Supplier : Innovation + Job News

You know a company understands customer service when its phone number is right at the top of the site. Sitecats Web Design must be on the right track, since it has grown out of its former office and set its sights on a larger market. The company, according to founder and owner John Ralston, was originally structured as a traditional freelance web design company, but with the advent of user friendly content management programs such as Joomla and Wordpress, he saw a business model that would allow customers to have the freedom to edit and create their own content.

"We're very proud that we have stuck with Joomla, and have become the area's authority on this CMS, based on our many hours of creating great sites with it. No other CMS has over 7000 powerful modules and components for just about anything a customer needs to do."

Formerly based in Souderton, Sitecats recently expanded to offices in Doylestown, where it counts among its clients Alderfer Meats,  Landis Supermarket, and the Heritage Foundation. The company is now centrally located by the Bucks County Courthouse with 9-to-5 hours "and a landline," adds John, who runs the company with his son Jeremy Ralston. Right now, Sitecats employs five, soon to be six.

"If our projections are right, we'll need to hire a new employee every quarter in 2012, after we're dug into the fiber of the Doylestown scene, according to Ralston.

Some marketing wisdom from Sitecats: when you're out networking, always sit at the table where you know the fewest people. Get heavily involved in the local scene.

'I started with the Main Streets group in Souderton, joined chamber committees, and even co-founded a brand new and very successful business networking group," says John. "We also advertise on local radio WNPV, where I have my own show Mondays at 11 a.m., that focuses on non-profits like Keystone Opportunity Center and Manna on Main Street."

Sitecats clients can sign up for training classes in Joomla along with the company's traditional offerings of site hosting and development.

Source: John Ralston, Sitecats
Writer: Sue Spolan

It all started in a community screening room for Specticast, an all digital private network company that distributes film and cultural arts events via set-top boxes. Based in Center City, the company uses an efficient internet protocol rather than satellite to distribute programming such as simulcast concerts from The Philadelphia Orchestra and independent full length features. Mark Rupp, COO and co-founder of Specticast, says they're broadcasting to about 80 outfits right now, including The Bryn Mawr Film Institute and senior living communities like Waverly and the Quadrangle. By the end of the year, the company hopes to increase its reach to 200 outlets. The company also offers concerts from The Curtis Institute and broadcasts of Michael Smerconish's book club.

You may wonder if this is the same company that distributes simulcasts of the opera at movie theaters. "We are not the opera," says Rupp. "Our Digital Theater Network is a very different technology from the Met. They are done over satellite and distributed to the big chains." Instead, Specticast aims for the art house crowd, so outlets like The Bala Theater and The County Theater in Doyletown are prime targets. Specticast serves similar theaters across the country, and is aiming for a global presence with its plug and play technology.

Traditionally, says Rupp, movies are distributed as 35 mm prints, which are very expensive to create, ship and insure. "When our technology comes in, it fills a gap," says Rupp. Specticast can provide the same film digitally for pennies on the dollar on a 10 mpbs downlink. Subscribers pay a refundable $395 deposit for the set top box, and theatrical license fees that range from $250-$1,000 per film. For films and events that generate revenue in theaters, Specticast gets a percentage of the gross gate. The film or live streaming event is delivered to a 250 gig set top box, and is remotely deleted at the end of the rental period.

Specticast just announced a partnership with indie film distributor Monterey Media, which will open the door to a lot more feature film content, and with Monterey's Hollywood connections, Rupp expects that it won't be long before Specticast will be able to exponentially expand offerings through agreements with other independent distributors.

Source: Mark Rupp, Specticast
Writer: Sue Spolan

Let's say you're a particularly nosy busybody and want to keep tabs on an entire city: Full surveillance, 24/7, 30 images per second. It won't be long before all that data adds up to a whole lot of server space. TimeSight Systems has developed a clever solution. TimeSight's next generation surveillance technology is based on time sensitivity.

Chuck Foley, CEO of Mt. Laurel NJ based TimeSight, says, "What we've realized in the world of surveillance is that there is a natural time value to video." He explains that surveillance video is most valuable in the minutes and hours after it's shot. Time mitigates risk, says Foley. The older the video gets, the less value it holds, so there are declining levels of risk. "We've developed technology that allows you to literally shrink video over time by setting rules," says Foley of his company's Video Lifecycle Management software. "A company can keep video for a day or two at the highest quality; afterward, they can compress that video to half its original size, and keep it for 30 days. They may compress it again, so the life cycle refers to how that video declines in value over time." This compression schedule allows a company to get back precious server space. TimeSight can slash the amount of storage required by about 90 percent, translating into far smaller investments and footprints, and the method makes sense to a lot of major concerns, including cities, schools, and casinos across North America. TimeSight counts The City of Philadelphia and Paramount Pictures as customers.

TimeSight has attracted the attention of major venture capitalists, including New Venture Partners and Contour Venture Partners. "We've been able to do in software what others have done in hardware," says Foley, who says the Video Lifecycle Management program can process massive amounts of video from both legacy cameras as well as newer IP-networked cameras in a standard off-the-shelf server, making storage of high resolution images economically viable for a wide range of clients. TimeSight has been selected as a Technology Startup Company finalist at The Greater Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technologies (PACT) Enterprise Awards. Winners will be announced at a ceremony on May 4.

Source: Chuck Foley, TimeSight Systems
Writer: Sue Spolan

The Mark Group, a UK company with recently opened North American headquarters at The Philadelphia Navy Yard, is hiring big time. And training, too. The Mark Group is looking for 60 to 70 new hires who can be trained to go out in the field as energy efficiency experts. The company, which concentrates on the residential market, recommends and completes refitting and repairs to make homes more comfortable and cheaper to run. Chief Operating Officer Dave Hopkins says Mark Group's average fee is $2,500, which will be returned in cost savings in two to three years.

Last week, The Mark Group graduated its first class of students at its North American Energy Efficiency Training Academy. The facility, developed with the support of a $192,000 grant from the Philadelphia Workforce Development Corporation, is sending out workers who can enter a home and go places even the homeowner may never have gone, like attics and crawl spaces, to identify and fix problems like leaks and drafts. Hopkins says the company is training and hiring two types of employees: assessors and technicians.

Since The Mark Group's US launch in November 2010, 40 people have been hired, and by year's end, The Mark Group will have over 100 employees out and about in the Delaware Valley, including New Jersey and Delaware. The parent company has a presence in 20 countries worldwide, and chose Philadelphia as its first stop in the US, thanks to assistance at the state level from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, and locally from Select Greater Philadelphia. "We have plans to expand to the Pittsburgh market, Newark, New Jersey and Baltimore," says Hopkins.

So far, The Mark Group has relied on word of mouth referrals and a favorable article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, and next month expects to launch a marketing campaign. The company has also signed an exclusive deal with Prudential Fox & Roach Realtors to provide energy efficiency services to the agency's clients.

Source: Dave Hopkins, The Mark Group
Writer: Sue Spolan

Top style and ideas for fledgling clothing brand Philadelphia Printworks come from the lovely and talented minds of April Pugh and Ruth Paloma Rivera-Perez. Headquartered at North Philly's Emerald Arts Studios at 9th and Dauphin, Pugh and Rivera-Perez are using T-shirt fronts to spread the word about issues and people they care about. "If people don't listen to NPR, or do their own research, there's a void, and that's what we're trying to fill," says Rivera-Perez, who cites a design based on concerns over fracking for Marcellus Shale natural gas.

And the message is more than just political. Some of the designs celebrate the contributions of lesser known cultural figures, like Nina Simone and Jean-Michel Basquiat. On top of the duo's designs, says April, PPW will take custom orders.

Rivera-Perez, who grew up in Cherry Hill, N.J., is also Political Science/Urban Studies student at Rutgers-Camden, graduating in the spring. Pugh also writes the April's Flowers tumblr. Both have been working about 36 hours a week at PPW as well, and report that starting up the new business feels like a full time job. On a recent Saturday night, the ladies were up past midnight building inventory.

When asked about sales targets for the coming year, Pugh and Rivera-Perez respond that it's less about sales and more about accomplishing the mission of providing a place for the community to speak through wearable art. PPW plans on opening up the studio for community workshops, where people can come print their own designs. They're also planning an artist residency program, with a resulting collection that will be on sale this summer.

Check the PPW blog and Facebook page for updates, or look for Pugh and Rivera-Perez selling shirts on First Friday at the corner of 2nd and Market.

Source: Ruth Paloma Rivera-Perez, April Pugh, PPW
Writer: Sue Spolan

Eyeglasses are about to change dramatically, thanks to a major investment by Safeguard Scientifics. The Wayne-based holding company, in an effort to expand its footprint in life sciences investments, announced that it has provided $25 million plus an additional $10 million in venture debt to PixelOptics, a medical technology company in Roanoke, Va., for its emPower! line of chip-enabled glasses aimed at bifocal and progressive lens wearers, of which there are a total of 100 million in the US alone. Safeguard's Senior Vice President and Managing Director in the Life Sciences Group, Gary Kurtzman MD, notes that investment in life sciences start ups is shrinking, and Safeguard is seeking new opportunities by getting into consumer-driven companies like PixelOptics.

Rather than divide eyeglasses so that the top section is corrective and the bottom section is for reading, emPower! glasses rely on a chip embedded in the frame which electronically transforms the focus of the entire lens from corrective to reading power at a touch. The chip is powered by a battery which lasts at least two years and requires recharging every three days.

Kurtzman says the new eyeglass technology has significant near term potential both as a product and for revenue, citing a low regulatory bar, a big market, and the fact that the product is ready to go to market. "We think it has all the features of an ideal investment," says Kurtzman of PixelOptics' new product, the result of 12 years of research.

Kurtzman, who is already wearing a pair of the glasses, is impressed that he can use the entire lens for either purpose. "There is a small liquid crystal embedded in the glass of the lens. If I need it, I turn it on and it's there." He reports that the glasses are the same weight as their conventional counterparts, and the company is initially rolling out 36 different frames, competitively priced, in a variety of shapes and colors. Kurtzman says emPower! frames will be available in the Philadelphia area within six months.

Source: Gary Kurtzman MD, Safeguard Scientifics
Writer: Sue Spolan

Wallquest has China covered. Dubai, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and India, too. The Wayne-based wallcoverings firm was just named Small Business Exporter of the Year by the Export-Import Bank, and received an award this week in Washington, DC. Wallquest's exports rose 76 percent to more than $17 million since 2008, thanks to robust sales overseas. Jack Collins is Vice President of the family-run company, which he runs along with his brother and father, who acquired Wallquest in 1985.

While the original customer base was domestic, big box retailers and toll free sales left no one to sell to in the United States, and Collins says Wallquest had to go overseas around 2005, now selling environmentally-friendly products in more than 50 foreign markets. With a good brand name in America, the company has had great success in emerging markets in Asia and the Middle East, and the trend is toward American design.

"You wouldn't think someone in Saudi Arabia or China would want American country style, but they do," says Collins, who explains that among affluent Chinese homeowners, a big wooden kitchen table is a sign of wealth, and American design dovetails with that table.

While Wallquest is a relatively small company, says Collins, its line is more extensive than competitors', with around 35 collections coming out this year.

"Our business used to be more seasonal, and now it's not because of our international clients. When the US market is strong in winter and spring, it's Chinese New Year, and in the summer, when the US market is down, the Chinese and Middle East markets are coming up."

Collins is grateful to both Ex-Im Bank and PNC Bank for playing an essential role in the company's global growth. Wallquest wallcoverings are made with water based inks and the highest quality printing technology in the main manufacturing facility in Wayne; recently, the company acquired and retooled two other factories in New York and New Jersey, bringing the total number of employees to 150. Later this year, Wallquest plans on opening another facility in King of Prussia, hiring an additional 30 to 40 employees.

Source: Jack Collins, Wallquest
Writer: Sue Spolan

There's a powerful global interactive agency right here in your backyard. You've probably never heard of it, but that's by design. Empathy Lab, based in Conshohocken, is set to break $14 million in revenue this year with clients you've definitely heard of, including Sony, Nautica, Kipling, Saucony, Clarins, Lexmark, Comcast and Verizon. The digital agency, founded in 2005, employs around 70 people in its suburban Philadelphia headquarters, and unless you're in the know, you'd pass right by.

"We don't necessarily focus on the region as our target for clients," says Kevin Labick, CEO of Empathy, explaining Empathy's local low profile. "We made a decision to be world class in two areas: eCommerce, and media and entertainment as it pertains to the digital channel."

Empathy's target companies are in New York, Los Angeles, Paris and the Netherlands, with just a few in Philadelphia. Its secret to success is an intimate approach to customer needs and motivations.

"Everything we do revolves around understanding the customer's point of view," says Labick. "Almost every project we work on involves contextual inquiry. We go into people's homes and offices, and sit with them on the way to work in their cars, to understand how they use our clients' brands."

Labick cites research for David's Bridal eCommerce platform that involved peering over the shoulders of brides to be as they perused potential gowns on the web. With the growth of destination weddings, Empathy discovered that brides want to know what the bottom of the dress looks like so they can judge its performance on a sandy beach.

Another growth area for Empathy is digital media and entertainment. While many brick and mortar stores were closing down, Empathy positioned itself at the forefront of digital media delivery. One example is Sony's newly released My Daily Clip for Apple mobile devices. Empathy's strategic placement has paid off. While other agencies have struggled through the economic downturn, Empathy's growth is impressive: in 2009, company revenue was $8 million, in 2010, revenue jumped to $12 million, and this year's projections show more of the same.

Empathy's low profile is going to have to change, says Labick, whose staff spends the great majority of its time on client campaigns, not self-promotion. "We are growing and we need people. We don't want to open offices everywhere. We want people to be based here, and have lives here."

Labick attributes Empathy's success to deep partnerships within the industry, working closely with developers and software companies to deliver innovative channel solutions to clients. Earlier this year, SmartCEO Magazine selected Empathy as a Future 50 Company in recognition of its tremendous employee and revenue growth over the past three years.

Source: Kevin Labick, Empathy Lab
Writer: Sue Spolan

Clean technology is a big draw for potential investors. Several hundred people gathered at the Academy of Natural Sciences on March 31 for the 3rd Annual Mid-Atlantic Cleantech Investment Forum. Sponsored by Blank Rome Counselors at Law, the Academy and Cleantech Alliance Mid-Atlantic, investor panels discussing the future of renewable energy, clean water, recycling and waste disposal were followed by presentations from area entrepreneurs.

On hand were members of the Greater Philadelphia Innovation Cluster for Energy Efficient Buildings. Williams J. Agate leads the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, developing and managing the Philadelphia Navy Yard, which is now in the process of creating a smart grid energy master plan.

The Fostering Cleantech Investment Panel included Kevin Brophy, of Meidlinger Partners, who talked about the future of clean water investment, and said that while innovation in the field came from the middle cap, the greatest opportunity for future investments is in the huge lower cap market. Also on the panel were Gary Golding, from Edison Ventures, who addressed rapidly improving awareness of water issues, Arun Kapoor of SJF Ventures, who mentioned 100 percent Pennsylvania wind provider Community Energy, and Josh Wolfe, the founding partner of Lux Capital. Wolfe described Lux as an early stage high risk venture fund valued at $100 million, and had a different take on the market than his fellow panelists, explaining that Lux focuses on companies that are long on human ingenuity and short on government rationality. Passing on biofuel, nuclear and natural gas investments, Lux is instead investing in nuclear waste management, calling it the energy industry's biggest unsolved problem.

The only presenting entrepreneur based in the immediate Philadelphia area is solar power conversion company Alencon Systems, Inc. Now in the research and development stage, Alencon addresses the problem of energy efficiency with large scale photovoltaic systems, which are currently created by aggregating multiple small systems. Alencon, which was borne of research at Rowan University, aims to simplify solar and wind power systems from distributed harvesting to centralized conversion. With a prototype already built and tested, Alencon slates projected sales of its streamlined systems at $45 million by 2014.

Source: 3rd Annual Mid-Atlantic Cleantech Investment Forum
Writer: Sue Spolan

You've walked past the kiosk on your way to a flight. You've paused at the entry in the SkyMall magazine. The Neat Company, based in Philadelphia, makes products to organize the avalanche of paperwork that accumulates if you travel for work or are a small business owner. Receipts, business cards, invoices, and other scraps can pile up into an unwieldy stack very quickly, and if you are out on the road, keeping track of these little white bits is not exactly a top priority. Neat makes two versions of its product, which combines a scanner with software to create a digital filing cabinet. NeatDesk and its traveling companion NeatReceipts scan paper, automatically classify and organize documents for easy reference and retrieval with included NeatWorks software.

"The world of paper is the last world to go digital," says Kevin Garton, Neat's Chief Marketing Officer. "Think of it like iTunes and the iPod, but for paperwork." Garton says that the Neat line of products is also useful on the home front, where parents can scan children's medical records as well as personal paperwork, and Neat makes tax time much easier for home and business users. Garton also points out that scanned documents are fully searchable.

Neat, which got initial funding from Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania, reports that it experienced 536 percent revenue growth in 2010. Neat began as a father and son business, after the pair got fed up with an expense reporting process that more closely resembled an arts and crafts project involving scissors, tape and more paper. Garton says that from that first kiosk at Philadelphia International Airport, Neat products are now available at major retailers nationwide both online and in-store, as well as on the Neat website. The expanding company will be moving its headquarters to 16th and Market Streets in April.

This week, Neat rolled out an upgrade for Mac users, and announced a contest to award ten people $1,000 each. Contestants enter by posting a comment on Neat's blog or Facebook page, by retweeting, or by mentioning the contest on a blog.

Source: Kevin Garton, The Neat Company
Writer: Sue Spolan

Brazil's largest oil and gas company, Petrobras, is looking to make some solid Philadelphia connections. Last Thursday, Petrobras, along with a consortium of sponsors including HSBC, Select Greater Philadelphia, the US Department of Commerce and the State of Delaware, hosted lunch at Brazilian steakhouse Fogo de Chao for local leaders in finance, transportation, economic development, drilling and trade. The Delaware Valley is home to major global logistics players like BDP International, a busy international port, and headquarters to financial institutions in Philadelphia and Wilmington.

For most in Greater Philadelphia, Petrobras is not yet a household name. Listed as the largest company in Latin America by market cap and revenue, PFC Energy ranked Petrobras at the end of 2010 as the third largest energy company in the world by market value. Thursday's luncheon was also timed to highlight President Obama's upcoming state visit to Brazil.

Speakers included Maria Izabel Ramos, Investor Relations Manager for Petrobras, who provided a company overview, as well as the Honorable Branko Terzic, Executive Director of the Deloitte Center for Energy Solutions, who took the podium to provide an overall look at the future of energy consumption. Terzic, who chaired a United Nations commission on Clean Energy, said that 40-50 percent of the world still relies on wood for fuel. That statistic is changing, with increasing incomes and increasing demand. "Seven hundred million people will enter the middle class in the next decade, primarily in India and China," said Terzic. "Fossil fuel, oil and gas will be their primary energy source."

Terzic pointed out that there are hard truths where global energy needs are concerned. While the use of electric cars is on the rise, he reminded the audience that fossil fuel powers 70 percent of the electric grid. In the total electric mix, only 1.6 percent now comes from renewable, clean resources like wind and solar, and we have a long way to go. With political uncertainty in the Middle East, Terzic said we can look to Brazil's Petrobras, for the dual benefits of a diversity of supply and a stable democracy.

Attendee Paul Ellenberg, Business Development Manager for global logistics company BDP International, said he now understands that "for the world to get away from bio fuels, it will take us at least 100 years." Petrobras is newly on Ellenberg's radar, and as far as next steps, he says, "BDP Projects will reach out to become their transportation vendor for equipment from around the world to Brazil."

Source: Branko Terzic, Deloitte, Maria Izabel Ramos, Petrobras, Paul Ellenberg, BDP International
Writer: Sue Spolan

It's 2011. Do you know where your power is? With the expiration of Pennsylvania power rate caps at the start of this year, state utility customers are searching for alternative providers. If you are all about clean renewable energy that's local and sustainable, Community Energy provides 100 percent Pennsylvania generated wind power, and it's expanding to provide solar as well.

The Radnor-based company, founded in 1999, began selling retail wind power to commercial customers ahead of state mandates, enabling Community Energy to build demand for the construction of its own wind projects in Pennsylvania as well as in New Jersey. "In 1999, there were a total of 10 megawatts of wind power east of the Mississippi," says Jay Carlis, Vice President of CEI's Retail Division. Texas boasts two of the world's largest wind farms, and California is not far behind. Carlis reports that in the past year, CEI experienced strong growth and has doubled in size, thanks largely to the addition of solar energy to its offerings. After CEI's initial foray serving commercial clients such as Carnegie Mellon University and Giant Market, CEI added residential clients to the roster, and then partnered with utility companies, enabling its reach to include the entire northeastern United States.

While the Pennsylvania PUC has created PA Power Switch, an easy to navigate website that helps customers shop for energy, Carlis says the site leaves out some vital information. "Most people don't understand the complicated aspects of the market. If you want wind power, and it's coming from Texas, the grids don't even connect," says Carlis. Rather, utilities are dealing in tradable Renewable Energy Certificates. For someone living in Pennsylvania, he says, there's a lot of benefit to having wind in the local grid, including a future price edge benefit. "Twenty years from now, if all of Pennsylvania is buying from Texas, Texas will look good, and it won't make a bit of difference for Pennsylvania. It's important that people understand the implications of their choices."

Source: Jay Carlis, Community Energy
Writer: Sue Spolan

Philadelphia is a steamy city, and the proof is issuing out of all those vents. This week, Veolia Energy North America announced the completion of the transition that renames Philly's steam loop provider from Trigen to Veolia. The Center City steam loop is a green idea from way back in the late 1800s, when the Edison Electric Light Company (now PECO) realized it could repurpose exhaust steam from its plant at 9th and Sansom Streets to heat the nearby Irving House on Walnut Street. The system grew to a total of 26 miles of underground pipes.

The synergy was such a success that cities around the country adopted the steam loop concept. Currently, 300 Philly buildings utilize Veolia's steam heat. The highest profile building, literally, is the Comcast Center. According to Mike Smedley, Vice President of the Mid-Atlantic Region for Veolia Energy North America, the tower's "utilization of district energy was one factor that contributed to its status as the tallest LEED-certified building in the US."

Why the name change? Smedley says that the Trigen brand name is only known for district energy, while the Veolia name is synonymous with creative environmental solutions. Not only does Veolia supply steam heat, but it's also pretty chill: the company also "built, owns and operates a 7,000-ton chilled water facility for Thomas Jefferson University and Hospital."

Traditionally, says Smedley, the production of heat and power are separate processes that are energy inefficient because a large portion of fuel burned is lost as waste heat. In contrast, Veolia's combined heat and power (CHP) plant recycles waste heat, and converts it into useful thermal energy. By combining the processes using CHP, says Smedley, Veolia can produce thermal and electrical energy using up to 40 percent less fuel than if the two forms of energy were produced separately.

Source: Mike Smedley, Veolia Energy North America
Writer: Sue Spolan

Flying Bytes is innovation nuggets from throughout Greater Philadelphia, with a focus on food and beverage this week.

WHAT A LOVELY TACO YOU HAVE
It's art. It's tacos. It's coming to a neighborhood near you. Celebrity chef Jose Garces announced this week the launch of the Guapos Tacos truck, which will be hard to miss. It's covered in a mosaic of 45,000 beer bottle caps, designed by Jun Aizaki, who created the interiors of all seven of Garces' restaurants. Follow the truck on twitter @GuaposTacos.

BAKIN' & SNACKIN': A GOOD THING
Soup sales may be down, but Campbell's reports its Baking and Snacking sectors are on the rise. The company just released Second Quarter Results for 2011. While the company's core product, canned soup, decreased four percent, CEO Douglas R. Conant says "Baking and Snacking, our second largest segment, delivered top and bottom line growth in the quarter." A top seller is Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies.

IN OTHER CANNED NEWS
Philadelphia's Crown Holdings is expanding its production of aluminum beverage cans at all three of its manufacturing facilities in Vietnam. The Hanoi plant expansion will allow Crown to crank out 1.5 billion cans; in Ho Chi Minh City, expected output for 2012 is 3.2 billion cans. Crown's global clients include Coca-Cola, Heneken and Kronenbourg.

TAKE IT TO GO
Food flavoring company David Michael announced the upcoming Innovation Roadshow that will take place in Philadelphia on March 30. This year's conference is all about going global with food and beverage products and features Mary Wagner from Starbucks' global R&D division. David Michael & Co. produces over 40,000 flavors, stabilizers and natural colors.

Source: Garces Restaurant Group, Campell's Soup, Crown Holdings, David Michael & Co.
Writer: Sue Spolan