The direct feedback from our client’s are literally a testament to the quality of the work Tigris Personnel stands for and puts out. We are not only representing our client’s in the field; we are representing ourselves and our brand, Tigris. We truly believe in promoting products with “the power of presence” and think we have some of the best staff and ideas the industry has to offer. Take a read below to see what some of our clients have to say about us. You’ll be pleasantly surprised!

~ ”I just wanted to thank you again for your help staffing the TIFF Experiential Zone at Pearson Airport.  I think Tigris is a great company to do business with.  It is a well run company that I can trust and rely on.”
 * Manager of Guest Experience Marketing at the Greater Toronto Airport Authority
 Re: TIFF Experiential Zone at Toronto Pearson Airport Sept. 3-28/10

~ “The event was a great success!!!  The models were great, very nice and interactive with customers.  Thank you for all your hard work. We would love to use your services again!  Have a great day.”
 * Manager of Retail Operations at MAC Cosmetics
 Re: Wonder Woman Product Launch at the Toronto Eaton Centre & Scarborough T.C. Feb. 2/11

~ “I would like to thank you for the events staff you assigned in Calgary, Vancouver and Montreal. They were all wonderful and completely exceeded my expectations. I really appreciate the help.”
 * Marketing Coordinator at Sprott Private Wealth
 Re: Sprott Roadshows Nov. 9-21/11

~ “Thanks for sending the tastings reports and photos over so quickly.  Can I just tell you, your reporting system is THE BEST I’ve ever seen!  So thank you for that too! The boss is very impressed so far.”
 * Sales & Marketing Coordinator for Churchill Cellars Ltd.
 Re: LCBO In-Store Tasting Program Nov. 11-Dec. 31/11

~ “We wanted to say how awesome all the teams were for the Motorola “It’s on us” Cineplex Promotion. We were impressed with their attitudes and willingness to help with the set-up and tough situations. Also, one TSS mentioned it was her first promo but she was still very good and professional.”
 * Account Coordinator for Motorola at Hill & Knowlton
 Re: Motorola “It’s on Us” at Cineplex Mississauga, Vaughan & Toronto Oct. 12-15/10

~ “Thank you for your hard work and flexibility on the Groundside program at Pearson. You work with an excellent team and go above and beyond to get the job done. Tigris Personnel is one of the best staffing agencies in Toronto. We really appreciate it.”
 * Senior Vice President, Hotspex Inc.
 Re: Groundside Market Research Program at Toronto Pearson Sept. 19-23/11

~ “Connie and Sandra did an excellent job at our event. They were professional, friendly, sweet and gorgeous! We got alot of great feedback about them and everybody loved them. Thank you for your help and we will be in touch for next years event.”
 * Senior Executive Assistant, CB Richard Ellis
 Re: Special event at the TIFF Lightbox Oct. 20/11

~ “I asked for a certain type of team – and I got it. Professional, engaging, vibrant, and fun – great people, not to mention bilingual! I would highly recommend them and would be more than happy to provide a reference. I got the word out to our team at the office about how great Natalia and Susan were. I hope to work with Tigris, and them, again soon.”
 * Account Director, Belkin International
 Re: Event hosting at Sourcefest Aug. 16-17/11

~ “Tigris Personnel has provided Rogers Communications with their amazing temporary staffing services since August 2005.  We would like to acknowledge Tigris for providing us with outstanding service during all of our campaigns.  We would strongly recommend them to any other company looking to incorporate temporary staff at any of their future events.”
 * National Retail Account Manager at Rogers Communications
 Re: In-Store WET Program in Toronto and Montreal Nov-Dec/05

~ “Astral Media has been so impressed  with all of your staff during the HBO Hype Days that I’m sure they would be happy with whomever you recommend.  Great work – thanks again”
 * Producer at Krista Slack  & Aylett
 Re: HBO Game of Thrones National Promotion Mar. 3-28/11

~ “Your gals were awesome. Professional, sweet, well read and solid workers. The guests loved having them at the event.”
 * Owner, Urban Groove Productions
 Re: Blake LLP Christmas Party at This is London, Dec. 8/11

~ “I thought things went well and they were a good group. They got the job done with a smile and were a strong team. Thank you.”
 * Marketing Coordinator at Zoomer Media Ltd.
 Re: Zoomer Vancouver Nov. 17-18/11

~ “I have been booking events with Tigris Personnel since 2008 and their girls have always been amazing. The look is just as important to me as the personality and the Tigris ladies definitely have both. They are consistently beautiful, friendly and engaging. I would highly recommend them.”
 * Territory Manager at Labatt Breweries of Canada
 Re: Superbowl Feb. 6/11

~ “I just wanted to take a minute to pass along a big thank you.  You promised me that you would find the perfect staff to work at our booth, and you definitely delivered on that.  I look forward to working with you and your staff at our next trade show, and I wish you continued success in the future.”
 * Trade Show Manager at Sun-Rype Products Ltd.
 Re: Grocery Innovations Canada Oct. 19-20/08

~ “Tigris Personnel has been involved with KRG Children’s Charities annual gala and golf tournament since 2004.  It is a rare moment for us at KRG, but a pleasant one nevertheless, when we get a chance to acknowledge a company representing us that actually supersedes our requirements and expectations.  Tigris Personnel displays an unequally sense of professionalism at all of our events and we look forward to bringing them back for many years to come.”
 * President of KRG Children’s Charities
 Re: KRG Children’s Charities Golf Tournament Jul. 7/07

Note: the names of our client’s have not been included in these testimonials to protect the confidentiality of our relationship with them. If you are a new client and are interested in our credentials, we would be more than happy to provide references.

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One of the most popular events promo staff in the industry seem to enjoy are tradeshows! They can be interesting to work and range from extremely busy public tradeshows like the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo or the National Women’s Show to quieter private shows like Grocery Innovations Canada or Sourcefest. Tradeshows can be informative and allow you to check out items and ideas that haven’t even been released yet!

If you’re working at one of these events, it can be easy to become overwhelmed. Here are some tradeshow strategies to help you have one of the most positive promotions you’ll ever work!

1) BE PREPARED: find out which building you are going to in advance (e.g. MTCC North OR South) and which aisle your booth is set up in. Make sure you leave yourself enough time to register for your badge on your first day as well as line ups can be very long.

2) INTRODUCTIONS: be sure to introduce yourself to your contact, any other colleagues from their company and your fellow promo staff. This will break the ice and get things going. Be sure to keep your personal belongings out of sight. There is nothing worse than stopping by a booth that has drinks on the tables and jackets hanging out from behind signage etc.

3) GET ON IT: contrary to what some people may think, you have not been hired just to stand around and look good. You are, to some extent, a “tradeshow model” but you are also much more than that. You are a walking, talking commercial for the brand you are representing so you need to get out there and engage the public. You need to get product into people’s hands and make sure they walk away with a positive impression! As an event marketer, you need to do just that – market the product you are representing! Talking among other staff or stuffing your hands in your pockets is a waste of the client’s money and doesn’t do their product justice.

4) SELL YOURSELF: these events aren’t only about tradeshow selling… it’s also about selling yourself and your own brand. If you stand out at an event, you can guarantee yourself great feedback from the client and future requests for you to work again. You may even be recruiting by other companies for full or part-time work. You never know who is watching!

5) FREE STUFF: depending on the type of tradeshow it is, there may be left over product at the end. This is common with a sampling promotion that involves food. I’ll never forget the time I represented Ganong chocolate and was swarmed by other vendors trying to trade their products for our left over boxes of chocolates during the last hour of the show! Do NOT give anything away unless you have permission from the client. Some client’s would rather donate their left overs to charity but in some cases, they’d rather give it away than have it shipped back to their office or warehouse. If they do give you the green light, this is your opportunity to score some really great stuff. A fellow promo staff and myself were fortunate enough to get an entire green garbage bag full of food EACH after one of these shows… so you never know!

6) DON’T FORGET YOUR P’s & Q’s: after you wrap up each day, and at the end of the tradeshow, don’t forget to say thank you to your contact and their colleagues. This will let them know how much you appreciated the work and enjoyed working with them. A little lip service can go a long way and the next time promotional models are needed, hopefully you’ll be at the top of their request list.

Promotions staffing can be amazing, but it’s not all fun and games. You are representing clients who invest alot of money to have you engage the public and get their product into people’s hands, and into their minds, which in turn, helps increase their sales. A national marketing agency may have a very different approach to a tradeshow than a smaller promotions company, but the goals the clients have are almost always the same. Cheers!

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My aunt has a magnet on the fridge that says, “if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything”.  I feel like this relates strongly to how I feel about conducting business with both clients and staff.

As Tigris Personnel heads into it’s 7th year of business, I can reflect back on many memories ranging from the wonderful opportunities we’ve had and people we’ve met, in addition to some of the unexpected, sticky situations that have arisen. You have to take the good with the bad – but ultimately you need to stand your ground, whether your negotiating a new contract or asking someone to be accountable for something they did or didn’t do.

What I’ve firmly come to believe is you almost always get what you pay for.  We’ve had companies call us with a budget of $15/hr; but we typically pay our staff $18-20/hr or more.  We run a reputable business, not a charity, so we can’t even consider a budget this low.  I’m sure there are companies out there who can, but we don’t want to “stoop” that low so to speak or undercut the calibre of our services and the pay expectations of our team.

In spite of the recession, the cost of living continues to rise but prices continue to drop.  I have tried to figure out why but I think this can be largely attributed to the volume of new companies who are undercutting previously accepted hourly rates and associated fees and don’t bill for out of pocket expenses like parking and mileage. There are other large firms who bill for expensive consulting and management fees but subcontract staff at cost, as part of the package, so they become impossible to compete with.

To top it off, the event staffing industry is also becoming increasingly more concentrated with the growth of social media. It is becoming easier to find new clients to work with as well as new people to work for you. Social networking sites like facebook enable targeted recruiting based on geography, gender and even looks, so you no longer have to wait for people to come to you via traditional job postings.

Are these changes impacting the quality of staff being booked? It depends on who you ask I suppose.  If someone chooses one company over another, there will be a higher expectation associated with that choice if they are even minimally more expensive.  Unfortunately, people aren’t perfect but it’s important to remind your clients about this and try to manage their expectations.  Nobody is perfect.  They have their good days and their bad days – but the best event staffing companies out there are generally consistent with the staff and services they provide.

At the end of the day, clients have to weight their options wisely while keeping their bottom line in mind.  I guess you can think about it this way… Not everyone can afford to eat at The Keg every day but it sure does beat McDonald’s.

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