Open Houses, California Style - In-plant Impressions

By Cary Sherburne

Open House Tips

• Pick a theme. Central Michigan University Printing Services is hosting a March open house with a St. Patrick’s Day theme. The shop sent out “shamrock surveys” to customers, which they can drop into a leprechaun’s pot at the open house to be eligible for prize drawings. Visitors will enjoy shamrock cookies and green punch served by green-shirted employees while hammer dulcimer music, supplied by an employee’s band, sets the mood.

• Invite the important people. This includes top executives as well as prospective customers.

• Provide food. Nothing draws visitors better than free snacks. Place it strategically at the end of the tour to lure attendees through the entire shop. Expect attendance to surge at lunch time.

• Supply giveaway items that show off your capabilities, like personalized note pads, folders, calendars or framed wide-format prints.

• Get your vendors involved. Ask them to donate door prizes or paper for invitations. Enlist them to help you educate customers.

• Get contact info. Ask guests to fill out an entry card so you can follow up with them.

HOLDING AN open house is a great way for your in-plant to promote its capabilities and generate new business. All it takes is a little planning. To help you and give you some ideas, we spoke with three California in-plants that have held open houses. San Diego State University (SDSU), California State Polytechnic University-Pomona and California State University-Sacramento built on each others’ experiences to make their events even more successful. In all three cases, open houses were organized around the acquisition of new digital printing equipment. Leslie Rutledge, manager of ReproGraphic Services at SDSU, was the first of the three to take the plunge.

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