Tomorrow we are off to Las Vegas for another tradeshow, our second in America.  The stand will not be as grand as the one in Paris (one step at a time) but I am expecting a good show.

If you are going, you can print off a free show pass at the following link:

http://www.visionexpoinvitations.com/090930/webbutton.html?show=vis

In the mean time, I have a little something on my desk.  These are the dental and surgical loupes we create for Optident.  Currently they sell them directly to Dentists, Hygienists and Surgeons.  However, these people also go to Opticians and so I am thinking of selling these myself (to Opticians).  Any feedback would be welcome.  There is only one snag, you need to get a very accurate measurement from their working position.  This COULD involve visiting them at work.  The good news is that an Optician makes a great margin on one of these (typically GBP450 or Euro 400 or USD 600).  Anyone who is interested, let me know and I'll see if I can get you on the trial.  (I am looking for 4 opticians at the end of the year)

On another note, I rather like these for our own collection! Sports Bespoke Sunglasses anyone?  

We arrived back from Silmo yesterday and WHAT A SHOW!!!!!!!!!!  We sold more frames, opened more accounts on the first day than the entire last Silmo!  By the end of the show I had no idea how we had done.  It was just too busy to stop and take stock.

Every part of the show was a success.  Even our crappy location didn't seem to dampen the Silmo buzz. 

Here you can see our Cinema.  It worked really well and Chintu did a great job of taking customers through a 10 minute design school after they sat, ate popcorn and watched our factory film.

 I didn't get chance to take any photos of the stand being busy as it was.  Fortunately an old member of staff emailed me this this morning.  She was trying to stop by and say hi but well.... her email was on the lines of "things have changed in the last few years!"

The morning of the 3rd day of the show I was asked to give a presentation to 40 Opticians from the Netherlands.  I was worried that they had got up at 7am on a Sunday to hear my opinion on the future of the eyewear industry.  I didn't get any rotten fruit thrown at me so I think it went OK.

I am always rather sad when a show is finished.  Our little kingdom is ripped down in a matter of minutes but I personally felt a sense of elation (and throbbing feet) at the end of the four days in Paris.  Something has changed in our business and TD Tom Davies is on the map! 

A few personal show highlights for me was the Managing Director of Hoffman horn coming on the stand to say hello.  As some of you will know, I have been promoting their business where possible (always good to have a bit of competition) and we had a nice friendly chat.  I hope some of the other brands who seem to glare at me at shows would one day share a drink....

Also the Lindberg shop in Denmark opened an account with us.  This is a real compliment as I understand they only carry a few brands in their shop.  Again, Lindberg is a company I respect, so I am honoured and delighted to be in their store.

Here is the hard working Silmo team.  Once all the reps has pegged it, we filled boxes, packed computers and dragged our weary boddies over to the Eurostar....................... Vegas next week!!!!!

Back from holiday and back in to the fire. Actually, despite it being the best holiday EVER, the last few days I suspect I was the only holiday maker who was itching to get back to work.

Whilst I felt exhilarated sailing the Turkish oceans, I felt a similar exhilaration and adrenaline rush as I slipped back in to the helm at TD Tom Davies. The office was buzzing with pre-Silmo rush, there was two weeks of questions and actions flying around the office and all my lovely new Silmo collections was laid out on my desk. Ahhhhhh, good to be back!

So here we are on the train to Silmo, last minute account package, prices and operational procedures are finalised on the Euro Star. (It takes a Hong Kongese, Dicky Tong to point out some English grammar mistakes on our new Package offers!) We arrived at the show at around 3pm the day before the opening.

The stand builders have done a great job of putting this all together and I was instantly delighted when we walked around the corner to see our stand. It was also a chance to see all my new babies (new collection) and I spent a few hours setting them up, looking at them and… admiring them. Yes, I am a sad git.

The sales team arrived to hear about all the new offers for the show and see our production film in the cinema. The next morning (yesterday) we opened the door. What a great day! I suspect we generated more business in this first day than the entire last Silmo.

Here is Mr Davies (my father) who is our bar man for the show!

I’ll post a more detailed update towards the end of the show. So far… Brilliant!