A Glasgow barber puts Daily Grommet on the map, and vice versa
We’re launching a Scottish board game in the US today…the only place you can get Numenko is at Daily Grommet. It’s like Scrabble with numbers. (Click on the image above to watch the video)
Our launch was picked up in the Scottish newspaper Daily Record. Here is the story intro:
A SCOTS board game inventor is on the brink of making it big in America … thanks to the Daily Record.
We ran a story in October about former Glasgow barber Tom Lennett’s invention, a numbers-based board game called Numenko.
Our piece was spotted on the internet, and news reached staff at a top online store in the US.
And Numenko will go on sale today on the site, The Daily Grommet, which has a track record of promoting exciting new products. Tom, 66, said: “I’m nervous but excited. The potential is huge – the market in the States is simply massive.”
Here’s a photo of Tom and his granddaughter Mia. I love being described as “a top online store in the US.” We’re working hard to deserve that description. I feel like that guy in the TV ad–the one who is sitting in his arm chair with a sonic boom of sound washing over him, practically blowing the hair off of his head.
Tom’s game is selling like hotcakes, I am thrilled to report. Another successful launch for Daily Grommet, and I think it is our first Scottish one.
Jules Pieri 
5 Responses to “A Glasgow barber puts Daily Grommet on the map, and vice versa”
Hi Jules,
Congratulations to you and the Daily Grommet Team for picking up the exclusive on this fantastic product!!!!
The game is extraordinary to help kids learn in a ‘fun’ atmosphere…a true ‘winner’.
Great concept, great design, great invention, great ‘marriage’ across the seas for both Daily Grommet and the inventor.
Congratulations to both.
VictorK
Victor…as a fellow inventor, I am sure Tom will appreciate your recognizing his accomplishment. Thanks for chiming in. (Tom is expediting a new rush order…almost sold out….he’s flying a bunch more games over to arrive pronto. Yay!)
Jules, I am sure you will understand how/why I get happy when another inventor ‘nails’ it with their product solution simply because they addressed the ‘core’ of the problem…In this case, Tom is making learning fun!! Does not get much simpler than that.
If I may recommend something…I took the Glenn Doman 5 day Child Brain Development Course
http://www.iahp.org/Glenn-Doman-Founder.270.0.html (fantastic experience!!!) years ago and I can easily see how IAHP would endorse this game. IAHP is not well known in the USA (school system is too political) but they have a great International following, especially in Japan. BTW, the main thing I learned at the course is to teach the child by making the lessons fun and stop the lessons before interest is lost…prompting the child to ask you continue or do the next lesson ASAP because they associate the learning as fun and want more of it. He developed this teaching method while working with brain-injured children since he had to somehow get their attention and ‘connect’ with them. Feel free to use me as a reference if you contact IAHP.
Due to personal experience, children are very dear to my heart and IF there is anything else I can help with…please know that I an email away.
Congratulations to you, Daily Grommet, and Tom!!!!!
Hi Jules,
Needless to say, I love what you and DG does from a general interest standpoint and as an inventor. Since my inventing juices overflow, my marketing wisdom is ‘lacking’ and therefore I devour every DG post/blog trying to learn as much as I can about what “turns people on” marketing-wise. Since I first discovered DG, I am sure I have read most every word you have published and KNOW that your audience is very involved and vocal on many subjects. This is why I felt I needed to write the wake-up call below.
So, on Dec. 1 when I read about Numenko and Tom, its inventor I was ecstatic since I have a 9 year old learning the wonders of math and could not help but to comment and try to help by contributing. Today is the 4’th and not one other person has had anything further to say on the subject…astonishing…though I am not surprised since our children’s’ education is not a ‘hot’ topic as being ‘green’ or whatever tomorrow’s topic ‘du jour’ will be. Astonishing since so many complain that we are loosing our jobs to ‘outsourcing’ and the evil in China and India. Astonishing since these same complainers do not say one word about our education system that continues to fail our children. Astonishing since these same complainers have settled for mediocrity by demanding their mindless ‘factory jobs’ back rather than demanding we fire EVERYONE in our current education system and rebuild it so our children will not need to complain about mediocre factory jobs in their future but lead the world in innovation. Astonishing!
After I cooled down, I decided to do some research in order to not make too much of a fool out of myself. In just 5 minutes, I found out that in 2004 the US was ranked 24 out of 29 in math literacy. We were beaten by four post communist satellite countries, we were beaten by a country we decimated just over 65 years ago, we were beaten by a tiny country we successfully saved from a communist invasion. These beatings we took in 2004…see: http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=319129 One thing that glares at me from this list of countries due to its omission is why are India and China NOT on that list? Call me what you will, but I will bet that if these two would have been on the list, they would have scored in the top 20% and not in the bottom 20% as we did.
Like I said, I did not spend more than five minutes on research so I did not find, nor did I want to find, the obvious standings since 2004. But, in just a few days, the latest world rankings will be revealed…see: http://www.oecd.org/topic/0,3373,en_2649_37455_1_1_1_1_37455,00.html Anyone wonder which way I would bet? Didn’t think so.
Oh, by the way, Numenko’s biggest client is Finland who has incorporated the game into their math teaching program. The same Finland (a country with less than 2% of our population) that was the #1 Most Math Literate country in the world in the 2004 study above. Anyone want to bet in what quintile Finland will be in the upcoming report…top or bottom?
I understand that DG has been selling Numenko very well and that stock is running low. That is great and I congratulate DG and Numenko. At the same time I challenge ALL readers to this: have the parent of the child to receive Numenko to ask the child’s teacher to email the parents of his students and let them know of this fun math teaching aid. By doing this you will be helping those children whose parents do not know about DG and hopefully their parents will buy them this great board game. I have already done so and am waiting for a reply…will report with the answer next week. If one school allows this to happen, then there is hope. Anyone wonder which way I am betting?
Jules and DG, thank you for finding this jewel invention and thank you for allowing us to learn about it and its potential.
VictorK
Hey folks…Victor’s long comment might look like a diatribe or spam, but he is addressing something true and important. Thanks Vicktor.