President Chuck Jacoby welcomes attendees to Detroit

IBA Conference attendance was forty members strong at the Greektown Casino-Hotel in downtown Detroit, September 19-21, and those members were grateful recipients of a a comprehesive and well planned Conference. The Conference experience began for many with a private shuttle from the airport to the hotel provided by Chuck Jacoby's Bob Green of A2Z Balloons, followed by a lively Welcome Cocktail Reception that evening. Attendees received goody bags containing maps of Detroit metro transportation and areas of local interest as well as some tasty locally-made snack items. The two-year old Greektown Hotel provided luxurious sleeping accomodations with quaint and comfortable meeting space. 

Each Conference event that followed was thoughtfully executed to provide attendees with maximum networking complimented by an exemplary learning opportunity with Jason Kleid who spoke about Effective Sales and Communication. Jason's time was brief but to the point and left us wanting to learn more about Track Selling and Emotional Intelligence when working with customers. (Click here to read attendee feedback on Track Selling). 

Feedback was overwhelmingly favorable about the Conference which reinforced the decision by the Board to hold Conference in a year when attendance was predicted to be low. Planning was turned over to Committee members Chuck Jacoby, Molly Kuhl, Cheryl Sinclair, Dede Lijoi, and Elissa Mast who created a memorable event. Special thanks to Rochelle Jacoby and Bob Green of A2Z as well as John and Toni McGrath for their efforts in set up and shuttling. Thanks also to Cheryl Sinclair of Airgas for donation of helium and to Craig Albrecht of Betallic for donation of Conference brochures.

Also unique about Conference 2011 was the presence of Balloonstitute, a skill-building educational event produced by Mark and Andrea Zettler, which added to the buzz and atmosphere. IBA members witnessed their products come to life in the form of event decor while Balloonstitute classes and Conference overlapped. Balloonstitute also provided additional opportunities for distributors and manufacturers to participate in a vendor trade show. 

To see complete photos of the Conference please visit facebook.com/ibaonline  

News reports of helium shortages have been popular of late. Depending on where you live (and if it's a slow news week) you'll see reports in local publications of doom and gloom from a random party store whose helium supply has been rationed or worse, cut off altogether. Some of these riveting stories make the national news!  Is there really a shortage? Are we running out of helium?  

In short, yes, there has been a shortage but no, we are not running out of helium. You can stop reading here if that is all you need to know. But if you'd like to know why, please read on.

Shortages in helium are usually caused by a disruption in the supply chain which has been the case this year. This is what I call "The Ripple Effect". Beginning last winter the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) began allocating crude helium feedgas to the six helium refining facilities that are linked to the BLM Pipeline & Storage System. Why? Plants in Algeria and Russia who supply foreign markets were shut down for several months which took capacity from domestic refiners who then upped their demand on the BLM pipeline. Planned and unplanned shutdowns for maintenance on the BLM's Crude Helium Enrichment Unit (CHEU) coupled with high demand from the six helium refiners who were seeking to compensate for outages in Algeria and Russia caused a strain on the pipeline. The BLM has plenty of helium but can only put out so much on the pipeline and therefore began allocating. Matters only got worse when ExxonMobile, responsible for 20% of all global helium sources, had a three-week planned maintenance shutdown in August.

What is the outlook? According to Joe Peterson, an official at BLM's helium office, the BLM is operating back up to capacity. However, "The Ripple Effect" of reduced supply has not quite caught up with steady demand and we can expect that suppliers will continue to allocate product giving the balloon industry lower priority over the medical industry. The good news: with winter months nearing and ExxonMobile back to full production we should be able to expect a return to normalcy in helium supply. In the meantime, resourceful event planners are building lots of air-filled decor into their quotes and utilizing 60/40 inflation devices to make their helium stretch further.

Final Note: I asked Joe Peterson at the BLM to send Gary Krekelberg, owner of Party Land in Sioux Falls, SD, (and the impetus for a story that wound up on US News Today), some helium. He said he would see what he could do.

The BLM is currently legislated to operate through 2015 with 10-15 years of reserves on hand. The crude helium suppliers that currently feed the pipeline are seeing a reduction in production and there is only one new plant that has come on stream in the US. As plants in Qatar, Algeria, and Russia become fully operational they will be expected to supply the growing demand in Asia and the Middle East allowing US exports to slow down. Depending on the pace of growth in the US helium market, the US may become an importer of helium from the new foreign sources previously mentioned.  Until that time, technological research to decrease the need for helium as an input to the production of other goods and services is underway while the science and medical industries look for ways to recapture and recycle helium.
 

Click Here to Learn More About Where Helium Comes From and Future Supply

Industry Ethics

Industry Legislative Issues

Helium Usage and Standards

Balloon Usage and Standards

The Balloon Council

Balloons and the Environment

 IBA Membership Dues payment is as easy as a click away. Now available on the IBA Web site is a SECURE ONLINE PAYMENT form to pay dues with a credit card. Easy, secure, and no checks to write or forms to fill out and fax. Your emailed receipt will confirm your transaction.

• Associate Member (Retail/Decor/Entertainer)-$149 Annual       
• Distributor Member - $450 Annual 
• Accessories Manufacturer - $700 Annual
• Balloon Manufacturer - $1500 Annual

Application Forms are also available - please visit Membership Applications on the IBA Web site for complete details.