• Event Planners Keep Them Busy
   
• School Fundraisers
   
• Profitable Fundraiser
   
• Promoting Business

Avoiding the Event Planner’s Nightmare: 
A Simple Solution for Eliminating Boredom at your Next Community Event

If you’ve attended a community event, a fair, or a carnival anytime in the recent future, then you’ve seen them—huge, pillowy, inflatable rentals that act as fun magnets for kids of all ages.  The inflatable slides and inflatable bouncers are never empty, and usually have a line of kids outside, anxiously awaiting the fun inside.  In sharp contrast are the faces of the parents, often appearing bored and bothered as their child runs out the exit hatch of these inflatable rentals and back into the waiting line. For event planners, this is an ideal opportunity to create a positive experience for adults.

There’s no denying the facts; kids love gigantic inflatable slides and bouncers.  It’s also a fact that the parents of those kids quickly become bored while standing around waiting for their child to loop endlessly through the inflatable 18 foot slide line.  An event planner’s goal is to create an environment where no one is bored and everyone has something exciting to enjoy.  In order to prevent this event planning nightmare, design your event so that there are activities “clusters.”

Organize the event into activity clusters

Organize the layout so that there are in clusters of activities that appeal to all family members. The goal is to give parents something to do while the kids are having fun on the inflatable rentals, and to give kids something to do while the parents are shopping, browsing, and engaged in conversation.  Position vendor booths with items of interest to parents near the inflatable games so that adults can browse and shop without being out of eyesight range of their children.  These spots are prime real estate for vendors and worthy of premium space rental prices because of their location. 

Think back to the last event you attended… it’s likely that the inflatable rentals were positioned on the outskirts, far away from all of the things that attracted adults to the event in the first place.  Why not place some of these attractions close to the inflatable units?  Consider the event from your guest’s point of view.  When a family with children arrives, the kid’s eyes and consequently their minds, go straight to the inflatable rentals.  From that moment on, they are likely driving their parents batty, asking in nonstop 5-minute intervals to go play on them. 

In this all-too-common scene, it’s difficult for parents to enjoy themselves.  Adults would likely spend a lot more time and money inside of your event if they felt relaxed and were not pressured to hurry. Position these vendors and adult activities near the inflatable rentals, and suddenly adults have a limitless amount of time to browse and shop. 

Instead of placing all of the inflatable rentals in one area, position several inflatable games throughout the event.  Inflatables look inviting when they are spread throughout the grounds. 

Plan to have 6 to 8 booths around each inflatable activity.  When parents are ready to move along, the anticipation of the different inflatable games and activities ahead means kids have something to look forward to throughout the day.  Having inflatable rentals is a given to entertain kids, but positioning them in the right places mean that kids, parents, and vendors can have an enjoyable experience

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Promoting and Planning
 

There’s no doubt that schools need much more funding than they receive to provide the quality education they want to give.  Like most schools, yours is likely involved in some form of fund raising throughout the entire year.  A profitable and fun way to raise money for the supplies your school needs so desperately, is to host a seasonal or holiday fair that will draw people from all over the community.  Think big when planning your event.  The more exciting, fun, and appealing your event, the more people will attend and the more press coverage you’ll receive. 

Think big, think inflatable rentals!

The best way to give your school fair a big feel is by bringing in fun, colorful, inflatable rentals.

 Games and activities

Fair games are simple to make and are a great project for students.  They can also be a big revenue generator for your school.  You’ll want to invest in some small prizes to give out to everyone who plays.  Position your games and activities around the inflatable rentals so that fair-goers can play while waiting for friends and family member to complete their turn on the inflatable activities.

Most fair games are simple to create.  One idea for a simple and fun game is a fishing game that requires a small plastic pool, a few rubber ducks with magnets attached to the head or back, and a fishing pole with a magnet on the end. When players lift up the duck, they discover a number on the duck’s belly that corresponds with a specific prize.  Other ideas are beanbag toss that requires only beanbags and a piece of wood drilled with holes, and a Frisbee throw game where participants try to throw a Frisbee through a hula-hoop.  Building games is great fun for students—challenge them to come up with more fun and interesting games and have them work together to build them. 

Using the media to create buzz

The bigger your event, the more press coverage you are likely to receive.  Local newspapers, radio stations, and television stations are always looking for exciting events to inform the community of.  Start by sending out press releases to these media outlets that includes information about all of the different inflatable rentals, games, and vendors that will be at the event.  Monitor the places that you’ve sent your press release to and contact individuals at the media outlets that haven’t yet mentioned your news to inform them personally.  You’ll be amazed at how much free publicity you can receive and how many people will hear the message.

Drawing in passers by

Inflatable rentals aren’t just a lot of fun for everyone; they also attract a lot of attention.  Those who didn’t hear about the event from press, posters, flyers, or word of mouth will see the colorful inflatable rentals while driving by.  It’s difficult to miss an 18 foot tall inflatable slide and even harder to resist the urge to give it a try.  Be sure to have lots of signs near roads letting passers by know that the event is open to the public and also provide dates and times that the event will be running as well as the cost so that curious people will be more likely to drop in. 

Plan early, book your inflatable rentals early, and appoint several people to get the word out around town through radio advertising, flyers, posters door hangers, and other local community news outlets.  It’s easy to plan a wonderful event and raise a great deal of much-needed cash for your school with inflatable rentals, homemade fair games, and a little publicity!

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How to Host a Fun and Profitable Fundraiser with Inflatable Rentals

Schools and non-profits are always in need of ways to raise money, but it can be tiring to constantly be planning and executing small fundraisers that don’t offer a big payoff.  Instead of planning lots of small fundraisers, you may find that you realize a better payoff by putting more effort into one large event that really draws a crowd and that creates lots of rich memories at the same time. 

If your school or group is seeking an exciting new way to raise funds, then try organizing a carnival with inflatable rentals.  With big, fun activities like inflatable slides and bouncers putting together a carnival can be simple, fast, and profitable.  To pull off a great event with inflatable rentals, plan early and keep these ideas in mind:

Delegate preparation tasks:

Don’t spend extensive amounts of time in meetings discussing every detail.  Instead, put people in charge of various parts of the event.  Allow them to research and manage their part and report back to the group to agree upon before implementing the ideas. 

Decide on inflatable rentals and reserve early

You can either charge a flat rate admission for guests, or have them buy tickets for access to the various inflatable rentals activities. 

Feed your guests the simple way while earning a profit

Providing food can be one of the most stressful and time-consuming parts of any event.  Instead of utilizing an army of volunteers for this task, find a local restaurant or taco shop with a food cart to serve food at the event.  You won’t earn as much as if your volunteers cooked and served the food themselves, but you can charge a vendor’s fee or a portion of each sale made by the food service provider. 

Silent auctions:

There is something about a silent auction that turns an ordinary prize into an object of great desire.  Bidders become almost addicted to checking the silent auction bid sheets and raising the ante if they’ve been outdone.  Ask guests and local businesses for prize donations to help raise money for the cause such as restaurant coupons, free hotel stays, massages, etc.

Midway games

Family-friendly carnival games are a great way for carnival goers to enjoy themselves and for your organization to earn a profit.  In addition to the bigger prizes, stock up on lots of smaller prizes so that everyone feels like a winner and has a great time.  Most midway games can be made with basic materials and can be put together by your group.

Carnivals are a great way to bring the community together and raise a lot of money for your organization.  You’ll easily make back any amount you invested in inflatable rentals and much more with a little preparation and planning. 

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How to Promote Your Local Small Business In a Big (And Low Cost) Way

 If you own a local business, you are probably well aware of the fact that the world has become a very competitive place.  It can seem difficult to find ways to stand out in today’s overcrowded marketplace, but it’s certainly not impossible for businesses with a passion to go above and beyond.  Instead of tossing away all of your marketing dollars on flyers, newspaper ads, and door hangers like every other local business is doing, you can draw large-scale public interest by hosting an event in the community with vendor booths, games, events and inflatable rentals.

Why inflatable rentals?  Because they are BIG and colorful and people can’t help but to look when they see them!  If you really want to be noticed within the community, you’ve got to create something that is beyond ordinary—something that people don’t see everyday.  Inflatable rentals are also quick to set up, inexpensive, and create a festive environment for all age groups.

Imagine your own drive home from the office each day or to the grocery story on the weekends.  For the most part, the scenery never changes and things that are always there seem to fade into the background.  Now imagine that one of the open lots or public gathering spaces is filled with gigantic, inflatable obstacle courses, a ring where people are wrestling each other in hilarious inflatable sumo suits, inflatable slides, and other big inflatable rentals. 

If you thing think this would catch your eye, then it will certainly attract the attention of your local clientele.  By placing large vinyl signs with your company’s name and logo on the inflatable rentals, locals will not only be aware of your company, but also equate it with feelings of fun, goodness, and genuine compassion for the community. 

Design your event to attract your target audience

The purpose of hosting a big community event is not only to be seen, but also to connect with your target audience.  If your business is one that is serves kids such as a children’s hair cutting salon, then you’ll want to bill your community event as one that is fun for kids.  However, inflatable rentals aren’t only fun for kids.  There are inflatable rentals for all ages and tastes!

Creating your promotional materials

Although you do want to attract your target audience, you also don’t want to leave anyone in the community feeling like they’re not invited.  Make it clear in all of your promotional materials that everyone in the community is welcome and that there is no admission charge.  You may also want to create large vinyl signs with this same message for to hang at the entrances of the event itself. 

Effective ways to spread the word are with a detailed press release sent to local newspapers, radio stations, and television stations.  List all of the activities that will be taking place such as the different types of inflatable rentals and the various food vendors so that people will have a clear idea of what to expect when they arrive.  The more unique your event, the more likely it is to be mentioned by some of the high profile publications and stations in your area.

The key is to never lose sight of the fact that this is an advertising tool.  Hosting an exciting community event with inflatable rentals will likely be less expensive than ad space in many high profile publications.  However, you can gain coverage in numerous publications for ‘free’ when you are hosting a newsworthy event that the media want to tell the community about.  By hosting a promotional community event, you’ll realize so much more than just a memorable advertisement.  Hosting a fun event with inflatable rentals is a great way to meet and connect with the community you serve.

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