It is nicely packaged in a glossy box and now has TWO candles instead of just one. And the best thing is, the price stayed the same.

Kandela Overview Sheet

Two Kandela Candles and Wand with Box

Kandela Twin Pack

So get your pack as gift or for yourselves as long as they are fresh

His profile says:

The source of wisdom for Sir Richard Barons, explorer, adventurer and and philanthropist of the New Magical Age. Life is Your Adventure!

His letter to the future owners of Kymera Wand’s shows some of his incredible skills and abilities.

On this picture you can see him standing in front of his shop somewhere in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

Sir Richard Barons and his shop of magical and dragonry utensils

It turned out that Sir Richard Barons recently published a lovely book for craftsmen of all ages that wand to engage in dragon related crafts.

The book is called:

This book is, first of all, a rather beautiful book to behold. The red cloth hardback cover with the curled-up golden dragon on the front immediately make you want to pick it up and look inside! It’s also a rather unusual book, being a mix of both fiction and non-fiction, so when you begin it you’re initially not quite sure what you’re looking at.

As you read on you discover that there’s a story running throughout by Sir Richard Barons, a famous dragon hunter, and with each story he tells there is also a craft project of something related to make!

Story about the Filigree Egg Case

There are fourteen projects in all ranging from simple items that you can print out from the related website through to more complicated tasks to make a dragon bottle stopper or a wizard’s wand. Because of the complexity of some of the projects the book is probably best for children aged at least eight, though if you’ve a very keen little crafter then they could give the projects a go, whilst being heavily supervised by an adult! If your house is already equipped with glue guns and saved-up cardboard boxes then this is probably your ideal book, and there’s lots of fun to be had making the various different items.

I liked the unusual style of this book, with the stories inserted right within the project instructions. It means that you can still get enjoyment from reading the book, even if you’re not ready to sit down and make an item yet. It also makes the items you make more interesting since they’re related to the story you’ve just read, giving everything a magical feel.

I liked the range of projects apart from the fact that there are three items all relating to dragon eggs although I suppose it’s tricky to come up with so many craft ideas all linked to the dragon theme. There are some that would take quite some time and effort to make, but then there are also easier items that would be quicker to make if you had less time.

The book works equally well for boys or girls, and would be a nice weekend sort of book, or one for those long school holidays when you’ve run out of things to occupy the children with! It’s such a beautifully presented book too that it would also make a nice gift for any crafty kids you know.
–Ruth Ng, thebookbag.co.uk, November 2011

A very Antique Map

A collection of Fantastical Stories and Fabulous Dragonry Projects that follow the incredible adventures of Sir Richard Barons, the now famous 19th Century philanthropist, who delighted Victorian Society. His motto, Life is Your Adventure is as true now as it ever was. So why not join us on a wonderful journey through this unique collection of entertaining stories and truly original and absorbing dragon-related craft projects.

A real Dragon Egg

Dragonolia makes the perfect gift, bound in a rich traditional red cloth-covered hardback cover with gilt edged pages and an authentic looking Victorian style layout, each of the 14 chapters has a short story which brings to life a craft project intertwined with it.

Suitable for children from about 8 to adult, with projects to suit any ability from children working alone to projects that will be fun to do together.

You get a standard (E27, E14 and other bases) based bulb (globe or spot) that can show up to 16 colors, some even with strobes and bright colors.

And the cool thing is ….

…. they are controlled by an Infrared Remote Control.

So it is supereasy to program your Magic Kymera Wand to control the colorful light. Stay tuned for a video.

We’ve been selling wands during that period, mostly through amazon but also through this site.

With Christmas rapidly approaching we restocked our wands from the WandMakers so that there should be enough to fulfill all incoming orders.

If you haven’t decided to get one, this video from Chris and Richard, might convince you otherwise (the girl is not included)

While catching up with the Wandmakers there were also quite a lot of news. First, they added a quite comprehensive Q & A section for both wands on their support site.

They also spent a lot of effort to translate the Kymera Wand into many languages, you can view the manuals behind each flag.

They are working on a new secret product that no one must know about.

And there is a new version of the Kandela, that comes with TWO candles and a new and shiny packaging.

New Kandela Pack

More news in follow – up blog posts.

Just a quick reminder – the Kymera Wand is actually a gesture based programmable infrared remote control which can control all of your devices that come with the usual remotes. Its 13 gestures are easy to learn and useful for the most common functions you use (and the most impressive ones). For instance switching on you TV or projector with a big swish, changing channels by flicking the wand or controlling the volume by twisting it.

The Kandela is a more romantic product that also comes literally with a “light-bulb-moment”. You show someone a pretty candle in a darkened room and with just a swish of your Kandela Wand you light it (Don’t forget to incant “lumos”). Then with a wiggle you “nox” it out again. Alternatively you can just blow out the candle. That’s really a show of magic.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

From the remarks on twitter and some reviews it seems to be a much more mature movie. Not a simple adventure like the others, but rather a deeper character study.

Looking forward to enjoy it, accompanied by my Kymera Wand which keeps me safe in this muggle world of techo-mages.

We have a Winner: Sam (comment #54) won the Kymera Magic Wand. Congratulations.

Thank you everyone for your participation, I was blown away by this awesome response. And thanks so much for all the good wishes.

You can still participate in our monthly Kandela Giveaway.

Thanks so much. Wishing you a magical, white Christmas Time.

Cheers

Michael

The Original Kymera Wand Frame with parchment, wand, crest and tibetan coins.

They picked me up from the station and we went directly to Chris’ home talking all the way about wands, kids and much more. On entering the appartment it struck me that this was really an inventors home. Lots of magic wands everywhere, magic candles and self made items of any kind.

While sipping on a coffee we continued to chat about inventing and business. I was also shown the Leopard Gecko who had recently suffered from an attack of his food (locusts). While wandering through the living room I found so many items that Chris created either for his kids, his dadcando site or for himself. That was truly amazing. I really like how he decorated his home with those Wand Company items and took some photographs.

The Counter used at the Birmingham Fair complete with secret compartments

We left for lunch at PizzaExpress which was really delicious. Then they took me back to the rail station to get in time to the airport to catch my plane home. Thanks a lot for this great time. Looking forward to visit you again.

The Wand Shelf with silver dragon wand stand and Kymera and Kandela Wands

The book of Secrets, who knows what secrets a wand maker keeps?

So get your magic candle to enlighten your hearts and rooms with a special atmosphere.

Today I received the first Kandela samples that were graciously sent to me by TheWandCompany’s Chris Barnardo.

Although it was already quite late, I recorded this Kandela demonstration video.

The packaging is really nice. Great display of the Candle and the Wand. I really like how the instructions are printed on the package with the languages interweaved like a helix.

The candles rubber material feels soft and warm. The light is flickering slightly but not annoyingly. It is fun to operate the candle but it would be even more fun to have lots of those candles around. Then you’d feel like Albus Dumbledore when casting the "Lumos" spell. It takes a bit of breath to blow out the candle but it works well.

The Kandela Wand is of the same size and shape as the Kymera Wand but has a different antique ivory finish and a blue jewel at the end (instead of a green one).

I was also able to program my Kymera Wand to operate the Kandela candle, although it was a bit tricky to align the wands while teaching it.

You have to insert 4 AAA batteries to operate it, two into the candle, two into the wand.

Really a great product and gift, stay tuned we’ll have the Kandela available soon.

Room with Kandela Candles

I also recorded a quick demonstration how a room with Kandela candles would look like when you illuminated it in the dark.

Some Updates at TheWandCompany site

The Kandela page now features an illuminated view of the candle on top of the manual.

Illuminated Kandela Candle on top of the Manual Parchment

There is a new gallery page for the Kandela too.

Gallery Page for the Kandela

Kandela Showing up at TheWandCompany.com

Chris Barnardos art skills are really impressive. He just finished the graphics for the thewandcompany.com website featuring the Kandela. All the subtle lighting, flickering and cast light and shadows is really impressive. There is also a separate Kandela page, that shows a parchment Kandela manual with a candle and wand on top. It announces availability of the Kandela from Sept 28th 2010.

Kandela Candle and Wand on Welcome Screen

Lighted Kandela Candle on Welcome Screen

Kandela Wand and Candle on Kandela Manual Scroll

Kandela Announcement on Manual Scroll

Kandela Video

ShinyShiny recorded a video with Chris Barnardo’s partner Dawn who presents the Kandela at the firebox press event.

Win a Kandela

And please don’t forget to grab your chance to be the first to own one – win a Kandela.

Press responses

As with the Kymera about a year ago, the Kandela has spawned quite a lot of press responses.

Most blogs just recite OhGizmo or CoolestGadgets but there are some independend responses as well.

• Firebox
• BBC newsround
• Shiny Shiny (w/ video)
• OhGizmo
• ZitZot
• Coolest Gadgets
• The SUN
• TrendHunter
• Global Post

Kandela Wand and Candle Pack

Today, on Sept 15th, the wand makers, Chris Barnardo and Richard Blakesley, wizards of The Wand Company, funding dragon Duncan Bannatyne of Dragon’s Den fame and the Firebox crew, present the new magical device.

The Kandela is a great, magical package of a Magic Wand and a vanilla colored candle. The wand has an antique bone finish and is set with a blue jewel.

Actually it is a infrared remote control wand, a simpler, non-programmable version of the Kymera Wand and an infrared controlled, blow-out LED candle.

You can use the wand to lighten and extinguish the candle. It can also control how long the candle burns. But like any real candle it will cease to glow when you blow at it.

Duncan Bannatyne and the Wand Makers present the Kandela

Win a Kandela

When you’re active on twitter, your chances to win a Kandela from us are high. Drawings are held every month.

Product Video

As I didn’t get a sample in time for recording a product video I just to my stock Kymera Wand and used a set of IR candles to demonstrate the "Lumos" and "Nox" spells. Please keep in mind – this is a different set of candles that works a bit differently, so it is just a substitute for a real Kandela.

We’ll offer the Kandela as soon as it is available for resale, for about EUR 39,50. If you want to preorder a Kandela just comment on this post and well figure it out. Firebox also offers it for pre-order right now.

The Kandela Candle and Wand

Kandela User Manual

Kandela User Manual Illustrations

KANDELA

Magical Wand & Enchanted Candle

Light the candle with a flourish of your wand, blow it out just like a real candle.

The Wand Company Ltd
Makers of the World’s finest Magical Instruments since AD 2009

BEFORE FIRST USE

Install batteries (not included) in the wand and candle before use. Use only alkaline LR03 (AAA) batteries, and do not mix old and new batteries.

OPERATION

The wand does not have a power button; once you have installed batteries in the wand, it is automatically ready to use.

After installing the batteries turn the candle on at the power button located on the candle base; the candle will illuminate. Blow the candle out to put it into standby mode.

Use a short sharp flick of the wand to illuminate the candle from up to 4m away.

The Kandela candle flickers just like a real candle.

To extinguish the candle either:
a) blow it out
b) wiggle the wand while pointing it at the candle within 4m of the candle
c) a 60 minute sleep timer mode may be activated by tapping the wand twice on the crisscross area whilst pointing it at the candle when the candle is illuminated. When sleep timer mode is activated the candle will automatically extinguish after 60 minutes.

To extend battery life, always turn the candle off at the power button when not in use.

TECHNICAL

• Wand needs 2x AAA (LR03) alkaline batteries
• Candle needs 2x AAA (LR03) alkaline batteries
• Batteries are not included
• The wand is about 35.5cm long
• The candle has a diameter of 11 cm and a height of 6.5cm

As you perhaps remember I closed the new user registration on the forum due to massive spam. Now I added some additional security measures (like questions on registration) and hopefully this will be enough to keep the spammers out.

So I invite you to join the Kymera Wand users forum and discuss with other spellcasting magicians everything you’d like to tell or ask.

If you have any requests for more boards or other topics just write a comment.

Happy posting

Michael

Report from the Birmingham Autum Fair

Awareness and Dragons Den Effect

Both products performed flawlessly extracting squeals of delight from anyone
that stopped by the stand to have a go. Passing interest was limited as the
stand was crowded out by people who had targeted us to come and see the wand
for the express purpose of stocking it. I guess it was a huge benefit that
Dragons’ Den had been aired only a couple of weeks before. This is one of
the luckiest things to happen to us. If it had been aired after the show,
awareness of the wand would not have been as high. If it had been aired the
week of the show we would not have been able to cope with both. In business
you always need a bit of luck.

Sir Barons Study

Magical Applicances

On the TV on our stand we had a dvd playing a loop from a promotional video
of surfing huge waves in Hawaii (I think, although Richard will know
exactly), that incredible footage was a draw and the TV was very useful to
demonstrate the functions of the wand. We also had what looked like a real
fire. It was a Dimplex Optimist and uses atomised water to look like smoke
and when lit by hidden light, like flames. Quite convincing it is too and if
we had been agents for the fire I’m sure we could have sold a load of those
too. The fire had the benefit of being remote control so the Kymera had no
trouble learning the codes and with a simple pull back gesture we were able
to put out the fire. The powerhouse of any demonstration was the iPod dock.
The iconic iPod has an interface made for the wand. The wands 13 functions
map well to the iPod interface and allow a great deal of control. We played
magical type music from the playlist that we had used in the Dragons’ Den.

Great Support by Dawn

Richard and I were joined by my partner Dawn on the stand for the whole
show. Dawn works in the Wand Company on the financial side making sure that
the accounts are kept up to date and as a result of the show is also working
with some new customers. Dawn was a great asset on the stand, capable and
confident there was no way Richard and I could have handled the wave after
wave of interested prospects on our own. The show is not one for the general
public, it is a trade show, so each person that comes to the stand is a
potential customer and needs individual demonstration and a discussion about
their particular needs.

Dimishing Stocks

After the first day it was clear that we were going to sell out of the stock
we had in the UK. Signing up numerous resellers who wanted stock immediately
gave us the pleasure and problem of working out how we were going to supply
them. Luckily we had been holding a large number o units for a French
customer of ours and a quick phone call assured us that he wouldn’t mind if
we dipped into his stock, in the knowledge that more stack was arriving next
week (before he needed it). By the end of the second day we were getting
dangerously close to selling out of that too.

Birmingham Autumn Fair Hall 5

After Fair

Long days on the the tiny stand were tiring but huge fun. We didn’t stay at
the NEC but at Birmingham’s trendy Mailbox. So at the end of each day we
drove back there and had a nice meal and then staying up until 2.30am
writing invoices to make sure that our customers got the best service. We
had thought that we might go out and explore Birmingham, but we had so many
emails to catch up on and so many invoices to write that there was not time
for that.

Trade Shows

Autumn Fair was a test for us, it was our first trade show and we wanted to
see if it was going to be worth doing Spring Fair 2011, which is much
bigger. We had a great time, we did a sizable amount of business, we signed
up a good number of new customers and made some heavyweight contacts that
will result in big sales later, so all in all a great success and even
discounting the result slightly for the exceptional effect of Dragons’ Den
(which of course no other subsequent show will have directly) we have to do
more of this sort of thing and Spring Fair looks like a definite date in the
calendar.

Preparing the booth

Notes about the stand itself

Given its small size (perhaps the smallest at Autumn Fair, 1m x 3m) we
managed to pack a lot into it. The design itself was carfeully though
through and I build a special faux old bookcase with a hollow cupboard (and
locakable door) behind and there was the fire place, which itself is very
big. So to make sure that it would all fit and to help with the design, I
built a one tenth scale model. It was very useful in deciding what extra
accessories to get. I attach a picture of the stand model.

Stand Model 1 in 10 Scale

Richard has tweeted pictures of the empty space and the stand build and the final stand
on @thewandcompany.

Chris Barnardo

The Dragons were left spellbound by duo Richard Blakesley & Chris Barnardo and their universal remote control which looks like a magic wand.

Well done Wand-Makers, I hope the investor money will allow you to continue to invent and create such awesome products. All the publicity through the show should empty your stocks quickly.

You can see the video here:

If you don’t know Dragon’s Den Show on BBC TWO – here is a short description from their website:

First launched in Japan, Dragons’ Den is now an international brand with versions airing in countries across the globe.
Entrepreneurs pitch for investment in the Den from our Dragons, five venture capitalists willing to invest their own money in exchange for equity.
Since series five, the five Dragons have been Duncan Bannatyne, James Caan, Deborah Meaden, Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis.

What you can see on the show

• Chris and Richard entering the scene via some dark stairs, perfectly dressed
• asking for a 200.000 pound investment for 10% share of the company
• quoting Arthur C. Clars third law of prediction:
  “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
• pointing to the really large and still growing fantasy market with the likes of Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and such
• presenting the wand and accessories by letting a large black silk cloth slither down
• Richard: “looks pretty much as you expect for a wizards wand”
• “being a real wand it actually can do something”
• letting it play Harry Potter theme on an iPod touch deck
• controlling volume by turning it, switching tracks – and making the investors smile
• telling them it could control anything in their house
• Richard shows controlling TV, fans and even lighting a candle
• the history of business, started in September, by Christmas 10.000 units sold.
• ask for money, expertise to take the company to a 18 million GBP company over the next three years
• they hand the investors the wands to have a try for themselves
• we even spot one of the rare dragon serpent wand stands that was designed by Chris (I got one of my own)
• James Caan wants to know what is behind the magic
• the infrared emitter tip is supplied by one of the largest remote control manufacturers in the world
• the wand also contains a universal remote control chip for learning and sending the codes
• meanwhile the others look at the beautifully laid out manual
• its gesture based approach is compared to the Wii-remote
• with its internal orientation sensor it always know which way is up
• Chris refuses to say what the next product is – but it is awesome, so stay tuned
• “and it’s all based around magic?”
• Richard answers that TheWandCompany will become a brand for all sorts of surprising and magical products
• zoom in to the wand and dragon wand stand
• the Dragons are clearly absorbed by the product
• Duncan wants more information about the inventors
• they tell about their electronics company (where they met) that already sold (about 2 mio) advanced remote controls and embedded displays before
• speaking again about sales they were asked about prices
• impressive margin, great product, Chris and Richard are clearly doing well in the Den
• then Theo asks them about revenue and profits, he is wondering what they want the 200k for if their numbers are already that rock solid
• Deborah talks about the Harry Potter movies, of which the last two will air this and next year
• Chris speaks about people who like fantasy and wizarding things and of the appeal to people who play online games like World of Warcraft and the like, also about other fantasy themes like Narnya and LotR
• the wandmakers speak about deals with Target (US) and the Sky magazines of airlines
• Duncan is the first to break the ice, he offers 600k for 30%
• Duncan being dubbed “Voldemort” by “Hagrid” – Peter who offers 200k for 25%
• then the game starts with Theo asking them “what would make them happy”
• and Deborah offers half the money for 10%, ask they asked for 23% and two dragons
• James sat there listening and as he likes the product and the wand makers he offers what they wanted 200k for 20% later scaled back
• after the real time discussions of 2.5 hours have been cut down to five minutes for TV, Duncan increases his offer substantially and gets accepted
• Now there is money and a strong business partner to look forward to

The awesome GBP 900.000 (in sum) offer got quite a lot of press coverage

• Daily Mail – Dragons’ Den panel in record £900,000 bidding war for the ‘Magic Wand’ they think could replace your remote control
  

  It’s just the thing that Harry Potter could use while watching TV at Hogwarts – a wand that changes channels or turns down the volume at the flick of a wrist.
  And this buttonless remote control certainly seems to have magic properties because it has just attracted the largest investment in the history of Dragons’ Den, BBC2’s entrepreneurial reality series.
  Chris and Richard have already sold more than 20,000 Kymera Wands since the launch in September last year and it is now on sale in 41 countries. They expect to turn over £2million in the next year with the help of Duncan Bannatyne.

• The Guardian – The most successful Dragons’ Den pitch ever?
  

  It sounds like the far-fetched plot of a fantasy movie: crazy inventor enchants dragons with magic wand. But on last night’s episode of Dragons’ Den that is exactly what happened.
  Barnado reckons he has been inventing since the age of 14, when he wrote to Tomorrow’s World with an idea for an artificial limb controlled by nerve impulses; more recent brainwaves include a new form of cheese packaging, a one-piece baby- bottle – and a scatological version of Top Trumps called, er, Plop Trumps.

• Stroke of genius: magic wand entrepreneurs secure highest ever Dragons’ Den investment
  

  Richard added: ”I didn’t expect all five to like the product and I thought we would have some of them saying ‘fine but it’s not my cup of tea’.
  ”They were all pretty good offers so we just picked one.”

• smarta – Dragon’ Den: episode seven, reviewed
  

  That concluded a fantastic spell in the Den for the Wand Company. They left with all their cash, retaining 90 per cent of their business. It makes you wonder if maybe the founders had a few magical powers themselves. Their performance in the Den sure went like a charm…

• Steve van Dulken covers the patent of the Kymera Wand on his Patent Blog
  

  The patent application for the invention was published in May 2010 as Remote control device, in particular a wand.

  I am unlikely to buy it, as I would forget which command meant what. Maybe that is an attraction — different waves of the wand would mean different commands for each person’s wand, making it a truly personalised remote control.

• Technology on MSNBC – Harry Potter-style magic wand conjures big money
  

  The Kymera wand buttonless remote control claims no direct affiliation with J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter empire, but there’s a reason it’s selling like pumpkin pasties on the Hogwarts Express.
  The need for such a product is obvious to anyone who’s endured those Hagrid-sized commercial breaks that muck up each and every ABCFamily Very Special Harry Potter Weekend Event.
  The U.K- based Wand Company’s Kymera wand — that operates via wrist movements rather than buttons — remains one of the website’s top 150 products, out of thousand-plus products ThinkGeek sells.

• Telegraph – Record Dragons’ Den investment for Harry Potter-style magic wand
  

  They expect to turnover £2million in the next year with the help of Mr Bannatyne.
  The Dragon said: “I see the magic wand rolling out very quickly over the next six months and I think it will do very, very well.”

There are lots of comments like

• useless gadget
• I don’t need it
• patent infringement
• how to switch 500 channels
• to pricey
• how to memorize 13 gestures

But I think after you tried it for yourself for the first time you perhaps think differently. And who needs 500 channels and can’t memorize 13 simple gestures?

Some positive comments

• Excellent idea I would love one if you have any going spare. Have you thought about making limied edition versions with different designs of handles etc or trying to approach the Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings people to see if they are interested in a specially designed version. Can’t wait to see your next invention
• Well done to Richard and Chris, looks like a great idea! Will be looking out for your next products. Looking forward to seeing your company at the Autumn Fair. Hope Duncan can give you the help you need.
• When you reach 45 years old your eyesight starts to go for close up reading. Most remotes have really small text on the buttons so you’re scrabbling around for your reading glasses or pestering the kids to change channels or operate the TV guide for you. This gadget will be so useful. I’ll probably get one… I hope it works OK! Well done guys.
• I love it…much better than having 4/5/6 remotes sitting around (all needing batteries!!)…If I buy one I think I’ll get hubby to make a ‘holster’ to go on the side of the sofa to hold it..looks like it could be a brilliant invention for those not able to use buttons too….well done to you both and good luck!

And some shots from the video as a gallery

The Kymera Wand is featured prominently as gift-bag item of this years TED Global 2010, which started today in Oxford, UK.

The WandMakers Chris and Richard were happy to provide 800 Kymera Wands as gift to the TEDsters. Here is their warm, welcoming note:

Technology Entertainment Design

TED started out in 1984 to bring people together from these three worlds. Today, these fields have been combined in many fantastic ways, so we were honored when the nice folks at TED invited us to participate in this gift bag. We’ve taken a little of todays technology, applied creative design, and developed a product which has already entertained customers in more than 50 countries around the world.

It’s been a great start for our fledgling company, and we’re really excited about the future possibilities with help from people like you. That’s why we’re delighted to present you with your very own Kymera Magic Wand, and would love to hear your comments, thoughts and ideas – so please drop me a note at chris.barnardo(at)thewandcompany.com, or visit our website here: www.thewandcompany.com

Chris Barnardo, CEO

They created a great looking package specially designed for TED. The same kind of packaging is available for corporate customers that want to give away the Kymera Wand as a gift – to customers, partners or employees.

There are already the first tweets about it:

@PaulRieckhoff
Best gift bag item of #TED: a Kymera Magic Wand-”not a toy, a finely tuned instrument of control” http://twitpic.com/24okbb

Kymera Wand @TEDGlobal2010 by @PaulRieckhoff

@whiteafrican: #TED Fellows can practice their quiddich with their new wand in the Harry Potter dining room. #Oxford http://twitpic.com/24b8xh

Harry Potter dining room by @whiteafrican

@freeworldmedia: Opening up the famous TED Gift bag. The highlight is the magic wand that controls anything from the TV remote to… http://fb.me/CgZcExin

@paulrieckhoff: @thewandcompany Thanks for the cool gift. After some drinks, there will be TEDsters running all over Oxford screaming “Abracadabra”! #TED

@gregorymiller All but the floating candles & white owls at #TED. http://twitpic.com/24×3xl

TED Magic Lunch by @gregorymiller

@giorgiotedx TEDxDubaiLive – TED Magic Wand ,inside delegates bags. Will need to try it on a couple of folks back in #DXB http://twitpic.com/24wcbs

@rodrigocvc: Refeições a la Hogwarts no TED Global. http://bit.ly/a2ECOR (expand) #ted [afichacaiu]

Hogwarts at TEDGlobal

Gift bag contents

Look out for TED content anyway. These are the worlds best presentations on various topics online, collected for more than 25 years and available for free (Creative Commons).

Wishing all TEDsters much fun at the event.

Thanks to all participants. Wishing you luck for the next round of giveaways.

Back in October 2009 Anne-Marie Kovacs of TheSucculentWife wrote a nice post about the Kymera Wand.

We chatted about having a giveaway contest some time in the future, and now with Fathers Day (June 20th) approaching, she took the chance to offer a Kymera Wand for her blog’s readers.

As an avid reader of the Kymera Wand site, you should know how many gestures the wand supports. So hurry up to the post and add your comment to win a wand.

The giveaway is open until June 11th 2010. Wishing you Good Luck.

]]> http://www.kymera-wand.com/2010/05/kymera-fathers-day-giveaway-from-thesucculentwife/feed/ 1 http://www.kymera-wand.com/2010/05/100th-blog-post-time-to-celebrate/ http://www.kymera-wand.com/2010/05/100th-blog-post-time-to-celebrate/#comments Mon, 10 May 2010 23:55:56 +0000 admin http://www.kymera-wand.com/?p=931 So, this is the 100th post on kymera-wand.com. I want to take some time to celebrate and review the things that happened since I became a fan of the Kymera Wand.

First I want to thank Chris and Richard for their ingenious invention that has sparked magic not only in my life. To come up with such an awesome product is really a work of a genius. Thanks for being so creative, welcoming, helpful and generous all the time. I really enjoyed collaborating with you guys and am very glad to have two such friends on the British Islands. Please keep up the great work and surprise us now and then.

Yes, it has been 9 months since the Kymera Wand was presented to the public. In September 2009, I contacted Chris and Richard about issues with their site thewandcompany.com for the first time.

I was really exited about the wand and we quickly were on good terms. So we spend a good amout of time in email conversations and skype chat sessions about the wand, the company, it’s development, reselling and other things.

September 2009

Soon I started blogging about the wand, first at the domain wand-control.com publishing press coverage, videos and the manual.

Then I was really impressed as Chris send me a sample wand to take to the JAOO software developer conference to use in my presentation as remote control for my MacBook. I quickly learned the gestures and published a video of controlling Macs with the wand.

I had a local artisan make me a fitting leather sheat for the wand and carried it around all time to show it off. The wand got a lot of attention. Finally I gave it to Kresten Krab Thorup the conference organizer as a thank you for all the great JAOO conferences.

After the conference I opened the forum at this site to give wand owners a place to discuss and give feedback. Unfortunately it never took of (except for spammers), so I removed user self registration.

The Wandmakers also posted the first videos at this time which I happily blogged about.

October

In October we could report the first batch of wands being shipped to customers and published the first user reviews and sightings in the public. The wandmakers created instructional videos and animations that helped in getting along with your Kymera Wand. The coverage of the Wand by PopTech was one of the major public events in October.

November

November was even more excited. It started with a review from MuggleNet and the first mention of the Kymera Wand pockets. Later the month I was among the first that were approached by the wandmakers to become an international reseller of the Kymera Wand. That was sooo exciting. I eagerly ordered my first batch of wands and put up the paypal account (a real pain with bank accounts) and did some promotional stuff. Soon but unexpected the first orders came in. As the last thing in November we covered a press release by the wandmakers Chris and Richard.

December

In December the orders really took off. That was the best month ever, we sold more wands back then than in all other months combined. So we had to restock several times and helped to bring magic to many christmas trees around the world. I hope you all are still happy with your Kymera Wands.
As a service to our customers and fans I translated the Manual into German so that even those wizards that are not able to understand the English can learn to control their wand.

The major digital geek suppliers started to sell the wands as well. The coverage by several pod- and newscasters provided additional publicity.

In December we also did our first Kymera Wand giveaway where we asked you to provide novel ideas for future wand development. That brought us about 50 really comments from which we drew the winner.
There were also three instructional posts that covered resetting the wand and problems with some digital equipment that used remote control sequences as well as general gesture tips.

We could also welcome our most creative and active forum user: Grymmditch aka Paul Higginbotham.

To be continued …

Thanks for coming along and staying informed.

We had several hundred spam entries in the forums per week and I don’t want to deal with that any longer.

Sorry for any incoveniences.

Michael