We Wish You A Merry Christmas!

Wow, it's Christmas Eve! Where did December go? 

Congratulations and hats off to all of you who have waded through this mammoth month of "Elf on the Shelf" balloons, and those endless hours of planning, designing and creating fabulous party and Christmas event decor! 

Naughty Elves at the Party House, Bridgend, Wales.

To be honest, I did not realise how big the "Elf on the Shelf" craze was until I saw all the posts on Facebook showing many wonderful ready-to-go balloons! One of my favourite posts was from Party House, in Bridgend, Wales showing how naughty their Elves were being dragging a Christmas tree through their party store!

Elf design by Kyrstin De Leeuw

Kyrstin De Leeuw, CBA of The Balloon Store in Barrie, Ontario, Canada, creates her very own super cute Elf on the Shelf!












A few weeks ago I had the wonderful opportunity to create some magical Christmas decor for the Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) children's Christmas party with a fabulous team of BAPIA (Balloon and Party Industry Alliance) members. The GOSH Christmas parties are for their patients, giving children and their families the chance to spend time together away from the wards – and to focus on having fun!

GOSH 2018 - Children's Christmas Party Entrance Decor with the fabulous team who made it! 

Our challenge was to create something that would survive four very lively parties, and needed to be latex free! I chose to create the entrance decor and designed a "Penguin Castle" using Qualatex^® Starpoints, Tapers and lots of Precious Penguin and Popular Elfin Penguin balloons! A huge thank you to my wonderful team who worked with me, and to Qualatex for sponsoring the balloons.

Only two days later I was back up to London with a fabulous team of balloon professionals to decorate a corporate Christmas party. I have been decorating this party for quite a few years, and each year the party gets bigger! This year we made 140 centrepiece designs, of which 117 were confetti-filled 3' balloons, in addition to entrance decor!

3' centrepiece balloon decor by Sue Bowler, CBA,
working with Ali Welsh Events.

The room looked absolutely stunning with beautiful balloons sparkling above each of the tables! 

3' centrepiece balloon decor by Sue Bowler,
 working with Ali Welsh Events.

And finally, did you all see the wonderful Mele Kalikimaka - Tropical Christmas Decor that was featured on Mr Q's Facebook page? This stunning decor filled the entrance lobby at Pioneer Worldwide. It is so vibrant, and packed with so many fun and exciting details! I really love it!

It's time to take a few days off with my lovely family. So, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy and peaceful Christmas! 

Happy Ballooning!

Sue
www.suebowler.com
#suebowler

Why Supporting Charities Can be Good For Business

Design by Tope Abulude, CBA

For the past five years, a group of excited balloon professionals have gathered at a London hotel to decorate a party. This a very special party. It is for children who are being treated at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH). GOSH is a very special hospital, the children treated there are mostly referred there by other U.K. hospitals offering care to children and young people with rare, complex, and difficult-to-treat conditions. The balloon professionals that attend travel from all over the U.K. and would not miss this day for the world! So why do they do it?

Daffodil Sculpture by
Chris Adamo for
Cancer Council.

Working for a charity and non-profit organisations can be very rewarding. Apart from the feel-good factor of supporting charities, working with non-profits could help boost your business' network and company image.

Companies can do this in so many ways: offering to raise income, gifts in kind, pro bono support, and volunteers for a cause. 

As a balloon company, we can offer balloons or decorate an event. 

When I first started my balloon business, I found it very difficult to know how to work with all the charity requests that I was getting. I am sure that many of you have found yourself in a similar situation.

I asked a few fellow balloon professionals their thoughts on working with charities and non-profit organisations.

"We support local charities and anything that I personally have an affinity with. To be more precise if a local school or charity wants something —less than a few hundred Australian dollars at retail price — I will often say 'Yes.' I feel good about helping, and that investment ALWAYS pays off. Locals want to support local — especially if they know we support them, said Chris Adamo, CBA, of Balloons Online, Sydney, Australia. 

"When I say local, that has to be within a few minutes drive — Sydney is a big place.  Anyone more distant, I will offer DIY materials at cost price. I don't want to make a profit from a 'not-for-profit' organisation. I personally do one large project for one of Australia's larger charities, Cancer Council. I have been doing it for years. It feels great being able to help, and in return, they have put me in touch with the corporate sector. Business is all about relationships and trust. Working with charities is a fast track to that process. It also gives you a blank canvas to try a new product, style, or technique."

When I ran my home-based balloon business, I also supported one main charity each year by decorating their big fund-raising event. As a small business, I was unable to give the decor for free as my funds would not permit this. However, my solution was to sell the decor at cost. For anyone who uses a Job Cost Form, you will know that your cost includes materials, labour costs, and expenses. Therefore, I did not make any profit from the event, but it meant that I could afford the materials and to pay those helping me on the day. I felt that it was important that the charity knew the true value of decor that they were receiving. When I sent the invoice, I would show the full cost of the decor, and then I would show how much discount they would be getting. It is important that they understand the full value of the decor that you are providing for their event.

Joette Giardina of Balloon Coach says, "In a previous career as a social worker for a non-profit organization, I knew how much we counted on the generosity of others to provide services to our clients. So when I started my balloon business, I felt it important to offer a discount to non-profits for our services to be able to still make a profit for the company and to help the community.

As business owners, we can give back to the community in several ways. One is to serve on the board of a local charity to give of our time to help plan and promote a fundraiser

This did two things for me. It got me in a room with other business leaders from my area that I would have not met otherwise. They appreciated that I gave up my time to help the organization and in return, referred people to me to purchase decor for other events outside of the event we worked on.

I see a lot of talk on balloon groups that say giving "FREE" decor to a company just brings more free work, and from my experience, I disagree with that. It's all about how you set it up. I am of the mindset that it is important to be a part of my community and to give back as I can to those who need it. When deciding to give my time or work, I think it's  key that my heart needs to be in it, and not to do it just because someone asked for something free. Support a charity that you can really support because it's a cause or organization you care about.

As a business owner, you can choose one charity a year that you support — or multiple —based on your finances. That way I can say, 'We are a small business, and as such, we have a charity that we give to annually.'  But we like to help the other wonderful non-profits, so we can extend a 10% discount for your event."

Joette has written a great article on this subject: 5 Tips to Creating Sales When Non-Profits Call Your Balloon Company Asking For Donations. 

Giving back to the community means benefits for both charities and the businesses that support them. Using marketing to promote charitable works can work well for companies. But it’s important that this kind of marketing doesn’t come across as self-serving. 

Promote through Social Media Channels

You can use social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram to promote your company’s charitable works and engage the community at the same time. 

Your social media profiles already create a sense of shared experience with your customers, you’ll be able to show customers that you truly care about the charities you support.

Put articles on your blog and website
Write an article for your company’s blog, or create a “community” section on your site that provides details about your favorite causes. Instead of splashing your latest good deed all over your homepage, simply draw site visitors to those pages through a small banner that says, “We support This Charity… click here to find out how you can help, too!” Provide a specific call to action that allows customers to join you in your efforts.

Post in-store signage
Use signage to remind customers about the causes you support. But instead of loudly proclaiming, “Look What We’re Doing!” create signs that give customers a way to help. You might develop a campaign that provides a specific donation for every sale, or asks customers to donate directly.

Volunteer time and effort
They say actions speak louder than words. So get out there and act already! Volunteer time in addition to money. Include employees and customers for a day of charitable giving by issuing invitations and putting up signage to advertise the event. Don’t forget to include signage at the volunteer location, too.

Choose just a few charities and participate in a meaningful way
Some companies mistakenly think that if one charity makes them look good, a dozen will make them look even better. This method can backfire—it appears that you’re just collecting as many charities as you can in order to promote yourself. Instead, choose just two or three charities that you truly care about, and participate in meaningful way. Instead of giving twelve charities $100, give one charity $1200.

Marketing shouldn’t be the impetus for giving; your customers see right through your ulterior motives and are turned away by your insincerity. A true, sincere desire to help people in need comes first; capitalizing on the market value of charity is a secondary perk. Promote your company’s good works in a way that is designed to help the charity more than the company, and you’ll do both.

Wow, what a fabulous article, I wish I had some of Nelson James' advice when I started my business!

There is some truly great advice in this post for those of you who are unsure how to work with charities and non-profit organisations. You might decide that in 2018 you will find a wonderful local charity and drive all your efforts in their direction rather than waiting for them to find you.

A huge thank you to Chris and Joette for their invaluable advice.

Happy Ballooning!

Sue
www.suebowler.com

"GOSH," - it's Christmas Party time! - 17th December 2015

Since 2013, the Balloon and Party Industry Alliance - BAPIA, has called upon its members to help create the decor for the Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), Children's Christmas parties.

Built in 1852, Great Ormond Street Hospital had only ten beds when it first opened and was the first hospital in the UK that offered dedicated inpatient care to sick children. In 1858, GOSH survived its first major financial crisis when Charles Dickens spoke at a festive dinner and gave a public reading of A Christmas Carol in aid of the hospital. This raised enough money to purchase the neighbouring house on Great Ormond Street and increase the bed capacity to 75! Today, more than 255,000 patients visit GOSH annually. Not only is GOSH at the forefront of pediatric training in the UK, but it is also a pioneer of medical research to find new and better treatments for childhood illnesses.

Decorating the annual GOSH Children's Christmas party is such a great honour knowing that our industry, with some very dedicated helpers, has done a little to make this very special occasion a little bit more exciting and fun! 

The party is a Christmas treat for patients who are currently in the hospital or who have been treated over the last year. More than 2000 children, siblings, parents, and carers attended the four parties that are held over two days! 

These magical parties feature fun activities including face painting, arts and crafts, cupcake decorating, and an appearance from one very special guest - Father Christmas - who flies all the way from the North Pole for the occasion.

Decorating this party has its challenges as we are not permitted to use any latex balloons. So each year we get our thinking caps on and create exciting balloon decor without the help of our beloved latex balloons!

Balloon Images OCT/NOV/DEC 2015

After reading the fantastic article, ❝Create Fabulous Foil Arches❞ in Balloon Images Oct/Nov/Dec 2015, I decided that this would be the perfect opportunity for me and my team to recreate one of these amazing arches!

I loved the “Colourful Candy Surprise” arch by Cam Woody, CBA, that was featured in the same article.

Cam created an arch that incorporated all the Qualatex^® 18" and 9" Candy Swirl Microfoils attached in a random pattern that spread the colour throughout the design. I felt that these balloons would be perfect for the children; we would add a Christmas twist to the design, too! 

Using David Mahoney's recommended ❝H❞ taping technique, we started our preparation. Firstly, we air inflated our selected range of "Candy Swirls" and Christmas balloons. We wanted to emulate the wonderful randomness that Cam had created in her beautiful arch and felt it would be easier if we could select the balloons as we went along!