A field, a car park or a school playing field has no address that anyone can see. A balloon at 120 feet solves the oldest problem in community events: people cannot find you.
The finding problem
Fun runs, fundraisers, church fetes, school fairs and youth sports tournaments almost always happen somewhere without signage: a field, a park, a borrowed car park.
You can put an arrow on a stake at the junction, and people will still drive past it. A balloon above the site is visible from the approach roads and needs no explaining.
That is a different job from advertising. It is wayfinding, and it is arguably a better fit for the product.
Supervision matters more here
At a business the balloon is behind a fence in a corner of a lot. At a community event it is in a field with children running past it.
Site the tether point where people are not walking, weight it properly, and give one named adult responsibility for it, including the decision to bring it down. Net lift is only about three pounds, but a line at ankle height in a crowd is a trip hazard regardless.
We carry one million dollars in liability insurance and have had one claim in forty years, for two thousand dollars. Ask any supplier for their equivalent numbers before an event with the public on site.
Sharing one between organisations
This is worth saying because it comes up: a $350 sphere or a $1,526 blimp used four times a year by one group is expensive. The same balloon shared between a school, a church and a sports club, used twenty times a year, is not.
It deflates, folds and stores flat in a 60 by 26 by 3 inch box. It travels in a car boot. Passing it between organisations is genuinely practical.
If you go that route, decide up front who buys the helium and who owns the take-down decision.
The weather rule, especially here
Winds over 25 miles per hour in the forecast means it does not go up, or it comes down.
At a business that rule protects your investment. At a public event it protects people, so treat it as firmer. A committee that has been planning for six months is exactly the group most tempted to fly it anyway.
Ask for a quote. Call 1-800-791-1445 or email [email protected] and tell us the size and whether you want it printed.
More at advertisingballoonsusa.com.