The Hogball: Putting Food on the Table
rave reviews from discriminating hunters
Inventor-entrepreneur John Cullen Vance (Cullen) is poised for success. His invention, The Hogball, is now patent pending. Even before mass manufacture, it's getting rave reviews from discriminating hunters. It is all the buzz in the premier hog hunting community. One embodiment of Cullen's invention is depicted in this video. I am not surprised at the invention's promising start; Cullen is a savvy engineer--he tested and modified prototype after prototype, and we exchanged loooooong emails, phone calls, and frequent texts about variations to consider and try. Every single feature of The Hogball is deliberately there and the subject of the combined minds of a sharp engineer, wonderful student interns, and this lucky patent attorney.
Though the device is purely mechanical, it took a lot of thought, time, and experimentation to put together. There's a lot more to The Hogball than meets the eye of someone who hasn't tried using it yet or is not familiar with the shrewdness and strength of boars. Check it out on the website and on the Facebook page. We adapted the invention to overcome problems that currently exist in boar hunting such as environmental issues, the human-user experience, interference with pest animals, uncontrolled motility, low durability, etc. We studied the behavioral psychology and physiology of the boars, and decided to employ a Pavlovian approach to baiting the boars.
school this lily-livered city-slicker
It was lucky for me that Cullen was such a pleasure to work with, because his invention was one that required me to dive into a world completely different from my own: the world of hog hunting. Yup, all those years of hoity-toity schooling and careers in high tech industries did not expose me to this hobby/sport/lifestyle. I don't even eat pork, and goodness knows I almost fainted when watching euthanization of lab mice (it was actually the trauma of that which made me decide to experiment in silico rather than in vivo). And I have never touched a gun or hunting bow in my life. So yes, Cullen had to school this lily-livered city-slicker on racoons, boars, and hunting to some degree, and then on my own I did a deep dive into the fascinating world of feral hogsand the art and sport of hog hunting. (By the by, hog hunting is actually encouraged by environmentalists because the species is an invasive one.) Part of the recipe for fun was that both Cullen and I are energized by experimenting with ideas and we both have an entrepreneur-engineer geek-nerdtastic way of thinking.
the most meaningful praise
Cullen was referred to me by my friend and small law firm mentor Vance Parker. The similar names aren't a coincidence--they are cousins from a prominent entrepreneurial family hailing from Edna, Texas. I can tell you some other salient features of this family from the two members I now know very well--they are smart, creative, hardworking entrepreneurs who are always cooking up ideas and having fun while doing so! They are both a joy to work with. It meant a lot to me that Vance referred me to his own family--it's the most sincere praise when an attorney entrusts the care of her or his own family to another attorney.
I get to live many brilliant lives
It was so much fun diving into this world with Cullen as my guide, and it proved to me again that I just picked the best profession in the world. Every client I work with is a fun adventure. I get to live many brilliant lives in my one life as an IP attorney, and I have great clients to thank for that.