The filming for ‘The Good Entrepreneur’ has calmed down now, so I have had a chance to catch up with my normal schedule. Not that there is much that is normal about it. However I did dream the other day that I did not wear matching shoes during the shooting in Copenhagen!? Only time will tell.

Meeting Craig from Modcell the other week got me thinking. Instead of competing against each other, we should all collaborate to make a low energy showcase. Come on CNBC, surely you must need some new offices?

Craig has got the construction method sorted with Modcell, while Marco can install the water system. We have the cooling, ventilation and heating covered. What else do we need? With so many great entries to the competition we must be able to cover everything.

Back to reality, and we have been following up all the leads from the show last week. On a personal note I find it very motivating listening to customer’s problems and seeing how we can help. We have made some great contacts through this competition and the trade show from keeping offices fresh and healthy to a few wildcards, like keeping chickens cool.

We have been very lucky to develop a relationship with Workspace PLC (www.workspacegroup.co.uk) and are currently negotiating a roll out with them, following the successful trial of our units in two of their sites. Workspace has a real pull from their customers who expect air conditioning as standard in their offices, but they have a very strong environmental policy. So it’s great to hear that they want to ban the installation of normal air conditioning systems and install ours as the alternative. Especially when they own so many buildings in the London area!

The final pitch is getting closer now. I guess I should be feeling nervous, but that can wait until there are 7 cameras pointing at me and all those lights. Both Shai Agassi and Andy Brough my mentor and stress tester offered to help with the pitch, so I think it is time to take them up on their offer.

Normally I would research the judges but I have actually heard of them all before. It’s going to be quite an honour to pitch to them and I am looking forward to some tough questions.

Last week we officially launched the Artica system at the Energy Solutions Expo at London Olympia.

The event started with a last minute dash across London in a van not quite big enough to fit everything in. We also had the first production unit fresh from our suppliers and some custom ‘plinths’ to display it on. By the time the first visitors arrived most of the paint had dried!

The Energy Solutions Expo is the UK’s fastest growing event dedicated to clean, efficient, sustainable, renewable and alternative energy solutions for businesses. The show is attended by a variety of professionals from the building industry including architects, building consultants and facilities managers.

This was Artica’s first trade show and pretty much went according to plan. The only hitch with the event was that the organisers thought it was a good idea to run a free bar, under the pretence of ‘networking’.

The reaction from visitors to the stand was excellent. It was a great pleasure to explain to people how the system works and our audience seemed genuinely interested. We now have a number of potential installs with a wide range of clients, including schools and hospitals to a range of commercial applications such as offices and airports.

Some engineers and facilities managers seemed skeptical of the systems performance, ‘it seems too good to be true’, or wanted to know ‘what’s the catch’. This is a common problem with any innovative and disruptive new technology, however there was an overriding sentiment across visitor demographics that the Artica system was very impressive, something that has massive potential and was an exciting product. All we have to do now is satisfy all the interest we generated!

This week I visited Germany to meet Dr Martin Kupp at the European School of Management and Technology (ESMT). The ESMT is an international business school in Berlin (www.esmt.org), and Martin is an expert on business strategy and bringing disruptive technologies to market. I could happily have talked for days to Martin as he really got to grips with the problems we face and how to address them. Hopefully he will take me up on my offer to visit us in London.

The school is based in the former headquarters of the East German State Council. Being the geek that I am, I found the architecture and history of the former headquarters very interesting. When the film crew where not looking I managed to poke my head into as many places as I could, from sound proofed rooms, balconies on which the nation was addressed, to round tables where the next ten years were plotted. Now the building is used by ESMT to discuss their antithesis, in this case how to bring Artica to market.

CNBC also managed to film me eating ‘Curry Wurst’. I made the mistake of mentioning on the way over that I heard they were the thing to try when in Berlin. The resulting spectacle and film crew attracted a large crowd of students who took great pleasure in watching me taste the curried sausage, bursting into applause on the first bite. They were actually quite good, but not with 100 eyes and a film crew watching my every move. I don’t think I will make that transition to TV presenter after all!

Things are really starting to take off for Artica with some great testimonials from our trial sites, customers lining up to buy the product, and the first delivery of our new production units. We will be shortly updating our website with lots of new information over the next couple of weeks (www.articatechnologies.com), so keep in touch.

Whilst I have been having fun in Germany the rest of the team have been working hard behind the scenes getting ready for the product launch this week at the Energy Solutions Expo. Thanks guys. I will introduce them to you over the next couple of weeks, but for now we all hope to see you all at the launch on the 7th and 8th.

Over the last couple of weeks I have met Andy Brough, fund manager at Schroders, and Shai Agassi, founder and CEO of Better Place, through the good Entrepreneur competition. I feel very lucky about having a mentor and advisor of such high calibre, so thank you very much.

Andy was our ‘stress tester’ and apart from asking some tough questions about the product, he had some very useful advice on raising funding and getting Artica to market. He seemed quite excited at the prospect of our ‘plug and play’ low energy cooling system.

My meeting with Shai was in Copenhagen, where he had just picked up an award at the Index: Design to Improve Life competition for the work his company is doing on bringing electrical vehicles to the masses. Perhaps Artica will win an Index award next time around!

It was quite inspirational to meet someone who has been so successful in getting such widespread support and funding to tackle such a big issue. As well as providing lots of motivation and tips, he even suggested giving the product away for free! Watch this space.

The team is working hard to get everything ready for our official product launch on the 7th & 8th of October. We will also be launching a new website and engaging with the industry at large. Come visit us at the Energy Solutions Expo in Earls Court, London on either of these dates and meet the team (http://www.energy-expo.info/).

We are all keeping very busy what with keeping our customers, investors & CNBC happy, however we always welcome any enquiries and feedback you might have.

On a personal note I am already dreading the airing of the ‘Good Entrepreneur’. Yes I know it’s a bit late now, but it’s bad enough to hear a recording of your voice let alone a video!

It’s just as well I don’t own a TV! Shhh don’t tell CNBC…