Blog posts from December, 2012

It's just five days until Christmas (or one day until the end of the world) and we're still going strong here at National Event Supply. I've gotten my oval platter for the turkey and some Serenity Champagne Flutes for the Christmas Morning Brunch; presents have been bought and delivered (but not yet wrapped); and the baking is under control (for the most part).

On the work front we've sent postcards to our BC Rental customers inviting them to come see us at the BC Rental Show, Stephanie is putting the finishing touches on our new catalogue, Jonathan is putting together trade show booths, and Dennis is making sure we'll have enough product for the spring. We're all working on making sure that 2013 will be the best year ever, but before the calendar flips over, we're all going to take a quick break to recharge our batteries.

With that in mind, National Event Supply will be closed from 5:00pm December 21, 2012 until 9:00am January 2, 2013. In this season of good will, we wish you and your family best wishes of the season and hope that you have a happy and healthy new year! And if the world ends on the 21st it was great doing business with you.

Top Image courtesy of Idea go / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

We've made several videos recently featuring our plastic folding chairs. We've loaded them with weight until they collapsed, and done a time lapse with them holding almost 400 pounds. With those in mind, we decided to do a video featuring our NES Reliable Square Plastic Folding Card Table. We know that these tables are as strong as our NES Reliable Folding Banquet Tables, but we wanted to show you that they weren't nearly as rickety as the card table of old. My grandmother has an old card table, and I swear that it would collapse if there was a strong breeze. And I know that our plastic folding card table won't.

As you can see from the video, the NES Reliable Square Plastic Folding Card Table easily held over 1100 pounds. In other words, the three lineman in the picture below could stand together on the table (if they could fit) and not break it. That being said, we don't encourage table dancing!

We're so happy with our NES Reliable Square Plastic Folding Card Tables, that we've started stocking them in our Vancouver warehouse. So if you need a plastic folding card table in Vancouver, Victoria, Edmonton, Calgary or points in between, we're able to quickly ship you a table and reduce the cost of shipping!

National Event Supply is proud to be a member of many different organizations that help improve many of the industries that we serve. One organization that we are part of that is not industry specific however is the CFIB (Canadian Federation of independent Business). The CFIB is an organization that represents over 109,000 small business owners across Canada. They are responsible for policy changes including increasing the Small Business Corporate Tax threshold to $500,000, increasing the Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption to $750,000, and defeating the proposed mergers of four of Canada’s chartered banks. While these are exceptional accomplishments in their own right, what are some of the benefits for a small business owner like you?

Lobbying

Lobbying is something that is generally reserved for large companies since they are the only ones that can afford to lobby in a meaningful way. Large corporations are happy to lobby on their own or through industry trade organizations that are made up almost exclusively of large companies. The CFIB however gives small business owners like you the power to lobby the government. Individually we are very limited by time, money, and experience, but together we represent a significant part of the Canadian economy. As a result when the government helps small business owners, they help the government and Canada as a whole. Since the CFIB has the strength of all their members behind them, they are able to watch for unfair practices and policies that adversely affect small businesses. They also help influence the budget to make sure small business is considered. Finally, don’t be afraid to tell them about an unfair practice in your industry, they may be able to help.

Business Support

Another great benefit of being a member of the CFIB is getting access to their business support. Many small businesses do not have the time, money, and staff to make themselves aware of all the legal changes constantly happening around us. We focus all of our time and effort on our business and its customers, making sure our business is profitable and our customers are happy. Many of us are not likely to realize that the government has made changes to a law that affects our business. A great example is the change to the accessibility laws for people in Ontario with disabilities. These changes are important for our businesses to be aware of and compliant with for not only our own sake but more importantly our customer’s sake.

Savings on Services

The final great benefit that I would like to touch on is the CFIB gives you the opportunity to save on some services. You can save on services ranging from credit card processing to telecom to insurance. While saving money on services is always great, they also give you the opportunity to save on business skills training. Things like the Small Business Human Resources Certificate, Small Business Management Certificate, and Small Business Health and Safety Certificate. This goes hand in hand with some of their business support as it allows you to ensure your business is compliant with all of the required government legislation.

In the Winter 2012 edition of the Golf Business Canada Magazine, Jeff Calderwood wrote about the behaviour of Canadian Golfers. His 10 insights are based on findings from a national survey conducted by Navicom for the National Allied Golf Associations. To find a full copy of the study please visit www.canadagolfs.ca or www.ngcoa.ca.

The 10 Trends that Jeff documented were:

1. The number of people entering the game equals the number leaving
2. The number of golfers playing less golf now is much higher than the number playing more
3. There are fewer juniors entering the game today than the previous generation
4. 25% of golfers are truly engaged in the sport, while 75% are not
5. 73% of Canadians do not play golf
6. The shift from memberships to public golf continues
7. Golfers' spending is generally flat
8. Avid and frequent golfers remain a solid base
9. Women are an opportunity for growth but are a very difficult segment to market to
10. Consumer behaviour varies by demographic

All of the points that Jeff makes are crucial when evaluating the position of your golf course in your local market. For example, if people are playing less golf, you may not have the same connection that you may have had previously. This can make it a little more difficult for you and your staff to make them feel welcome or to anticipate their needs. If a person walks into your golf course and feels intimidated by the staff or atmosphere that has been created, they may not come back.

You will also want to consider new ways to reach your target audience to get them out to your golf course. If you're looking to increase the traffic in your club's restaurant, you might consider purchasing new dinnerware that will make your food pop. Today restaurants use mixtures of square, oval, and rectangular plates in addition to the standard round plates. A welcoming place to relax after finishing the back nine can make your course that much more appealing.

If you're looking to increase the revenues that you get from weddings or special events held at your course, you could purchasing Chiavari chairs or White Resin Folding Chairs. Both options are extremely popular in the event sector and often help venues win business that they will not otherwise win.

I encourage all Golf course operators to read Jeff’s article in the Golf Magazine for more insights into what you can do to help your golf course. I also recommend that you take a look at the survey for yourself because it will likely present more opportunities for your golf course in your local market.

Golfer image courtesy of pichart99thai / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

In a previous blog article, we talked about the strength of our Plastic Folding Chairs. We wrote about how with Samsonite folding chairs, you often get what you pay for. And then we provided a video showing one of our black on black poly folding chairs collapsing under the weight of 240kg or 528 pounds. It was cool watching the chair waver ever so slightly and then collapse under the weight. Judging by the success of shows like Mythbusters I'm not the only one who likes watching things fail. Now, I'll admit it would have been even cooler with an explosion and a fireball, but our neighbours frown on pyrotechnics and blowing stuff up.

For this video, we're not trying to break one of our NES Reliable Plastic Folding Chairs. Knowing how much weight it takes to destroy a chair is useful information. What's more useful however, is knowing how much weight one of our chairs can hold without collapsing and sending its occupant to the ground. This time we want the chair to survive.

The set-up is much the same as last time. Dennis loaded up the chair with 9, 20kg bags of salt. With 396lbs of weight sitting on the chair, we set-up the camera to take a picture once every five minutes and then walk away. Check out the video below to check out the results!