Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Loan Approved: Next, Spiral Light Candle's New Factory

Spiral Light Candle got very good news this afternoon. A loan we wanted was approved.

That means that we can get new candle manufacturing equipment and supplies: and buy a building to put the stuff in. Just as important, Spiral Light Candle can start hiring folks to operate the equipment and see to it that folks who order candles get what they asked for.

The new Spiral Light Candle factory will be in part of a soon-to-be-refitted potato warehouse in Hillsboro, North Dakota. My son-in-law gave the place a good once-over, and so did I. More importantly, a building inspector went over the property, and told us that:

  • It needs some work
    • We knew that
  • The older part is a half-century old
    • We knew that, too
  • The building is structurally sound
    • That was the really important thing
We've even got rail access: although that's not something Spiral Light Candle will need for another year. At least.

I've done my whooping and hollering about the loan approval, my daughter and son-in-law are treating themselves to a well-deserved night out, and tomorrow it's back to work.

Related posts:

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Candles: Analysis, News, and Very Odd Questions

It's about half-past midnight, and it looks like I'll get to bed earlier than I have since the week started.

Analysis

I spent this evening working with my son-in-law, working out what it will take to get Spiral Light Candle through next year. Dropping data and formulas into about a thousand spreadsheet cells is detailed, nitpicking, fussy, work. But we've got a good planning tool to show for our efforts.

News

Seeing Spiral Light Candle's name in a newspaper wasn't all that unexpected. My guess is that doing a short article about new local or regional companies is routine for most papers: particularly when there's something colorful about the outfit.

A fairly steady stream of articles, often in newspapers or magazines that aren't all that close to North Dakota: that's not something I'd counted on. And, of course, it's good news for me.

The latest article is in a magazine back in North Dakota:
"RRV:Unique innovation keeps candles burning"
Prairie Business (published in Grand Forks, North Dakota) (December 1, 2011)

"Driving through Arkansas, Aaron and Sara McWilliams stopped at a winery and noticed wax taking shape around bottles. As the family continued their travels, Aaron McWilliams started to hypothesize about how to control the flow of wax to make the wax take any shape it would need to take...."
The Prairie Business article is a quick read: a little under 500 words long.

Back to how I spent this evening.

Very Odd Questions

My wife and I have been getting more involved in Spiral Light Candle, as the operation grew. I didn't expect to spend so much of a week on this analysis job: mostly because I had no notion of just how much I didn't know about candles and how they're made.

An example:

A few hours ago, my son-in-law and I were working on part of the spreadsheet that handled raw materials. The conversation had us saying things like:
"How many feet of wick in a pound?"
That sounded funnier, at the time. Maybe it's the hour. After midnight 'funny' has a higher threshold for me.

Asking how many feet of wick there are in a pound actually makes sense, by the way.

Obligatory Self-Promotion

Before wrapping this post up, I'd better mention Spiral Light Candle's website. (spirallightcandle.com). Also Spiral Light Candle Corp. Storefront, our presence on Amazon.com.

That's it, I'm done for the day. Or, rather, I'm done for Friday. I'll pick up Saturday's tasks in - about eight hours, probably.

Vaguely-related posts:In the news:

Friday, December 2, 2011

Candles, a Spreadsheet, and Taking a Break

I'd love to be working on Spiral Light Candle's website (spirallightcandle.com) upgrade, but it's just as well that I'm not. My site design and programming skills are a bit rusty. And seriously out-of-date. Writing HTML aside, I haven't worked with the nuts-and-bolts end of website design for a few years.

Skills: Old, New, and Rusty

Which, at age 60, doesn't feel like much time. But when it comes to information technology, it's a little like an expert flint knapper thinking about working as a machinist. I've been asking my son, who earned his A+ certification recently, when there's a technical issue.

And: yes, those are the words of a proud dad.

Amazon.com's user interface is designed with non-technical folks in mind, though, so I've been able to lend a hand with the Spiral Light Candle Corp. Storefront there.

Thanks to a checkered job history, I've been a licensed radio operator/disk jockey, have experience delivering flowers, and spent about a decade as 'the computer guy' and database manager at a small publishing company. I also answer phones and make coffee.

Speaking of coffee, it's time for a coffee break.

Analysis: A Task That's Work

I learned how to set up spreadsheets, among other things, in that 'database' job: including getting spreadsheets to do things that aren't in the manual. And that's another topic.

The point is, I know how to set up something where you put in numbers and get organized, calculated, results.

That's what I've been doing this week, setting up a complicated, über-detailed budget and sales forecast spreadsheet for Spiral Light Candle. Actually, I don't think it's "über-detailed." But there's a lot of equipment, processes, and people, that go into making and marketing candles: and my son-in-law has mapped out what he thinks we'll need for the next several months.

My task is to take his notes, and make a working spreadsheet out of then. By last Wednesday.

I enjoy working with data: figuring out how to break it out into categories; finding relationships between sets of data; setting up the results so that someone else can easily use them.

When I have to do something on a deadline, though: that's more 'work' than 'fun.' Deadlines are wonderful motivators though.

Break Time, Productive Time

That Wednesday deadline went whizzing by, but that was the for the 'detailed rough' version. Today, I'm closing in on getting what he'll need when he talks to some folks next week.

This 'coffee break' is taking longer than most: but I think it's worth the 'extra' time. I was literally getting a headache, almost unheard of for me, figuring out how some of the data was supposed to connect.

Now that I've been away from that maddening matrix for several minutes, I think it's going to make more sense. You've heard the usual psychobabble about 'subconscious' and 'unconscious' before, so I'll skip that.

I still have time for the 'done and ready' version of this spreadsheet, and decided to use my brain for something unrelated. The light exercise of walking over to the microwave and heating coffee helps, too.

Anyway, break time's over. I don't see it as 'wasted' time, since I'm coming back to the task at hand with a (slightly) fresher mind and a (marginally) revived body.

Urgency, Priority, and Nitpicking

This spreadsheet is still high priority, and it's now urgent.

But the difference between "priority" and "urgency" is another topic. Several, actually.

Good grief! I was going to say why I think it's vital to get so nitpicking about details: and I'm out of time. That'll have to go in another post.

Not-entirely-unrelated posts:

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Spiral Light Candle: Website; New Phones Now Working

Right now, Spiral Light Candle's website, spirallightcandle.com, is up and running. It's doing everything it's designed to do: which doesn't include taking online orders. The Spiral Light Candle retail storefront, Spiral Light Candle Corp. Storefront at Amazon.com has been around for a while now, and got updated recently.

Which brings me to a big of Web nostalgia.

Remembering the 'Good Old Days'

Back in the 'good old days,' you'd see "UNDER CONSTRUCTION" graphics on many websites. I liked the animated ones. There were silhouettes shoveling; and a frazzled programmers pounding a keyboard, with a hammer in one case.

They were funny, attention-getting, and a useless distraction.

I haven't seen that sort of thing much lately. Partly, I suspect, because website developers and users realized that a good website is always 'under construction' in some way. It's a rare business that hasn't changed something about products, services, prices - or seasonal sales.

There's something to be said for maintaining a consistent visual style on a corporate website. On the other hand, it's wise to distinguish between "consistent," "archaic," and "apparently abandoned."

Making Sure it's "Coming Soon"

Not all bad ideas for websites are as obviously misguided as, say, green-on-purple text or an investment service with an animated puppy on its 'about us' page.

Sometimes a caffeinated developer decides to re-name pages that customers have bookmarked/Favorited/whatever: because 'everybody's using [this week's hot database software].'

"Coming soon" announcements, like anything else, need to be managed, updated, and sometimes removed. But I think they're basically okay. I'll get back to that idea.

Flash, a Movie About Coffee, and Clueless Supervisors

Then there are the dilbertesque supervisors, who are a lot funnier in the comics, than in real life:

Dilbert.com
Dilbert.com
Dilbert.com
(Scott Adams' Dilbert, used w/o permission)

Technology, Telephones, and Me

My son is more tech-savvy than I am, but I get along with computers pretty well. I've even learned to cope with telephone menus.

Automated telephone menus have improved since companies started using them. A lot. I think it helped, when someone realized that the most loyal customer would eventually get fed up.

I've learned quite a bit about telephone menus in the last few days. Spiral Light Candle now has a working customer service section - complete with a mercifully-short menu. Spiral Light and the service we're using got the system up and running yesterday.

Spiral Light Candle's system isn't quite so simple on the 'company' side, but I've gotten familiar with the basics. Which is a good thing, since I'm answering phones for the company now.

Also doing the occasional spreadsheet, and whatever else I can lend a hand with.

"Currently Working on Our Website"

I mentioned Spiral Light Candle's new website yesterday. The developer has a nice, clean, and simple home page; easy-to-spot navigation; and graphics that unobtrusively match the product line.

I like it. More to the point: it's being done by a competent developer, and isn't any fancier than it needs to be.

The software that will support our online ordering is still getting tweaked, but I heard yesterday that it's progressing. In the right direction.

That's why I don't have a problem with this snippet from Spiral Light Candle's home page:
"...We are currently working on our website, so please check back again soon...."
We won't launch the new website tomorrow. At least I don't think so. But work on Spiral Light Candle's website is in good hands.

I'm looking forward to seeing the result.

Related posts:

Monday, November 28, 2011

Spiral Light Candle: New Website Coming; New Phones Here

I saw a mockup of Spiral Light Candle's improved website this afternoon. We'll be keeping what's up at spirallightcandle.com/ for now, since the technology that's 'behind the screen' isn't quite finished.

Meanwhile, there's the Spiral Light Candle Corp. Storefront at Amazon.com for online retail orders.

We've also got a new phone system, that's letting me take orders. We tried it out for the first time late this afternoon. It works, and I'm learning.

Slightly-related posts:

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Spiral Light Candle's New Amazon.com Photos

Spiral Light Candle's storefront on Amazon.com has new/updated photos now: Spiral Light Candle Corp. Storefront.

I'd taken the original photos, some months ago: with a somewhat less-than-top-end camera. It was high time we get something better to show off the spiral-burning candles.

I've posted this half-size video before. If you're in a place where background sounds are a factor, take note - the video comes with music. No words, though:
"Spiral Light's Spiral Burning Self Filling Candle"



(shown half-size: full version at YouTube)
anoasisproduction, YouTube (July 28, 2011)
video, 1:31

Now, the obligatory 'for more information' contact stuff:

Somewhat-related posts:

Friday, November 18, 2011

"A Candle With a Twist" at Grand Forks Trade Show

I'd been looking forward to Spiral Light Candle going to a major trade show in Houston, Texas. That was around the beginning of this month. (November 2, 2011) Instead, we wound up developing a new website. We're still using the existing one, but this morning I got an update on the search and online purchasing software we'll be using. Basically, the new website will look good: and, at least as importantly, work.

Which our current one does, just fine. (Spiral Light Candle, spirallightcandle.com) We've got a video that shows what our "candle with a twist" does, a brochure in .pdf (Acrobat) format, and contact information. If you want to buy our candles online, though, our Spiral Light Candle Corp. Storefront
on amazon.com is probably your best option.

But, like I said, that's changing. Soon, I hope.

The photo near the top of this post shows a display stand in our booth at a Grand Forks trade show, on Tuesday of this week: November 15. That's about an hour's drive north from our home office and factory, which made getting there an economic possibility. Logistics were a whole lot easier, too.

Spiral Light Candle

Spiral Light Candle at Grand Forks trade show. November 15, 2011.

More than 3,000 folks were at the trade show, we got an "amazing" response to our product line, and I'm hoping we'll get that new website up and running soon: It'll give me something nifty and new to write about.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Spiral Light Candle in Hillsboro, North Dakota

Yesterday afternoon, I learned that Sapphire's in Hillsboro, North Dakota, has been re-ordering those candles that burn in a circle. The Spiral Light Candle things. Folks are driving in from Fargo, and Grand Forks, to get our self-filling candles.

Then there's Shepherd's Path in Bangor Maine, another place selling our candles. And more than two dozen others, on a list that's seriously out-of-date now.

What impressed me wasn't so much that Spiral Light Candle Corporation keeps getting orders from new retail businesses: it's that they re-order. Quite often, in some cases. Folks keep coming into the stores and buying out their stock. Which is good news for everybody: with the possible exception of whoever has to re-arrange the displays and keep track of inventory. And that's another topic.

This video does a pretty good job of showing what these candles do:

"Spiral Light's Spiral Burning Self Filling Candle"

anoasisproduction, YouTube (July 28, 2011)
video, 1:31

Spiral Light Candle is changing gears right now, since we need to make a whole lot more candles than we did a month ago. It's an interesting situation: My wife's been taking long strands of candle wick, cutting them to length, and shipping the ready-for-assembly wicks back to Hillsboro.


Making long strands of wick into shorter strands. October 28, 2011.

Right now, having wick preparation done partly as a sort of cottage industry makes sense. I'm not sure how long that's going to be the case. My son-in-law and I have been discussing locations for a factory: and that's yet another topic.

Somewhat-related posts:

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Christians in Action Trade Show, No: Website, Yes

About an hour ago I learned that Spiral Light Candle won't be attending the Christian Trade Show and Business Expo's Houston trade show. It's the 15th Annual Christians In Action Trade Show, and would have been a fine opportunity to show folks these candles. And a good networking experience.

But we've got finite resources, and the decision was made to focus on getting the Spiral Light Candle website ready for online commerce. Now, a blatant display of self-promotion:

That's Spiral Light Candle Corporation. (spirallightcandle.com)

I also learned that I'll be handling routine maintenance and updating for spirallightcandle.com - which isn't as impressive as it sounds. All the code will have been taken care of by the time the project gets to me: leaving me with a nice, friendly, interface and a list of clerical duties.

I was looking forward to at least hearing about Houston, the Christians in Action Trade Show, and all: maybe even being asked to help out. But that's the way things go. I'm looking forward to seeing how the website looks - and how it works.

More-or-less-related posts:

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Candles, Another Trade Show, and an Upscale Shopping Center

Spiral Light Candle Corporation will be at The Westin Galleria Houston in November. Not the Houston Galleria - that's the whacking great shopping center across the street. I put links that might be useful, under "Hotel, shopping, and stuff," at the end of this post.

I won't be going along this time: which is probably just as well. I've just gotten over the last trade show, in Pennsylvania. It was a wonderful experience, by I'm not a 40-year-old kid any more. Posts about my experience in Pennsylvania are linked on "Catholic Marketing Network Trade Show."

Spiral Light Candle: in Houston November 18-19


View Larger Map

The "A" on that map points to the Westin Galleria hotel. There seems to be a skyway/overhead walkway from the hotel to The Galleria shopping center across the street.

I think Mall of America, a couple hours' drive southeast of here, does a better job with its website: and that's another topic.

Where was I? Candles. Trade show. Houston. Right.

Spiral Light Candle will have a booth at the Christians In Action Trade Show, Friday and Saturday, November 18 and 19. Here's part of what the CATS folks say about the event:
"...The Christians In Action Trade Show is a Business Expo that brings together hundreds of businesses, entrepreneurs and ministries to network and promote their goods and services. The event is a great networking experience, packed with a lot of....

"...Over 200 exhibitors and 3,000 participants from various states and countries are expected to participate in the show....

"...innovative ideas that will motivate the participants....

"...and a concert featuring well-known gospel artists on Saturday 19th, 2011...."
("Welcome to the Houston Trade Show," Christian Trade Show and Business Expo)

Add up the exhibitors and participants, and you've got about 3/4 as many folks attending, as live here in Sauk Centre, Minnesota. Looks like it's going to be a lively event.

Not-entirely-unrelated posts:
Hotel, shopping, and stuff:

Monday, September 12, 2011

First Full-Time Employee, and a Busy Monday

Spiral Light Candle Corporation (spirallightcandle.com), my son-in-law's latest venture, has a full-time employee, as of Friday. Last Friday, that is, not the one coming up.

So why am I spending part of today, getting Spiral Light Candle Corp's Amazon.com account ready? I've got about 20 years' experience in marketing, which makes me a pretty good choice for the task. I'll get back to that in a bit.

Now, some blatant, shameless self-promotion. Almost. Actually, it's part of what I'm preparing for Spiral Light Candle Corp's Amazon account:

About Us

Spiral Light candle all started with a simple question: "Why does a candle only burn straight down?" With this in mind and his interest in motion and video, inventor and entrepreneur Aaron McWilliams had made the world's first spiral burning, self-filling prayer candle.

Following his love of the Catholic faith, Aaron's first venture into the Catholic market came when he opened a Catholic book and gift store in central Louisiana with his late wife Kelly. After she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, Aaron and Kelly decided to document this difficult journey in an effort to share their experience.

Later Aaron and his new wife, Sara, founded Oasis Productions and completed the documentary entitled: "The Art of Serenity, A Journey of Faith."

Today, Spiral Light Candle Corporation is the McWilliam's newest venture as they stay close to their faith, and strove to provide new and compelling product lines for the market they love.

How Does It Work?

Spiral Light self-filling candles are a new twist on an old staple. The self-filling candle is first lit, using the horizontal wick on the upper edge. The candle burns around the hollow center with the wooden wick allowing the wax to drain inward, filling the center.

The horizontal spiraling wick self extinguishes when the inside wax level reaches the top of the spiral, to prevent any spilling. This creates a solid pillar candle.

By writing your prayer intention on the wooden wick before inserting it in the candle's center, you start bringing your prayer and the candle together. As the spiraling wick burns, a pillar candle forms around your written intention: to remind you that God never forgets.

Back to Me

About four years ago, I posted about the 'Chinese business model:' hiring relatives as a way to get motivated, loyal employees. It's the way quite a few folks in the Far East operate. Here in the West, we've had bad experiences with bosses who hired their idiot brother-in-law: so we call it nepotism, and pay more for the skills of occasionally-excellent non-relatives.

I think it's a cultural thing. This family works pretty well together, which isn't the case for everybody.

I've spent part of today working for my brother-in-law - at zero cost to the Spiral Light Candle Corp. - because he's family, I'd probably think the product is a good one, no matter what. Or at least say so. Also because I'm a part-owner of the company. If we succeed, I'll get paid - indirectly.

But so many stores have ordered Spiral Light's candles - and then ordered more - that it's not just my opinion. These things have a wide appeal.

And, no matter what happens, I've gotten a good review in graphic design and marketing.

Now, it's time for a coffee break and my daily exercises.

Related posts:

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Selling to Small Retailers

I suppose someone could decide to sell a product only to small stores as a matter of 'conscience.' The idea being that 'big box stores' are icky.

There seems to be a more common-sense reason for wanting a lot of small-to-medium accounts, instead of a handful of huge accounts.

Let's say that XYZ Widgets sells 100 units a month to 1,000 stores. I haven't a clue what their widgets are, and it doesn't matter. Their chief competitor is PDQ Widgets, that sells the same number of widgets a month: 100,000.

The difference is that PDQ Widgets sells 50,000 units a month to one major retailer, 40,000 units monthly to another big chain, and 10,000 a month to about a dozen smaller accounts.

Then the 40,000 widget per month chain decided that they'd start stocking a different brand of widget. One of XYZ Widgets' accounts quit buying, too.

But PDQ lost 40% of their income - while XYZ lost 0.1% of theirs. 'Nuf said.

Catholic Marketing Network Trade Show: Second Morning on the Floor

Earlier this morning, Spiral Light Candle Corporation's new website works. As my son-in-law said, 'it shouldn't - but it does!' I didn't have time to get the technical details, but my guess is that the URL got processed with unusual speed. For folks here in Philadelphia, anyway.

Here's where Spiral Light Candle Corp. is, online and elsewhere:

Aaron McWilliams invented Spiral Light's self filling candle earlier this year, and that's another topic.

Here's a half-size video of what's on their website:

"Spiral Light's Spiral Burning Self Filling Candle"

(shown half-size: full version at YouTube)
anoasisproduction, YouTube (July 28, 2011)
video, 1:31

Snapshots from the CMN Trade Show

Inevitably, I took photos at the Catholic Marketing Network's 15th Anniversary Trade Show: and want to show them off. This set is mostly about the Spiral Light Candle Corp.'s booth.

Spiral Light Candle Corp. setting up, at the Catholic Marketing Network Trade Show. August 1, 2011.

A whole lot of Spiral Light Candle Corp.'s small candles. August 2, 2011.

Start of the first open-floor day at the Catholic Marketing Network's trade show. August 3, 2011.

First open-floor day at the Spiral Light Corp./Oasis Productions booth, Catholic Marketing Network's trade show. August 3, 2011.

There's a lot more going on at the CMN trade show - but I'm on 'company time' right now, so the rest will come later. Maybe in another blog.

Related posts:
More about the Catholic Marketing Network's trade show and me:
Background:

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Catholic Marketing Network Trade Show: First Morning on the Floor

We got the Spiral Light Candle Corp./Oasis Productions booth set up yesterday. Actually, my son-in-law and #2 daughter started work on Monday: My contribution was mostly putting a few labels on candles.

When I wasn't on gofer duty at the booth, I visited a few other exhibitors. Here's what I remember, in alphabetical order:

  • America Digital Accessories Corp. (electronicrosary.com)
    • A hand-held talking prayer assistant
      • In several languages
      • Three modes of operation
      • (small) pictures
    • Started in Hong Kong (I think), now in
      • Nigeria
      • Malta
      • United States
      • Other places too, probably
  • Catholic Kids' GamesTM (catholickidsgames.com)
    • The Priest Game
      • A family game
      • Educational
        • You don't need to let the kids know that
        • Teaches
          • Colors
          • Color words
          • Numbers
          • Shapes
          • What parts of a priest's clothing is called
      • Fun
        • Looks like
        • I haven't played it, myself
  • Royal Consumer Information Products, Inc. (royal.com)
    • It's a cash register/office machines company
    • With a talking King James Bible
      • At the Catholic Marketing Network trade show?
      • It's beautiful literature, anyway
    • Their 'coming soon product:' a NAB digital Bible
      • That doesn't talk
        • Fairly easy-to-read display
      • With internal links
      • Searchable
      • Pending approval
      • With
        • Baltimore Catechism
        • Prayers
        • More stuff I don't remember
      • All in a little palm-size keyboard/display

So, Why am I here?

Like I said, I'm with the Spiral Light Candle Corp./Oasis Productions booth. We've got self-filling candles - a unique product. I've posted this time lapse video before: but repetition is supposed to be good for learning and explanations, so here it is again, still half-size to fit in this blog. The full-size video is on YouTube.

"Spiral Light's Spiral Burning Self Filling Candle"

(shown half-size: full version at YouTube)
anoasisproduction, YouTube (July 28, 2011)
video, 1:31

Related posts:
More about the Catholic Marketing Network Trade Show and me:
Background:

Monday, August 1, 2011

Families, Vacations, Catholic Marketing Network's 15th Annual Trade Show, Schedules, and a Candle

We started setting up the Spiral Light Candle Corp/Oasis Productions booth at the Catholic Marketing Network's trade show this evening. More accurately, my son-in-law and #2 daughter started setting it up. I stayed out of the way, for the most part.

Trade Show Children's Area

There's something new this year: a sort of 'kids' area:' a section for children with activities and (don't tell them?) educational things going on.

This makes sense, I think, since some folks plan their family vacations around the show, or at least work it into their vacation plans. With the children's section available, parents have the option of getting a few moments on their own, to check out the booths.

The public part of the trade show starts Wednesday, and goes through Friday, I'm told.

Catholic Marketing Network Trade Show Floor Schedule

Here's what I found on the trade show's website-

Trade Show Floor Open:
  • Wednesday, August 3
    • 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
  • Thursday, August 4
    • 9:00 a.m. to 5:45 p.m.
  • Friday, August 5
    • 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
The trade show's website has a more detailed schedule.

Who's at the CMN trade show:Just a few from the list of attendees:
  • America Digital Accessories Corp
  • Bless Our Faith Gifts, Inc.
  • CCC of America, Inc.
  • The Donut Man
  • Liguori Press/Publications
  • Mr. Jon's Gift Shop
  • Wee Believers

Spiral Light Corporation's Self-Filling Candle

I'm particularly interested in the Spiral Light Candle Corp./Oasis Productions booth. Naturally, since I'm a part-owner of the Spiral Light Candle Corp. - and working there as the gopher,

Here's a time lapse (and half-size) video of one of our self-filling candles. The full-size video is on YouTube.

"Spiral Light's Spiral Burning Self Filling Candle"

(shown half-size: full version at YouTube)
anoasisproduction, YouTube (July 28, 2011)
video, 1:31

More about the Catholic Marketing Network's trade show and me:

Catholic Marketing Network's 15th Annual Trade Show and Me

Later today, I expect to arrive at the Valley Forge Convention Center in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania: near Philadelphia. My arrival won't be a big deal, but I think the event is.

I'll be at the Spiral Light Candle Corp. boot at the 15th Annual Catholic Marketing Network Trade Show. I put links to the Catholic Marketing Network, and the trade show's site, under background, at the end of this post.

The Spiral Light self-filling candles are something new. Here's a time lapse (and half-size) video of one of our candles. The full-size video is on YouTube - you can follow the link.

"Spiral Light's Spiral Burning Self Filling Candle"

(shown half-size: full version at YouTube)
anoasisproduction, YouTube (July 28, 2011)
video, 1:31

I'll be updating the link list below, as I post about my experiences at the trade show.

More-or-less-related posts:

More about the Catholic Marketing Network's trade show and me:Background:

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Trade Show Time: Catholic Marketing Network

After trying several approaches to running a successful small business, I think I've found what works for me: ride on my son-in-law's coattails. Sort of.

Seriously, now: Oasis Productions is my son-in-law's company. He's done - and is doing - a good job of running it. He did such a good job, that I'm now a part-owner of Spiral Light Candle Corporation. Which makes a line of unique candles he's developed:

"Spiral Self Filling Candle"

(shown half-size: full version at YouTube)
anoasisproduction, YouTube (March 15, 2011)
video, 0:42

"A candle that burns around a hollow center and fills itself...."

"Unique" gets over-used. In this case, though: I think it fits. These self-filling candles are made by Spiral Light Candle Corporation, and nobody else. It's a remarkable product - which is what you'd expect me to say. What I've enjoyed seeing is the way folks react to them. They're in stores in a few states so far - and I'll stop before I start sounding like an advertisement.

Where I'll be next week:

Somewhat-related posts:
More about the Catholic Marketing Network Trade Show and me:

("Following" list moved here, after Blogger changed formats)

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