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Membership in Party Rental Trade Associations Is Key

By Scott Woodruff on January 9, 2012 in Our Company & its Staff

I feel strongly that our active involvement in these trade associations over the company’s history is what has allowed Event Central to bring superior quality products and services to our loyal customers. We have a strong commitment to our employees and customers to provide a safe and professional service, whether we are working on the customer site or processing your order at our production facility in Mechanicsburg.

Sincerely,
Scott T. Woodruff, Founder and President

Trade Associations and Their Missions:

IFAI International Fabrics Association International

IFAI Industrial Fabrics Association International - TRD Tent Rental Division strives to increase awareness of industry products and services through education and marketing programs to elevate members’ professional expertise. They also publish guidelines for safe tenting for their members.

Mid-Atlantic Tent Renters Association

MATRA Mid-Atlantic Tent Renters Association Inc. is dedicated to promoting the tent rental industry. Based in the Mid-Atlantic Region their mission is to assist tent rental company members in education, safety, and product knowledge. Its annual conference provides an opportunity for hands on training of installation with a wide variety of tent products and accessories.

ARA The core purpose of the American Rental Association is to promote the success of our members and advance the growth of the equipment rental industry. The ARA provides a strong voice in Washington, DC on behalf of the party and equipment membership.

Getting Involved With Your Association

Every year we attend the annual conventions to:

Participate in training seminars on a wide range of topics
Meet with vendors to evaluate and select new products and services to offer
Gather hands-on experience with advanced level tent installations
Learn of new product innovations
Participate in Continuing Education programs to comply with and promote OSHA standards for workplace safety

We support the associations by activities such as:

Promoting membership of the TRD to support the Ballasting Initiative
Being a member of a material handling panel at the ARA show
Conducting the Tour of the Tents at the MATRA Conference
Helping administer the Facebook Page for MATRA
Assisting at the Registration Desk at the IFAI TRD show
Serving as Past President for MATRA

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You deserve a SAFE party tent installation

By Scott Woodruff on April 22, 2011 in Our Company & its Staff, Uncategorized

Manufacturers design great tents
Tent rental companies rely heavily on the manufacturer for technical data to properly install a tent. No place is the manufacturer’s specification more important than when it comes to “anchoring” or staking the tent. The anchoring is not only needed to hold tent in position on the nice sunny day of the installation, but also when there are severe thunder storms, high winds or tornado warnings.

Tent foreman are the hero’s of our business
When it comes to securing your tent correctly, the tent installer is where the rubber meets the road. Our industry is riddled with stories of tent blow downs, property damage, and personal injury where the installer did not know what they were doing. The tent foreman is the most important person on our crew. They make sure you have a safe and secure installation that looks great, and performs in inclement weather.

Anchor Century 60' wide round end anchoring blueprint

Educating our key players
We invest a lot of time and effort into our tent installers’ training. In addition to weekly training modules, they get out to see what the rest of the industry is doing. To become a Senior Lead, a key installer will have attended several trade shows such as the Mid-Atlantic Tent Rental Association (MATRA) , IFAI Tent Rental Division, and the American Rental Association Tent Show (ARA). We commonly have manufacturer’s representatives come to our facility to provide tent standard practices. Finally, the senior installers become the trainers of the new blood. For a seasonal business with seasonal hires, this is a critical point.

Olympic Tent - training by Spencer Etzel of SEC Group

Meet your installer
If you are having trouble deciding on a tent rental company, tour their business to get an idea of how they truly function day in and day out. Meeting the players is an excellent way to learn who is capable of a professional installation. Our customer service staff is likely to introduce you to some of our key people, such as;
Matt Anderson - Field Service Manager
Dale Warren – Tent Foreman
Ryan Eichelberger- Tent Foreman
For that matter, many of our customer service staff worked their way up through the ranks to become Tent Foreman prior to crossing over into sales, so they understand what it will take to deliver rentals to meet your expectations.

You have concerns?
You should always know you can reach senior managmeent 24/7. Just dial our main phone number (717)591-7368, follow the prompts for an emergency call. And finally, you can always leave a personal message on the cell phones of the partners, Scott Schultz (717)554-6448 or Scott Woodruff (717)554-6449, and we will return the call by the next business day.

Partners Scott and Scott

Sincerely,

Scott Woodruff, Founder & President

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717 Magazine Features Interview with Scott Schultz

By Andy Mattrick on December 15, 2009 in Our Company & its Staff

The December issue of Harrisburg Magazine’s 717 “Where We Live” edition greatly titled a recent interview with part owner Scott Schultz, “The Name of the Game is EFFICIENCY, SATISFACTION and INNOVATION.” I couldn’t of said it any better.

The article not only explains Scott’s personal efforts within the company, but more importantly the ability our company has to cater to all needs of our customers. Scott added, “Our goal is to deliver the best quality products and the best services in the market,” which is 100% the truth. He also points out barriers we are able to overcome through careful planning with events and to stress the fact that our door is always open.

sps1

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Patriot News Interviews Event Planner in Central PA

By Scott Woodruff on November 20, 2009 in Corporate Events, Our Company & its Staff

HARRISBURG, PA

2009-business-expo The Harrisburg Regional Chamber held their annual Business Expo November 12th at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex & Expo Center in Harrisburg. This event is attended by over 3000 visitors, who view displays by over 200 area businesses. The event gives businesses a tremendous opportunity to network with other businesses and individuals in the region.

Event Central, and several other event-related companies displayed services and products at this show to provide businesses with creative ideas for holding events for product marketing, customer appreciation, grand opening/ribbon cutting ceremonies, new product unveiling, and much more.

Below is a copy of the article from the front page of the Nov. 15th edition of the business section, compliments of Patriot-News & Pennlive.com.

Channon Allen joined the company in May 2000. Channon’s speciality is to provide event planning services for corporate events, weddings and special events in the Central PA and Northern MD region.

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Event Central Introductory Video – Warehouse Tour

By Scott Woodruff on April 9, 2009 in Our Company & its Staff

Join us for a tour!

My special thanks to A.J. !

A.J. (Andrew Laganosky) worked summers starting in 2006 with Event Central to earn money to attend University of Pittsburgh Bradford. A.J. graduated in December, and will be attending Graduate School this fall. It was wonderful to see him combine his new found talents with his work experience to make a few bucks, and build his portfolio!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQ3sRmWXC9E]
You can visit us on the Web www.eventcentralpa.com

We encourage you to leave comments for A.J., and his “artwork”!
Scott

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History of Event Central 1987 -

By Scott Woodruff on March 30, 2009 in Our Company & its Staff

Grand Opening
Occasionally I get asked when I got started in the business. It was May 15, 1987 that we cut the ribbon for the opening of Taylor Rental of Camp Hill.

At the time we had a mix of home owner equipment, contractor tools, and party goods, each about 1/3 of our overall inventory. The party inventory started out as a 3 frame tents, and 5 Over The Counter Canopies, 3 size tables for a total quantity of 50, and Brown Chairs. Add to that a few fountains, Table Service for 150, and we were in the party rental business.

In 1996, my son Michael at age 14, designed Taylor Rental’s first website for Taylor Rental under a mentor program arranged at CVHS.

In 1998, we opened a Harrisburg outlet of Party Central Rentals on Paxton St and 3 years later, sold off the Taylor Rental Franchise so we could put our exclusive attention to party.

We ultimately rebranded the company to Event Central and relocated to our present location.
front

It seems like yesterday I was Renting Trenchers and Tillers to the homeowners of the West Shore, many of whom continue to be steady customers 22 years later. And 13 years after his first web page, Michael is in charge of On-Line Content (Web Development) for the Florida market for Clear Channel Radio.

Scott

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HBG Hilton joins with Event Central to help the needy across the country with Mission Central

By Scott Woodruff on March 6, 2009 in Non Profit & Fund Raising, Our Company & its Staff

When the Harrisburg Hilton contacted us to rent a warehousing tent for the delivery of new furniture for the Hotel Room Renovation, it seemed like a routine winter rental. While installing the tent , the Facilities Engineer for the Hilton talked about the refrigerators they were throwing away. While EC had no interest, we contacted the Executive Director at Mission Central of Mechanicsburg, who gladly accepted the donation of 50 refrigerators.

Three employees from EC led by Dale Warren volunteered an afternoon to drive 2 trucks, and transport the refrigerators to Mission Central’s Warehouse.

Scott Schultz – GM for Event Central volunteers his time at Mission Central on weekends. They are a central collection and distribution

point for donated products from the Central PA area. Their goods are donated through the kindness of Individuals, Businesses and Churches in the area. They have sent medical supplies, educational supplies, and daily living supplies and equipment to destinations such as Africa, Argentina, Kenya, Belarus, and other areas where the needs are great. Our work in disaster response has provided aid for people affected by every major weather event since 2003.

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Event Central – Our Home

By Scott Woodruff on February 15, 2009 in Our Company & its Staff

Event Central marquee installed at front door for 20th anniversary

Event Central is located in Mechanicsburg adjacent to Rt 15 and the PA Turnpike.

We enjoy a 15,000 Square Foot Warehouse of 32 ft ceilings. This creates a building block for a very efficient operation. With this great facility, we can store, ship, install, and maintain our Special Event inventory to a level that guarantees the quality of what we deliver.

We invite you to “Open the Front Door” and let our experienced Event Planners help you make your event the best it can be!

Welcome to our house,
Scott Woodruff – President

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Winner of Annual Tent Photo Contest Announced

By Scott Woodruff on January 27, 2009 in Our Company & its Staff

Eureka! Tents

is proud to announce Event Central the winner of the Ninth Annual Photo Contest. Our theme for this year’s contest was Twin Tube® Plus line with the Decorative Gable End.

The photos provided by EC are included in the Front and Rear covers of the 80 page Tent brochure to be used to market Eureka’s entire product line world wide.