More than 500 orders were written at Party Club of America’s recent members’ conference and trade show, which took place in New Orleans over the two days immediately preceding the Halloween & Party Expo.
The impressive buying powers of the PCA members (or Super Retailers as they are otherwise known) were on display last month when the group held its 15th annual members’ conference and trade show.
The event, which PCA held in conjunction with the 2019 Halloween & Party Expo, brought together the Halloween and party industry’s top vendors and retailers for a two-day trade show, which followed a ‘speed-dating’ model. Before the trade show portion of the event opened, PCA members and staff met to discuss their direct import programme.
“We pride ourselves on the operational efficiency and the flexibility of our Halloween, seasonal, and everyday direct import programmes,” says Andy Richman, PCA’s executive director. “We ship on time and offer a myriad of shipping solutions so that all of our members can take advantage of the considerable cost savings our programmes offer. Because we own and and run our warehousing, we can handle our freight in a manner that saves members money and time.”
The speed-dating part of the day saw PCA members meeting with each exhibitor for ten minutes at a time, a format that has been proven to encourage networking and order writing in the past. Retailers who met with every exhibitor were given a substantial cash prize after the event.
“Our goal, as always, was to provide a profitable experience for our exhibitors and our members,” explained Andy. Over 500 orders were written at the show and each order provided an opportunity for both member and exhibitor to win a tablet computer in a random draw.
“[We] wouldn’t think of missing the annual PCA conference,” said Amscan’s Paul Rosenbaum. “It gives us a great opportunity to exhibit new product, fosters discussion about ways to strengthen our partnership with some of our best accounts, and allows us to meet potential customers that we aren’t doing business with.”
“The PCA show was great this year,” agreed Allen Scarsella of Mayflower. “It’s a great venue for members and vendors to interface, do business, and relax and get to know each other. We really enjoy doing this show and can’t wait to do it again in 2020.”
PCA will bring its 16th annual members’ conference and trade show back to New Orleans in January 2020. Contact Andy Richman at info@partyclubofamerica.com for more information.
