J. McAllister Events and Phoenix Amusements:
Bringing Unforgettable Experiences To Atlanta Parties
Your special event should be an unforgettable one, and Atlanta-based J. McAllister Events has been making dreams come true for clients since 2015. From weddings and anniversaries to birthday parties and graduation celebrations, founder Jahlil McAllister works closely with her clients to deliver the picture-perfect event that truly encompasses the person of honor’s preferences and personality for all her Atlanta parties.
But with each event McAllister planned came requests to go even bigger than the event that came before. To meet her clients’ expectations and put together events that are truly one of a kind, McAllister turned to Atlanta’s leading event rentals company to bring these new and evolving requests to life. Here’s how.
Fewer Games, More Immersive Experiences
As an event planner, McAllister’s job is to stay on top of trends and bring them to her clients. Making her clients’ dreams come true relied on a network of dependable and versatile vendors who could deliver each time. Any new offerings or solutions would require vendors with ample options on hand and a long history of client success.
“Kids’ parties are near and dear to our heart,” McAllister said, noting that she observed a sharp drop in interest in the standard party games and attractions from the kids themselves. “What was popular here in Atlanta… was face painting and a bounce house, but over the years...I saw kids getting bored.” This observation was not only for Atlanta parties, but nationwide too.
“I tell my clients all the time, it should be more than a pretty party,” she added. “It should be an experience, and as kids get older, they don’t want just a bounce house.”
As McAllister started advising more of her clients to build an experience instead of bringing in superficial, simple activities, she started getting more requests for an event trend she didn’t yet have the capacity to handle: customized amusements.
“If it’s not custom, people don’t want it,” McAllister said. “It’s better to name a skee ball rental after the person of honor than calling it just plain old Skee Ball.”
With kids getting bored and parents wanting customized events, McAllister needed to get creative, yet she was faced with two challenges. The first: finding an event rental company that understood what it means to create an experience. The second: finding a company that could customize those experiences. With Phoenix Amusements, she found both.
Phoenix Amusements: Making “bigger and better” events possible for J. McAllister clients
To find an amusement provider, McAllister took the obvious first step: searched online for Atlanta event rental companies.
“I took to Google and looked for companies that have amusements,” she said, “and Phoenix Amusements popped up.”
When McAllister saw that Phoenix Amusements carried unique rentals and could customize those rentals, she didn’t hesitate to set up a call with Phoenix Amusements' CMO Stacy Hankinson. “We were on the phone for almost an hour discussing what she has to offer, and we totally hit it off,” McAllister said.
“Stacy allows me to customize the majority of her amusements,” McAllister added before giving an example. “I rented out a claw machine [that] we were able to wrap completely to the theme, and we did skee ball that we completely wrapped with the theme too. That’s something that Stacy has that not a lot of other amusement companies have.”
McAllister also notes that Phoenix Amusements’ custom experiences come with exceptional customer service, which is especially important since, with events, things can go wrong at any moment.
“I’m really big on response time,” she said, “and Stacy’s response time is amazing. Not only her response time, her team – they’re always on time.” More than that, McAllister said, the team “educates you when it comes to getting the rentals...and making sure that it’s safe for the kids.” McAllister also praises Phoenix Amusements for coming up with event solutions quickly and never struggling to find rare items.
McAllister has remained thrilled with Phoenix Amusements not just leading up to events, but during them and afterward too. “Phoenix Amusements sticks around after we drop off, “ she said, “and that’s something really important to me, because I had an incident where someone left equipment that we didn’t know how to use.”
Just as importantly, McAllister said that Stacy’s motto is, “Just call us and we’ll come” -- an important assurance for anyone in event management, in which things can go wrong at the drop of a hat.
“Stuff always happens at events, so it’s always good to know [that we can call anytime].” But then again, McAllister notes, “Things don’t break with Stacy.”
What McAllister’s clients think of Phoenix Amusements
It’s not just McAllister who’s thrilled with Phoenix Amusements. So too are her clients.
Case in point: McAllister relied on Stacy and Phoenix Amusements for, among other events, a birthday bash celebrating a boy named Deren. With Phoenix Amusements in her court (quite literally in this case), McAllister delivered a customized hands-free sanitizing station, claw machine, basketball shooting game, and skee ball machine to match the event’s theme.
Each of these customized machines and games included the party’s custom “Deren’s Network” logo and branding in the same style as Deren’s beloved Cartoon Network. With additional Phoenix Amusements arcade rentals such as Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and Galaga, Deren’s party was as fun for the kids as for the adults.
Speaking of the adults, McAllister said that dads are as fond of some Phoenix Amusements game rentals as their kids. “I once had a client who said, ‘Wow, I want one of those in my home,’” McAllister said about the NBA Hoops basketball sports game rental that Phoenix Amusements provided for Deren’s party. “A lot of times,” she added, “I see the wives getting it for their husbands so they’re not bored at the kids’ parties.”
“We’re in communication with Stacy right now trying to get some of these amusements into clients’ homes,” she continues. “Now, it’s coming to the point where the dads and their friends are having fun at their kids’ parties. There was a time where they were just sitting around and watching their kids. Now, they’re engaging and having fun.”
“That’s what Phoenix Amusements provides,” McAllister said to summarize the company’s appeal. “The fact that these amusements are for all ages – everyone at the party can have fun together.”
You too can work with Phoenix Amusements
If McAllister’s experience sounds like precisely what your clients need, then great news – you too can work with us! Whether you’re based in Atlanta like us or anywhere else in the continental United States, we’re just a phone call or email away whenever you’re ready to talk about your next event. Contact Phoenix Amusements in Atlanta now to put together the event of your client’s dreams!