Dear Friends,

Yes, it is still snowing just about every day here in Vermont, and March did not have any lamb imitations at all! I leave for China on Saturday, and the weather forecast looks like a warming trend, so maybe I’ll be able to get my motorcycle out by the time I get back. I’ll be attending a couple of trade shows in Hong Kong to look for new products and then visiting several factories in Shenzhen and Dongguan where some of our Chill Pill and Hammerhead products are manufactured. I make it a personal rule to always visit the factories where our goods are made to see what the working conditions are like and to meet some of the people that make our goods.

I am sure I will see a bijillion products for the new iPad 2. This product launch is even more spectacular than the original iPad launch, as more people now know what to do with an iPad. We are getting iPad 2 shipments each week, and just as soon as they arrive, we are getting them in the hands of customers that have been eagerly waiting for their arrival.

We held our annual Apple Sales Pro dinner this week. About five years ago, I gave my employees a challenge – whoever achieves the highest level of Apple sales training, Apple Sales Professional, will go out to dinner with me and have their achievement recognized with a branded article of clothing. The first year we had a small intimate gathering of five Apple Sales Pros. It has since grown each year: This year we had 44 of our 52 employees reach Apple Sales Pro status. Kerry, Katie and I have been planning the bash for months. We rented a big bus and picked up the Burlington crew (we closed the store early) and then picked up the crew in Waitsfield and headed to our Manchester location. There we had the first real opportunity for the team from all of our locations to meet each other in person. Many from the Vermont team had not seen the new Manchester store, so we hung out there until our early 6PM closing and then we all piled back into the bus to go to a Mexican restaurant in nearby Lawrence, MA. There we had some excellent food and were serenaded by a great guitarist and mariachi singer named Charro. It was a fantastic party, and I hope I can top this one next year! Congrats to all the Apple Sales Professionals at Small Dog Electronics!