As a member of the balloon community, you walk a fine line between keeping camaraderie and protecting your company in your area. When so many within the industry cheer on teamwork and group efforts, what happens when suddenly your balloon friends are bidding on the same jobs as you are? Should you be eager to invite your potential competitors into your inner circle or should you be more weary? In this panel, our speakers will take on both sides of this issue and present their experiences so you can best decide for yourself.

With multiple manufacturers offering dozens of colors, sizes and styles of balloons, just how do you keep track of it all? How do you store them? Organize them? Keep track of them? In this panel, we will have multiple professionals addressing their particular tricks and techniques when it comes to sequencing their stockpiles.

Sure, it’s easy to post pics of your creations, but how can you convert those images into clients? Just because you make pretty things doesn’t mean it will fill your pockets with profits. During this panel, our experts will address the best ways they’ve developed their success online (and here’s a hint…it doesn’t involve paying for followers….)

There’s a secret to survival in this industry, and it’s not so much about price as much as it is about profit. And when it comes to profitability, you need a strategy to keep money rolling in to sustain what you’ve built. In this panel, career professionals of over ten years will discuss the items in their inventory that have consistently produced positive results for their companies, as well as how they sell those items to keep to bank account flush.

Always one of our favorite panels…leading officials from the balloon manufacturers and suppliers join together for a panel to discuss where the industry has been and where it’s headed. And of course, they’ll often share details about what new and exciting products they have coming as well. Here’s your chance to ask direct questions to the movers and shakers of the balloon world.

In today’s age of balloons, you find all kinds. Is it better to save money and work from home, where you put your family life into latex chaos every time a job comes up? Or do you rent a work space and separate your existence, only to have new costs thrown at you? OR do you go full blown retail and open a store with set hours, a showroom floor and more…both good AND bad? In this panel, experts representing each of these venues will address the plusses and minuses that go with each.

You’ve got to protect yourself in business, and many consider contracts the way to go. In this panel, our experts will discuss the various CRMs they use to construct their contracts and how they use them with their clients. There will be lots of good nuggets in this one to be sure!

As a business owner, there are lots of groups out there designed to network you with other businesses and essentially grow your sales. But believe it or not, there’s more to it than just writing a check and becoming a member. Like anything you’ve got to put in the work. In this discussion, our panelists will discuss their experiences in networking groups and bring you the highs and lows of their experiences.

As inquiries come in, people ask for all kinds of things. Whether it’s backdrops or marquees, floral accenting, fabrics…even tables, chairs and bubble machines! In this panel, our industry reps will discuss the ways they have expanded their businesses by expanding into other services. So if you’re looking to become a “balloons plus” business, this panel is for you.

In another “not to be missed” panel, we are bringing in four different event planners from four major cities (Seattle, Washington DC, Austin and Dallas) to discuss how they go about selecting a vendor partner to align with. And each planner comes with a distinctly different background (corporate events, sales meetings, university planning and private events) so you’ll get a LOT of different perspectives on this one. DO NOT MISS THIS PANEL!

Let’s face it…everyone is a potential customer. But let’s face another reality…not everyone IS or SHOULD BE your customer. In this panel, industry experts will discuss how they go about choosing who they want to work with and why. Learn the strategies behind selective revenue and ask questions to the experts that are on your mind.

It’s one thing to make money by selling to your clients, but that takes up a lot of time. And if that person addressing your sales isn’t you, then it’s taking up a lot of labor to achieve the same goal. But what if you could be making money and taking orders without being stuck on the phone or in meetings all day? Our balloon professionals will share with you their secrets to running successful e-commerce efforts to create stress-free revenue for you and your business.