictures of me and Scott with this article ( I am the bald guy ).

The Auburn Opelika News

We were contacted by Bob Prater, a features reporter for the Auburn Opelika News yesterday. We met with him today ( again, after working all night) and spent about an hour taking pictures and answering questions.

An article about the us (Joint Mechanix) and the Rotater is supposed to be published in this coming Sunday edition. 

UPDATE!  12-7-07   The Auburn Opelika News featured an article about us on the front page today!

“Local inventor revolutionizes rehab”  

Hard work is paying dividends

As a personal development writer, I am living what I write. My life is a whirlwind at times, because of the time and effort involved in living the ideas that you espouse. However, it is never dull, boring or uneventful. I’m having a blast.

Juicy tidbit

On top of all this excitement, we were contacted yesterday by someone from the “Big Idea” with Donny Deutsch. She spoke with Scott for about a half hour and said that they would be back in touch with us. Maybe we’ll be on TV.

Tags: The+Rotater, shoulder+device, rehab, in+the+news, the+Big+Idea

Answering e-mail

After receiving a number of e-mails with questions about the Rotater, I thought it might be beneficial to post the questions and my answers here rather than continuing to answer each query individually.

1. Did I invent the Rotater?

No. The Rotater was invented by my business partner and friend, Scott Kay.

2. Why did Scott invent the Rotater?

Scott is a flat-track motorcycle racer. He’s a no-holds-barred, balls-to-the-wall, wide-open kind of guy. His competitive nature causes him to push himself and his motorcycle to the edge and has resulted in several physically damaging crashes.

His latest crash resulted in his third shoulder surgery. Physicians say that it is extremely difficult to break your shoulder blade (scapula). Scott has managed to break each of his on separate occasions.

Facing another long rehabilitation process, Scott started questioning his physical therapists about obtaining some shoulder equipment that he could use at home to supplement his prescribed physical therapy. They repeatedly told him that he already had everything that was available. This answer did not satisfy Scott, so he designed the Rotater.

3. When did he decide to patent and market the Rotater?

Initially, Scott had no intention of pursuing the opportunity. He had simply done what he needed to do in order to speed up his rehab process.

It was only after continued urging by his physical therapists that Scott decided to share his Rotater with the world.

4. What is the Rotater?

The Rotater can best be described as a personal stretching device for the shoulder.

5. How does the Rotater work?

This simple-looking device positions the arm while at the same time it allows you to control the degree of stretch. It is almost like having a trainer or therapist with you. In fact, it was Scott who said, “I knew it was a good shoulder device when I could feel the same sensations that I felt during my shoulder therapy sessions.” You can see a video demonstration here.

6. Who uses the Rotater?

The Rotater is being used by:

• physical therapists
• occupational therapists
• physicians
• orthopedic surgeons
• athletic trainers
• nurses
• strength and conditioning specialists
• golfers – see what 1StopForGolf.com says about the Rotater
• long drive champion
• pga teaching professionals
• professional baseball player
• volleyball players
• softball players
• swimmers
• competition rodeo roper (header)
• post-operative patients
• former NCAA cyclist
• breast cancer survivors

7. What is “Stretching Shoulders to Stretch Lives”?

“Stretching Shoulders to Stretch Lives” is the tag line that marks our commitment to help breast cancer survivors by donating ten percent of the revenue of all “Pink Rotater” sales to help fund breast cancer research.

Essentially, when you buy a “Pink Rotater” to “Stretch your Shoulder”, we donate ten percent of the selling price for research “to Stretch Lives”.

Tags: the+Rotater, stretching+shoulder+to+stretch+lives, Pink+Rotater, shoulder+device, shoulder+rehab

Endorsements are big business.

Many professional athletes make as much or more money by endorsing products as they do participating in their respective sports. Athletic shoes, sporting goods / equipment and clothing lines are huge money-makers for athletes and celebrities alike who are willing to attach their names to these products.

But:

• does the attachment of a famous name mean that the product does what is claimed?
• does a paid endorsement make the product better?
• does a purchased endorsement increase the likelihood that YOU will buy a product?

The Rotater

My business partner and I have recently brought a unique product to several markets. This process was initiated in response to a motorcycle wreck which resulted in Scott’s (my business partner) third shoulder surgery.

During Scott’s rehabilitation, he became frustrated at the length of time that the rehab process was taking. So, he asked his therapists if there was some product that he could purchase to use at home that would supplement his prescribed physical therapy. Scott was told that nothing existed other than what he already had.

Rejecting “no”

Not one to take “no” for an answer, Scott set out to design a piece of equipment that he could use at home that would produce the same sensations that he felt during his physical therapy visits. His homemade prototype was the original Rotater.

Eureka!

It became apparent to his physical therapists that Scott was making remarkable progress. When they questioned him about what he was doing, Scott produced his homemade Rotater.

After demonstrating the Rotater to his therapists and allowing them to try it for themselves, Scott’s physical therapists encouraged him to get a patent.

Joint Mechanix, LLC

This initial desire to accelerate his rehabilitation has resulted in the formation of our company, Joint Mechanix, LLC. We immediately began promoting the Rotater to physical therapists. This was a no-brainer to us because we already knew that the Rotater would work for this market.

Along the way, we have received a number of testimonials from both physical therapists and physical therapy patients who have used the Rotater and achieved excellent results.

Athletes feel the stretch

Although not our initial market, athletes have discovered the unique self-stretching properties of the Rotater. This has opened a huge market for us. In fact, we went to the PGA expo in Las Vegas, earlier this month for the sole purpose of getting the Rotater into the hands of serious golfers to get their take on it. We were staggered by the number of teaching professionals who wanted to take a Rotater home with them.

As the Law of Attraction would have it, while we were at the PGA show, we were approached by a professional baseball player in the minor leagues. He asked about the Rotater, tried it and promptly purchased one.

Follow up

Usually, a couple of weeks after a show, either Scott or I or both of us try to contact as many people who received the Rotater as possible in order to see how it is working out for them. And this is how the issue of paid endorsements came up.

I spoke with a teaching pro who had purchased a Rotater from us and I inquired as to how he was liking it. Well, he raved about how good it was, about how much shoulder flexibility he had regained and how much better his shoulders felt.

When he stopped speaking, I asked him if he would like to provide us with a testimonial. I could tell that he was immediately uncomfortable and I quickly found out why.

He told me that his agent had advised him not to provide an unpaid testimonial. Now, I do see his point. As a professional athlete, HE is his product and he has every right to expect to be paid to endorse a product.

It’s a credibility issue for us

However, I don’t believe it is in the best interest of Joint Mechanix to pay someone to say that the Rotater is a great product. To me, it seems to be a conflict of interest as well as a sacrifice of credibility for us. It just doesn’t feel right.

So, if you read our testimonials, you may not see any famous names – but you will know that our testimonials were motivated by results and not a byproduct of financial remuneration.

Tags: the+Rotater, testimonials, credibility

The Rotater originally began as a way for Scott to accelerate the recovery and rehabilitation process after having his shoulder surgically repaired. Not only did the Rotater help Scott recover faster, but it is being recognized by athletes (specifically baseball players, swimmers, golfers, tennis players and softball players), athletic trainers, physical therapists and strength and conditioning coaches as the optimal means for effectively self-stretching the shoulder.

Our promotion of the Rotater is simple. We just have to show the people how to use it and then step back and watch the “aha” moment. The Rotater sells itself. Over and over, we hear, “this is ingenious”, “I wish that I had thought of this”, “this is fantastic!”, “wow, this is incredible”, “it’s so simple, yet so effective” and “I can’t wait to show this to _________”.

While in Daytona, Scott and I stopped in a “hole in the wall” restaurant called SANTORA’S at the Ocean Walk. It’s not much to look at, but that’s not why you want to go to this restaurant anyway. You want to go for the wings. They are fantastic! I placed an order for ten wings, a slice of pizza and some fries. I was unable to eat the pizza or fries due to the size of the wings.

The wings were incredibly large. They looked like they had come from a turkey or something. They were, by far, the largest chicken wings that I have ever seen. But that’s not all – the wing sauce flavor was great as well. If you are in Daytona and you like wings, don’t miss the opportunity to drop by SANTORA’S to eat the biggest and best wings you’ll ever have. While you are there say hi to Chris and Brian – they provide great service and some laughs.

Tags: FPTA, physical+therapy, the+Rotater, shoulder+rehab, shoulder+stretching, great+wings

We were very encouraged by the response that we received at the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) conference in Denver last week and hope to continue to get positive responses.

There is a lot of work left ahead of us, but I feel that we can accomplish our dreams. Besides, I just can’t give up. It’s just not in me.

MEDIOCRITY IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!!!

Tags: APTA, shoulder+performance+&+rehab, the+rotater

One really great idea from the show is a web based, physical therapy program that works to bring the patient and the physical therapist together over the internet. Go to HOME PROGRAMS.NET to get all the details. This is an idea that is way ahead of it’s time and could quite possibly become an industry standard. Kudos to Kevin Rausch for bringing this unique idea to reality and for providing convience and accessability to the patient.

I was really encouraged by the number of people who took an interest in both our product and in us as people. It is nice to know that there are still people in the world who value people.

Tags: physical+therapy, therapy, home+programs, shoulder+rehab, shoulder+rehabilitation

My business partner (Scott Kay) and I were at the conference to introduce and promote our new shoulder rehabilitation device, the Rotater. Everyone at the show was great. We were welcomed and made to feel at ease with both the other exhibitors and the conference attendees. The Rotater was also a big hit!

While at the show, I met some great people, who have great products and provided us with invaluable information:

David Baruch – The CEO of ISO-DIAGNOSTICS SOFTWARE LLC – (muscular and range of motion testing software)

David was positioned right next to us at the conference and was a tremendous source of insight and help. His product, a software package, provides the means to:

• create meaningful and accurate reports across a number of key areas
• can be used to record a patient’s progress
• can be used with a number of different measuring devices

Go to ISO Software for more information.

Brice York – The developer of the TriTask

Brice’s product is a measuring device that provides immediate feedback, allowing the tester to know exactly how much force is required to perform a specific task. This information not only gives the tester the initial workload forces required to perform the task in question, but also provides the basis for the accumulated workload placed on a worker performing a repetitive task over time.

This is a great product for anyone who wishes to determine or improve the ergonomics of a measurable task. How much force is really required to lift that box? If you really need to know, then the TriTask may be the tool for you.

Everyone at the show really made us feel at ease and welcome. Thanks to everyone.

Tags: American+Physical+Therapy+Association, shoulder+rehab, shoulder+rehabilitation, ergonomics, range+of+motion+software, rom+software