Special Announcement
A message from the new Managing (most of the time) Director of The Dodo Pad
Dear DodoPadlers,
My name is Mafalda McCarthy.
I am delighted - dodelighted, I should say! - to take on the living legacy of Sir John Verney in the form of the Dodo Pad, which Rebecca Jay has nourished and developed so wonderfully over the last twenty-five years.
There is a short envoi from Rebecca below. I know she will be missed by many of you. I would like to personally thank her not just for saving the Dodo Pad in 1996, but for all the help she has given to me transitioning the Pan-Galactic publishing empire from her experienced hands to mine.
It is a great honour to take on the mantle of such a wonderful ‘thing’ as the Dodo Pad and take it further into the twenty-first century.
I love my Dodo Pad and I fully intend that the essence of Lord Dodo’s splendid creation will continue, helping save more of the human race from extinction over the coming years.
I am delighted that Naomi McBride - current illustrator of the Dodo Pad - will continue to bring her wit and artistic skill to future Dodo Pads. We are also currently working together on some exciting new Lord Dodo products - further news of which will come at another time.
I will email you once a month with the latest Dodo Pad products and news. I may, occasionally, send you a short note in between if there is an exciting new launch or something I think you need to know. I won’t spam you!
Today’s BIG news is that we have launched a new website!
And on Lord Dodo’s shiny new website you can pre-order your 2021-22 Dodo Acad-Pad for delivery in May and 2022 Dodo Pad for delivery in June.
The insides of each Dodo Acad-Pad and Dodo Pad have all the things that you and I love as committed Dodopadlers: a double page for each week, with a helpful grid on the right and the doodling page on the left; unique hand-drawn illustrations from Lord Dodo; wiro binding so it folds flat, or even over if you wish; a back pouch for odds and ends; and fountain-pen-loving 100 gsm paper.
There are also a couple of small changes.
The vertical lines on the grid are a little bit fainter than in previous years. A number of you have said that you would prefer to write across the grid as you don’t have five people or things to organise. The Dodo Pad is now perfect for everyone, whether you’re managing a family of five, keeping on top of two jobs and a home life or just organising your own social whirl (we will all have one again very soon!).
The tear-off corners are still there and the same size, with the perforations slightly smaller, so they work as well for those who want to use them and are a little less visible for those who do not.
You’ll see the cover of the 2021-22 Dodo Acad-Pad follows the same format as recent years. For the 2022 Dodo Pad we have an exciting new look with a brand new front and back cover design. I love it, and I hope you do too.
All the new Dodo Pad products, including the 2021-22 Dodo Acad-Pad and 2022 Dodo Pad, are now printed in the UK on FSC-certified paper using vegetable-based inks, with a plastic-free durable laminate on the cover and a plastic-free wiro.
I am very proud to say that the Dodo Pad is now sustainable and 100% plastic-free.
Please do view Lord Dodo’s new shop pages and pre-order your 2021-22 Dodo Acad-Pad or 2022 Dodo Pad. There’s a free set of ‘Save the Date’ stickers worth £3.95 with each pre-order and, just for loyal DodoPadlers, you can save a further 10% off your order by using the code NOTEXTINCT. This offer is only valid for the next nine days until Friday 16th April, so do have a look now.
Wherever you are in the world - and nearly every nation has one DodoPadler or more! - I hope you have enjoyed the recent Easter weekend.
Until next time,
A message from the former Managing (most of the time) Director of The Dodo Pad, now The Dowager, Lady Dodo, Rebecca Jay.
Dear DodoPadlers,
So how do you sum up 25 years? On the one hand it feels like forever, and on the other it has gone in the blink of an eye. A bit like the last year of this pandemic.
I’ve been at the ‘helm’ of Dodo Pad since 1996, aged 40 and a very new (and unexpected) mum. For my son, now 25, it absolutely is forever. He has never known me to do anything other than Dodo Pad. Whether I’ve been variously Lord Dodo, Lady Dodo, or just plain Mum, he was the reason I got involved. And Dodo Pad has been like a second child for me.
But children, and even Dodos, eventually need to spread their wings and fly. And so now the next chapter begins... for Dodo Pad and for me.
Mafalda (to whom I am passing the Dodo Pad baton) and I have been talking and working together for almost a year now. I am confident that she will take Dodo Pad on to bigger and better things.
It is quite a special brand that spans more than 55 years and those of you who came to our Golden Jubilee party at Claydon House in 2015 will remember the enormous fun we had celebrating it.
Thank you to each and every one of you – many of you who I’ve got to know over the years - for your wonderful loyalty, unstinting support and love of everything Dodo Pad. I am passing Dodo Pad on to a safe pair of hands and am excited to see how it develops and grows.
Take care and my very best wishes,
Dodopad at Claydon House for the Golden Jubliee