[gui-talk] Fwd: Moving Forward

[David Andrews]

>From: "Larry L. Lewis, Jr." <L_Lewis at Ameritech.net>
>To: "Larry L. Lewis, Jr." <L_Lewis at Ameritech.net>
>Subject:   Moving Forward
>Date: Mon, 6 Nov 2006 10:02:04 -0800
>
>
>Monday, November 06, 2006
>
>Dear Friends, Customers, Colleagues, and Competitors:
>
>I wanted to drop you all a quick note to bring 
>you up to speed regarding some recent changes in 
>my life.  About six weeks ago, I resigned from 
>my position as President, Blindness Product 
>Sales, Optelec U.S.  Over the past month, I’ve 
>been assisting with the transition of the 
>distribution and support of Optelec’s current 
>blindness products portfolio, and I’m pleased to 
>say that Wednesday, November 1 was my last 
>official day as an Optelec employee.  I’ve 
>learned a great deal over the past three years, 
>and have all of you to thank for this.  Firstly, 
>I’m thankful to my customers who enabled my team 
>and I to nearly clear seven figures in revenues 
>within our first nine months of selling in 2004 
>while easily posting results well into seven 
>figures for 2005 and surpassing this goal in 
>2006.  We were able to accomplish this with only 
>a fraction of the products that we expected with 
>a pretty lean team and I have a great deal of 
>gratitude and appreciation for all of you who 
>have been great customers.  Secondly, a “thank 
>you” goes out to my staff who have put up with 
>me during the past three years­smiles­it’s not 
>been an easy ride, but we’ve had a great deal of 
>fun in the process, and I appreciate all of your 
>efforts, sacrifices, and support for me.  I’d 
>like to thank Optelec’s third party 
>suppliers:  Tim Connell, Managing Director of 
>Quantum Technology, Jaroslaw Urbanski, Managing 
>Director of Harpo (the innovator of the Easylink 
>product line), and Eduard Sanchez, CEO of Code 
>Factory.  The three of you and your respective 
>companies provided Optelec US with some great 
>products to sell over the past three years, and 
>your companies’ commitments to providing 
>innovative products in a timely and responsive 
>manner have paralleled my team’s commitment to 
>sell them.  Lastly, I’d also like to thank my 
>competitors for bringing out the best in me; I’m 
>a fiercely competitive individual who thrives on 
>very difficult challenges, and you’ve provided 
>me a “playing field” to further refine many 
>skills that I will take with me into the next chapter of my career.
>
>So what’s next for Larry?  I’ve founded my own 
>company, Flying Blind, and Ohio-based LLC committed to:
>v      Working on special projects with 
>companies who have a reputation for actually 
>bringing innovative products to market in a timely manner.
>v      Working with companies focused on the 
>development of emerging technologies with the 
>end goal of bringing these technologies to a commercializable state, and
>v      Ultimately, I’d like to get back into the 
>supply and distribution game with the right 
>partner, and am exploring a few ideas and options on the R&D fronts.
>
>I’m pleased to say that JoAnn Becker, who worked 
>with me at Optelec will be joining me to assist 
>with these projects.  We have a few things to 
>begin working on the front burner for the month 
>of November, so stay tuned for more news.
>
>Please find below my personal contact 
>details.  My home office and mobile phone numbers will stay the same.
>
>Again, thank you all for taking the time to read 
>this message, and I look forward to interacting 
>with many of you in the weeks to come.
>
>Kind Regards,
>Larry L. Lewis, Jr.
>Home Office Phone:  +1 (216) 381-8107
>Cellular Phone:  +1 (216) 276-0699
>E-mail:  L_Lewis at Ameritech.net

David Andrews and white cane Harry.