Blog posts tagged with 'nes news'

A Guide for First Time Attendees

Anyone in the know in the Rental Industry – both in the United States and Canada – recognizes that The Rental Show is THE conference and trade show to attend. By now, I’m sure you've justified your trip to your boss and registered for your ticket for the 2014 Rental Show. You’ve booked your tickets to Orlando International Airport (or Google mapped directions to drive) and are starting to get pumped to rub elbows with the best and the brightest in the industry. As you get ready to pack your bags, here are some helpful tips to keep in mind as you gear up for the 2014 Rental Show:

1. Be Prepared

Conferences are first and foremost the premiere way to get a read on the industry and step outside your everyday business to learn how other rental companies across the continent operate. With more than 24 educational seminars on everything from employee retention strategies to eight must-haves for a successful rental store, you need to take advantage of all this learning! Know what sessions you want to attend and start mapping out your schedule now.

If you plan to carry your laptop/tablet/smart phone or all three during the event, make sure you keep a charger handy to make sure you don’t lose your ability to take notes!

Wear comfortable shoes. It’s a big convention center and you’ll be doing plenty of laps on both the trade show floor and walking to sessions. Do yourself a favour and plan to wear shoes that make you feel like you’re walking on air.

Carry business cards. Exhibitors will no doubt have badge scanning systems, but what about other individuals in special events, general tool, equipment rental or construction that you meet? Bringing business cards gives you the ability to network with other entrepreneurs and like-minded individuals and bounce potential ideas off them.

2. Network, Network, Network

Proactively engage with different people. The contacts you make at the Rental Show will provide you with valuable information on different ways to run your business. There are speakers, exhibitors and attendees who have been in the industry for decades and have a wealth of knowledge to share with you if you’re willing to strike up a conversation. If you’re an introvert (which let’s face it at least half of us are) try to challenge yourself to break away from your co-workers, or friends while you’re at sessions, during breaks, meals and networking events. One of the events that looks promising for attendees between the ages of 18 to 40, is the Young Professionals Networking Event happening on Sunday February 9 at 5:30pm. To refresh your networking tips and tricks, check out this article to rejuvenate your skills.

3. Have Fun (but not too much)

It has to be brought up – the elephant in the room. The Rental Show puts on a ton of awesome networking events that brings together the entire industry to mix and mingle in the very best of Orlando scenery. But there’s always that group of people that take the fun too far. Just remember you’re on a business trip and this really is THE place for rental industry education. It’d be a shame to miss it because of one too many drinks the night before. To take advantage of all the fantastic networking events, be sure to view the full line up here and make sure to sign up for the Regional Networking event for Region 10 (Canada) taking place Monday February 10th from 5PM – 6:30PM.

4. Take Advantage of the Show Specials (if you can):

The Rental Show has a helpful app available on iTunes and Google Apps store that is perfect for you to keep track of the exhibitor booth’s you plan to swing by. Not only that but on their website, the American Rental Association lists all the exhibitors who will be offering show specials (special discounts and offers for those who attend the show and stop by their booth). If you have the time, it makes sense to scope those out to see what discounts you can take advantage of. National Event Supply will be holding a draw for a chance to win 10 FREE 6ft folding tables (your choice of wood or plastic) and offering show special pricing on our White Resin Folding Chairs, plastic folding tables, wood folding tables, new line of Linens and all our tabletop collection including dinnerware, platters & bowls, glassware and cutlery.

5. Follow up

This might be the most important tip. You’ve made some key connections, learned a ton of new knowledge and tactics and are ready to execute your ideas back into your business. Leverage the relationships you’ve made with your peers and rental industry experts to ensure you keep the connection and dialogue going.

Well we’re at the end of 2013 and what better way to reflect than with a roundup of the top 10 posts from the National Event Supply Blog. Since January, we’ve produced almost 140 posts chock full of new products, education, industry news, insider knowledge, plus a chuckle or two. To ensure you haven’t missed anything, check out the most popular blog posts (most viewed by all of you) of 2013:

10) 3 Reasons to Invest in Square Dinnerware

Porcelain Dinnerware can be a tough nut to crack. Sure, you have great round plates that rent reasonably well, but so do a lot of your competitors. What you need is something that will catch your customer's eye, something that not all of your competitors have, and something that can make a statement on a tabletop. What you need is Square Dinnerware! With that said, here are three reasons why you should consider investing in square dinnerware.

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9) 6 New Pieces of Porcelain

Spring shipments continue to arrive at National Event Supply. Recently we took delivery of a container of porcelain from our factory. In addition to the Quadrato Dessert Plates, the 10 inch and 12 inch Risotto Bowls, and several sizes of rectangular platters, we took delivery of 6 new pieces of porcelain that we’ve been eagerly awaiting since January of this year. Check out the 6 new pieces of porcelain added to the inventory roster.

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8) Now Arriving: Resin Chiavari Chairs at our Toronto Warehouse

We know we’ve been talking about summer for a while here at National Event Supply, but can you blame us? Summer is filled with sunshine, nights spent sipping drinks on the patio enjoying a cool summer’s breeze, and spending weekends at a friend’s cabin on a lake. Summer is all about the outdoor event, and although the spring buying season is winding down, we’re still receiving new products and new stock at our Vancouver and Toronto warehouses. We just received new stock of the Resin Chiavari chairs.

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7) Top 5 Restaurant Dinnerware Manufacturers

If you have ever considered purchasing porcelain for your restaurant, banquet hall, party rental, convention centre, golf course, or maybe even your house, you have probably considered purchasing from at least one of these five companies. They all offer an incredible selection of durable, commercial-quality, porcelain products and they likely have a local distributor in your area. See why these are North American leaders in Restaurant Dinnerware Supply.

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6) New Products: Small Amuse Bouche Spoon & Fork

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.

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5) New Chair – Natural Wood Folding Chair

For some time now, we have been looking for a natural wood coloured resin folding chair. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to create a beautiful looking natural wood colour chair in resin. The colours just don’t look right, and it can end up looking tacky and not up to our demanding standards. But our customers were demanding a Natural Wood Coloured Folding Chair, and so we decided that the only thing to do was to go and find a Natural Wood Folding Chair. It took a little time to find one we liked, but early last winter we found one. Today, I’m happy to formally announce our New NES Natural Wood Folding Chair.

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4) National Event Supply in Vancouver

As one of Canada’s leading Party Rental suppliers, we try to make sure that we have sales representation from coast to coast across Canada. To help us with sales representation we signed a strategic sales agreement with AE Sales Group 2 years ago which gives us sales coverage in western Canada (BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Northwest Ontario) and with their partner Certified Sales we also get coverage for the Maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and PEI. Every few months I get the chance to travel with one of the AE Sales team members to do some joint customer calls in various locations across Canada. This past week I was once again in Vancouver, this time so that we could exhibit at the BC Foodservice Expo at the Vancouver Convention Centre. Since I was already in town I thought this was also a great opportunity to meet a few of our customers.

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3) The BC PST, New Plastic Folding Chairs and White Resin Folding Chairs

It's hard to believe, but 2013 is now 1/3 over. All across Canada, snow is melting, grass is growing, trees are budding, and everyone is getting ready for the busy summer season. We're in the middle of our busy spring season. New products and stock are arriving every week and orders are going out our doors just as fast. Although we try to keep things in stock, sometimes we run out of chairs in a certain colour, or we run low on tables. It's always better to get your orders in early to avoid disappointing your customers. We detail the new products in the Toronto and Vancouver warehouses and the return of the BC PST.

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2) NES Introduces New Plywood Folding Tables

Over the past few years we have seen increasing success with our NES Wood Folding Tables. As it is with most things, sales started slowly as people initially discovered that we had started stocking plywood folding tables. Sales continued increasing as people took a closer look at our product and discovered that we were selling a quality plywood table. As sales increased, we started getting requests from customers looking for plywood tables in other sizes. Up until recently, we were stocking 3/4″ inch plywood folding tables in the following sizes in our Toronto, Vancouver, and Indianapolis warehouses: 4-ft Rectangular Banquet Tables (30 inches wide), 6-ft Rectangular Banquet Tables (30 inches wide), 8-ft Rectangular Banquet Tables (30 inches wide), 48 inch Round Tables, 60 inch Round Tables, and 72 inch Round Tables. Now, just in time for the busy spring season, we are pleased to announce that we have added a wide range of new wood tables to our inventory. Effective immediately, we are proud to offer the following plywood tables to our customers.

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1) New Products in Vancouver – Cruiser Tables in Toronto

Spring continues to roll on here at National Event Supply. We received containers at both our Vancouver and Toronto warehouses and in each case they brought us products that we didn’t have in stock. At our Toronto Warehouse, we received a shipment of wood cruiser tables, and at our Vancouver location we received three new wood tables: NES Wood Serpentine Folding Tables, 5-ft NES Wood Half-Moon Folding Tables, and 8-ft NES Wood Folding Harvest Tables.

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At National Event Supply we are constantly bringing in samples of potential new inventory items and working with existing customers on custom items they’re interested in stocking. We’ve been doing some cleanup of our showroom and warehouse and decided to get in the holiday spirit by donating a number of samples and over 250 barely used porcelain deep rectangular platters to local soup kitchens in the Greater Toronto Area and Mississauga. We had three non-profits including Good Shepherd Ministries, Syme Woolner Neighbourhood & Family Centre, and Eden Community Food Bank accept our donation.

Here is a picture of some of the items we donated:

The Executive Director of Eden Community Food Bank reached out to us to say:

"Thank you for thinking about Eden Community Food Bank for your donation. They will be put to good use in our food bank and in our new Community Learning Kitchen."
 

Eden Community Food Bank is located in Mississauga, Ontario and is a non-denominational, charitable organization, working to eliminate hunger through food distribution to qualified individuals and families living in selected areas of Mississauga, as well as providing education and advocacy services to our clients and the general public.

If you’re interested in spreading some holiday cheer by making a donation to help ensure those who need it most don’t go hungry throughout the season, please feel free to reach out to the three organizations (links above) and help them out.

The team at National Event Supply are thrilled the items can be put to good use and hope to provide more non-profits around the area additional items in the future.

Like most businesses, as a caterer, you’re looking to dominate your industry in a market filled with competition. In Toronto, when wedding season seems to last a few months, it takes a creative company to find new ways to generate revenue to ensure the “slow season” has a consistent revenue stream. Check out these 5 killer techniques you can employ to dominate your market.

Offer take-home catering to reap the benefits of a constant revenue stream during your low season

Take-home catering can be the solution you need to add a constant source of revenue throughout the year. With a culture that seems to be as fast paced as a NASCAR race, it’s not uncommon for consumers to pick up food from a restaurant, grocery store or a local catering company. What about those same consumers wanting to have friends over for a weekend gathering? By offering consumers the types of food they would pick up for a meal or a small event, you’re expanding your target market and positioning yourself as a go-to resource for meals and gatherings. Restaurants have expanded to offer take-home options – so why can’t you?

Negotiate an exclusive venue contract

In business, networking is an important facet of succeeding. The same is true with catering. Positioning your company alongside highly rated venues that suit your food style will not only help you gain more clients but also more industry contacts. Negotiating with a venue to become an exclusive caterer can be a competitive process but it can also help keep you busy year round. And while you will most likely have to pay dues to the venue, you have the added bonus of a venue’s marketing/sales staff spreading awareness about your catering company to all who want an event at their venue. To wet your feet with an exclusive catering contract, consider talking to new venues in the area as they may be more open to partnering with an exclusive caterer. Also make sure when searching for a venue you’d like to gain exclusivity with, to ensure that the venue hosts similar events to your culinary style – if you only cater weddings, and the venue only does corporate events for instance, your businesses may clash.

Launch a retail line of the food you’re most known for

Is there a hors d’oeuvre that leaves customers weak at the knees or a sweet treat that your customers rave about and order for their events time and time again? What about taking that best-selling item and launching a retail line with it? It’s a sure-fire way to expand your target market and broaden your reach to consumers who haven’t heard of your company before. It also ensures (assuming you keep the supply coming) that you’re able to have a consistent source of additional revenue. Restaurants have been doing this for decades and in our opinion it’s about time the culinary stars of catering grace consumers with their hit foods.

Broaden your footprint by offering educational cooking classes or team building for corporate events

Your most marketable skill (or that of your executive chef and culinary team) is your cooking skills. But everyone does not know how to cook. What about broadening your footprint in the market by offering educational cooking classes for the general public? It gets your name out there, provides value to potential customers and ensures your business and brand are first in their minds. Along the same lines of offering educational cooking classes, you could offer these as a form of team building for corporate events. Corporations are constantly looking for ways to build camaraderie that offers a new and exciting way to bond. Plus, they’re usually willing to pay more for the experience than a traditional consumer.

Promote attractive pricing for catering packages during the slow season for an uptick of weddings

Everyone likes a good bargain and with weddings costing a pretty penny (with the average price of a wedding ringing in at $27000), brides that aren’t set on a particular time of year would be more than willing to book in the off season to save money. Offering attractive pricing for catering packages during the slow season and promoting these packages can ensure you’re booking events during the slow season. Suddenly your business isn’t seasonal or cyclical in nature! To ensure you can offer lower pricing on catering packages, you need to ensure you have the best value on serving platters and other tabletop items.

As the year winds down, we are able to reflect on all the accomplishments we’ve been able to achieve. 2013 was a wonderful year for National Event Supply, our customers, as well as the entire Hospitality Industry. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we’re on an incredible journey and this is only the beginning. We brought in new products like our Polar White Dinnerware, mahogany resin folding chairs, and natural wood folding chairs. We expanded our plywood folding table and plastic folding table selections. We've also expanded our focus to offer a new line of linens including polyester table skirts, rectangular and round polyester table cloths and spandex table cloths in 2014. With Special Events Magazine forecasting an even better 2014, and many different Foodservice & Restaurant magazines/industry research companies forecasting increased growth in 2014, let’s work together to make next year the best year!

While it may be December, we're definitely not slowing down. We're ramping up for 2014 to ensure that it truly will be the very best year in National Event Supply’s history. However, we will be taking some time to enjoy each others company over the holiday season. The Holiday card below will detail when we will be closed during the season.

Regardless of what you'll be celebrating, we wish you a very happy holidays! We hope you enjoy time spent with your loved ones and that you take a moment to reflect on all your accomplishments and what you're really grateful for ahead of the New Year.