Eric Edmeades

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Eric Edmeades
Eric Edmeades
Born	March 18, 1970 (1970-03-18) (age 39) Pretoria, South Africa
Residence	San Rafael, California, USA
Nationality	Canadian
Occupation	Chairman of KernerFX
Spouse(s)	Divorced
Children	Daniel Thomas Edmeades (1997)

Eric Edmeades (born 18 March 1970) is a Canadian businessman and professional speaker. Edmeades is best known for his international motivational speaking^[1][2][3][4] and philanthropy. In August 2009, Edmeades acquired and became Chairman of Lucasfilm spin-off, KernerFX. 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 ^[5] in East Africa.

Edmeades took up wildlife photography at 12^[6] and is still a keen wildlife photographer with experience in India, South Africa, Botswana, Tanzania and Canada.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Personal life 3 Early Professional Life 4 Kerner Group 5 Humanitarian Works 6 Hurricanes Ike and Hanna 7 See also 8 Notes 9 External links

[edit] 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^[7], Thomas Dreyer, discovered the Florisbad Skull^[8] and his maternal great-grandfather, Jakob Louis van Wyk, proposed the formation of the Kruger National Park in the South African Volksraad^[7]. This family history has influenced Edmeades and his interest in nature conservation, wildlife photography and nutritional anthropology.

Edmeades was educated at Queen Elizabeth High School in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Saint John's School of Alberta. He also studied Archaeology at the University of Bristol in the west of England but did not complete the degree program.

Edmeades is dyslexic but argues that, while some may see dyslexia as a disease or weakness, it can be a strength.^[9]

[edit] Personal life

Edmeades is the elder of two bothers. Nik Edmiidz (changed his name to phonetic spelling) is 2 years younger and now lives in Japan with his wife and three children.

Edmeades was married to Amanda Pope; their only child, a son, was born in 1997. The couple are now divorced.

Edmeades has lived in South Africa, Canada, Ireland, England and the United States. He is now living in San Rafael, California and maintains a home in Turks and Caicos.

[edit] 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[10]

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.^[11]

Edmeades went on to co-found, with his then wife, The ITR Group (then known as Tera-Technologies Limited^[12][13]) 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^{[citation needed]} and went on to sell the business to private buyers for an undisclosed sum in 2006^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Kerner Group

In August 2009, Edmeades purchased a majority interest in, and became CEO of, Kerner.^[14] Kerner, 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^[15] 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.^[16]

As well as special effects, Kerner undertakes projects including making life-like medic training dummies for training military medics, 3D Camera Rig systems and a variety of 3D-related technologies.

[edit] 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.^[17] After undertaking the relief work the driver he hired stole his rented truck and everything in it, stranding Edmeades in Java.

Edmeades’ experience in Java lead him to establish the Build a School initiative^{[citation needed]} with his partner, Elise Crozier. The couple travel to East Africa once a year to climb Kilimanjaro and establish community schools.

[edit] 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^[18] 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.^[19]

[edit] See also

• KernerFX

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Official website.
• Official Blog.
• Official website - Kerner Group.
• Eric Edmeades on Twitter