Debbie Magill Interview 21/28th July

Started by Graham Lee, June 23, 2008, 01:07:37 PM

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Graham Lee

#15
Quote from: "clownjoey"I still use their balloons (due to nothing else available on the UK market)
ClownJoey, You may want to have a look at this site //http://www.sempertexballoons.co.uk as they sponsor the "Care & Share" balloon days that I run all over the UK.
Let me know when your in the UK & you can come as a guest of mine to one of the days, or catch me at one of the major magic conventions in the UK, Blackpool or Eastbourne.
"Lets Improve Our Art"
Balloon Excellence 2012 Award Winner
For Services to the Balloon Community.
https://www.balloonartwholesale.co.uk
http://www.sempertexballoons.co.uk

clownjoey

#16
Cool, some new balloons on the block. Will have to try some soon. I think I might have tried those balloons about 5 years ago, samples where sent from the States, but to costly at that time to import them. They are a bit thicker then qualatex balloons from what I can recall, and a little longer??? If I recall it right, they also fairing well in the heat.

Debs

#17
Quote from: "Graham Lee"Debbie,

1, When you started with the company what was your first job or did you go straight in at the top?  
I started with the company in October 1989. There were just 2 people and we worked in a basement office Camden Town in London. I started off in customer services - at that stage we were taking orders from distributors and shipping directly from the States. We then moved into a small warehouse round the corner and started printing balloons, bagging and shipping from this small location, until we could cope no more and moved to Bishop's Stortford.....

2, What do you most enjoy at a convention, apart from the drink :)
    After my 1 glass of wine!.....I mostly enjoying talking to the delegates, going to classes to see the teachers, who always amaze me by coming up with new techniques and fantastic ideas.  Each convention is a little different...I really do enjoy the Millennium jam, it doesn't feel like work (don't tell the boss!) it's like a short holiday without the children (don't tell the husband!)

3, Is your position full time? & how many hours a week do you have to put in?
My position is full time....how many hours per week? I have never counted, sometimes I leave the house at 6.00am, sometimes I get home at 10pm. Because I cover the UK, Ireland and Scandinavia I am away from home a fair amount of time, so sometimes I'll be answering emails at a stupid o'clock..plus I work some weekends at exhibitions and events.......I don't want to think about the hours....

4, Do you find your job very stressful?
Sometimes I do find it stressful.....but over the years you learn to cope with the stress in differfent ways.....at shows when you are setting up it can be stressful because we may have forgotten to bring something...so I tend to get very bossy at shows (sorry Pioneer team!) ;)  ;)

Debs

#18
Quote from: "coffee"Hi Debbie,
Thanks very much for taking the time and trouble to be interviewed. A few varied questions follow!
What proportion of Qualatex's business is rounds for decorators and balloon releases etc and what proportion is modelling balloons?
I think I have mentioned this before but sometimes the alien face printing appears a little bit small, rather than covering the full balloon.  Is this just where the balloon hasn't been inflated quite enough before printing?
Am I right in saying that in the past there were different qualities available depending on the where the balloons were destined for - I remember hearing that the balloons from Texas were tougher for the hot climate there than the Canadian ones or have I got that all wrong!?
What are your favourite colours and/or types of balloons from the Qualatex range?
Would it be possible to have animal print balloons, eg tiger/zebra stripes, dalmation spots etc, as 260s?  Imagine how cute the most simple 1 balloon animal would look.
Yours
Coffee

Hi Coffee, thanks for asking me some questions.  

We don't disclose the actual figures on the breakdown of the market, all I can say is that the entertainer market is very important to us across Europe. As you know we support the Millennium Jam, Euro Jam and we run Qjams around the UK....so sorry not to quote percentages....

With regards to the Alien face being printed to small, the size of the artwork/screen for every 1 side print of a 5" balloon is the same, if you have any samples you could send me I would appreciate it, I can them show them to the print floor manager.  

There are no different qualities of 260Q, they are all the same - perfect!  - very strange how these strange rumours can spread about something that isn't true....

Unfortunately it isn't possible to print on 260Q's with animal prints at this stage - but this may change in the future. Have you seen the latest copy of images, where Luc Bertand has double stuffed some balloons and distorted them?  He did this with polka dots balloons and inserted 350Qs inside, you could try this with the 11" animal prints to see how they look..

My favourite colour balloon at the moment is purple violet, it is such a lovely strong vibrant colour, my favourite print is still glitter roses-a-round on black....favourite bubble is the single floating eye....favourite foil is to a wonderful mum....

Thanks

Debs

#19
Quote from: "cashmagic"Hello

the 5 " face balloons comes in 2 prints and 2 colours so why dont they put 25 in each bag I think they might sell beter, and not only that could they be printed on a pale brown?


Hi - the mocha is a kind of pale brown...don't see us introcucing a paler brown...I have put your suggestion forward for a smaller count bag. Rozane in our marketing department has put this on her list of to do's!

Thanks

Debs

#20
Quote from: "Graham Lee"Hi Debbie,

How do you go about introducing a new colour? What is the thought process behind the decision.
Who decides on the colour? and how long does it take from making the decision on the new colour to have it in production & at the wholesalers.

and when are you taking me out to lunch :lol:

We go about introducing new colours when we talk to our customers at events, shows, Qjams, thorugh distributors etc - when we are asked by a large group of customers, then we make the decision to launch the production. The labs then test how to make the colour and send to to various influential people in the industry to get their comments, this takes over 4 months to sort out. As you know we've introduced many news colours over the years.  So if there's a colour you're wanting, just keep asking!
Thanks

Debs

#21
Quote from: "Graham Lee"
Quote from: "Danny the Idiot"What's the minimum amount I need to order if I do it directly from qualatex?

Danny, I dont have a minimum order  :D  :lol:

There's no minimum, you can order 1 bag....if you order £100 plus it's free carriage, otherwise you have to pay for the freight.

Thanks

Debs

#22
Quote from: "clownjoey"I can answer your question about ordering from Qualatex direct. Simply put, they will charge you more per bag then you can purchase from one of their distributors around the country. The Qualatex Company is not interested in sales to individuals, but rather in quantity to distributors, which in a way is understandable from a business point of view. It's also better to buy by the box (50 bags), then do a mix or orders under 50 bags, that is if you want to make a savings and not bothered by buying mixed bags.

Actually we are interested in sales to individuals as well as to distributors, it's just that we won't offer discounts other than a 10% discount if you order by the case. 260 Traditional case quantity is 50 bags, but plain 160/260 etc, the case size is 10. It's really up to our distributors what they charge, we don't price fix, we have a price in our catalogue and that's what we stick to.  I'm sure there are lots of deals to be had with the distributors if you order by the case too.

Thanks

Debs

#23
Quote from: "Danny the Idiot"Thanks Graham, but I'm not just thinking of modelling balloons - I need 3fts etc for my show.

 8-)

Danny

Danny - are you aware that we also have 4', 5.5' and 8' balloons?

Available colours are: green, yellow, orange, purple, blue, red, white...

Good luck

Danny the Idiot

#24
Debs, yes I am aware of the full splendiferous range of Q balloons. I have in my show an 8ft Chloroprene balloon too!!!

thanks for the info and replies,
Danny
Danny Schlesinger
Balloon Excellence Award Winner
https://dannytheidiot.com
https://www.CircoRidiculoso.com
Follow me on Twitter at @danny_the_idiot

Graham Lee

#25
Debbie,

Are there any new colours working there way through the system?
Or is that top secret??? :lol:
"Lets Improve Our Art"
Balloon Excellence 2012 Award Winner
For Services to the Balloon Community.
https://www.balloonartwholesale.co.uk
http://www.sempertexballoons.co.uk

Thelma Levett

#26
Hi Debbie,
I wanted to say I am very pleased that the range of colours has improved so much.  When I started in 94 there was a very limited range of colours.  Now I am like a child in a sweet shop.  Recently I noticed a problem with the black balloons.  They were inflating much wider than they should have (a sure sign of weakness) and sure enough they would burst more often than not.  The black balloons seem to have changed recently.  Has there been a change in the manufacture of this colour?  If so, why?

Twistina

#27
Quote from: "coffee"I think I have mentioned this before but sometimes the alien face printing appears a little bit small, rather than covering the full balloon.  Is this just where the balloon hasn't been inflated quite enough before printing?
Coffee
Coffee, are you aware that you can make stretch the printed area after you have inflated the balloon? This is particularly useful for the eyeball printed balloons that are often used under inflated. The eye print comes out rather small but you simply stretch it by wraping your hands around the balloon and forcing air into the printed area. It works with the smiley and alien faces just as well.
Christine Belcher
[size=150]Twistina The Amazing Balloon Lady [/size]
https://www.twistina.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/twistina

LONG MAY I TWIST

Twistina

#28
Hi Debbie, Great to see you here and thanks for answering all the Questions.

I really miss the mettalic colours that Qualatex used to do in the 260. In particular the dark pink (I think it was magenta?) and a lovely dark green. Any plans to reintroduce them?

I have often thought it would be useful to have a thinner balloon than the 160 particulary for fine detailing on sculptures where an air filled but un-inflated balloon may not give the desired effect.  A balloon of about half an inch diameter would be great for dog leads, bows, hair etc. I don't think it would need to be as long as 60 inches. Has this ever been tried or indeed would it be possible?

I love the new un-dipped 321's and the solid colours of the dipped ones. I miss the orange and the pink though, are these gone for good?
Christine Belcher
[size=150]Twistina The Amazing Balloon Lady [/size]
https://www.twistina.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/twistina

LONG MAY I TWIST

ozzyd

#29
without being to negative, i feel as many do the quality has gone down over the last few years , over the last month i have been monitoring how many balloons i cant use as either popping, stuck together or have holes (i know the stuck together and hole balloons i cna use in other ways) and my results so far are about 20% are unusable. So my question is has the manafacturing proses changed, or is it down to the storage of the supplier? I will also add the problem is worse in the mixed bags as appose to individual colours.
 
Interestingly the pink balloons are the main ones which deflate mid twisting and the yellow are the most popping.