But the residuals are still rolling in. Last evening at my workroom in Waco Texas, close to 100 individuals gathered for our first annual open house.
The tension and excitement had been building for weeks. The old place had never looked so good after hour upon hour of painting, shining and sprucing every nook and cranny. D-day at hand, we gathered as a crew to wait for our guests to arrive…and arrive they did. From far and near they came. With expectation they came. With curiosity, and hope for a brighter economy ahead, they came.
Every surface was covered with vendor wares, or food and drink. I almost felt like a visitor as I went through my own buildings that had become transformed into a marketplace of sorts. In full regalia, the walls of my shop were covered with work produced by my skilled employees. We postponed installs so the walls would be covered with our work.
The formerly messy worktables were skirted in lining and topped with new duct cloth. One vendor brought fabulous floral arrangments. It’s No wonder that for a moment I didn’t recognize my cutting table.
With their lights turned on and beaming down on beautiful food presentations, the sewing machines served double duty. Our serger seemed quite proud to be holding the chocolate fountain. The smell of coffee and flowing chocolate is an aroma I could get used to in our workplace…heaven.
The idea for the open house was two fold. Number one was to introduce motorization to my market in a meaningful way. We did that. The premiere local home automation company sat beside BTX Window automation and designers, architects, top flight builders, decorators, and installers saw the possibilities for themselves. “Oh, you mean that all I have to do is plug it in the wall and then point and click? that’s it? I can do that!!” I heard that over and over. I couldn’t help myself when I told one guest, “Just think of it as a toaster for your window….except it’s a little different.” I like that idea…a toaster for your window, just plug it in and turn it on. How scarey is that! Of course that’s rather simplistic, but for many motorization applications, that’s exactly how simple it is.
Our second goal was to develop closer relationships with wholesale clients, and with vendors. I opened two new wholesale accounts for our workroom. Vendors called me all day today with “thank yous” and “how can we help you prosper” offers.
Mission accomplished.
Planning next year’s event already…can’t wait.
Mary Ann Plumlee
