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Almost 500 attend A.R.A.’s 2001 Events & Tents program
05/01/2001
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Attendees to Events & Tents 2001: The Odyssey experienced a wide range of educational topics, information and entertainment designed specifically for the event and party rental industry. About 500 people took part in the event held at the Rosen Plaza in Orlando, Fla., Feb. 24-25 just before the 45th annual A.R.A. convention.
“It’s the highest number of attendees that we’ve ever had. We are pleased with the turnout and, more importantly, we’re pleased with the value of the seminar series and the tours were awesome,” said Paul Zahner, chairman of the Events & Tents Ad-Hoc Planning Committee and president of Party Time Rental, Carmel, Ind.
It was the 10th year for an A.R.A.-sponsored tent/event program, and the third year that program participants helped produce a final gala.
The educational sessions, presented over a day and a half, were broken up into seven separate learning tracks called Quests. The Quest topics were tents, linens, tabletop décor, event design, sales and marketing, operations and management.
The events program opening session featured speaker Wendy Samson, who spoke on “Finding Your Rhythm ... Dancing with Change.” She told attendees to be aware that customer expectations keep rising — satisfaction is not enough. She said a business’ goals should be to exceed expectations.
The rest of that day, participants went to their Quest sessions with a break for a group luncheon/round-table From Page 81 discussions. The next morning, some participants toured Walt Disney World Textile Services and Freeman Decorating’s Orlando warehouse operation. Other attendees stayed back for hands-on experience decorating for the evening gala that concluded the events program. The Odyssey Gala was held in a tent on the Rosen Plaza grounds. Dance music and artists provided entertainment.
Committee members planning the program were Zahner; John Crabbe, Vermont Tent Co., South Burlington, Vt.; Betty Dedmond, Chantilly General Rental, Chantilly, Va.; Damon Holditch, Austin Rent-All Party, Austin, Texas; Robert Hughes, All Occasions Event Rental, Cincinnati; Karen McVey, McVey Tent & Expo, Appleton, Wis.; Kelly Murphy, Panache Party Rentals, Pompano Beach, Fla.; Richard Young, Young Rental Center, Harvey, La.; Maun Petersen, Diamond Rental, Salt Lake City, A.R.A. Party and Events Services Special Interest Group chairperson, and Charles Neffle, All Occasions Event Rental, Cincinnati, A.R.A. board liaison. A.R.A. staff involved included Maureen Conway, A.R.A. director of education, Kim Vladic, Kayla Kiesey and Chris Coleman. |
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