Calgary, AB (September 7, 2004) - TABLE SHOX are fully automatic, self-adjusting hydraulic gliders or shock absorbers that simply replace a table's existing manual gliders or "table feet." When installed, TABLE SHOX instantly eliminate a problem that plagues diners everywhere — wobbly restaurant tables.

Inventor Ian MacDonald and business partner Evian Macmillan, both with FundaMetal Designs Inc. of Port Coquitlam, B.C., have won a prestigious $10,000 Manning Innovation Award for their elegant and inexpensive remedy to this age-old problem.

MacDonald, a creative designer and entrepreneur, got the idea for his invention while waiting for a flight. He was relaxing in the airport lounge when a wobbly table spilled his drink over the front of his pants. "So a few minutes later, here I am on the plane and I'm wet where I don't really want to be wet," recalls MacDonald, General Manager and CEO of FundaMetal Designs (www.tableshox.com). During his flight, he sketched the concept that would put an end to wobbly restaurant tables.

Wobbly tables are considered an even bigger complaint in restaurants than the food, says company President Macmillan, who spent over seven years in the hospitality industry prior to joining TABLE SHOX. Not only do tipsy tables distract diners and servers, people jam everything from matchbooks to sugar packets to unsightly napkins under one or more table legs to try to stop the wobble.

Patented TABLE SHOX is a much better solution. Once installed, the table's weight compresses all of the tiny shock absorbers on the table legs except where a leg is sitting on a lower part of the floor. The shock absorbers expand to fill in this gap and — voila! — no more grabbing for your glass of wine from a table that's not on the level. The device works automatically even if the table is moved.

"TABLE SHOX totally eliminates the headache of a wobbly table," Macmillan says.

"We love it. No matter where you put the tables or how you move the tables, they'll always be level and straight," says Scott Jaeger, who operates The Pear Tree restaurant in Burnaby, B.C.

TABLE SHOX won "Best of Show" award at the International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show in New York City in November 2002, an event that included more than 1,800 products on display.

Since the company's incorporation in 2001, the product is now in use across the entire spectrum of restaurants, from fast-food chains and university cafeterias to fine-dining establishments. Customers include the giant Subway franchise, Walt Disney World and Keg Restaurants Ltd. in Canada. TABLE SHOX also has been featured in media reports on CNN and in BC Business Magazine.

The company is currently shipping about 50,000 to 80,000 individual units a month (or about 15,000 to 20,000 four-legged tables) to distributors and manufacturers in Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Puerto Rico, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji, with plans to distribute in Europe.

Since 1982, the annual Manning Awards program (www.manningawards.ca) has encouraged and rewarded leading Canadian innovators with more than $3 million in prize money. This year's four major winners, being announced throughout September, will share a total of $145,000. All will be honoured at the annual gala awards dinner Oct. 1 in Vancouver.