Have Stuff, Will Travel

Here’s the dilemma: Do I take my national rental company on the road with me for my event? Or do I explore the possibility of developing a relationship with a new company in the location of my event? Or do I aim for something in between?

Can anyone answer that question for you? Event Solutions spoke with a number of rental companies from around the country in order to do just that. Their stories may help you put some facts and ideas together to make your rental decisions easier.

What key element did the rental professionals with whom we spoke mention most consistently? You guessed it—it’s all about relationships!

Successfully taking your event on the road always comes back to strong relationships—between client and rental company, rental company and the community in which the event is held, and national rental company and local rental companies. In each of these anecdotes, consider the impact that strong relationships had on the success of the event and the rental company.

Meeting the Space Challenge

Mindy McPherson of Karl’s Event Rental credits strong, solid relationships with making the phone ring at her company in Oak Creek, Wis. For example, when Karl’s travels nationwide to service an out-of-state event, the company documents its contribution to each local economy in terms of lodging, meals, subcontracting and the other requirements of travel utilized by crew members.

Atlanta Motor Speedway looked to Karl’s for an innovative solution in hosting an event for 3,000 guests in a very limited space. The event included custom catering, 11,000 square feet of buffet lines, a performance onstage by Hootie and the Blowfish, and branding for the client, Golden Corral. The plot of land was an atypical trapezoid shape with multiple underground utilities that challenged maneuverability. The solution? Straddling one fourth of the 39,000-square-foot main tent over a fence line. Additional tents were guttered to the main tent for increased space. Karl’s also trucked 14 semi loads of equipment to the Atlanta Motor Speedway, along with several highly experienced crew members.

From preplanning and site inspections to obtaining permits, writing production schedules and installation, Karl’s played a key role in creating an event that met and exceeded the client’s expectations.

Extending Your Boundaries

When Spanish-language television network Telemundo contacted Rick Kuster of Arizona Tents and Events/Classic Events and Parties about a mobile marketing project, Telemundo was interested in working with the company only in the Arizona phase of its project.

The network wanted Arizona Tents and Events/Classic Events and Parties to provide rental for a series of baby shows, which would be set up in malls or in the parking lots of strip centers. The shows were to be staged to demonstrate and display a wide range of products for babies and nurseries. Telemundo needed a rental company that would provide quality equipment as well as a superior crew. The mobile marketing event was to be filmed and televised, so seamless execution was imperative!

The production required everything from baby-blue astro turf and a baby changing station to logistical challenges such as trucking, timing, transportation, permits, organization and venue challenges.

Even though Kuster estimates that 90 percent of his business is in Arizona, Telemundo decided to contract the company to travel with the show to Houston and California. Kuster credits Brent Mabb and an outstanding production crew with landing this extended business. He also emphasized the importance of strong relationships around the country to assist with unanticipated equipment needs and ensure a successful event.

Flexibility and Stepping up to the Plate

Kelly Murphy of Miami-based Panache Party Rental was contracted to provide linens for a private celebration of a local sports figure’s inauguration into the National Football League’s Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
During the three months of planning, the event venue was changed four times. Originally, the event was slated to take place in a country club. The client, Heidi Ladell of Miami-based Connoisseur Cuisine, was looking to create ambiance via linens and centerpieces. As the guest list grew, the new idea was to erect a tent on the grounds of the country club. Suddenly, more services were needed and Panache began rounding up local vendors to implement these changes.

Approximately one month out from the event date, the venue was changed again—now it would be held in an airplane hangar, requiring air conditioning, power and lighting. A phone call to Cleveland-based Event Source yielded excellent referrals to vendors that could meet the tight deadline and perform a site inspection for the client.

With the new venue, the client was now looking for an off-premise caterer and décor company. In the interest of time, Panache’s client preferred to create the event in Florida and truck it to Ohio. Designs by Sean and A Joy Wallace Catering Production were brought in. Just when Panache was getting ready to load the tractor trailers and head for Ohio—less than two weeks before the event—everything changed again.

Panache’s event would now merge with another event. The guests would number 800 instead of 400. The venue changed from a vast “blank canvas” airplane hangar to an historic hotel with an elegant but confined space. The ceiling allowance dropped from 30 to 16 feet. It was time to regroup—and quickly.

Flights were arranged and a meeting set with the hotel staff, organizers and local vendors. Panache even managed to keep the tent company involved for a catering tent.

“At this meeting, we all became partners in the success of this event and set the plan into motion to make this work,” says Murphy. “Even though there was some overlapping of services, all the vendors stayed onboard to deliver an outstanding event.”

The event came off beautifully. The communication between the event partners in both states was paramount. The group from Florida already had a great working relationship, and the Ohio professionals welcomed and embraced the project.

Added Service and Attention to Detail

How can you give a sense of one-on-one intimacy to an important meeting of 1,500 partners? How can you keep each person engaged and involved in the content of the meeting? These were challenges brought to Bill Jett, vice president of operations for Tempe, Ariz.-based AV Concepts, in planning a recent leadership conference in Seattle. AV Concepts has traveled around the U.S. for this nationally recognized client’s meetings for three years, and the client brought its vision to AV Concepts with confidence.

AV Concepts brought the client’s representatives to its Tempe offices to demonstrate potential solutions its technology offered, showing how use of a wide screen (15 feet by 50 feet), using the Vista Systems Spyder high-resolution video system, could connect each member of the audience to the action onstage. The system provides the means to show seamless, multiple images on an ultra-wide screen that spans the stage. Live IMAG of the speaker and/or audience could be simultaneously shown along with images of a PowerPoint presentation, theme graphics and imbedded video all combined like a living mural.

The demonstration was an added service that enabled the client’s representatives to envision all the possibilities the technology offered for communicating their message to meeting attendees. “From our pre-show demonstrations, we understand the client’s vision and can execute the technology on-site,” Jett explains.

Jett attributes the company’s long-standing strategic relationship with the client to dedicated event management in which teams from both companies work with project managers and the engineering staff to provide creative logistics solutions and deliver consistently excellent performance for the client. The added services from concept to execution assure the client that each and every meeting will deliver the intended messages to the attendees.

Everyone is on the Same Team—Even at the Super Bowl

Peerless Event Partners specializes in providing management and rental equipment for events nationwide and typically uses local labor to produce and execute events for clients such as Home Depot, L’Oréal, Loews Resorts and McDonald’s Corporation.

For example, for the Taste of NFL, a charity event held in conjunction with the 2005 Super Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., Peerless Events was hired by the production team, which comprised Craig Warren, Gary Larr and Gene Swinson. The setup of this high-profile event brought together the top chefs from each of the 31 NFL cities and allowed attendees to sample different foods from each city as well as mingle with players and celebrity guests.

The project consisted of installing approximately 50,000 square feet of tents, flooring and ancillary equipment and had some site-related challenges, such as limited working space, trees, tennis courts, buildings and constant rain for 12 days of the 14-day setup.

Peerless’ first action was retaining the services of Rentaland, a Jacksonville-based events provider. Peerless relied on Rentaland’s owner, David Stevens, for sourcing, impromptu site visits and other logistics such as hotels and transportation. Peerless also acquired the services of Party Perfect and Event Flooring Professionals, both of which have representation on the East Coast.

Peerless specializes in high-end corporate work and uses many local vendors across the country to offer its clients quality service with the most economical situation. Being able to work on a national level is very important to Peerless, and without the help of local vendors, this would not be possible.

Custom Service + Customized Products = Customer Satisfaction

Grosh Scenic Rentals strives to provide event planners with themed backdrops that are ideal for their events, rising to the challenge of creating new backdrops that are exactly what the client envisions. Recently, Sean Lee of J & M Entertainment made a call to Jane Copeland of Grosh Scenic Rentals requesting a Chinese New Year backdrop for an event. After Grosh reviewed over 5,000 items in its inventory, it was apparent that the company did not have backdrops that matched the client’s vision. Therefore, the company worked with its talented scenic artists and rendered a sketch that included Chinese lanterns, firecrackers and banners. When Lee suggested adding a dragon, the artists adjusted, painting a beautiful backdrop with an immense dragon.