Incorporate for Protection, Movie Magic, Airbrushing Faces

Incorporate: For Your Long Term Protection

By David Miller ©2007   

Don't Let Tragedy Ruin Your Life

I've seen it a thousand times. Most companies in our industry operate as a sole proprietorship. However, there are serious repercussions a Sole Proprietor can experience. Did you know that you, as a Sole Proprietor, could be held financially liable for restitution as long as you are alive?

Imagine a scenario where a child receives a catastrophic injury (i.e. coma, brain injury, spinal injury, etc.) while on your equipment. Don't discount the fact that you, as the owner, will experience untold sorrow and guilt, which can create unbearable heartache. But wait, there's more. Sorrow and guilt are just the beginning of your trials.

Usually the family of the injured child will now sue your business to compensate them for their medical costs as well as pain and suffering. Your insurance will typically cover the costs up to the limits you have purchased (you do have insurance don't you?). But what happens if the plaintiffs attempt to recoup more than your insurance limits?

If you are a Sole Proprietor, you will now face a life-altering situation. As a Sole Proprietor, they can seize your business, your home, even your future earnings, until the amount awarded has been satisfied. Hypothetically speaking, you could work the rest of your life to pay the court-ordered restitution in this case and still owe money from your estate after you are dead and pushing up daisies!

Incorporations Limits Your Liability

However, there is an easy way to avoid the type of scenario detailed above. Incorporate!!! Let's apply the same catastrophic case to your hypothetical business, which is now incorporated. A child is severely injured, creating hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars in medical bills, pain, and suffering. A lawsuit transpires and you are found responsible for compensating the child and their family. Your insurance pays up to the limits you have purchased (you do have insurance, don't you?) and you are still hundreds of thousands of dollars "short" of the amount you have been found liable.

If you are like 99.9% of Americans, you don't have hundreds of thousands of $ lying around and can not come up with that type of money. You find a few thousand under the couch cushions and car seats but that's all you scrape together. The court can then order your corporation's assets sold to help offset the amount owing.

After that, you are not responsible for any additional liabilities of the corporation. You don't have to worry about your future paychecks being garnished for the rest of your life. You can still save for your children's education. You can even go on normally with the rest of your life (after you finish your psychological counseling for the previously mentioned guilt and sorrow).

Here is a list of reasons to incorporate your business:

1. Limited liability a corporate entity affords its shareholders. Typically, shareholders and directors are not liable for the debts and obligations of the corporation; thus, creditors will not come knocking at the door of a shareholder or director to pay debts of the corporation.

2. A corporation's life is not dependent upon its members. A corporation possesses the feature of unlimited life. If an owner dies or wishes to sell his or her interest, the corporation will continue to exist and do business.

3. Retirement plans (like a 401k) may be set up more easily with a corporation.

4. Ownership of a corporation is easily transferable.

5. Capital can be raised more easily through the sale of stock.

6. A corporation possesses centralized management.

Don't rent another game until you have incorporated. The risk far outweighs the benefit for you and your family. We recommend using an attorney to incorporate or you can purchase self-help programs. Whichever you choose, incorporate today!

Cutting Edge Creations’ 2007 Catalog

96-pages of new 2007 items, trend-setting inflatables, popular I•Bounce bouncers, an A.I.R. Supply Designer Line tailor-made for indoor facilities, an exciting fold-out displaying exclusive digital artwork... and so much more!

Hollywood Magic

By Scottie Claiborne ©2007   

The rising popularity of inflatables can be seen reflected in the media as more movies feature moonwalks as one of their props. And why not? Although the humor is exaggerated, moonwalk lend themselves to many visual jokes.

In last summer's Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Wererabbit, a tired worker is seen dutifully blowing up a "Bouncy Tottingham Hall" with a bicycle pump. In Cheaper By The Dozen, Steve Martin gets blown up out of an exploding moonwalk accidentally filled with helium. Eddie Murphy has had not one, but two run-ins with a moonwalk in both Daddy Daycare and the currently playing Norbit.

Even though these moonwalks are being used in silly and unrealistic ways, the exposure is great for business as inflatables continue to grow in popularity and become a favorite for birthday parties nationwide.

Who's Providing These Inflatables?

Magic Jump, Inc has had the privilege of providing moonwalks for these movies. (They don't usually explode when used properly. ) The magic of Hollywood has been inflated by the moonwalks from Magic Jump! With their classic styling, they make the perfect props for these outlandish stunts.

It's not just the movies, inflatables are invading the small screen too. Magic Jump inflatables have been used as props on MTV's "NEXT", "Date My Mom", and Warner Bros' "Elimidate".

And there's more to come! Magic Jump's Sam Bagumyan told us there were cameras in the factory this February:

"These past few days the Discovery channel has been shooting for a show they are going to be doing called Some Assembly Required. They are shooting a complete a-z from how the vinyl is made in Naizil, how we design our inflatables, cut patterns, and finally sew them.

It is a one hour show that will be aired sometime in July/August, I'm looking forward to seeing it. We will post more info on our site when I know the air date."

We look forward to seeing it as well! Thanks to Sam and the crew at Magic Jump for keeping us up to date on their big and small screen appearances.

Airbrush Face Painting

By Greg Harkins,©2007

If you are a rental company that is looking to add face painting to your rental line, or even worse, if you are still painting by hand or using those water stick on tattoos, its time to learn more about great-looking, easy-to-do airbrushed face painting.

Airbrush face painting has been around for a few years. I started with mine about 8 years or so ago. I was at IAAPA in New Orleans and was sold on it right then and there, but the boss (my wife) wasn’t with me at the show. Without approval, I had to wait.

Luckily, she came with me to the Party and Halloween Expo in Chicago. At that time the Fantasy Faces system was about $4500.00. Steep for face painting, but as soon as she saw it we bought it with no questions asked on the price. Only 1 year later we got a 2nd system to keep up with the demand!

The Best System for You?

New companies come out each year with the “better” system than their competition, and as with anything I highly suggest you shop around for the best deal on the best system for your needs and the one that fits the way you handle your business.

Attendant Required

I would never, yes never, let this be an item that you rent out without an attendant. Believe me this will cost you more than the rental fees every time. Either they don’t understand how to use it, something happens during the event and it clogs or some other minor issue all but renders the unit inoperable, then you have to refund and troubleshoot the equipment as well. Spend the extra on a staff member to make sure it all goes off without a hitch.

Speed and Design

With airbrush systems you speed your line considerably over the old style of hand painting or even the wet-and-stick tattoos. What used to take 3-10 minutes now takes less than 2 minutes! So speed up your line and move those patrons through. Using airbrush systems allows anyone, even without artistic talent, to be able to paint.

The Secret is Stencils

We use the metal or plastic stencils to paint our designs. They run between 2.00 to 20.00 each but they last for a long time. Some systems use stick on plastic patterns that you trash after each use. This is a good idea for health reasons, so be sure to check with your state regulations before making your purchase of permanent or disposable stencils.

A good place to find stencils are theatrical lighting companies. The stencils they put in front of lights to cast images are great and cost about $10.00. Local crafts stores provide another good resource for new patterns.

Some Practical Advice

Now with all of that said, let me give you a lil background on how we have modified, updated and started using various vendors for paint, stencils, stands and more.

Our fantasy face system came from Morris Costumes in Charlotte NC (704-333-4653). Although not produced by them, they were at the time the distributor for it. Contact them for more details if you are looking for that particular brand. As with any product, as more and more companies start to offer the same type systems, costs start to come down, new supplies are introduced, and much to the manufactures agony, its great for the customer in the long run.

We now get our paint from Graftobian 608-222-7849. We have found there paint to be some of the best we have tested over the years. You have to keep in mind that just because you have a air brush system not all paint/makeup will work with other systems. If you are going to test something, just be sure to get a sample or just one bottle to test.

During the writing of this article after getting the Graftobian information, if I had to pick a system most like the Fantasy Face system I would pick the Graftobian #20099 for 1799.00.

You will need a stand to make set up even easier and I suggest the one from Displays To Go 800-572-2194 item # PROMOCNTR. It's available in black or white and runs about $225. It breaks down and stores in it's own carrying case. This is what we replace our stands with as needed. They are easy to customize with your local sign company and vinyl letters.

We use a Vega airbrush that came with our fantasy face system, and we have found the best place to get parts for those guns is Dixie Airbrush (1-800-783-2612).

So to summarize, like any new purchase do your homework. If you are really serious about getting into airbrush, take some time and visit the shows and check out all the vendors. If you are willing to jump in without to much hands on testing, go for the Graftobian system. This is just my views after using the system for years. If you would like more information regarding Airbrush Face Painting please feel free to contact me at gregharkins@bringingfuntoyou.com

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Board of Directors Elections

By Scottie Claiborne ©2006

We are running slightly behind on our elections and general meeting, but we will get the details to you soon. In the meantime, it's time to introduce you to the four candidates running for our two open spots on the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors is made up of 5 individuals that serve 2 year terms. This year we have 2 open seats, next year we will have 3 open seats. Board members may run again and be elected to serve indefinitely.

Returning board members are Heidi Schulz, Christopher Kinkade, and Harold Fisher. Our two new board members will be elected from these four candidates, who have each submitted a short bio:

Blake Hemric

I've been married for 15 yrs to my lovely wife, Maggie. We have 3 kids, 1 girl and 2 boys. I was a truck driver in my former career. We started our biz in 2001 and went full time in 2004. We are now starting our seventh yr in the biz. I really enjoy the biz and love making folks happy with our services.

As far as being on the Board, it would just be another way of helping out the inflatable industry. I've been a moderator at the forum for a while and I enjoy the people and the information shared there. I believe the help Airco provides is invaluable to the industry. I view my role as whatever I can do to help out Airco with the goals we have for this industry. I would like to think I am a fair minded person with some common sense about me.

Mark Popovich

My name is Mark Popovich and I am 46 years old. My wife Danielle and I have been married for 21 years. We have three children, Alex (20), Nick (18), and Chrissy (16).

We began as a tent rental business 14 years ago. We had a 20x20 tent left to us by a relative. We used to have large cookouts at our old place. Since we only used the tent twice a year Danielle suggested we rent it out. It caught on so quickly that we bought a second tent. It was a nice, cash only business that gave us lots of mad money. Then one day as I was coaching my son's t-ball team a man blew up a Starwalk III. I walked over and struck up a conversation. Three days later I bought it off of him for an exhorbitant amount of money. But, he gave me many leads.

I set it up in my front yard during our subdivision garage sale that year and made $300 in 6 hours. I was hooked. We went to the bank and secured a loan. I went to the ARA show in NOLA in 97 and bought a bunch of equipment and took classes. We got incorporated, got insurance, and away we went. Without going too deeply into all of the details I will bring us to 11 years later. We now have a workforce of 12 part-time as well as Danielle, myself, and our youngest two. We have over 20 different inflatables, tents, tables and chairs with all types of accessories, casino games, carnival games, concession machines, clowns, magicians, balloon artists, and face painters.

Beginning four years ago our business doubled and the doubled again the next year. Just this year so far (Jan. 1, 07 to today) we have increased business 30% over last year at this same time. We currently do over 700 events a year and our gross income is well into six figures.

I have my Master's degree in Psychology and am licensed in Indiana. I currently work with prisoners in a Super Maximum Security Prison. I am also involved in our local theater. I am currently in the role of Richard in our presentation of "The Lion in Winter".

I would like to serve on the board as I see a need for a unified voice in the industry. I also see a need for reason in this voice. Too often there are "knee-jerk" reactions made and I would like to be that voice of calm and reason. This is a fine organization and the forum is a professionally run and ethical place to give and receive information. I would like to develop an educational component to A-IRCO that could be done in regions to benefit all but especially the newcomers. I hope to one day meet many of you in person. Most of all, I wish for world peace! Thank you.

Greg Harkins

I am Greg Harkins from St. Albans, WV. I have been in the party rental/retail business for 14 years. We started the company with 50 events and 3 bounces in 1993 and have grown to what we are today. We service over 1500 events per year. We offer over 70 different items in house and have access to 100's of others. We employee 8 full time staff year round and in the peak season we employee around 60.

This is my life as it is most of ours. I am very lucky to like what I do, and enjoy it daily. That's not to say I dont get upset, depressed, pissed off etc, but in general I love the rental business, because it is what I make it. Yes we have customers calling to book items, we have customers walking in our store, but when it comes to creative ideas, new promos, new equipment etc its up to me to determine the needs. I an not so stupid to think I am what makes this company, we do listen to our customers and more so our staff. They are the front line and we have to listen to them to get input on what we need to do to better our company, image and more.

I am a board member of our local 4th of July festival. With that event I am the talent buyer, my company runs logistics for the 4 day event everything from security, traffic control, river activities, and general festival needs.

I have won the Blue Chip Enterprise award in 2000 and the Ernst and Young Enterperuer of the Year award in 2002. We are the only party rental company in WV to ever win either of those awards. We'll be having a chat session before the official voting later this month, so I'll keep you updated on that as well. I am a member of ARA, IAAPA, WV Fairs and Festivals Assocation, IIPGA (state rep).

I would love to serve as a board member as I think this is a great way to learn, grow, and help others. There is nothing as good as being able to listen and get ideas from others. I love to spend time when I have it on the phone or net with other rental companies lending a hand where ever I can. After all, we are all in it for the same reason.

Here in WV we are very fortunate to work with all the other rental companies, tool, catering, tents and even other party rental companies at a very close range. WE all help each other with no questions asked or even a fear of them trying to steal your customers.

Please accept my offer to help you as a board member and thank you for considering me. I feel that in the short time I have been on the boards I have gained a great amount of knowledge and I hope I have helped others do the same.

Tom Pacheco

My family own carnival rides and concession stands and travel around to all the big festivals and fairs from California to a few other states. Every spring break or summer vacation I was excited to travel with my family. My dad was one of the biggest hands on guy I knew and it did not matter how successful he was he always was right there along side is employees. Over the years growing up around the amusement business I would dream about one day being able to set up my own events.

My first inflatable was a 24’ slide and soon after four jumpers. In my first year I was able to get into one of the biggest street fairs around and land a car dealership relationship. Between 50 street fairs and 33 tent sales I had a pretty cool first year and I was well on my way towards my goals and dreams.

In 2001 I started Fun Time Express Rentals and I wanted to offer nothing but the best licensed jumpers. I wanted to have the biggest jumpers in my area. I not only had the biggest jumpers but I was the first to have licensed jumpers. It was not long before others got them, but I’m the one that raised the bar. Just because I advertised renting jumpers my main goal was doing events. It did not take long and I was doing over 100 events in a year and that was not even trying! In 2006 I decided to split my business in half and start Extreme Fun Events. That way I could have one that did nothing but backyard parties and one that did nothing but events.

Most people start this business because they want to work less and spend a lot more time with there family. Well for me this business takes up a lot of my time and its no walk in the park. One thing for sure I have a lot of passion and love for what I do and I enjoy my business. I once set goals and dreams and I’ve reach every goal I’ve set and right now I’m living a dream. I feel the more you enjoy what you do the more successful you will become. As a young kid I dream of putting together my own events and right now I’m doing just that. Just like any business or job you have to keep it exciting or fun and I’m always looking at ways I can raise the bar and buy stuff that would make my business more fun.

It’s hard for me to put it into words and if I would describe this business and what it feels to me I would have to say I have a lot of passion and love for what I do and I would not trade it for a million dollars. Most may say that and not mean it and I can say that and you can believe it. I’m so thankful for everything God has giving me and I’m living a dream I once had as a little kid.

I found this forum back in 2004 and was excited to talk with people that did the same business I did and I always enjoyed helping people and sharing my experiences. I feel I can not only help people with my experience but can give it my own twist. If I was only in this business for the money I would not be where I’m at today.

Ballots Will Be Emailed

If you are a verified member of AIRCO, please check your email this week for your ballot. If you've been accepted into AIRCO but haven't sent in your proof of insurance, you are not a verified member yet! Fax, email, or mail us a copy of your insurance binder page so we can update your membership to verifed and get your vote counted.

Hot Threads at the Forum

Interesting Discussions

Wrap Up

AIRCO Member Meeting- Still to come

I apologize for the delay in our first member meeting- one of the key issues is the vote on whether to allow customer pickups and if so, under what conditions- however we haven't been able to get the proposal from the key proponents of the measure yet! Since we want to have plenty of time to discuss the issue and the possible implementation of it, we are delaying the meeting until we get the details pulled together.

Intellectual Property Issues

Another key issue we will be voting on is whether or not to allow unlicensed or "knock off" inflatables to be listed in the "for sale" topic at the forum. We do currently allow them to be listed (with a disclaimer that AIRCO members can't purchase them) because we want to encourage our members to get them out of their inventory... but maybe a total ban on them is more appropriate. Verified members will decide this issue.

Next month, we'll be publishing an article from Cutting Edge Creation's Bob Field on their plans to pursue copyright infringers, so look for it!

As always, if you've got a great idea for an article, send it to us at scottieclaiborne@a-irco.org. Your ideas are more than welcome.

See you next month, or feel free to join us at the AIRCO moonwalk forum anytime, day or night. We'd love to hear from you!