Welcome back to Formal Times!

Hard work always pays off right? Well maybe not always, but it sure did when it concerns Expo 27 Las Vegas! The convention is now history and history it was. We signed up 30+ NEW members right at the show!  There are so many people who put in countless hours and the result was truly memorable including Brian Glasgow our event planner and the tireless board of directors. We have included lots of pictures and highlights for most of the first day for everyone to see. We will be back with the rest next time! Also we have regional show information. Read on and let us know what you think editor@formaltimes.com Expo 27 In Construction To bring about a convention of our size is a formidable task. Even though we are considered a smaller organization by industry standards the preplanning for this event was very detailed. Boxes and crates were scheduled to arrive starting Tuesday for opening day of Thursday. Wooden crates, fork lifts and ladders littered the entire show floor still on Wednesday when we arrived.    At that point it was amazing it would all come together by the next morning. Our event planner Brian Glasgow of WT Glasgow Chicago Illinois was there to watch over EVERY detail whatever the size. The IFA booth was filled with pictures of the past. When our organization left Smith Bucklin last winter we were given 100+ boxes of records and files. One of those boxes contained many pictures. We thought everyone would enjoy looking at them as much as we did. The photos many of which were in black and white captured faces of the past, sadly some of these people are no longer with us. In constructing these collages we had so much fun guessing at who they might all be. During the many hundreds of times people looked them over during the convention; someone identified every person and told us countless stories of conventions and gatherings of the past. Back when there were literally 1000’s of independent stores around the gatherings were much larger. We heard a story about the association president riding onto the stage on a white horse, or was it a bull? We heard it both ways. Bob Eubanks of the Newlywed game entertaining the crowd with a formal wear version of the Newlywed game. He used industry audience participants like Sam Dobbie, who during the game when he struck his most manly pose for his wife lost his pants. Countless comments about good people who are now gone.   We can not turn back time, but preserving a little history and learning from it is one of our primary goals! The enthusiasm and excitement of an organization that wants to see everyone involved is back!! We have to continually learn from past failures and successes and move forward! I hope we had a chance to meet most of you; it was easy to get caught up in all the history when everyone stopped by our booth. That made it hard to end one conversation to move on to another. Our president Rod Benbrook and his wife Cindy were honored Wednesday evening at a small gathering of board members. The president and all of the board members volunteer a huge amount of time in an easy year, but this past one has tested everyone’s abilities. The opportunity to express our gratitude for an exceptional time commitment on Rod’s and his families’ part was very nice. FWI Jean Yves had a party also on Wednesday evening at the Playboy Club in the Palms Hotel. 50+ people laughed danced and gambled the night away. The club has its own high stakes gambling, a fireside lounge and a lot of that Playboy ambience. We heard George Clooney hangs out there when in Vegas, but didn’t see him! The place was full of beautiful high roller people not with our group. We were treated to like royalty,    and given a glimpse of that true Vegas kind of night life. It was fun to stand back and watch the high dollar table games, knowing some of those strangers could buy any of us a new store for what was being lost and won. Our thanks to Jean Yves for showing everyone there a great time! Convention Begins Our official opening event Thursday morning was a very interesting seminar by Bob Barry. It was titled Low Cost High Impact Promotion of Your Business. I have listened to Bob speak many times at past conventions and never tire of his enthusiasm. He has this infectious attitude for our industry which you can not help but be affected by. I do not care if you have seen a presentation in the past, he has a way of drawing in the audience to make each session brand new.   One of the things that makes these seminars so valuable is how you were made to go around the room and introduce yourself to everyone there. It was no easy task when the room was full. These casual introductions break the ice for later conversations. Everyone there has something in common, so it is easy to get in more in depth conversations later. These seminars were included with your membership this year, and it was exciting to see all the people and great ideas in the room. Bob is going to share more on the seminar later. Our membership meeting followed Bob’s seminar. During this meeting three new board members were introduced. Sam Carlson of Black Tie Oaklawn IL, Dennis Schmidt of Milroy’s Waterloo IA, and Diane Peters of Ducky’s Galesburg IL. Introduction of all of the board members and staff present and a welcome speech by our president Rod Benbrook finished the meeting. The convention was now officially open for business. Show Floor Opens     The show floor officially opened 10am Thursday morning to full isles of people ready to do business. When one of your greater complaints for a show this size is that the aisles are too narrow with all of the people present, how can you not feel it was shaping up to be a success! Each exhibitor set up great displays of their merchandise and was mostly very busy showing the lines or explaining what they had to offer. We have received many comments on the show and thought you might like to read a few, I am saving the rest for next issue: I thought it was a great convention. The optimism and excitement is back! Both Manufacturers and Specialists are saying life is good, orders are on the rise and they are busy. I was glad to see the Black Tie Event back again and even though it was ‘Black Tie Optional’, everyone was dressed in Black Tie ~ it’s great support for our industry and I hope it continues ~ Thanks to Becky, Diane, Rod and the Board of Directors they did a great job. Thanks to FWI and After Six for the fun parties ~ they were so much fun and it brought us all together again. We’re looking forward to next year! Couldn’t beat the value, convenience and simplicity ~ you made everything so easy and affordable! Amy DuBois ajdubois@duboisformalwear.com First of all, before I forget congratulations to you, and everyone else at the IFA for putting on the best show in recent memory. It was light years better than the show last year. Kudos as well to the show organizer, whose name I believe is Brian. I was impressed at how hard he was working on set-up day to make life easier for the exhibitors. He is much better than those pieces of shit that used to do it. I can't really find any fault at all with the venue, hotel, or anything else for that matter. Maybe it's my imagination, but I could sense a renewed interest on the part of the retailers as well. They seemed more business-like, and more interested in product. I should also very reluctantly thank FWI and After Six for providing some excitement for the evenings. It was almost like the good old days again. Some4how, my invitation to those parties got lost in the mail. I still am a strong believer in background music at trade shows. Not too loud to be distracting, but enough to hear. At slow moments, I believe it can really help. I also have my own thoughts on how the vendors booths should be laid out to give a much stronger optical effect that can only enhance attendance at future shows. I also believe that at future shows, it would be a nice idea to offer to retailers only, some sort of working lounge area near the main floor where they can sort of catch their breath, do some paperwork, make some phone calls, etc. It would be nice to not only have chairs, but some tables for those who care to to work on. This can go a long way in keeping people on the floor. Of course, coffee, water, soft drinks, etc., would be welcome. Once again, Great Job! Jerry Mashman I thought it was a great show---the location, the people, and all the vendors were awesome……..I know I wrote just about all my orders on Friday, it was a good feeling to get those done….also picking up 37 -38 new members….sweet! I do believe we are on the right track, in getting all the smaller to middle formal wear specialist to attend this show…..location is ideal… Jim Carrow We were very pleased with the turnout. We were busy the entire time, with the exception of the 9-10am hour on Friday (I am sure it was because of our party!), and the 3pm-4pm hour on Friday. I might suggest opening both days at 10am. Also, as we discussed at the show, I would suggest a food/drink kiosk nearby so people don’t need to go all the way back to the main hotel lobby for a drink or snack. The hotel was fine, except that restaurant options at the Hilton are poor. There are only 2 lunchtime options: a buffet and a café. I would have preferred a nice quiet finer dining lunch option for customers. I think the Vegas location is great; a lot of people can get there easily and make a mini-vacation out of it. I also like the idea of the 2 days before MAGIC. I may also suggest that we spread out a little more in the floor space, particularly if we have already reserved the entire area. Not a big deal. The cocktail banquet was fine; it definitely appears that cost was a factor with the limited food. I might suggest a more group friendly seating options with larger tables (up to 8) for people to mingle; the setting really didn’t work for small cocktail tables. Finally, we need to figure out how to get more attendees to join in the IFA activities (member meeting and banquet). There were a lot of people at the show that did not attend the IFA events. Great job, and thanks for asking. Eric Plott After Six Thank you IFA for a great Convention! I can’t express the benefit and great time I had at the 2008 convention in Vegas! There was a great turn out from both tuxedo specialists of all sizes & manufacturers. The show definitely had a great buzz. Having all the manufactures in one open area to compare products for 2009 helps with my decision making tremendously, along with talking to many Tuxedos Specialists to share ideas on what they are looking at & why and then going back through to help finalize some of my decision making. It was also great seeing many new faces and friends to share ideas and successes. Bob Barry’s seminars are always great to pick up new ideas or remind you of many things we have done in the past that were successes and for some reason just forgot or haven’t paid attention too… and at no charge! I personally would like to thank every on the NEW IFA Board & Becky / Diane in creating a great convention, I know it has been an extremely busy year for all of you to make this happen and with having there own business’s to run. Great job! I heard from many people say, this has been one of the best shows since before 2001! Finally the events at FWI & After Six – WOW – What a great time! Thank You! Dennis Schmidt Milroy's Tuxedos It was nice to see the vendor booths so busy for the greater part of both days. It is also a great opportunity to talk to various people across the country to see what is happening in their markets. Other specialists are a good source to use when wanting to know about prospective vendors or even to find new sources. It is also the opportunity to talk face to face with many Specialists we otherwise wouldn't get to talk with which at times is invaluable. It is truly our time to get together and break away from our "usual" sounding boards and get some different ideas to try. And yes, time to have a drink with one or two of your friendly competitors (or make the unfriendly ones more amiable!) Gary Davis Jim’s FW Well first of all I had a good time at the convention. The Hilton had all the necessary things to make the visit enjoyable. It is great to get together with people who understand the industry. We had many discussions with old friends and made some new friends also. I thought it was good to see so many dress Black Tie at the awards party. Food and drink was just right. The merchants did a good job of displaying their goods. Anyone shopping for the tools of our trade should have found answers to their needs. Personally I was able to determine what I wanted for next year and was able to make several purchases there. So much of our business is done over the phone it was nice to put some faces with those voices we hear so much. Of course some of us may have a face you would rather keep a mystery. Bottom line for me was that it was the kind of convention that makes me look forward to the next one. Best regards, Bob Benbrook We decided to split up the convention coverage. We have so many comments and pictures we want to share. More highlights and our industry award winners will be in our next edition watch for it in the week ahead! Regional Show Information Announcement of Final Details for All Three IFA Regional Shows: The shows will all take place on Sunday 9-6 and Monday 9-5 or by appointment. There is no cost to view the lines. If you are staying at the hotel a full breakfast and managers cocktail reception take place daily. The room blocks will be released soon, so make your plans now to take another look at what is being offered for Spring 09.  We need a count on who will be at each show, so please fax your store name and who will be attending to Diane at 309-342-5921 or email Becky at editor@formaltimes.com   Hotel reservations need to be made with the individual hotel.  East Coast When: September 14th and 15th Where: Embassy Suites Piscataway/Sommerset 121 Centennial Avenue Piscataway NJ Contact: Adriana Phone: 732-980-0500 Room block under International Formalwear Association Rates: Saturday $135 Sun or Mon $145 single or double GLITS/Midwest When: September 21 & 22 Where: Embassy Suites Oakbrook/Lombard 707 Butterfield Road Oakbrook Illinois Contact: Cynthia McDonald cynthia.mcdonald@hilton.com Phone: 630-969-7500 Room block under GLITS Tuxedo Show/IFA Rates: $139 King $169 Double West Coast When: September 28th & 29th Where: Radisson Suites Hotel 7762 Beach Blvd. Buena Park, Ca, 90620 Contact: Meredith Delfosse Phone: (888) 201-1718 or (714)739-5600 Rates: $115 King or Double Room Block under Western States Formalwear Collective by the IFA Thoughts for the week! Georgesr@kosacks.com Remember to send George Kosack Sr. all of your human interest items. Do you have an exceptional employee you would like to credit? Do we have marriages, births, promotions, store openings etc…. Send George an email to keep our Formalwear Family informed! As we go to press Hurricane Gustav bears down on Katrina’s path of 3 years ago. Our thoughts are with an IFA member who lost everything in Katrina and now may face the same. We met Sal Saputo of J & L Formal Wear of the New Orleans area in Vegas. His story like so many others of that area is tough.  He has promised the full story after the storm has passed.  He had to cut the trip short to head home and begin the process of readying for a storm that at the time was yet a hurricane. Our thoughts are with him and we wish him and all who may be in that storms path well! The world is full of wonder! Never let the sunset without wondering of the possibilities!