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This past weekend I had the pleasure of exhibiting at the 2013 CRA Prairie Regional Trade Show in Saskatoon. Because we are still pretty much in the thick of winter for many parts of Canada, I flew into Saskatoon on Thursday just to make sure I wouldn’t have any weather related issues getting to the Prairieland Exhibition Centre and getting set up in time for the show.

I made it with no issues although I will admit it was pretty darn cold and there was lots of snow everywhere. I met up for dinner with our National Event Supply Western Canada sales team at our usual haunt, Chianti’s Café on Idylwild and 22st St East, which is just a few short blocks from our Radisson Hotel Saskatoon. Here I thought it was the only location that Chianti’s Café had—it turns out they have 7 restaurants in Calgary, Edmonton, and Saskatoon. And from how busy it was on Thursday, we can definitely say the food is always great.

Friday morning we woke up to a light snowfall and only -12C and headed over to the Prairieland Exhibition Hall so we could beat the rush of other exhibitors who would all be trying to get in through the single truck door that entered the Hall. For the 1st time ever Will decided to have all his equipment trucked in and our show skids were delivered by a 53ft trailer rather than try to trailer it all from Red Deer. This was a great decision as everything went quite smoothly (at least on the move in) and we were all set up by early in the afternoon.

On Saturday morning we all headed back to the Exhibition Hall in time for the 96th Highlanders Bag Pipe and Drum band to open the show. While it took some time for the rental stores to make it to the back of the hall where we were exhibiting, within the first hour we started to have attendees stop by. Keith Andrews, the President of CRA Saskatchewan and Prairieland Rental Centre in Regina stopped by and was pleased to hear we were giving away a Black Folding Bar Height Chair to all attendees that met with us at the show. At last year`s show we gave out one of our very popular Tall Folding Cocktail Tables so this was a great way for the customers to get exposed to some of our more popular plastic folding tables and chairs. As we went through the day I could tell those that did get a free Tall Folding Cocktail Table last year, definitely remembered us.

As in prior years, Brian from Handy Special Events stopped by to check out our product display. He was particularly impressed with the look and feel of our new Serenity line of Crystal Wine Glasses and our always popular Resin Chiavari Chairs which feature a steel core for enhanced durability and strength. He also spent a fair bit of time examining our new improved plywood folding tables. Our new wood folding tables feature 13 layers of plywood, Canadian hardwood for the underside rails, bolts through table top construction and 1.2mm thick steel tubing for leg frame structure all providing a durable and strong wood folding table. I could see Brian was giving our wood folding tables a serious look over.

This was our 3rd year of exhibiting at the Prairie show and each time we meet with more new Customers from Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. I find it amazing how far our Prairie friends are willing to drive to support the event and attend the evening dinner and festivities. The show finished at 4pm which gave us a very short amount of time to get packed up and ready for the evening dinner and entertainment. It's always great to get together with our old and new friends and relax with a nice glass of wine and a hearty roast beef supper!

Jeff Campbell the CRA National President (and President of St. Thomas Rent-All) was on hand to take part in the festivities as well as update everyone on what the CRA National organization is working on for the benefit of members and associate members. One of the programs that Jeff announced was the ability for Members and Associate Members to have a professional PR firm (High Impact Public Relations) help publish a newsworthy subject to the marketplace. High Impact PR was instrumental in getting the message out to the community of St. Thomas, Ontario for Jeff`s step up to become the President of Canadian Rental Association. Jeff is now a celebrity in the community and he has seen a rise in the number of visits to his store which is definitely a plus for his winter business.

Welcome to our 100th Blog Entry! To honour this momentous occasion, we've put together a stress test video for our 8-ft Rectangular Plastic Folding Table. It's been about two months since we posted our last stress test video blog on our Tall NES Reliable Round Plastic Folding Cocktail Table. Plastic folding rectangular tables are a staple of the rental industry, and the 8-ft is far and away the most popular size for our rental customers and our banquet hall customers. NES Reliable Rectangular Plastic Folding Tables are commercial grade tables, and, as you can see from the video, are capable of holding an incredible amount of weight!

Image courtesy of Grant Cochrane / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The snow is quickly receding here in Toronto, as sunny days, rain, and temperatures in the high single digits are all doing their part to eliminate snow piles. Any day now, I expect the trees out front of our building will start budding, and the heaters will be turned off. Sure, we haven't even had Easter yet, but the evidence is out there—winter is ending!

Tradeshows

Winter is not the only thing ending, the NES trade show season is coming to a close, with the Prairie Regional Trade Show and Quebexpo the only shows remaining. We've been to BC for a couple of trade shows, Las Vegas for The Rental Show, and exhibited at The CRFA Show in Toronto again this year. The trade show team had a great time seeing everyone at all of the shows. The trade shows that we do are always an opportunity to go out and see people that we wouldn't be able to see in our offices, and to let them examine and touch our myriad of products. Plus, the trade show team often takes sample products out on the road to get feedback from our customers. If we saw you at any of the shows we exhibited at, we'd just like to thank you for stopping by and if you didn't manage to see us, we hope we'll see you next year!

It's almost Patio Time

Today has been a grey day, and with the time change, things have been a little subdued. But that hasn't stopped me from closing my eyes and imaging that I'm sitting on a patio, drinking a beer, and catching some sun. And as it just so happens, we have three things that can make patio time great.

National Event Supply has stocked our NES Reliable Bistro Chairs in black and white for over 5 years now. These chairs are similar to the Grosfillex Miami Bistro Chair, but feature a more elegant back and different colour choices. It's a comfortable chair, suitable for lazy afternoons on a patio, or around a table at an outdoor wedding. The NES Reliable Bistro Chair is incredibly strong and features legs that won't do the splits regardless of the surface the chair is on. They're easy to keep clean and a favourite for outdoor weddings and on patios from Victoria to St John's. We've currently got a large supply of the chairs in both black and white in our Toronto Warehouse, and they are ready to ship from coast to coast.

Now that you've got seating for your customers, it's time to look at glassware. National Event Supply has our inexpensive Eclisse glass stemware that would perfect for any patio parties. Our Eclisse line includes everything from 5oz Champagne Flutes to 14oz Beer Glasses. If your customers are more interested in wine, there's three sizes of wine glass to meet your needs. So whether you're serving a nice Chablis or a fine microbrew, National Event Supply has the glassware that you need to slake your customers' thirst.

Finally, National Event Supply has a new product that we're proud to announce for 2013, Sol. Sol is a G2V spectral class star, with a diameter of 1,392,684 km. It's an almost perfect sphere of hot plasma and magnetic fields, and is the perfect companion to a cold beer on the patio. Due to the cloud cover and drizzle, Sol is not available in the lower mainland of Vancouver.

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!