Blog posts from March, 2013

New Product Spring 2013 continues here at National Event Supply. So far this spring, we've introduced our New Folding Pedestal Table, our new wood Serpentine Tables, our new Wood 60inch Half-Moon tables, our new Wood Harvest Tables, and our new Polar White Dinnerware. The products just keep coming as containers arrive at our facilities in Vancouver and Toronto. And we're still not done. We have new colours of Plastic Folding Chairs coming including Wedding White on White, Royal Blue on Grey and Black on Grey. Finally, we have some new Natural Wood Folding Chairs on order.

Recently we took delivery of some cutlery that we had eagerly been awaiting: a Small Amuse Bouche Fork and a Small Amuse Bouche Spoon. Amuse Bouch Spoons and Forks are meant for single bite hors, d'ouevres. Unlike appetizers which customers order, Amuse Bouch or "mouth amusers" tend to be the chef's choice and provide a glimpse into the chef's technique and style. We've had a large Amuse Bouche Spoon in inventory since last spring. It's 5.25 inches long by 1.625 inches wide by 1.625 inches tall with a bowl roughly the same size as a tablespoon. It has been popular with several of our customers, and has been a nice alternative to our Porcelain Wonton Spoon. However, several of our customers asked if we had a smaller version of the spoon, and whether we had a smaller amuse bouch fork. We didn't at the time, but we do now.

The Small Amuse Bouche Spoon is 3.625 inches by 1.125 inches by 1.25 inches and has a bowl that is somewhere in size between a Mocca Spoon and a Teaspoon. It's ideal for that perfect little morsel that highlight your chef's ability to pack flavour and texture into a little bundle of joy. The Small Amuse Bouche Fork is 4.375 inches by 1 inch by 1.25 inches with tines that are 1.25 inches long. They are somewhere in size between a cake fork and a salad/dessert fork. If your chef wants to show off his ability to prepare small, savoury pieces of meat to awaken your customer's tastebuds, this is the utensil to serve them on. All of our amuse bouche spoons and forks are made of 18/10 Stainless Steel meaning they will keep their shine through use, washing, drying and storage. They are available by the dozen and are attractively priced.

February was a busy month for National Event Supply – with multiple containers arriving at our Vancouver and Toronto warehouses containing many products including our NES Wood Cruiser Tables as well as having our largest presence ever at the 2013 Rental Show in Las Vegas. It's also been a big month in the hospitality, party rental and food service industries so check out the articles below for a round up of some of the biggest articles of the month.

In an age of convenience, it comes as no surprise that wanting a little bit of everything has bled into the event and catering industries. Special Events Magazine wrote a fantastic article showcasing the response a number of caterers have shown to the new 'a la carte' wedding menu trend. It seems today's bridal couples are upping the requirements of caterers wanting numerous different ethnicities and foods instead of one common food heritage. Check out the article to hear more about the different responses to the rise in 'a la carte' requests with creativity, service and presentation.

Today's human resources requirements are upping the ante for many businesses making it hard for the solely owned, or independently operated businesses such as event rental companies, caterers, and restaurants to compete in finding top talent. Rental Management Magazine wrote a wonderful article to address this challenge by including practical tips including evaluating an applicant against four general levels of motivation in finding a job. To read the rest of the tips, check out the article to learn how to not only find top talent but attract them as well.

It seems that new and beneficial technology tools are being invented every day. Canadian Rental Service wrote an article on new online tools that could help those in the rental service industry improve their website. Not only does the article showcase some cool new tools that could significantly improve customer service on your website, it also offers tips for improving web experience, leading to greater customer retention and competitive differentiation. Check out the article to learn more tips and tricks to engage your website as a powerful tool to exploit new and unfound business.

Ask any marketer out there and you'll get notoriously mixed reviews on buying email lists to gain new subscribers. But if you can't buy a list to help garner additional followers, what can you do? Check out this article from MarketingProfs on how to gain subscribers without buying email lists.

Ensuring your operating costs are sound is becoming more and more of a challenge due to increasing costs, bargain seeking and socially connected customers. Restaurant Central wrote a blog post on how to reduce inventory control losses at your restaurant which stated the average bar or restaurant is losing 10% of its beverages and 15% of its food to variance and shrinkage—crippling and unsustainable losses. Read the rest of the blog post to learn more about what to do to reduce inventory control losses.

To round off our post, I thought a little social media humour would lighten everyone's day a little bit. Marketo created an infographic on the buzzwords the social media marketer seems to encounter which is sure to provide some amusement and laughs to your day – I present to you the social marketer’s urban twictionary. "What can I say? I'm attwicted."

Have a great week and be sure to check back next month for our monthly round up of articles!