Mike Kinziger is a retired University of Idaho professor who, along with students from the University of Idaho Business 378 Project Management class, is working to market his “King Frog” activity book.
Kinziger said his book is a resource guide for anyone working with kids or groups for the purpose of team building or recreation. The book is a compilation of what Kinziger considers to be “100 of the best group games ever played.” He said this book is a result of being a recreation teacher for 48 years.
“For years, people have been saying ‘put together a list of all those games,’ because that’s what I have been doing for so long,” Kinziger said.
Within a few years, Kinziger has managed to sell more than 1,000 copies of his book from his home and is now looking to take things to the next level.
Cody Lewis is a business student working on the King Frog project for two classes. He is one of 20 team members from Business 378, and one of four members from his Business 415 New Venture Creation class. These classes will handle the advertising and legal aspects for the project. Lewis said deciding on Kinziger’s project was an easy choice.
“I have managed large projects in the past and as he began explaining what he wanted to do, my mind began racing with all the different options we have and how this small project could turn into a business plan and potentially a small business,” Lewis said. “On a different note, I chose to join the project because I have six nieces and three nephews, ages range from 1-8 years, and that love to play games.”
Lewis said the main goal of the King Frog project is to establish the intellectual property rights of the book, establish the King Frog brand, create awareness and produce the finished product on a large scale.
The four man team from the 415 class will enter the King Frog project in a business plan competition hosted by the College of Business and Economics. Lewis said there will be $20,000 in prize money to be distributed, and a chance for the plans to generate startup capital that could launch a business.
Kinziger said he thinks the book should be attractive to a wide variety of groups to enjoy. He said he plans to spread the book to grade schools, colleges and any group that could use help coming up with team building exercises, or even just a fun way to stay physically active.
The name King Frog is actually the name of one of the games in the book, which Kinziger said really stuck out to him. In the first few pages of the book, Kinziger describes the information within as providing an “opportunity to maximize both the fun and effectiveness of leading play activities.”
Erik Fink can be reached at [email protected]