Why I haven't updated

I haven't written in this blog since I moved to London. Partly, this is because there is so much to do and learn here at Imperial College and London. More importantly, I am not quite sure what to write about. I certainly don't want to give away any information to help my competitors (Makes sense, right?), but I don't want this blog to be YET another corporate blog, where products are being advertised in a bloggy kinda manner.

I tried to do some sales pitch-y blog about teak. However, I couldn't bring myself to post it! I don't think I am the only one without a clear plan of how to use this Web 2.0 thing. Well, blogging is more like Web 1.8, but close enough. Seriously: you see these company blogs popping up, but I seriously wonder if they do much marginal good because most people can see through the commercial sales pitch aspect of these blogs.

So, yes, if you scroll down, I did try to peddle some "Black Magic" plants (and yes, I am still peddling them if you are interested!). But the main reason I haven't updated is because I haven't found the right perspective to write about without giving away too much or too little about the company.

Europe

I am temporarily moving to the U.K. to pursue an M.B.A. at Imperial College's Tanaka Business School. Hopefully, my close proximity to many European countries will spur a new era in TOL's marketing to these countries.

What does this mean for my U.S. clients? Nothing at all! I will continue to have the same contact information as before and will be as accessible, if not more so due to the time difference, as ever.

The only downside to all this is that I will be moving from the wonderful climate of the San Francisco Bay Area to possibly ever-grey London. We'll see how things go. I may even acquire a British accent (or a fake one, like Madonna's?).

Midam and TPIE

Happy New Year! This month, I am planning trips to Chicago and Fort Lauderdale to attend two tradeshows: the Mid-America Horticultural Tradeshow and the Tropical Plant Industry Exhibition. I have never been to either, and so am looking forward to seeing the people and culture at these shows. In addition, I have never been to Chicago, so I am especially looking forward to it!

We have some Colocasia "Black Magic" in stock so I'll see if I can't peddle it off to someone at these two shows!

New Year

The intention of a daily update at this blog has clearly deteriorated-- my last update was over 2 months ago!

With the new year fast approaching, new businesses established this past year are now taking off. Plants are multiplying, plans are coalescing, and taxes are approaching fast! Certainly, this has been a good year for us. A lot of lessons learned and good people met.

One thing I endeavor to do next year is visit Thailand! I have not been back in about 3 years. I do not speak Thai very well (I sound like an American expat) and I do not read Thai, so it is always a challenge when I go back. It would be nice to lie out on a warm beach somewhere with BBQ chicken and some cool tropical fruit juice....

Plant Introduction

Today, the University of California at Berkeley Botanical Gardens had a plant sale. This is their annual Fall plant sale, with one hour of members-only shopping beginning at 9 am, then opening up to the public at 10 am. I was planning to arrive early to become a member as well as to make use of the full hour to get all the plants I wanted.

I woke up at 9:05.

I live in San Francisco, which is about 20 minutes across the bay + 20 minutes to get to the Botanical gardens in Berkeley. I got to the Botanical gardens in 30 minutes from my time of waking up.

Surprised?

When I arrived, the parking lot was full, so I had to park at the overflow parking area. Cursed be! This meant more delay as I would have to take the shuttle to the actual shopping area. Fortunately, the bus came promptly and I headed to the Botanical gardens.

After I completed my membership payments, I had only 10 minutes of members only time remaining. Oh, I forgot to mention: there was a silent auction for members only. I definitely did not want to miss that!

Fortunate for me, most of the plants I wanted were still there. The silent auction did not have anything I needed; mostly, the auction included large plants that were too gaudy for me.

I picked up a variety of plants which looked interesting to me, but I would have to check with some friends to see if they are marketable at all. Some were from South Africa; others from Chile; some are local California species. All in all, very exciting. For sure, my little yard is much more colorful from this new addition!

Keep your eyes on our Plant Products for some of these plants; they might appear on the "future" list very soon! Because tissue culture takes at least 9-12 months to initiate and multiply, these plants probably won't be available until 2007.

Patents confuse me

Patents are so confusing! Plant patents are valid for 20 years and protect the patent holder's rights to the plant. Other people are not allowed to artificially propagate them. Obviously, I think this is a good plan because hardworking breeders should have their rights protected. We wouldn't even dream of propagating a patented plant on purpose.

That's where things get complicated. How do we know if something's patented? Of course, one can check the tag of the plant to see if there is a "PP", standing for Plant Patent, with its patent number. But what if the plant does not have a tag? Fortunately, the U.S. patents website has a search function. However, sometimes, a patent is under one name while the plant is commonly known as another! For example, Philodendron "Xanadu" is patented as Philodendron "Winterbourne"!

Worse still, sometimes, plants are labelled with "PP" and its Plant patent number, but it has been more than 20 years since the patent was applied for, so the patent is no longer valid!

I tell you, it's all so confusing! So, do me a favor: If you see a plant that we have that is patented, please let us know. Most probably, we have the patenter's permission, but maybe not, and we would want to know before we start producing a bazillion plants that we cannot use!

Thai Orchids Starts a Blog

There are so many exciting things happening at Thai Orchids Lab USA LLC (TOL USA) as I write this.

But can I tell them to you?

A lot of the information that flows through TOL USA is confidential. Innovation is a major driver of growth in the industry, and companies compete to be on the cutting edge. If I leaked any confidential information, my head would roll so quickly you wouldn't even have time to say "Lawsuit!"

Despite my inability to show-all tell-all, I hope that this blog will enable you to glimpse into some of the exciting things happening at Thai Orchids Lab USA LLC.

Today, a very exciting event occurred for TOL USA: a blog is launched!