Merchandising

Saturday, December 16th, Wilsonville-based employees gathered at the local Holiday Inn for our annual Houston’s Christmas Party. Upon arrival, employees were handed their usual gambling “funny money” and goodie bag, but this year the baggies contained an extra gift for attendees – a Houston’s branded Fifty-Fifty drink bottle. The bottles proved to be a big hit with both Wilsonville and Kansas City employees (who were also given bottles at their Christmas party), as we’ve seen many of the bright blue bottles traveling around the office and warehouses.

The familiar atmosphere and many of the activities of past Christmas parties returned for 2017, including the bar, casino games, bingo, and earning tickets to put towards a variety of raffle prizes. Jose Coral was the big winner of the night, and took home the annual cash prize.

Inside Sales

This year also saw a host of new entertainment activities in the form of air hockey, shuffleboard, basketball, and the very popular photo booth. Provided by David Efaw Productions, along with the casino and other games, the photo booth was accompanied by an assortment of funny hats, glasses, other props for employees to pose with. The booth provided fun for all employees, including the Board of Directors and those who chose to sit or stand nearby and take in the action throughout the night.

Many employees also dressed for the occasion, donning extra festive attire. As the man who inspired this tradition with his festive suit last year, Greg Estes was sure to wear his holiday best again this year – a bright blue suit with Santa and gift box print.

As always, the food provided by Holiday Inn was delicious. The hors d’oeuvres selection was comprised of a variety of cheeses, fruits & vegetables, and meats (including two different kinds of shrimp)! Salmon, roast beef, prime rib, chicken, and turkey were served as the main entrées, accompanied by three different salads, mashed potatoes, rolls and more. The decadent desserts were all by wiped out by the end of the night, which was to be expected when there was carrot cake, flour-free chocolate cake, pecan pie and an assortment of small bite-sized treats.

Employees enjoy casino games at the Wilsonville 2017 Holiday Party

Throughout the night as attendees enjoyed their meals, a rousing game of bingo, or just sat and chatted with their coworkers a slideshow of the past year’s events and accomplishments played on large screens highlighting that we have a lot of to be proud of as 2017 comes to a close.

The afternoon of the Christmas party, some Houston’s employees engaged in a friendly bowling competition between Outside Sales and corporate employees at Wilsonville Lanes. Despite the extreme difference in bowling experience, both teams were good sports and there were many laughs.

The post Familiar Fun: Celebrating the Holidays appeared first on Houston's Blog.

Maureze, Tony, and Marsha enjoy the festivities

Houston’s Kansas City facility employees came together in 80’s prom style, on Saturday, November 18th, to celebrate the holidays. The party started off right with some delicious hors-d’oeuvres and great conversations.

The delicious Italian buffet was provided by Trezo Mare. From stuffed chicken and roast beef, to salmon and a potato bar, the food is always a favorite! Casino games and a photo booth entertained employees between the meal and when annual awards were given. Games included craps, blackjack, roulette, and poker and the photo booth had many fun props that to take pictures with; which, seemed to be the most popular activity of the night as the area near the photo booth was always very crowded.

Enjoying some casino games at Kansas City’s Holiday Party

To add an additional element of fun to the evening, “superlative” awards were given to deserving employees. What are “Superlatives” you may be asking? Given the high school prom theme, a set of honors were created, just like back in high school (i.e.: best looking, most athletic, most likely to succeed, etc.). The 2018 Duct-Tape Award was given to Ken White for being able to fix just about anything. Marsha Batiste won the Pom-Pom Award for having the most team spirit. And The Lochness Award went to Marley Stephenson, for being least likely to be found.

Robert Jones, KC Warehouse Manager

The most anticipated event of the night came after the “Superlatives,”  in which Leo Forman was awarded the grand prize cash award.

Written by Jacob Dick and Sherman Dodd

The post Totally Rad Holiday Celebration in K.C. appeared first on Houston's Blog.

The Wilsonville crew gathers to view 99% totality. Credit: R. Phillips

A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between Earth and the sun, blocking all or part of the sun’s light for approximately three hours, from start to finish. August 21, 2017 was the first time since 1979 that the continental U.S. has seen a total eclipse, with the longest period of totality lasting about two minutes and forty seconds.

Both of our facilities were within or near what was deemed the thin “path of totality.” And each facility held a viewing party, at which Houston’s provided employees with special eclipse glasses (ISO 12312-2 compliant, of course)! Our Wilsonville crew convened outside just after 10:00am PDT to witness 99% totality, and our Kansas City got to experience 100% totality just after 1:00 CDT. While it never got completely dark like in Kansas City, Wilsonville employees witnessed a strange, dusk-like coloring of their surroundings.

The Kansas City crew gathers to view 100% totality!

Just before totality, unique crescent-shaped shadows were cast by the trees and shadow bands could be seen across the parking lots, making it appear as though the ground was moving. According to NASA, “Shadow bands are thin wavy lines of alternating light and dark that can be seen moving and undulating in parallel on plain-coloured surfaces immediately before and after a total solar eclipse,” and have been noted throughout history. While scientists don’t yet clearly understand what makes these shadow bands, it appears that, “the intensity, motion and direction of these bands seems to be related to the same phenomenon that makes stars twinkle.”

99% Totality in Wilsonville, Oregon as seen through the (eclipse glasses). Credit: C. Graiff

Thank you, to all employees who joined us for the viewing parties! Additional photos from both Wilsonville and Kansas City can be found on our company Facebook page. Please feel free to tag yourself, or share the photos.

The post Total Eclipse of the Sun appeared first on Houston's Blog.

Kansas City Christmas 2016: Robert, Rebecca, Jennifer, and Sherman

Big Daddy Rob Jones hosted the event in the Embassy Suites Hotel. The evening’s main event was an interactive murder mystery set in an early 1900’s Speak Easy. Many of the employee’s attending took the theme to heart and dressed in costumes reminiscent of mobsters and flappers. Even our resident St. Nick (Sherman Dodd) came in a red three piece zoot suit with a matching hat!

The after dinner entertainment began with an employee from each table chosen to be a character in the storyline. Each table team was provided with a full bio of the character/suspect. A detective was on hand to interview the suspects and provide clues. Funny money flowed so you could “buy” information from other teams to identify the prime suspect, motive and opportunity.

Characters included:

• Trish Fish/Girl Friday – Brenda Willette
• Doug Graves/Rival Mobster – Cesar Correa
• Genocide/Assassin – Christina Glenn (Guest of Cindy Miles)
• Rat Finkle /Snitch – John Anderson
• Gus the Milkman/Secret Bootlegger – Michael Bradley
• Sylous/Smut Magazine owner – Shawn Clayton
• Scott Free/Playboy – Howard Owens
• Eric/3^rd Left Hand Man – Jacob Dick

A special mention is deserved by Big Ears John Sortore and Crazy Sherman Dodd for receiving extra attention. Both were randomly pulled from the crowd to be questioned as potential bootleggers. Sherman’s “interrogation” by singer and actress Amanda Lay was a memorable part of the evening.

The team who identified themselves as The Real Mob was able to solve the mystery. The killer was…..Eric – Jacob Dick!

Kansas City Christmas 2016: Robert & Randy with his 10 years of service award

$25 Prizes were awarded for participation including best dressed, worst guess, best actor and best actress.

Other awards for the night included:

• Randy Draper: 10 year service award
• Mary Powers: 2^nd Runner Up and recipient of $500.00
• Scott Davis: Grand Prize Winner of $1000.00

Thank you to the KC Christmas Party planners for such a fun evening!

Special thanks to Larann Lackey for the great photos of the event. Additional photos can be found on our company Facebook page.

By Guest Writer: Melissa Anderson; Houston’s Director of Pricing & Programs

The post Happy Holidays from KC! appeared first on Houston's Blog.

Jennifer and Bill making announcements

After a two-year hiatus, the Wilsonville holiday party returned to the local Holiday Inn. Holiday parties are often the highlight of the year, as they allow employees to mix and mingle leisurely without thinking about work, and this year’s affair did not disappoint.

The doors opened at 6:00 for an hour of cocktails, socializing, and appetizers.  Funny money for gambling was dispersed, and Wild Bill’s set up a roulette wheel, black jack tables, and a craps table, and an exciting evening of gambling was ready to roll. There was also an air hockey table and a ping pong table for live-action fun, and bingo for those who wanted to remain at the tables and visit with friends, family, and co-workers.

In case you missed Greg…

The dinner menu was superb – boasting flavorful pork, salmon, prime rib, and chicken entrees with a host of sides and vegan dishes available as well. Desserts were, as always, plentiful and delicious.  One can say a lot of things about holiday office parties, but one thing is for certain—you never leave a Houston’s party hungry! 

While the food, activities, and prizes are always popular year-after-year, the highlight of this year’s party was the attire of one specific member of the Board of Directors. If you didn’t happen to see Greg Estes in his “off the rack” polyester holiday suit, we’re not sure you were at the right party—the suit was bright red and sported a snowman and Christmas tree print – definitely hard to miss. 

Our new Human Resources Director, Dana McGowan, offered up her own holiday fun when she took on the task of announcing prize winners.  Great gifts were raffled off to some very lucky winners, including a 55″ TV, a drone, a Shark vacuum cleaner, and a variety of gift certificates to stores, restaurants, and hotels.

The Kansas City warehouse is gearing up to bring in the holiday season with their Christmas Party on December 10^th. We look forward to hearing all about it!

The post Happy Holidays! appeared first on Houston's Blog.

“The main focus is for Regional Managers to work with various departments and gain a better perspective of how everything works in the building as well as get to know the people in each department better,” says National Sales Manager Jarrod Bowren.  This is the first time that any of the current Regional Managers have had the opportunity to spend an extended period of time in any department learning the ins and outs of daily operations at Houston’s.  While the main goal was to help our outside sales staff to learn about routine procedures in the Wilsonville office, Jarrod also wanted to expose the Regional Managers to the upbeat and positive culture that has consumed Houston’s.  “There’s a huge difference,” said Jarrod, noting that employees are up and moving around, and interacting with other people in different departments.  “It’s refreshing.”

Regional Manager Pete Butorac tries out an iSi dispenser with the help of vendor rep Antoinette D’Ambrosio Photo Credit: Christina Graiff

In addition to shadowing the various departments, the Regional Managers also had a day of in-office vendor training in which they met with representatives from National Chemicals, Espresso Supply, Hospitality Glass, International Tableware, Inc (ITI), and iSi North America.  These hour-long sessions provided great insight into vendor product lines, product testing, and allowed time for question that our sales team regularly fields from their customers.

The week wrapped up discussing 2017 goals and how current procedures and processes could be improved upon with key departments such as Purchasing, Inside Sales, and Marketing—the goal being “help us help you” in building sales and revenue, and working toward the ultimate benefit to Houston’s. Communication was one of the largest topics of the day: communication within departments and between departments.  Jarrod wasn’t shy in displaying Outside Sales’ 2017 sales goal for all to see:  $62 million!  It’s a realistic goal, one easily attainable when all departments work together to better serve our customers.

The merchandising team arrived in the office in full force on Friday, ready to learn primarily about the technology that Houston’s has available to assist in offering our clientele supreme service.  Time was spent learning about Salesforce and how to utilize the program to help grow customer satisfaction and loyalty, as well as how to navigate the extranet, our internal reporting and information resource.  They also were given the opportunity to get better acquainted with Robin Phillips, the newly promoted National Merchandising Manager.  Robin is excited for “the opportunity to expand my responsibilities…one of my long term goals is business development in other parts of the country…I believe it is an exciting time in our company and see great things for us ahead.”  In addition to Robin’s long term goals, he also looks forward to transitioning some of his day-to-day responsibilities to Jered Bokoskie, and to further working with Bob, Geoff, Lindsay, and everyone in the office.

What a great way to bring 2016 to a close and to begin focusing on how to make next year even better.

The post Setting Our Sights on 2017 appeared first on Houston's Blog.

Cosmopolitician

You can’t have elections without politicians, and politicians are just better with a Cosmopolitician in hand!

1 ½ oz. vodka

½ oz. triple sec

½ oz. Monin Blue Curacao Syrup

1 oz. white cranberry juice

½ oz. fresh lime juice

Combine ingredients in a shaker, cap and shake vigorously.  Strain into chilled serving glass and garnish.

(Inspired by: Monin)

The Running Mate (Torani Rum Runner Punch)

Let this drink by Torani be your running mate as you take on the elections.  And best of all, it’s a punch so there are plenty of Running Mates to go around!

1 cup (8 oz) Torani Mojito Mint Syrup

1 cup (8 oz) soda water

2 tbsp (1 oz) Angostura Bitters

½ of one whole nutmeg finely ground

1 cup (8 oz) bourbon

½ cup  (4 oz) light rum

Combine all ingredients in a large punch bowl.  Top with a splash of soda water and garnish with fresh mint, lime slices, and orange slices.  Add ice and you’re ready to go!

(Source: Torani)

Bipartisan Spritzer

A little red, a little white, and a little blue.  These ingredients come together to make a rather agreeable sparkling beverage.

4 oz. dry white wine

1 oz. simple syrup

Club soda

Strawberries, sliced in half

Blueberries

Ice

Fill glass with ice and top with berries.  Add simple syrup, then white wine.  Top with club soda and garnish with a sprig of mint.

(Inspired by: Pretty Plain Janes)

Winning Ballot Americano

Cheers to America with this classic drink that’s a winner on anyone’s ballot.

Ice

1 ½ oz. Campari

1 ½ oz. sweet vermouth

Club soda

Orange or lemon slices

Fill an Old Fashioned or Collins glass with ice.  Add Campari and vermouth and top with club soda.  Garnish with a slice of orange or lemon.

(Source: Chowhound)

The Undecided

If you haven’t picked a side, this is the drink for you.  The Undecided is a purple hue to reflect a mixture of both the red and blue sides of the political spectrum.  Show your indecisiveness by mixing one up!

1 part Blue Curacao

1 part Cranberry Juice

2 parts Gin

Splash of Lemon Juice

Ice

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker and shake.  Strain into glass, garnish with a citrus peel and enjoy.

(Source: Rock Your Political Party! Election-Themed Cocktails)

The post Election Day Cocktails! appeared first on Houston's Blog.

Create a theme:  If you’re throwing a holiday party you may think that “holiday” is your theme, but focusing on a slightly more specific segment will help create a more cohesive atmosphere.   Certain colors, styles, periods of time, images or stories can all be used as inspiration for your decorations, activities, food, and any other details you incorporate.  It also gives your guests an idea of what to expect.  

Time:  Make your event for a time or day that would be convenient for most people.  There’s no party without the people!  Also, be aware about other events going on that you may be competing with.  Consider planning on a day when your event will get the most attention.

Invite:  Make sure people know about your party! Make it as easy as possible for people to figure out when and where it will be taking place.  Posters, flyers, and a good social media presence are all important.  Let them know what it’s all about and use an eye catching design and images.  This is your chance to convince people your event is the place they want to be.  Don’t be afraid to get creative too.  Pass out customized swag with your name and event info on it as a pre-party favor.

Get organized:   Keep spreadsheets and lists that you can refer to and update while planning.  Include to-do tasks, a supply list, guest info if it’s the type of event where you have it ahead of time (this includes contact info, any dietary restrictions, RSVPs, etc.).  Keep in mind that the more you have planned out and done ahead of time, the better things will flow.

Trends:  Take into account what’s popular and what people are drawn to right now.  Providing an experience with unique presentation is sure to leave customers buzzing with excitement.  Think about unique or untraditional themes.  Also trending are small plates, tastings, food carts, culturally diverse menus, and personalization.  Try offering a few food and drink pairings too.

Decorate:  Decorations don’t have to be complicated to be memorable.  You don’t want guests to get overwhelmed with the amount of stuff to take in, but it’s still nice to impress them.  Come up with an interesting focal point or two and let the rest speak for itself.

Music:  Music is a detail that helps to tie everything together.  It fills in silence and adds movement and atmosphere to the room.  While it can be a focus of the evening, it doesn’t have to be.  Just make sure your music choice is fitting for the occasion and the audience, and maybe even relates to your theme.

Good lighting:  Lighting is important in creating a good atmosphere.  Too dark and people may miss out on details, too bright and it kills the mood.  It can also be used as a focal point too.  Unique lamps or lighting designs can be an interesting feature and part of the décor too.

Be prepared:  There’s nothing worse than running out of something or not having the right tools on hand when your guests need it most.  Stock up on all of your supplies in advance so there are no last minute scrambles the day of.  Don’t forget to assess your space and seating arrangements as well.  Will you have a place for everyone to be comfortable?

Special beverage:  Create a festive concoction to get your guests in the spirit.  Think about your theme and come up with a fitting beverage that people can look forward to trying.  Use flavored syrups to make is easy, yet still delicious.

Think about the children:  If children will be allowed at your event, consider focusing a couple of details around them.  A small party favor, a fun beverage of their own, or an activity to keep them entertained can go a long way.  Even if the event isn’t focused around kids, it’s a great idea to keep everyone happy.

Relaxed atmosphere:  No matter how busy you may be running around making sure everything is going just right, remember that your guests see that.  You set the tone, so make sure guests feel comfortable and welcome.  And the more you are able to get ready ahead of time, the more relaxed you will be yourself.

Share:  Especially if it was a fun time, people love to look back and reflect on things they’ve done.  Post pictures and send out an email to thank everyone for making the event a success.  A perfect excuse to keep the buzz going.

Happy party planning!

The post Party Planning Pointers appeared first on Houston's Blog.