Last month Dr. Bott and one of our Top Vendors, Griffin Technology, had the unique opportunity to contribute to something much larger than ourselves.

In order to help feed the hungry in Oregon, we partnered with GBD Architects in Portland, Oregon, and Canstruction, a design/build competition currently held in cities throughout North America.

Teams of architects, engineers, and students mentored by these professionals, compete to design and build giant structures made entirely from full cans of food.

GBD had a team, and they created a giant sculpture of Barack Obama’s head (both fascinating and frightening all at once!) Just kidding about the frightening part. The sculpture was pretty cool, and I am quite impressed by the precision and creativity that went into building it.

They asked Dr. Bott to donate prizes that their employees bought raffle tickets to win. All the money was donated through Canstruction to the Oregon Food Bank. Griffin partnered with Dr. Bott to donate some great prizes.

Since Canstruction’s inception, ten-million pounds of food have been donated to aid in the fight against hunger. Make sure to check out their website, http://www.canstruction.org, and check out the fabulous Griffin products on our website, such as the Autopilot, which I have been using lately in my Camry. Works great by the way.

It’s hard to believe that Macworld has come and gone and a month has now passed since the doors were closed. Now we’ve had a good chance to soak it all in and look back at how the show impacted Dr. Bott and its partners. Apple may not have launched that ground-breaking product that was going to revolutionize the tech world as we know it, but the Dr. Bott family had some significant recognition come out of that show.

Six Dr. Bott vendors received Best of Show awards at this year’s Mac extravaganza. A few even received multiple awards.

Receiving Best of Show recognitions from both iProng and Typical Mac User Podcast was Matias for their Tune Blocker. iProng also saw fit to recognize as Best of Show Blue Microphone’s Mikey (Reseller Link), nekFit’s Sportband (Reseller Link), Speck’s CandyShell (Reseller Link), Kensington’s Hands-free Vizor, Griffin’s Navigate, and iHome’s iP1.

iLounge gave their recognition as Best of Show to Speck’s CandyShell (yes, CandyShell’s second Best of Show award), Griffin’s PowerJolt Reserve & PowerBlock Reserve, and Griffin’s iFM App. Griffin’s SmartTalk noise-canceling Bluetooth headset was an iLounge Best of Show Finalist. Griffin as a company also received the iLounge Best of Show award for Innovation, so props to them.

Make sure to check out some really cool features and reviews of several products featured in the Dr. Bott exhibit at Macworld this year.

Blue Microphones on Geekbrief.TV, MacBreak, Macworld, and TidBITS
Geekbrief.TV
MacBreak
Macworld
TidBITS

ThermaPAK Heat Shift Pad on Geekbrief.TV and Macworld
Geekbrief.TV
Macworld

iPevo coverage on TUAW, TidBITS, and theory.isthereason.com
TUAW
TidBITS
theory.isthereason.com

Matias Tune Blocker on the Typical Mac User Podcast and Macworld
Typical Mac User Podcast
Macworld

Nekfit featured on Macworld
Macworld

iDowell featured on Macworld
Macworld

Ten One Design featured on TidBITS and Macworld
TidBITS
Macworld

BookEndz getting some press on TidBITS
TidBITS

Brenthaven making some waves at theory.isthereason
theory.isthereason.com

Dr. Bott is proud to announce a new relationship with Mophie (Reseller Link), makers of various battery solutions for iPod and iPhone. Mophie has a great solution for iPhone 3G and those who are consistently running out of battery life due to heavy use. Mophie battery packs are great devices that not only give the user extra talk time but also protect the device at the same time.

Called Juice Pack for iPhone 3G, this rechargeable lithium polymer battery offers up to 35 hours of standby time, up to 6 hours of talk time on the 3G network and up to 12 hours on the 2G network. Juice Pack is also available for iPhone 1G and iPod Touch. Juice Pack for iPhone 3G is now in stock and shipping. Contact your account representative for more information.

It is on rare occasion here in Oregon that we experience anything more than a dusting of snow in the winter months. But this year we’re experiencing quite a storm with about a foot of snow on the ground and more still falling.

But, I am pleased to report that the Dr. Bott team is rising to the occasion, and we’re ready to get our customers the products they need.

I arrived early this morning to find our Shipping Supervisor already hard at work – he had driven for about an hour and a half in his 2-wheel drive sedan to make sure our warehouse was ready to start shipping.

When UPS arrived with the first delivery of the morning, the driver ended up getting stuck pulling into our snow-covered parking lot. Fortunately we were able to tow him out with one of our trucks and received the shipment. Special props to UPS for being the only carrier that could even make it to us today!

We will have the tow chain ready when it’s time to ship, and Dr. Bott customers can rest assured their products will be shipped today!

With Macworld Expo starting earlier than ever in 2009, we’re well into our final preparations for the show. The Dr. Bott booth will be located in South Hall #1912, right next to the Apple booth. If you’re going to be at Macworld Expo, stop by and you’ll get a first-hand look at some of the most innovative products for Mac, iPod and iPhone — many of which will be making their debut at the show.

The Dr. Bott booth will feature exhibits for 20 Dr. Bott vendors, including Axio, Blackmagic Design, Blue Microphones, Bookendz, Brenthaven, Case-mate, Cinemizer, Dr. Bott, H-Squared, iDowell, ifrogz, iPevo, It’s About Time Products, Matias, MCA, nekFIT, Softpress, Ten One Design and Thermapak. It will also feature the popular Dr. Bott Store, where show attendees can purchase product on-site at a special show discount.

We hope to see you there!

Last week we moved the Dr. Bott headquarters to a new location. Our new address is below:

9730 SW Hillman Court
Suite 600
Wilsonville, OR 97070

The new location provides us with an improved warehouse space that will make for a more efficient operation. In addition, the fact that the space is located in the same business park as our previous location enabled us to make the move as smooth as possible with minimal impact on daily workflow and warehouse operations.

As we’re already in the thick of the holiday season, this smooth transition to the improved space has put us in a position to better meet our customers’ needs, especially in the busiest time of year.

Dr. Bott LLC announced that Matt Gorski has joined the company as Director of Sales. Matt brings nearly 20 years in sales and sales management to Dr. Bott, with experience at electronics-related companies including Thrustmaster, Labtec, Logitech and Creative Labs.

“We’re really excited to have Matt working with us,” said Eric Prentice, CEO of Dr. Bott. “His experience in retail combined with his ability to manage and grow teams has us confident that he’s exactly what we need to take Dr. Bott to the next level.”

“Dr. Bott has a unique position of strength in its distribution of products for Mac, iPod and iPhone,” said Matt Gorski, Director of Sales for Dr. Bott. “I am thrilled to be working at such a dynamic company, and I look forward to building upon Dr. Bott’s already strong momentum.”

The worlds of music, the Mac industry, and Dr. Bott converged recently when Adam Christianson of the popular Maccast podcast finished one of his broadcasts with a song by a Portland-based band known as Tango Alpha Tango. The band just happens to feature our own Aaron Trueb (far right in the photo) on keyboard and vocals.

Although they’re not technically the Dr. Bott house band, Tango Alpha Tango has quite a following with the company, as many of us have attended their recent shows. With plenty of shows coming up in Portland (and even Seattle) in the next weeks and months, if you should happen to live in the Pacific Northwest, be sure to check them out. If not, you can always listen to their music on MySpace, or get their album “Rebel Sons of Cowboys” on iTunes.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=136712977

It was a very successful Macworld Expo for Dr. Bott this year, as the booth saw more traffic than ever before. Twenty-one Dr. Bott vendors showed off their latest products for Mac, iPod and iPhone, many of which were available for purchase in the centerpiece of the booth — the Dr. Bott Store.

There were many hot-selling products in the Dr. Bott store, here are just a few from the top of the list:

Jawbone Bluetooth Headset (Reseller Link)

ifrogz fitz Adapter for iPhone (Reseller Link)

Marware Protection Pack (Reseller Link)

Marware CEO Premiere for iPhone (Reseller Link)

Synium MacFamilyTree 5.0 (Reseller Link)

Dr. Bott T7Hub (Reseller Link)

Wi-Gear iMuffs (Reseller Link)

Matias iRizer (Reseller Link)

Griffin TuneBase II FM with ClearScan (Reseller Link)

Key Ovation Goldtouch Keyboard for Mac (Reseller Link)

Dr. Bott and its vendors also received plenty of media attention at the show. The week was packed with scheduled press tours, and plenty of other media contacts stopped by to see the latest products.

One prime example of a Dr. Bott vendor receiving media attention was ifrogz, whose new Audiowrapz Speaker Case for nano (Reseller Link) received best in show awards from both iLounge and iProng, plus coverage in GeekBriefTV’s first post-Macworld video broadcast. Be sure to check out the blooper after the GeekBriefTV credits!

http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/2008-best-of-show-winners-announced/

http://www.iprong.com/index.php (January 22 special issue with Best of Show awards launching today)

http://www.geekbrief.tv/ (Brief #298)

With Macworld Expo taking place this week, the majority of the Bott will be attending the show in San Francisco. Our booth is in the same location as in recent years (right next to Apple), but it will definitely have a different vibe in 2008.

We’ll have twenty total Dr. Bott vendor exhibits in the booth, which is nearly double the amount from last year. In addition, the Dr. Bott Store in the booth is bigger and more packed with product than ever.

If you’re attending Macworld Expo, be sure to visit us in booth S-1912. If not, don’t worry, there are enough of us back at the office to take care of your orders.