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Wendy Petryk
ABOUT C2C EVENT SOLUTIONS
Website: http://www.c2ceventsolutions.com/
Business Description
Wendy Petryk loves a parade. For the past decade, she has worked as a volunteer on parade committees, and designed award-winning parade floats in the Calgary Stampede parade. She is familiar with all the details of designing, building, operating and maintaining parade floats and she has discovered that nobody specializes in managing this process from start to finish. Although hundreds of parades are held in Canada every year, some attracting as many as 500,000 spectators, and there are many elaborate floats being entered by large organizations and corporations, there are no Canadian companies specializing in parade float building management or logistics.
C2C Event Solutions Inc. will provide a comprehensive, ‘one-stop shopping’ package of services that covers every aspect of building and operating a float, such as:
- Working with a client researching the brand, the vision, and the message they want to deliver
- Design and planning of each float, including mechanical and electrical requirements, and maintaining high safety standards.
- Supervision of the entire building process from the road up.
- Parade entry including application forms, fees and insurance requirements.
- Parade day preparation, operations and troubleshooting.
- Volunteer and staff training.
- Scheduling of parades and other exhibition opportunities in the client’s target market area.
- Media coverage and media kits.
- Planning for lifecycle, repair, cleaning and storage.
Ownership and Management
C2C Event Solutions Inc. is owned and operated by Wendy Petryk. Ms. Petryk has strong skills in project management, training, multi-tasking in hectic environments, troubleshooting and customer service. She has organized events and fundraisers across Canada, and her extensive experience in designing and operating parade floats has given her a broad range of valuable contacts with parade organizers, float sponsors, and companies that build floats. Ms. Petryk recently completed an Event Management Certificate program at Mount Royal University.
Key Initiatives and Objectives
In the three years of this plan, C2C will focus on designing and building floats for the Calgary Stampede Parade. Of course these floats can be used in other parades as well, and C2C will provide logistical support to enable that. Key objectives in this business plan include securing xxx clients per year, and increasing income from proposal writing fivefold from $XXX in Year 1 to $XXX in Year 3.
Market Opportunities
Companies recognize the marketing value represented by parade entries. For instance, in 2010 the Calgary Stampede Parade attracted approximately 350,000 spectators, and was also broadcast live on TV. Each float receives an average of 40 seconds of coverage as it passes by, and award-winning floats attract a great deal more media attention. A sturdy, well-designed float can be re-used for years in numerous other parades, and also as a static exhibit at conventions, trade shows and festivals. Floats that are built for durability can even be used as outdoor signage and static displays for several years.
Competitive Advantages
C2C’s competitive advantage is simple: nobody else is doing this. The advantage to clients is that C2C will expertly and efficiently manage their parade float marketing campaign. Float builders will also welcome this service, as they will view C2C as a sales partner with experience in the float-building process. Finally, parade organizers welcome the opportunity to gain high quality entries and work with a company that understands their requirements.
Marketing Strategy
C2C Event Solutions Inc. will market its services through the following means:
- Referrals – C2C is already promoting its services with three Calgary float building companies and will also be referred by the Stampede Parade Committee.
- Personal Meetings with Clients – C2C will approach a short list of target companies that have participated in the Stampede parade in the last few years and need to renew the lifecycle of their floats, as well as companies celebrating milestones.
- Website and Social Media – Parades are festive and visual, so C2C‘s web presence will feature photos, videos, testimonials, and success stories. There will also be a networking link with other parade websites to show the vast choice of provincial, municipal, summer, winter and night parades.
- Trade Shows and Other Events – Ms. Petryk will attend trade shows and conferences to network within the industry.
- Post-Parade Party – In the future, C2C will host a Post-Parade Party. This will provide the opportunity for social networking and de-briefing after the parade for all parade participants, volunteers and committee members.
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