A weblog about theatrical drapery and stage curtains for Production Managers, Set Designers, Custom Drapery Resellers, and local/school/church Productions
Those of you who are regular followers of this blog know that it truly is a team effort here at Sew What? Those of us in the office (sales staff, sales support, and management) may be the public face of the company, since we are the people communicating directly with our customers via e-mail, phone and fax. But we know that, without our dedicated manufacturing staff, we would not be able to provide our customers with the high quality products and service that we are known for. So, please join me in congratulating the Sew What? team members with anniversaries in June and July.
June
Tammy, Bookkeeper – 3 years
Alicia, Sewing Machine Operator – 1 year
July
Maria B, Sewing Machine Operator – 5 years
Congratulations, everyone, and thank you for your hard work and dedication to Sew What?
It is that time again, the time that we acknowledge the anniversaries of Sew What? staff. There are about 30 staff members here at Sew What? Some of our staff members are more visible to our customers, especially our sales reps. But we also have many dedicated employees “behind the scenes,” working on our manufacturing floor day in and day out, making sure that our customers receive high quality custom stage curtains.
Today, I would like to acknowledge all of our manufacturing and warehouse staff for their longstanding dedication to Sew What? and our customers. Here are three of them with anniversaries in May:
It is so much fun when our clients send us photos of our gear on the road – we’ve seen our Sew What? drapery bags across the globe, from Germany to Qater and beyond.
Now, Rent What? has gotten into the act, with customers sending photos of the Rent What? bags. Recently, Joe from the Glee Tour sent us this photo of a Rent What? drapery bag, that he took on the road with him.
Thanks for forwarding the photo, Joe! Seeing photos like this makes us all feel like we are on the road as well.
It’s time to celebrate anniversaries again, and doing so made me think, I wonder what the average time frame is for the employees at Sew What? So I decided to review our employee anniversary list and figure it out.
I was amazed to see that, with about 30 employees, theaveragetime that our employees have been with Sew What? is almost six years. That is so gratifying to me to see. I guess it means that we are doing something right!
That being said, please join me in congratulating three employees with anniversaries in April.
It’s that time again to celebrate the anniversaries of Sew What? staff members. We didn’t have any anniversaries in February, but we had several in March, including that of the very first Sew What? employee, Maria!
Please help me congratulate these employees on their anniversaries with Sew What?
There are so many ways to measure business success, but the one that we find the best is hearing from our clients that they are love our custom stage drapes. What better way is there for a prospective new client to judge the quality of our work than by hearing from our current clients? Here are just a few client testimonials that we have received recently at our sister company, Rent What?
The pop up dressing room is great. I love the ease of the buttons and not the old school buttons that hurt your finger tips trying to get it opened, etc
- Conan O’Brian Tour
The Carrie Underwood rentals with the velcro worked great- kept our turn around time short to just rip them down. I was very pleased with both products. That you had pre-assembled the swag and drape- everything was just fantastic, perfectly customized to be highly functional onstage and for that I am truly grateful. In this regard you guys are very uniquely service oriented.
– Carrie Underwood @ the ACMA’s
Twas a thing of beauty. Perfect as always!
– Nickelback Tour
Thanks for hooking us up with the awesome curtain.
– Hanson Tour
Thank you for the great gear you provided and the shop support you afforded us early on in pre production. Everything went great. We had a 100% success rate with our Kabuki drops.
You run a wonderful company and I look forward to working with you once again in the near future.
- Alice in Chains Tour
It worked out beautifully. The curtain was the perfect finishing touch to our children’s musical. It pulled everything together. My experience with Rent What? was pleasant from start to finish. I found everyone to be very helpful and professional. I will definitely rent from you again. Thank you!
– Daren Bachman
I appreciate how much time and care you guys put into your business. Your growth has been impressive, phenomenal, and well conceived. Thank you for everything.
– Local High Profile Staging Client
Seriously–that grey drop as the kabuki was absolutely perfect –I need to add kabuki effects to my every day life somehow, it’s such a thrill!!! ….rig one up in front of the dinner table, the candles flickering behind it and then woooosh! or surprise parties! or Christmastime! or blind dates! And the truss borders, holy moley, they really add a lot to the set, they were a huge hit. Muchas Gracias!
– The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s at the Greek
After years of interacting with you on the phone, it was great to finally be able to meet you! Thank you for your beautiful drapes and I’m happy to work with you every time I get the chance.
Yes, I admit this is a little late, but I wanted to make sure to acknowledge the anniversaries of those employees who started at Sew What? in January. Interestingly enough, we have several employees with January anniversaries, but none in February.
Congratulations – between you, you have 15 years at Sew What? We are so glad to have you!
Veronica, Sewing Machine Operator – 5 years
Shane Nelsen, Creative Director / Senior Sales – 6 years
Rent What? began as a simple request from clients of our custom sewing company, Sew What? Inc. They said they were looking for a drapery rental company offering the same kick-ass service they received from Sew What?. They wanted fair pricing without hidden repair charges and extra fees. They wanted high quality drapes delivered on time, as ordered. They also wanted to reach a real person they knew and trusted when calling for a quote. And they wanted their estimates promptly. Our clients are creative, talented and, of course, busy, with no extra time to spend hassling with their drape order.
At Rent What? our goal is to simplify the rental of soft goods. We understand that there are many elements that go into a successful production. We handle the drapes.
Our motto? Ultimate Rentals. Extreme Service.
Ultimate Rentals
Ultimate: adj: furthest or highest in degree or order; utmost or extreme
Sewn of the finest inherently flame retardant or treated fabrics
Expertly cleaned, inspected, and maintained
Delivered in complimentary storage bags or hampers
Flame certification sent with every drape
Extreme Service
Extreme: adj: of the greatest possible degree or extent or intensity; far beyond a norm in quantity or amount
Phones answered by a real live, coherent person
Fast, accurate, upfront quotes
Additional protection available to eliminate surprise repair fees and extra charges
Complete, personal support of your project from initial request to load-out and beyond
Each year, Sew What? and Rent What? have a joint holiday luncheon and party for all of the staff. It is always a lot of fun – we have a catered traditional holiday meal (turkey, ham, and all the trimmings), silly games (with prizes), and a DJ for dancing and general merriment. It’s a great time for all of the staff – office and shop combined – to spend together.
It’s always great to share a meal together for the holidays.
This year, we added an “Ugly Holiday Sweater” contest – it was so much fun to see all the crazy sweaters that people came up with.
Rick stretched the “Ugly Sweater” concept a little, but his Christmas Tree Costume (complete with working lights) was incredible!
After the meal and a few fun party games (limbo, anyone?), everyone hits the dance floor to work off some of those holiday calories.
Line dancing is always fun!
Hope you enjoyed the photos and videos. From all of us here at Sew What?, we wish you a joyous holiday season!
You may recall that last December, I posted on the 2009 Sew What? Tee Shirt. Each year we create a limited edition tee shirt for staff and customers. In 2009, it was a really cool “Rock-n-Roll / Metal” design by John Rios of GrafixJam.
Well, John did not rest on his laurels – this year he created two awesome designs for us!
The first design was again a cool Rock-n-Roll / Metal design, with the “Drape Monster” design on the front and the back design distinguished by two wings surrounding a stylized version of our iconic question mark. Pretty cool, don’t you think?
This year, we added a second design to the mix. It is our cool female “Superhero” design (also courtesy of John Rios). We also used this design on mousepads and coffee mugs.
I just love this design – it is so quirky and fun. Great job once again, John!
