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Pocket Disc Friends and Customers

As most of you heard, this was a very difficult weekend in Central America with tropical storm Agatha pounding Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. The storm caused extensive damage including flooding and mud slides.

We are keenly aware of the situation because it has directly impacted the Mayan Indians that we work with to produce the Pocket Discs and other products. We are still awaiting word on how all of the weavers and their communities fared.

In looking for a way to help, we have connected with the US lead group Mayan Families, which is a 501(c)3 organization set up to help the Mayans in Guatemala. We encourage you to support those who are most vulnerable to natural disasters, and Mayan Families is a great vehicle to do it. Check them out online at www.MayanFamilies.org where you can also donate via PayPal.

You already know the amazing artistry the Mayas are capable of, so please join us in lending a hand in these hard times.

Best,
The Phd Team

P.S. For retailers concerned about shipment status, we will be contacting stores individually if storm-related delays will impact your shipments.

Phd Productions, LLC
919-732-5723
contact@pocketdisc.com
www.pocketdisc.com
www.facebook.com/pocketdisc

We are jazzed to get down to the first ever hang out festival on the gulf shores. Over 40,000 people are expected to be rocking out to Trey Anastasio (from Phish), Alison Krauss, the Black Crowes, Gov’t Mule and many others. Disc should be flying everywhere.

We are watching the tragedy with the oil spill closely. The Hangout website is saying the show will go on, but we will keep you posted. I will stay off my environmental soapbox and not discuss the spill other than to say that it is horribly sad and we are all hoping they contain this as soon as possible. Ultimately, I hope it proves to be another strong push towards getting away from fossil fuels. It seems that the earth is sending us some pretty clear messages. Let’s hope our leaders listen.

In the transition from Whitted to our new office manager, Lucas Wentworth, the blog, Facebook and twitter have fallen by the wayside. We plan to be back on track with that now and so here’ the first bit of great news:
Sales are up over 300%. We’ve sold more this year than all of last year combined and then some. People are loving the pocket disc. The biggest new stores are Eastern Mountain Sports, Books A Million, and Amazon.com. But perhaps more exciting is this quick write up in Parenting Magazine: http://www.parenting.com/gear-gallery/Gear/8-Fun-Toys-that-Fly/3/ which featured us in their May issue. Over 2 Million readers check out their magazine each month so we are hoping to reach a ton of new people.

Phd Productions releases its first commercial to celebrate the 2009 Holiday Season. Have a look and share with everyone.

Happy Holidays!

In one hour last Thursday, I had more time on the radio and TV than in my whole 36 years combined and in both instances, the interviews were over before I knew it. The announcers on both JOY FM and MyNC TV were cool and collected as expected while I tried to contain the butterflies. But they were all very nice and helped make me feel a little calmer. Overall they went well. The TV interview aired Saturday and the radio one will air in the next few weeks. Click here for the TV interview!

November 7-8, 2009

We started our weekend Saturday morning in Tuscaloosa to help our friends at Tide Treasures promote the Pocket Disc and to have some fun tailgating before the Crimson tide went on to put LSU in the books. We were treated to a secret Coke and Brown Sugar rub on some of the most tender, tasty ribs I’ve ever had. Thanks to Carol and Randy for all their kind southern hospitality.

Next morning we were up bright and early to help Chris, Brandy, and the rest of the Mountain High Outfitters crew at the Moss Rock Festival just outside Birmingham. D’s were flying all over the place after families passed the Mountain High booth and discovered the Pocket Disc. “I can’t believe how good they fly!” and “Oh honey, look at these!” were some of the common exclamations we overheard. Lots of beautiful artwork, good music and food rounded out the day for us and the many visitors enjoying the sunny weather at the festival. This is one we’ll surely want to return to next year. Big thanks to Chris Groom of Mountain High for inviting us out and making us feel at home.

The Pocket Disc helped kicked off UNC’s first ever Thursday night game. Tailgating next to Bub O’Maley’s, lots of folks stopped by to see what this curious game Skitzlejinx was all about. We all had a great time and a few new styles of shooting were discovered. While most favored the traditional disc toss, some opted for the tomahawk style while others used the horseshoe approach. Each had varying degrees of success. It still remains to be seen which technique is best. The lure of the 4 and 3 holes is hard to resist for some, but the patient old school disc tossers content to rack up 1s and 2s often took the prize. Not a few passer-byers said things to us to the effect: “Huh, we’re seeing the next cornhole right here. Check that out!”

September 2009

I thought the photos would say it better than I could. What a venue! This is where we came to sell Pocket Discs, enjoy music, food and drinks, and camp. When it was dry, the discs were flying. But as most people later told us, “That’s typical Colorado weather!” - I was literally putting sunscreen on my shirtless back in this photo when I noticed what was rolling our way.

Five minutes later, freezing cold rain and not a few hail pellets slammed down upon the crowd.

It was like that all weekend – scorching one minute and freezing the next. But everyone kept good spirits and fun was had by all as this one minute video shows.

On the way back, we drove 8 hours across the great state of Colorado with many photo stops from Montrose to Denver in a convertible rental car. We vowed to keep the top down unless it rained. It snowed, but through it we drove, bundled up and happy as could be. If you drive across Colorado ever, make sure you do it in a convertible if you can. We made it the whole way.

Special thanks to Seth and the boys at www.LokiGear.com for inviting us out and sharing their booth with us.

On the last day of my vacation in Maryland, I took the girls to the pool. While hanging near the diving board I asked a random guy if he’d let us video him while jumping off the board. Pretty lucky I asked him. Jump? No, obviously not good enough for him. Patrick dove and snagged it on the first go. On his second, he did a gainer and I nailed him in the ribs with the ‘D. He clamped down his arm executing a perfect chicken wing catch before hitting the water. Then he says, “Let’s try a gainer off the high dive.” Just being the thrower, I readily agreed. Seemed like a good bargain to me. My first throw blew and I thought he would kill himself reaching back behind him. He got right back up there and we did a bit of triangulation. I fixed on a spot, he took off, and with some good fortune, my aim was true. Patrick didn’t miss a beat.

Patrick and his friends have since helped us with some game and uses ideas and he hopes to do some video work himself to add to the cause. We are looking forward to seeing what he comes up with.