Eric Edmeades

Eric Edmeades (born 18 March 1970) is a Canadian businessman and professional speaker. Edmeades is best known for his international motivational speaking and philanthropy. In August 2009, Edmeades acquired and became Chairman of Lucasfilm spin-off, Kerner Optical and subsequently founded the Kerner Group. Edmeades’ first successful business venture was The ITR Group, a supplier, integrator and maintainer of mobile computers, wireless networking technology and laser imaging technologies. He sold a majority share in the ITR Group in 2006 and retired from the IT sector.
Edmeades flew around the world 6 times in the years following the sale of The ITR Group. He conducts annual adventure expeditions, undertakes philanthropic projects and works to establish schools in East Africa.
Edmeades took up wildlife photography at 12 and is still a keen wildlife photographer with experience in India, South Africa, Botswana, Tanzania and Canada.
Early life
Edmeades was born in Pretoria, South Africa, the son of South African lawyer Baz Thomas Edmeades and entrepreneur Delphine du Toit. His paternal great-grandfather, Thomas Dreyer, discovered the Florisbad Skull and his maternal great-grandfather, Jakob Louis van Wyk, proposed the formation of the Kruger National Park in the South African Volksraad.
Personal life
Edmeades has lived in South Africa, Canada, Ireland, England and the United States. He now resides in Turks and Caicos. Edmeades married his longtime girlfriend, Elise, in Whistler, British Columbia in July 2012.
Early Professional Life
Edmeades started his business life immediately following school when, in 1988, he was recruited to sell Kirby Vacuums in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He often refers to this time in his speeches, citing the experience as integral to the development of his sales and business skills.
Edmeades went on to join, as the first full-time employee, Ryzex Re-Marketing, a Vancouver-based tech start-up that specialized in hand held computers and bar code readers. After significant personal and business success with Ryzex, including the launch of their European operations, Edmeades resigned his position citing broken promises of equity.
While working at Ryzex, Eric also published the Internet's first e-zine focused on business and personal development. The magazine was inspired by Napoleon Hill's work and was called the Success Express Journal. It was published from 1994 to 1996 and claimed circulation of 15,000 people from 70 countries.
Edmeades went on to co-found, with his then wife, The ITR Group (then known as Tera-Technologies Limited) in Bristol, England. The company, like his previous employer, focused initially on the purchase and resale of hand held computers and quickly grew to become a leading integrator of mobile computing, wireless networking and laser imaging technologies. Edmeades was nominated as Entrepreneur of the Year by the Bristol Evening Post in 2005 and went on to sell the business to private buyers for an undisclosed sum in 2006.
Motivational Speaking
Edmeades claims to have overcome a fear of public speaking and now speaks, internationally, on a variety of topics ranging from business success to health.
Edmeades founded TEDxMarin in Northern California and then hosted speakers actor David Arquette and tech pioneers Tiffany Shlain and Craig Newmark at the inaugural event in June 2010.
Edmeades sits on TEDxMarin's advisory board.
Books
Edmeades wrote a fictional book about African Wilddogs entitled, "Intombi - A Dog's Life". The book was published in 2010 and is noted as the first book in a six-book series.
Quotes
* Success, in life, is most easily measured by the number of days you are truly happy.
* To accomplish great things, we must not only believe and dream, but also plan and act.
Kerner Group
In August 2009, Edmeades purchased a majority interest in, and became CEO of, Kerner Optical.
Kerner Optical, a Lucasfilm spinoff, was previously the practical and physical effects division of Industrial Light and Magic. The company was purchased from Lucasfilm in 2006 by the management team who opted to retain the name "Kerner" as a tribute to Lucas's use of the name as a subterfuge to keep Star Wars and movie fans from rummaging through the rubbish bins and snooping around the property.
Eric has since founded a number of other companies that, together, comprise The Kerner Group, including Kernerworks, a prototyping and research company that undertakes government projects including the design and manufacture of lifelike medic training dummies for training military medics, and Kerner 3D Technologies, a 3D Camera system manufacturer.
Edmeades also had plans to move into feature film production, with a focus on 3D movie development.
The studio will undertake local film production, experimental film and the establishment of certification and degree-level education of stereographers. Edmeades signed the agreement to establish the center at a ceremony on 20 November 2009.
Kerner Optical filed for Bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy code in early 2011 and seven months later was closed down in a Chapter 7 conversion. The Chapter 7 conversion was brought on because one of the previous owners and managers of the company, Kevin Duncan of Duncan Oil and Silver Oak, petitioned the court to replace Edmeades' management team with a trustee, claiming mismanagement by Edmeades. Duncan made this petition despite his awareness that Kerner Optical was having its best year in business and was on track for its first ever profitable year. Duncan and his partners had managed the company for its first three years, incurring millions of dollars in debt (much of which was owed to Duncan himself) before selling the company to Edmeades. Edmeades maintains that Kevin Duncan and his father Ray Duncan defrauded him in a complicated transaction that included concealing the identity Joseph T. Sevitski,
Humanitarian Works
Edmeades was traveling in Bali in May 2006 when a major earthquake struck on the island of Java, Indonesia. He rented a truck, filled it with food, water and medical supplies and—against government advice—went to Jogja to undertake first-hand relief work. After undertaking the relief work the driver he hired stole his rented truck and everything in it, stranding Edmeades in Java.
Edmeades leads team building adventure programs that include climbing Kilimanjaro and establishing community schools in East Africa.
Hurricanes Ike and Hanna
In September 2008 Edmeades was at home in Turks and Caicos when Hurricane Hanna, the deadliest storm of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season hit Turks and Caicos twice. Immediately after Hurricane Hanna, Hurricane Ike, the third costliest hurricane in history, also hit the Turks and Caicos Islands doing approximately $500 million in Damages.
Edmeades was featured on and interviewed by CNN throughout the storms after uploading a number of videos to iReport.

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