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Miscellaneous Ramblings
by Larry Moss, Sheena Beaverson
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| Thanks to Don Caldwell for this bright, summer contribution. |
Summer Project: Photo Collections
When we unveiled our photo database 18 months ago, our goal was to make it easier to access older photo collections, as well as share new photos. However, portfolio-building tasks related to new photo uploads from BHQ Members became so overwhelming that projects designed to sort out the old photos ended up being neglected. Our efforts were focused on frantically reworking hardware and software set-ups to handle the new demand.We're proud to report that BHQ recently exceeded 6000 photos in the database collection. Now that we've gotten all of the database holdings on track, we've hired some additional summer help to organize the backlog of older photo collections. Once all of the older photos are archived in the database, it will be much easier to find sculpture examples for inspriation (especially those pics that we KNOW are buried in large event collections). We're very excited to be tackling this large and important house-keeping task.
Finding the right distributor
Any community the size of BHQ will undoubtedly have a wide variety of people, businesses, interests and beliefs. That means there will always be disagreements and misunderstandings. Over the last few months (and notably in the last week) we've seen quite a bit of discussion from balloon professionals about disappointing treatment from distributors. In the past we've seen complaints about manufacturers that had much the same tone. The Balloon HQ community can't thrive without all of these groups working together. Several balloon wholesalers have contacted us recently with concerns about these misunderstandings. One took the time to write a detailed view from the distributor perspective.Note that we are not trying to defend "bad" distributors, if there is such a thing. We're just trying to make it easier for you to understand why picking a distributor might be harder than simply picking up a phone book.
A distributor's view
(The author of the following prefers to remain anonymous so that everyone can read it with an unbiased view.)
The wholesale balloon business covers a wide variety of markets. These would include: mass market retailers, party stores, and the professional balloon market, which is subdivided into decorator and twister.
A factory told me that they estimated the professional balloon market to be approximately 10% of the total balloon market. I don't know if this is accurate, and I'm sure it can be debated and discussed, but it does give you a feel for how large the mass and party store markets are.
No distributor can make every person happy. Distributors have focused on certain markets and are very good at servicing that market. If you like your distributor, then you have found one that is focusing on your market. If you don't like a distributor, that doesn't necessarily mean they are a bad distributor, it may just mean that they are focused on a different part of the balloon market.
One BHQ member recently mentioned that we are a good distributor - we are for him, because we focus on the professional market. But there are plenty of businesses that we don't fit and can't service effectively, because we don't focus on their market.
Several specific things were brought up that I would like to address.
- Minimum orders - In the mass market world a minimum of $100 would be considered quite low; not true for the professional world. The professional world is notorious for those last minute crises that don't exist in the mass market world.
- Knowing the latest colors of latex that are out - Essential for a distributor in the professional world, the mass market world doesn't care.
- Adding on after an order has been placed - Depending on how the distributor's order processing is handled, this may or may not be possible. If a distributor has focused on the mass market, they would not really need this feature in a software package as it would be rare to get a call back with an add on. In the professional market, add on's are pretty common.
- Distributors make mistakes just like everyone else. If you like your distributor and think they are the best, you're right - they are the best for you and what your business needs. If you don't like a distributor, just keep in mind, they may not be bad or lacking in customer service, or uncaring, it may just mean they are good at something else besides what you need.
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| A space age view of balloons by Marc Summers |
This month's featured artist portfolio
Marc Summers, from the Balloon Store Ltd in the UK has been an active BHQ user and supporter for years. In fact, in 2001 his entry in the large sculpture competition at IBAC was a giant computer displaying, among other things, BalloonHQ.com in a web browser. Marc is one of the first BHQ members to take advantage of the new portfolio customization features being offered.
Visit Marc's Portfolio