ThoughtOffice™ Reveals Instruments of Mass Instruction: Killer Apps Speed Problem Solving, Produce Explosive Ideas - Even for Comics...

IdeaFisher's core creativity application, in development since 1977, is a very deep but very easy to use software that's been proven to effectively tap both short and long-term memory to help create breakthroughs using "associative thinking", and avoid ideas that might bomb. Now, its successor, ThoughtOffice, used by the majority of the Fortune 500 and over 350,000 ad agencies, small businesses, large corporations and educational institutions...

Newport Beach, CA (PRWEB) November 8, 2003 -- John Nydam, aka Johnny Dam is reaching for something… an association. "Balance, parallel, equilibrium… Librium. Got it! Librium! Wasn't that a drug used to sedate people in the 60's… like a Stepford Wives kind of thing? That's it, that's the punch line!"

Johnny's using a product called ThoughtOffice (http://www.thoughtoffice.com/?page_id=43). It's surfacing more and more among both comics and corporate managers, becoming part of their essential toolkit.

The program, in development since 2001, is a very deep but easy to use software program that's been proven to tap both short and long-term memory to help create breakthroughs, and avoid ideas that might bomb.

"I understood that a top comic was using it, as well as his writers. That's when it occurred to me that the difference between his work and mine could very well be a few keystrokes on the right software" Johnny points out.

ThoughtOffice is a seemingly simple program with a complex patented database under the hood. On startup, it prompts you with two options: do you have a word in mind, or would you prefer a line of questioning? By simply typing a word or phrase, the unique, nearly artificial-intelligence of the program spits out tens to hundreds of associations, all keyed off of your initial prompt. The single word "red" might reveal a stop sign, Ferrari, fire hydrant or flame.

"Truly great ideas are created through amalgams of thoughts and associations. If we can prompt you to look at your world through Alice's looking glass, you just might find your solution isn't under the toadstool… it's sitting on top of it" says Mark Alan Effinger, inventor of the program, and serial entrepreneur. "When it comes to brainstorming and problem solving, you can't put 5 guys in a room, all with similar backgrounds and influences, and expect significant breakthroughs. So we give you 250 of the brightest, most diverse and influential minds we could find, and get you to have a dialogue with them whenever the mood strikes. That's the power of ThoughtOffice."

If word associations are the answers, what about the questions? ThoughtOffice responds with eXpertTopic Modules - professionally crafted modules of 250 to 2000 questions each all developed to characterize and surround the problem.

"Asking the right question is key to the whole brainstorming, problem-solving process" comments David Lockman, currently heading up online presence and product support for the company. "If you can ask the right questions, the answers will flow from both your short and long-term memory. You'll surround the problem, look at it from every angle, and use every one of your senses - it's still amazing to me how this process reduces major problems into very crisply defined steps, with enlightening answers. Sometimes hundreds of answers. Take your pick."

Users of ThoughtOffice range from home schoolers and students to the giants of industry including Apple, 3M, Microsoft and Stanford University. Land's End™ Catalog purchased copies this year to better understand the mind of the consumer, and to clarify where the next big buying cycle might happen might happen.

"I can't overemphasize the fact that ThoughtOffice cannot replace the human mind" comments Mr. Effinger. "It's only a fraction of the hundreds of minds that helped develop the program. But if we only use 10% of our minds individually, then doesn't getting a dialogue with these many additional experts, even through our software, beat the opinion of the guy in the neighboring cube? We believe so".

ThoughtOffice Brainstorming Software and eXpertTopic modules are currently available for Windows and Macintosh computers. The program comes in 7 pre-configured and discounted bundles, as well as ala carte, with the 6,800,000 word association engine and any combination of 16 eXpertTopic modules. Corporate, distributor / dealer and educational discounts available. Affiliate programs are also available for reseller partners.

The company can be reached at http://www.thoughtoffice.com, by calling 360-609-9272, or e-mailing the company. Prices range from $49 to $499 for modules and complete systems.

ThoughtOffice is an ExitPath company. ExitPath Corporation is a Southern California consultancy and product developer focused on accelerating the growth of early-stage companies through increased revenue generation and reducing time-to-market of products and services. The company operates primarily within the TechCoast region (Santa Barbara to San Diego), with additional offices in Portland, Oregon. The company can be reached online at www.exitpath.com.

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