BreezeBlog

Interesting day at Farnborough International yesterday.

Seeing the Vulcan back in the sky was something else.

However it wasn't the only trip down memory lane. Having worked at the RAF Institute of Aviation Medicine for many years the sight of the old labs - now falling into decay - a trip back to Farnborough always brings back happy memories. Apart from memories that is of the physiological testing we did to each other. So "happy" might be tempered with feelings of exhaustion, nausea, freezeing cold, searing heat, centrifugation, decompression,....

Also good to meet some of our happy customers. One such was the Dr Brian Robertson, M.D. of The Event Medicine Company, who kindly gave me a tour of the airshow control room. It used to be the RAF IAM's central workshop. But time has a habit of marching on!

All I can tell you is that anyone attending Farnborough International is in good hands thanks to a vast network of dedicated professionals working behind the scenes to make it a safe event for all. Hats off to them all.

I was also priviledged to get a tour of the field hospital and see how they use our kit in action.
Styled on the same basic principle as the product we offer to the general public, the bespoke version fits to the side of medical couches, stretchers...

The benefit for nurses and doctors is that it allows them to treat heat illness (wet the skin with tepid water, then fan) hands free, freeing them up for other proceedures.

It was quite humbling to be touted around as the inventor of "the Sleepbreeze". But fascinating to hear from the medical staff about hyperthermia treatment in marathon races where high core temperatures sit side-by-side with vasoconstricted skin & no sweat.

Looking forward to a paper on that sometime when Brian has a moment!

Then off to a UKTI DSO-led event where we were asked to talk to a US delegation. A big "thank-you" to the UKTI DSO and Washington embassy staff for organising that. I think we might be getting somewhere! So, fingers crossed on that one.

Then, finally off to the UTSL stand to meet another customer who needed to de-risk his family summer holiday to Tuscany - sounds "Scorchio!". So, one happy punter with a Sleepbreeze for each of his family.

Back to the office today and registered the military version of our product with it's own Nato Stock Number. We'll be putting details of this product online in due course.

Plenty of paperwork, but the huge advantage of a chair to sit on after yesterday's marathon visit!

And Sleepbreeze products winging their way far and wide today. Many thanks to all who placed an order. We really appreciate your custom.

All the best, Andy

Oh, ok. It wouldn't be a blog-post about an airshow if I didn't upload at least a couple of aircraft snaps!

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Sunday 27th of June may be remembered by most of us for the day England thrashed Germany / crashed out of the World Cup (delete as appropriate!!!).

It is also likely to set a record as the hottest day of the year so far, reaching an unpleasant 30oC. As we settle into a period of prolonged hot weather, night time temperatures are also remaining high, making getting to sleep a lot harder.

Here's our Top 5 tips for beating the heat (and Germany in the footie).

1. Replace the England team with 11 lads from the British Army RAF at Camp Bastion.
2. Don't forget, your Sleepbreeze cooler isn't just for night time use, but can be placed on the back of the sofa as you cheer England on. Cheering will help. Vuvuvuvuvzellas don't.
3. Make sure you keep the curtains drawn upstairs during daytime hours to keep the sun out - it'll be a little cooler when you've finished celebrating / drowning your sorrows.
4. Be sensitive to the distress felt by other countries that have been knocked out of the Football World Cup whilst believing the game is actually called the Soccer World Cup.
5. Use a Sleepbreeze fan to help move air over yourself when trying to get to sleep. In hot weather there is little or no natural air movement. Air flow helps evaporate sweat which is what gets you cool and off to sleep. Simple as that.

Oh, and 6 (Extra time bonus tip)

6. Wave a Union flag to support England and show support for Scotland. I'm sure the Scots will be cheering for us this afternoon. :)

Fingers crossed for this afternoon and hope you can take a look at our Sleepbreeze coolers in time for the next spell of hot weather.

www.sleepbreeze.co.uk

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Well, we kept the VAT rate for UK customers at 15% long after the previous Chancellor put it back up to 17.5%.
I'm now bringing each of the Sleepbreeze pages up to date and making it consistent.

No doubt George Osbourne will confound my efforts to keep the site up to date in future budgets by putting VAT up to 20%. Grrrr.

Please bear with me whilst I go through each of the pages and make the changes.

Do we accept credit cards and debit cards? Well, yes.

This is great for people like me who see a product they like then have to sign up with the merchant's favoured e-commerce solution, like Google Checkout, PayPal, ....

So, when you go to checkout, then choose PayPal and they give you the option of either using your credit card or logging in to your PayPal account. I just did this for a purchase with ScaleScenes.com (hey we all have to have a hobby!) and it was simple and quick to use.

I'm populating each of our pages with "Credit cards accepted" logos alongside the VAT update.

Enjoy the Bank Holiday.

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The British Science Festival will be in Surrey from 5-10 September, bringing over 350 of the UK’s top scientists and engineers to discuss the latest developments in science with the public.

Sleepbreeze will be there at the Trinity Centre on the 5th & 6th of September showing off our low energy personal cooler - and just to put the word "low" into context, you can run 20 of our products using the same amount of electricity as a lightbulb. That's got to be good for both your wallet AND the environment. And unlike a photo on a web page you can try out our cooler before deciding to buy!

We'll be on hand to chat to anyone who has a bright idea and just needs some advice on how to set up in business and bring there idea to fruition.

There are all sorts of exciting events to get involved in around the town. This is genuinely a festival for all the family and not to be missed. So, look forward to seeing you there and please come and see us at The Trinity Centre (on Guildford High Street) on Saturday or Sunday.

All the best, Andy

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Shortly before the MongWay Round team embarked on the 2009 Mongol Rally to Ulanbataar they came over to visit us and pick up Sleepbreeze personal coolers for the trip.

Robbie Morgan of team MongWay Round emailed the other day to say that they were well on their way to Istanbul and that the Sleepbreeze coolers may well have saved their lives in the heat of Croatia. We're all looking forward to hearing how they get on when travelling across even hotter parts of the rally!

The MongWay Round team are raising money for the Phyllis Tuckwell hospice, Kidney Research UK and the Mercy Corps. The lads would be delighted if you had a few pennies to add to their fund raising effort....so take a look at their rather unique website - www.mongwayround.com.

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So, Sleepbreeze is sponsoring the Mong Way Round cars in the 2009 Mongol Rally. But what's it all about? Well, until the lads start sending back video clips of their rally advenutres, here's a clip which pretty much sums it all up.

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It takes a special kind of lunacy to drive a sub-1 litre car on the motorways of Britain these days. So, we loved the idea that Robbie Morgan and his friends were going way beyond the M25. All the way to Ulaanbaatar, capital of Mongolia.

Robbie had thought things through and knew that it was going to be hot, potentially verging on "scorchio", camping in tents at the roadside as they raced towards Central Asia. So, he approached us at Sleepbreeze to use our compact and energy efficient cooling fans to keep cool.

This Monday the Mongway Round team will be at Sleepbreeze HQ in Alton to show off their specially decorated cars.

The team will be raising money for 3 excellent charities. So, if you have some spare cash....

As the race progresses we'll be putting photos and video up on the website and on the Sleepbreeze fan page on facebook.

And if you happen to see two zebra-styled cars somewhere between Alton and Ulaanbaatar then give them a wave. Or a tow.

Just in case you're about to look up Ulaanbaatar on the Wiki - here's a map. Yep, you've got it. They're mad. But in that way recognised and respected by explorers the world over. Good luck lads.

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With the Met Office predicting temperatures to soar during the coming week we're set for a busy week at Sleepbreeze.co.uk, despatching our personal coolers to customers around Britain and beyond.

One of the most common questions we get asked is: "What is the best temperature to sleep at?" Although there's no clear cut answer, what is important is that we lose some body heat before sleeping. Obviously in hot weather this takes a lot longer, or doesn't happen at all. That's why the Sleepbreeze is such a great product to have tucked away at home. It cools you sufficiently to get good quality sleep even in a heatwave.

Experts reckon that once the night time temperature reaches 17-18 Celsius then sleep becomes difficult to achieve and is also disturbed. Of course if it's been a sunny day then the temperature in your bedroom is going to be a lot warmer, heatwave or no heatwave.

For anyone living in built up areas, like London, ambient temperatures can be several degrees warmer than outlying country areas, simply because of the amount of buildings, people, and vehicles etc all of which generate heat.

Whilst we applaud some of the green advice on keeping cool, such as planting a tree outside your home to provide shade, that won't pay off quickly enough to benefit you this week. They do say, however, that planting a tree whose shade you'll never sit in is the ultimate mark of civilisation. That'll be something to think on as you lie in bed this week.

Equally purchasing a portable air conditioner (typically around £200-500) isn't necessarily a cost effective solution once you've thrown in the amount of electricity it will use. It was interesting to hear some of the school kids at the Surrey SATRO festival this week telling me how much energy a unit like this uses. "Too much!" was possibly the best answer. But about 2000 watts (or ~25 lightbulbs worth) would be a good figure. So, where does that leave us all?

Well for our customers who bought our product over the last year they'll be breaking out their Sleepbreezes over the coming day or so. And for anyone interested in purchasing our product - subject to stock - we'll be posting them out daily in time for you to beat the heat with them.

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Well, I figured a good result would be if the students who visited the Working World marquee at Surrey SATRO's Festival of Science and Engeineering asked some questions. A great result would be if they asked some difficult questions. I wasn't dissappointed. Questions came thick and fast, ranging from questions about patents and marketing to fluid dynamics of manifolds.

Yesterday's event hosted by the Brooklands museum and opened by TV Brainiac's Jon Tickle was thoroughly worthwhile for us here at Sleepbreeze.co.uk, as I suspect it was for all the other companies and organisations who took part.

Sleepbreeze had on display its latest product which is used to cool people using military camp beds. Developed for the Event Medicine Company - a privately operated field hospital that caters for mass participation events in the UK - the cooler straps to the side of a camp bed and provides cooling for those who have collapsed in the heat, or who are suffering receiving treatment for other conditions of which heat-related illness compounds their medical situation.

More photos are on the Sleepbreeze page on facebook.

Schools across Surrey and Hampshire were competiting for prizes and showing off their inventions which ranged from an Olympic bridge to renewable energy projects and a CO2-based air con system for night clubs (Farnborough 6th form college).

Having seen the degree of innovation and ingenuity by the students at the festival I came away much inspired by what they had achieved. Britain has, traditionally, earnt a reputation for innovation and inventiveness. Talking to the students yesterday this reputation will be around for a long time to come.

Roll on Surrey SATRO's 2010 festival!

If you'd like to read more about this event then check out Emma Duggan's blogspot. Nice photos. Oh, and thanks, Emma. Hope you liked your purchase! Have a cool one.
Andy

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As ever we're keen to mention companies that have been helpful. Earlier this week it was a pleasure to acknowledge Positive Branding and Displays-2-go.

It's now the turn of the Sleepbreeze spotlight to turn on MediaPlanet, who produced the "Embrace the Change" supplement in The Sunday Telegraph, to receive some praise. Well done to Rosie and her colleagues at Mediaplanet for working with us so professionally. We're already shipping the Sleepbreeze personal cooler out to ladies who need some relief from hot flushes and night sweats as a result of the supplement.

Mediaplanet's "Embrace the Change" supplement will also be going out with the British Menopausal Society newsletter and will appear on their website.

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