Party Planner Pivots To Make COVID-19 Testing Tents: Coronavirus Diaries, Episode 3

Our third episode features business owner Lauri Dixon of Party Plus Tents + Events in Glen Burnie, MD. Her business is a tent and event rental company focused mainly on social events such as weddings, business socials, and local festivals.

A Small Business Hits PAUSE For The Coronavirus and PIVOTS

Lauri has a great story about what she did when the Coronavirus put her small business on PAUSE. Based on quarantines, many events were canceled or indefinitely postponed and she wasn't sure what to do.

But then a preferred vendor partner she used frequently referred her to someone at Johns Hopkins -- and the rest turned into an amazing pivot, where now she has created several Coronavirus Drive-Thru Test Tents and other Tents for nurses, patients, and anyone else who might need them to get through this crisis.

And she even made it into the Baltimore Sun with this fantastic, "Can Do" story of entrepreneurship. Watch her video for inspiration for your own pivots! To reach out to Lauri directly, contact her via her Alignable profile.

Small Business Coronavirus Diaries, Episode 3, Transcript Summary - - Interview with Lauri Dixon, Party Plus Tents + Events

Annette Iafrate:

Hello, and welcome to the Small Business Coronavirus Diaries. I'm Annette Iafrate with Alignable, and with me today is Lauri Dixon. She's with Party Plus Tents + Events and comes to us today from Glen Burnie, Maryland. Welcome Lauri.

Lauri Dixon:

Thank you so much for having me!

Annette Iafrate:

Great. We're just going to get right into it. Tell us a little bit about the business, talk about the impact the coronavirus crisis is having on the business and what you guys are doing about it.

Lauri Dixon:

Okay sure. Party Plus Tents and Events is a small business. We're a tent and event rental company, so we do all types of social events -- weddings, mitzvahs, business meetings, etc.

So COVID-19 obviously put the brakes on that and we came to a screeching halt. Everybody canceled current meetings. All the brides are fortunately just postponing the weddings, no one's canceled, but you know that's a huge, a huge impact.

And we lost tons of events like the Cherry Blossom Festival, and a three-month rental for high school students to do tours. It was crazy; and we thought what are we going to do?

Word-Of-Mouth Referral To The Rescue For An Incredible Small Business Pivot!

There's an industry partner that we work with and he referred us to Johns Hopkins. We installed a testing tent at Johns Hopkins. We have a drive-thru tent.

Then connected to that is another tent that's got HVAC and power for all of the nurses, so they're in a climate-controlled environment while they're waiting.

And then we went and did the same thing for Johns Hopkins Howard County.

Then Berkeley medicine in West Virginia reached out; so we had a large triage tent up there. And then we've done four walk-in clinic tents for them.

And then just yesterday, or the day before, we did a drive-thru testing tent for them. So that has been exciting.

Getting The Word Out To The Local Business Community & Other Markets

It has literally been exhausting trying to find the right people to reach out to. I literallycstarted with President Trump, with his office, all the way down to my local Patch. And everyday I'm reading every article, writing reporters, just trying to see how I can share my message.

Annette Iafrate:

That's amazing. So, that first referral to John Hopkins, was that just a connection or your network or how did that happen?

Lauri Dixon:

It's one of our preferred vendor partners. And he referred us and so we've been working collaboratively with him.

When people need HVAC or power we bring him in, even though we have it on our own, because he's the one that referred us. Right? So for this facility, you take that, and we'll take the tents.

And then someone reached out to us as well from the University of Maryland with Hungry Harvest. I think they reached out at 5:20 one evening and the next morning we were there at 7:00, trucks loaded, on the road to put up four 9-by-30-foot tents for them to do their free lunches for schools, because it was raining.

Filling A Niche For Hospitals & Curbside Pickup For Restaurants 

So you know wherever we can kind of fill a niche, we're going to try and do that. 

 We're currently also reaching out to restaurants that are doing curbside service to see if they need a little drive-thru tent or even you know a walk-up tent in the event of inclement weather, just to keep people outside and not going into the business or congregating at the door.

Annette Iafrate:

Wow, so your focus right now is trying to identify other opportunities and getting more referrals.

Lauri Dixon:

Absolutely!

Annette Iafrate:

That's amazing. And so what kind of press or referrals are you getting? Are people helping you spread the word?

News Sites Have Spread The Word, Driving More Business

Lauri Dixon:

Yes they are. People are helping spread the word for us and then there was a bunch of shares and comments. I was interviewed by The Gazette and that went live either yesterday or the day before. 

 And Anne Arundel Medical has reached out to me yesterday and again today because they saw that, so they're interested. And we were also picked up by the Baltimore Sun! So it's exciting.

And you know we provide this service and we are doing it at a discount. If it's a discounted monthly rate and then if they do a three month rental, then it's even further discounted. We're trying to help on that as much as we can.

And then we're also trying to keep the lights on for our small business and provide for our staff and their families.

Annette Iafrate:

That's amazing! What an incredible pivot -- from parties and weddings to things like Hungry Harvest and these testing tents. That's amazing! 

Lauri Dixon:

Thank you.

Small Business Advice For Others To Pivot 

Annette Iafrate:

So, we'll do what we can to to help promote what you're doing. What's an incredible story. Based on this and your pivot, do you have any advice for other small businesses trying to get through this coronavirus crisis period?

Lauri Dixon:
I mean I would just look internally at what you have inventory wise and how you can assist. 

I know some people have actually said okay we're gonna make masks and they have nothing to do with fabrication, sewing anything like that. But I think any kind of small business, whether it's a tech company or you know the distilleries making hand sanitizer, I think you should look internally and see what your capabilities are and how you can help.

And I'm fortunate to say that my staff is 100% behind us. They're all pretty much taking unemployment and then being on standby for when they can come and do these tents. And they're excited to do the tents, to help. I'm very fortunate for that because I could have people say no way, but my guys are like no -- let's go, let's go! So, just look internally and see what you can do.

Annette Iafrate:

That is incredible. I mean it's almost a gift in one way and a gift from you to the communities in terms of how you're doing this. Taking essentially a party business and turning it and dealing with one of the biggest crises we've faced is incredible. On behalf of not just Alignable, but the entire community, thanks for what you guys are doing, thank you for sharing your story. 

Hope all of you stay safe and we'll do what we can to try and get the story out.

Lauri Dixon:

Thank you. I appreciate it and you stay safe and be well as as well.

Annette Iafrate:

Great, thank you so much Lauri!

Lauri Dixon: Thank you.