Appreciation Marketing

Anyone who has used our services usually gets a customized “Thank You!” card from us . The card may have had a photo of your event, or more likely, a photo of the balloon sculpture we created for your event. And I’ll bet you and your family smiled and maybe laughed at when you received that card.

For those of you who wondered how we produce those unique greeting cards, here is our secret – SendOut Cards. This system allows us (or anyone else involved with SendOut Cards) to upload digital photos, add some text, and create a card the says “Thank You!” in  mere minutes.

SOC allows us to keep an online database of all our important clients, so it is very easy to keep in touch with someone.If you don’t have a digital camera, or just don’t want to create your own cards, you can choose from about 18,000 cards SOC has in its online catalog. This catalog contains cards for nearly every occasion imaginable.

SOC also allows you to make some extra cash, if that is more your cup of tea.

If you are curious about the SendOut Cards system, go to www.sendoutcards.com/15878/  and check it out. Watch the 3 minute video, send a free card, and let me know if I can get you started with SendOut Cards! And again – “Thank You!!”

New Balloon Creations we have learned – recently

The Balloonamations crew is always being tasked to learn new, neater, cooler, more spectacular balloon designs. Sometimes this is in response to a customer’s request “Do you know how to build a ____________?”  Other times, we find really exciting designs we know will blow people away on DVD’s, photos on the web, or classes we take. So what?! — this means our clients can hire us for more than one event and be pretty sure they will get something new each time! So if you need some really awesome balloon creation to make your event extra special, give us a call!

Here are just a few examples of new (for us) balloon sculptures we have had to come up with since July 2011 —

Stretch the Balloon Dude visits San Antonio!

We often dazzle people with our amazing balloon creations – but where do we come up with these wonderful latex designs?

The truth is that we learn new ideas and concepts from some of the best balloon artists in the country. Balloonamations has a really large collection of DVD’s that allow us to re-create some of the best, cutest, coolest, most interesting balloon art pieces you will ever see.

We also learn new stuff by attending balloon jams (a bunch of crazy balloon artists getting together to play with their balloons) and balloon conventions. But the best way to learn new balloon designs is to attend classes being taught by one of country’s best balloon artists. Balloonamations was honored to host Stretch the Balloon Dude when he recently visited San Antonio, TX.

Modeling school finally pays off!

Stretch taught two classes based upon his “Wizard of  Ahhhhs” DVD and his “Twisted Toppers Too” DVD. The first class demonstrated how you can use 360 and 650 balloons to truly “Wow!” your audience, while the second class focused on how to make some really cool hats that all use a 6-balloon double hexagon concept.  The photos show examples of this heady concept!

If you are a balloon twister trying to get better, we highly recommend just about any of Stretch’s DVDs. And if you need a really awesome balloon performer for any event in the Dallas area, Stretch is the guy. He can be reached through his web site at http://www.stretchc.com/

We want to thank Stretch for coming down and teaching these classes — we learned a lot, and had a ton of fun!!

Outdoor events

Summer time is definitely here in the San Antonio area — and the triple-digit heat just keeps on coming! This situation makes it extremely difficult for our balloon artists and our face painters to do their best work for your event.

Balloons really do not like high temperatures – and neither do the balloon artists 🙂 The latex in the balloons breaks down rapidly under intense heat/sunlight, resulting in extreme “fogging” in some balloons, and super-critical expansion in others — they POP! We rarely pop balloons while we are working – we are professionals, after all – but we pop a LOT of them when attempting to build complex creations when working outdoors in very hot conditions. This means each balloon creation takes even longer to build. Then, the balloons tend to pop when you just set them down on a table or chair when it is very hot. And the wind is always blowing here in Texas, causing more balloons to pop.

Our face painters also have problems when working outdoors in very hot conditions. Often, the paint will not stick to a sweaty face or arm. The hot wind tends to dry out the paints, so it takes longer to finish the task.

You can help make your outdoor event a lot more enjoyable if you:

> Have it early, before it gets too unbearably hot;

> Supply LOTS of shade – pop up tents, trees – the artists and people waiting in line will appreciate this!

> Have plenty of icy drinks for  people waiting in line, and the artists as well

> Giant outdoor fans can help some, too

> Forget all that and just have it indoors !! It is usually shady, and cool in there!

We want everyone to really enjoy your event, and if you help us stay shady and cool, we  can produce some fantastic balloon art and/or face painting for your guests. Let’s all pray for cooler weather and a little rain!

Balloonamations — constantly improving our skills

Ernie just returned form Dallas, TX , where he attended a couple of advanced balloon  techniques classes. T-Jam-on-the-road is a nationwide tour being sponsored by T. Myers Balloons & Majic and the Betallic Balloon companies. This particular session was taught by Steve Jones, a nationally known decorator and pioneer in “deco-twisting”.

Steve is especially well known for his balloon weaving skills, and he demonstrated how to use those techniques to build some absolutely amazing stuff (check out the giant Beer Mug hat and the Spartan Helmet!) Later on, he showed us how to use Link-O-Loons to pretty dramatic effect – the wearable birthday cake is pretty darned awesome!

Overall, this was an outstanding chance for us to learn from a really gifted balloon artist, and to network with some other very talented balloon artists, too. The bumble bee and balloon dress were entries into the balloon sculpture contest which was held after the classes – and most balloon artists are so darned nice that they will tell you how they created these masterpieces (as well as answer just about any questions you may have). The after-class jam is often extremely educational — you can learn a lot about the balloon biz, as well as how to build some phenomenally cute stuff!

If you want to improve your skills at anything, seek out those with fantastic talent who enjoy teaching — Steve Jones is one of those people! Now that we have seen Steve in action, Balloonamations can offer some incredible new designs for our customers’ events. Thanks again to Gus at T Myers, and to Betallic balloons for bringing Steve to Texas!