Celebrate Mardi Gras With Safety Measurements For Your Valuable Guests

Mardi Gras is a historical tradition, globally recognized for its reckless and wild parties and parades, that had continued to thrive for thousands of years. The French phrase Mardi Gras means “Fat Tuesday,” which is the annual ritual of debauchery and indulging in fatty foods before Lent, a season of fasting. In the past, the occasion was most commonly celebrated in states like Alabama and Louisiana, but today, more and more people throughout the United States are choosing to participate in the celebration of Mardi Gras. If you are planning a large Mardi Gras party for your bar or nightclub, or are hosting one at your home, choose from a wide selection of wristbands from wristbands.com to help keep your event safe and organized. 

Mardi Gras celebrations are a big hit for Bars and nightclubs, and being prepared for larger than normal crowds is a must. With its ornate beads, masks, and bold colors – Mardi Gras can be a great way to attract extra business to your bar or nightclub. Wristbands.com carries all sorts of decorative and non-transferable wristbands in a variety of materials and styles. For just a few cents more per wristband, you can order customized wristbands with printed messages like, “Happy Mardi Gras,” on any type of wristband we offer. Make sure you can identify and accommodate all your guests by having different colored and customized wristbands on hand.

Since Mardi Gras can be celebrated for about a three-week period, bars and nightclubs would be smart to purchase a variety of custom wristbands from wristbands.com to help ensure guests are not re-using wristbands from a previous night to gain admission. The three colors of the Mardi Gras flag are: purple for justice;  gold for power; and green for faith. Purchase vinyl, plastic, silicone, or Tyvek® wristbands in all three of the Mardi Gras colors to help add spirit to any Mardi Gras themed event. It may be fun to print common celebratory French Mardi Gras, or “Shrove Tuesday” phrases on a variety of colored wristbands. Purchase wristbands in the three classic Mardi Gras colors, with the following short French and English phrases custom printed onto their surface:

• Bon Mardi Gras! (Good Shrove Tuesday!)
• Joyeux Mardi Gras! (Merry Shrove Tuesday!)
• Heureux Mardi Gras! (Happy Shrove Tuesday!)

You can use wristbands at your bar or nightclub for admission, age verification, designated driver identification, VIP privileges, and as tickets for food or beverages. If you are hosting a Mardi Gras event for adults, there will undoubtedly be liquor present. Order age verification wristbands from wristbands.com to ensure only of-age guests are purchasing and consuming alcohol. Use one Mardi Gras color, such as purple, to identify adults 21-years-old and above. Use another Mardi Gras color, like green, for underage guests. To add some festivity to your event, add a small amount of food color to different types of beer and serve gold, green, and purple drinks. Wristbands.com carries premium Wrist-Rider® wristbands that feature three, four, or five tear-off tabs that can be redeemed for refreshments. We offer an assortment of stock Wrist-Rider® wristbands that feature the tear-off tabs printed with numbers. Or, customize your wristbands with classic Mardi Gras colors, graphics, and your bar or nightclub name imprinted onto the surface of the wristband to serve as a branding tool.

In addition to bars and nightclubs, many people throw parties at their home to celebrate the Mardi Gras season. If you are hosting a large party, you may want to have a cover charge at the door. You can hand the wristbands out at the door when your guests arrive and pay to help the duration of your Mardi Gras party run smoothly. Wristbands.com carries colorful glitter and metallic wristbands in all three of the classic Mardi Gras colors that are ideal for parties. Kids will love the metallic purple, green, and gold tri-laminate wristbands, that sparkle and shine in all types of lighting, available for purchase at wristbands.com. We also carry five customizable styles of trendy silicone wristbands that both kids and adults will love to wear. Order custom premium color-fill debossed silicone wristbands with Mardi Gras graphics like court jester hats and masks imprinted onto them. Place the graphics around the date of you party, “Jones Mardi Gras Ball – Jan. 2013.” Guests will enjoy taking home a keepsake from your party that is stylish to wear!

There are all sorts of fun decorations and activities that serve as entertainment for Mardi Gras parties.  Balloons, beads, confetti, costumes, masks, and streamers all highlight the spirit of Mardi Gras and are an inexpensive way to decorate in true Mardi Gras style. You can inform guest on your invitations that there will be a costume contest, as elaborate costumes are a major part of the Mardi Gras celebration. For guests who arrive without costume, set up a mask creation station so all attendees will have something festive to wear. Masks can be adorned with all the Mardi Gras classics like beads, feathers, glitter, paint, and sequins. If less guests arrive than expected, you can chain-link leftover wristbands together to make bright and colorful, yet highly economical, decorations for your Mardi Gras party.

Mardi Gras can be a fun history and cultural lesson to teach children at school or in the home. Teach children about the culture behind Mardi Gras by preparing traditional Cajun dishes and playing customary games such as “King’s Cake.” Place a plastic baby figurine in a random place in the cake, and whoever gets the slice with the baby in it is “king” or “queen” of the Mardi Gras party. You can also make Mardi Gras colored Jell-o® shots to add some lighthearted fun to your event. For large parties, implement wristbands.com Wrist-Rider® wristbands and charge $3 per tab. Your guests can redeem the tabs for a plate of traditional Cajun cuisine or a fun Mardi Gras drink. Use different colored Wrist-Rider® wristbands for food and alcohol, if you are going to price them differently. There are countless ways that wristbands can help you stay organized at any Mardi Gras celebration, so make sure to order wristbands from wristbands.com today to ensure they arrive in time for your Mardi Gras party.

Show your Support for National Blood Donor Month with Wristbands

January is National Blood Donor Month and is the perfect time to start off the new year by giving the gift of life to those in need. Wristbands can be a helpful way to remind yourself and others of the importance of donating blood during the month of January.  Purchase red silicone wristbands and hand them out to friends and family as a reminder to donate blood. Silicone wristbands are trendy for people of all ages, and they can serve as an excellent conversation starter. People will be encouraged to also donate blood after you explain to them why you are wearing a red silicone wristband.

Many people wonder why January is National Blood Donor Month, and wristbands.com has the answer. During the holiday season, many blood donation centers report inventory shortages, mainly due to illness and extended periods of travel. People are so concerned with buying gifts for loved ones,  re-arranging work schedules, and purchasing plane tickets, that many forget our nation’s blood inventory is extremely low during the harsh winter months. No matter what type of blood classification you have, your local donation center can find a useful way to share your blood, platelets, or plasma with another human in need.
Donating blood in a group can be a beneficial outing for family or friends who are curious what their blood type is and want to give back to their community.  At wristbands.com, you can design custom silicone wristbands with blood type classifications imprinted right onto the wristband’s surface. After someone in your group donates blood and discovers what type they have, hand them a red silicone wristband that says, “I donated my A+ blood today,” or “I helped saved a life with my AB- blood today!” Messages like this will definitely draw attention from others, who will be impelled to ask how they too can donate blood and help save lives.  

Some blood types are more rare than others, and donating blood is a great way to learn who you are an ideal donor for. The O- blood classification is the only type pure enough to be used on premature infants. It may be easy to forget your blood type after leaving the donation center, but a red silicone keepsake wristband with your blood type imprinted on it will help you remember your blood type long after you donate. Having a rare blood type can be a blessing in disguise, and you could potentially help save the lives of many premature infants by simply remembering to donate one pint of blood during January. Donating blood will only take about an hour of your time, and just one pint can help to save the lives of three adults! Customize your silicone wristbands to say, “I helped save three lives today by donating blood.”
Churches, high schools, and various organizations can purchase bulk quantities of pre-printed custom red silicone wristbands or for a more economical approach, buy plain red silicone wristbands. Either way, the red wristband is a symbol for donating blood, which in return, helps save lives that otherwise would be lost due to a traumatic accident or other reasons people loose significant amounts of blood. Encourage individuals in your church, school, or organization, to give their red silicone wristband to the first person who inquires about it. This way, you can promote the message of giving, and it will serve as a constant reminder to the person who receives the wristband to also donate blood.

Since the whole month of January is National Blood Donor month, you can donate platelets a total of four times throughout the month. If you donate a pint of whole blood, you must wait at least eight weeks for it to replenish in your body before you can safely donate again. However, since platelets are just a portion of your blood, those can be donated once a week if desired! Use different colored silicone wristbands, or silicone wristbands with different imprinted messages, to rank the donor and encourage others to also donate blood more often. Choose phrases like, “I donated platelets four times this month,” which is sure to impress others. When people learn how easy it is to donate blood, and that you personally donated four times within just the last month, they too will want to participate and be rewarded with a stylish silicone wristband to wear for doing so.

Some people may be wary of donating blood because they are afraid the needle will hurt or that they will become lightheaded from loosing a pint of blood so quickly. Give them a red silicone wristband to gently remind them why it is important to donate blood, and take a few moments of your time to sit them down and explain to them how the donation process is performed. Donating blood is not painful like some people who have not previously donated may assume. For many individuals, it is considerably less painful than getting a simple shot from your doctor.

Do not forget to donate blood during January, National Blood Donor Month. The best way to spread awareness is by wearing your heart on your sleeve – or in this case – on your wrist. Purchase red silicone wristbands from wristbands.com today and start saving lives. Imagine if you or one of your family members were in trouble and needed donated blood to survive. Glance down at your red silicone reminder wristband, and you may soon find yourself at your local blood donation center to give back to those who need it most.

Video is courtesy of Youtube

Advertise Your Business on Wristbands

Print Company names and slogans on Wristbands

Feeling like your advertising campaign is going nowhere? Maybe you paid a professional advertising company to optimize your web site and create interactive advertisements for you, but your product, service or event just isn’t getting the publicity it needs and deserves. Now, you’re probably looking for a smart, cheap way to boost enthusiasm about your advertising service without having to spend much more time and money on it.

Well, here’s the good news: even though everyone’s on the internet now, customers are still people. People respond better to some things than to other things – most importantly, they respond to personalized, tangible advertising. They might surf the web for hours every day, but that simply doesn’t mean that your customers will respond best to that type of advertising. They still like to go out into the word, interact with co-workers and friends and learn about products that way. 

There’s no better way to advertise than to make your advertisement into something wearable. Custom rubber wristbands are a quick, easy, and wearable advertisement that attracts attention and makes people ask questions. “What does your wristband stand for?” a friend might ask another friend. “Well,” the first friend might say, “there’s this great restaurant a few blocks away from my house…” and voila! Your customer is doing your advertising for you. You’ve now created a fun, wearable advertising campaign that speaks for itself. 

Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty. Rubber wristbands are ideal for advertising campaign for two reasons: fist, they are an easy way for you to engage personally with your customers (and potential customers). Second, they’re the best way to promote brand loyalty and make people who are loyal to your brand advertise it to their friends and family members.

Rubber wristbands make it easy to create a personal moment between you and your customer – think about it; when you sell someone a wristband, you’re giving it to him or her with your hands. You’re not tracking clicks on a website or competing for their attention on YouTube. In that moment, you have the other person’s full attention – you can hand them the wristband and talk honestly about your product. Even better, if you get two or three custom rubber wristband designs, you can engage with the customer by letting him or her choose his favorite design. This works for customers of all ages and helps you to create a personal relationship with them.

Second, your brand name and slogan can be debossed, laser-cut or molded into your wristbands. Imagine: your customer puts on a wristband on his left wrist, where he keeps his athletic watch. Every time he checks the time or uses the stopwatch feature, he’ll see your brand name, logo, slogan and color scheme. More importantly, when someone asks your customer about his wristband, there’s no way he’ll say “Oh, yeah, I got this from this auto insurance company but I forget what it was called.” The name is right there on the wristband! Rubber wristbands are a great way to keep and increase brand loyalty as well as personal customer relationships.

Different Type of Silicone Wristbands – How to Pick the One for your needs

Don’t get overwhelmed by the different choices available for custom rubber wristbands, and don’t let yourself choose one that isn’t perfect for you among all those options! It’s easy to figure out which wristband will serve your purposes most effectively. You can customize your wristband with wristband widths, textures, color schemes and types of text/logo incorporation.

First thing’s first: there are TWO thicknesses for silicone wristbands. The standard thickness, a little under half an inch, is the one that LiveStrong uses. These wristbands can go everywhere and anywhere with you and they can be more subtle and discreet if you’d like them to be. 1-inch silicone wristbands are also available. These are larger and make more of a statement – you might have seen 1-inch wristbands in the ‘I ❤ Boobies’ breast cancer awareness campaign. No matter which thickness you prefer, we offer many options for how to display your logo or design.

We have FOUR options for the background color scheme of your silicone wristbands. The background for your custom silicone wristband can be solid color, 3 stripes, half-and-half, marbleized, or tri-color. All these options offer you the chance to make your wristband unique and easy to recognize, even from a distance. Some bands even come with textures, like ‘golf’ or ‘tire.’ There are so many options to make your custom wristbands stand out – don’t settle for less-than-perfect.

Finally, we offer FIVE options for the actual message printed on your wristband.  Debossed wristbands feature recessed text, pressed in to the rubber of the wristband. The LiveStrong wristbands are debossed. We also offer ink-injected silicone wristbands – these resemble debossed wristbands, but they also have a contrasting color injected into the text to make it stand out. Another option for contrasting text: color-coat wristbands. These silicone wristbands actually consist of two layers, so the color on the inside of the wristband matched the text and contrasts with the color of the outside of the wristband. 

You also have the option of embossed wristbands. Unlike debossed text, embossed text stands out in relief above the rest of the wristband instead of being pressed into the band. Embossed text is a subtle touch of originality and a good way to stand out.

Finally, we offer screen printed wristbands. Screen printing allows us a high level of precision even on the narrow surface of the wristband. Unlike the other wristbands, screen printed silicone wristbands allow us to display a logo with details and fine lines, and create narrower, smaller text. 

Regardless of the type of printing you choose for your message, you can order half-inch or one-inch wristbands. We offer all the methods for both sizes and you can choose any combination of custom wristband size, color, and text.  You can get creative with different types of wristbands as well – why not get some half-inch and some one-inch custom wristbands with the same logo and color scheme? Make your company, product or event stand out by selecting the perfect choice from our wide array of options for silicone wristband customization.

Creative Ways to Get Sponsorship

There is a lot of advertising racket out in the world for people to take in these days. It can get overwhelming. There are times people might feel bombarded with messaging—the ride to and from work, the grocery store, the gym, the internet. It can jump out anytime and anywhere.

All this noise makes it difficult to stand out and get noticed. It can be challenging to spread the word, and even more challenging to invite sponsors to advertise in support of a cause, organization or event. That’s where wristbands with a message come in. Wristbands with a message provide creative ways to get sponsorship. An economical marketing tool, wristbands with a message are a fun and unobtrusive means for reaching a highly targeted audience.

If you are hosting an event in which you are seeking sponsorships to raise funds, you can sell advertising space on wristbands. There are a multitude of creative ways for sponsors to increase branding and build both awareness and customer loyalty. The first is imprinting wristbands with a message. You can include a logo or a tagline or both!

People tend to wear their wristbands for a few days after the close of an event—especially if it is comfortable and includes a cool message and design. Guests become walking, talking mini billboards. Everywhere they go, their wristband with a message is a conversation starter. If your sponsor wants to increase website traffic, you might suggest that they imprint the company website address on the wristband along with a message.

If sponsors really want to engage their target audience, the ability to imprint quick response (QR) codes might be enticing. QR codes are two-dimensional barcodes. When people use their Smart phone to snap a photo of a QR code, they are led to a wide variety of places—places that provide information, offers, or freebies for on-the-go access. Usually these offers are exclusive. Here are some examples of what your sponsor might consider offering with the help of a QR code imprinted on wristbands with a message:

·         Invitation to opt in to a newsletter to get exclusive discounts

·         Invitation to purchase a raffle ticket to win prizes

·         Link to download a playlist

Whether your sponsor chooses to imprint their website address or a QR code onto wristbands with a message, they have a prime opportunity to boost social media activity. You could work with the sponsor and hold a contest. Encourage people to “like” the sponsor’s Facebook or invite guests to follow the sponsor on Twitter. Everyone who acts on the invitation to do so during the event gets a 10% off purchase coupon. Additionally, each person is entered into a drawing. Every hour during the event a name is drawn. The winner receives an awesome prize.

Sponsors can also imprint coupons directly onto wristbands with a message. This is another great strategy that motivates people to take action. Maybe the sponsor is opening a new store. The street address could be imprinted along with “show us your wristband, get 20% off any purchase.” The store will get a lot of traffic and sales will spike. Guests may even “check in” via Facebook and share how awesome the store and the products are. Word of mouth can spread as rapidly as fire. Guests’ friends will come check out the store; friends of those friends will stop by; and so on and so on

Wristbands with a message provide sponsors with a world of possibilities to promote their organization, as well as their services or products. Imprinting a logo, design, tagline, QR codes and/or website URLs onto wristbands with a message can trigger some interesting conversations that will likely lead to a live testimonial. There is nothing better than a recommendation from someone people trust.

Not only do wristbands with a message encourage word-of-mouth advertising, which is the most effective form of advertising, but also, the cost of these wristbands is minimal. When you get sponsors to purchase advertising space and promote their message on wristbands, you will not only cover the minimal expense, but will likely make a profit. You can also encourage sponsors to team up with other business for co-sponsorship. That will save them money, yet benefit all three organizations! There really is no way to lose with wristbands with a message. This effective marketing tool is fun and effective!

Religious wristbands Spread To Police Dress Code

KwaZulu-Natal police are awaiting feedback from the national office about their call to amend the police dress code policy to allow the wearing of religious wristbands. 

KZN police spokesman Colonel Jay Naicker, said the police dress code did not allow anything on the wrist except a watch, but said the matter was now with the national police office for consideration of whether the dress code needs to be amended. 

Religious Wristband

“We are a national department, and therefore only the national office can amend the dress code to accommodate the wearing of red strings and skins while in uniform. We are currently awaiting feedback from legal services at the national office,” he said. 

Twenty-three police officers had lodged grievances against a Pinetown station commander Brigadier Owen Zama, after they were told to remove the red strings worn as a religious symbols of blessing and protection.

The police officers, who are union members, alleged Zama told Hindu officers to remove the strings last month because wearing them was in violation of the police dress code. 

The SA Policing Union’s regional chairman and a victim of the order, Lieutenant Yoga Gounden, yesterday said wearing strings or other religious wristbands was correct. 

“This is our right and we should not be instructed to remove them. Members do not want any interference when it comes to religion. As a short-term solution the department (police) should respect our rights by allowing us to wear these strings. But as a long-term solution, the union wants the policy to be amended because this affects many people,” he said. 

Gounden said the officers should be allowed to wear their strings until the national department provided clarity on the matter. 

Reacting to the news, George Mari, a member of the provincial legislature, urged KZN Transport, Community Safety and Liaison MEC Willies Mchunu to intervene, saying it was a “potentially explosive situation”. 

“This internal battle cannot be permitted to spill over and disrupt services to the Pinetown community. The safety of residents must remain the station’s top priority. It is essential that the MEC intervene and conduct his own fact-finding mission so that the matter is resolved,” he said. 

Kwenza Nxele, Police and Prison’s Civil Rights Union provincial secretary, said the police dress code policy did not allow religious strings and animal skins around the wrist. 

In an interview with Daily News’s sister newspaper Isolezwe last month, Zama said he was not making the rules, but only following what was in the police dress code policy. 

KZN Transport, Community Safety and Liaison Department spokesman Kwanele Ncalane said the MEC would consult with police management to seek clarity on how the matter was being addressed.

He said the department had noted complaints lodged by unhappy members on the issue. 

Source: – Iol Daily News

Organizing Fun Raffles and Door Prizes with Wristbands

Raffles and door prizes always add a bit of excitement to any event, whether it’s a charity fundraiser, company holiday party, fair or carnival, anniversary celebration at bar or restaurant, or special promotion for a business, like a car dealership. Prizes serve as great incentive for people to attend an event. Who doesn’t love to hear their name called and win a great prize?

Tabbed wristbands are an economical way to keep raffle and door prize drawings organized. They also prevent the people who enter from losing their tickets. There are no tickets to lose. When someone purchases a raffle entry or enters a door prize drawing, they are given a tabbed wristband. The tear-off tab has a number imprinted on it that matches the number imprinted on the wristband itself. The numbered tab is removed and entered into the drawing, while the tabbed wristband is securely fastened around the wrist.

Whether the event lasts an evening, like a charity fundraiser, or all day, like a local fair, people can just glance at their wrist when a winning number is called. There’s no digging through pockets, wallets and purses. No lost tickets.  No missing out on fabulous prizes.

Tabbed wristbands also come in multi-tab designs. This is beneficial when people want to purchase more than just one raffle ticket. Why not increase the odds of winning a prize, right? For each raffle ticket they purchase, a numbered tab is removed from their tabbed wristband and then placed into the drawing. All the matching numbers are imprinted on their tabbed wristband. You can get up to five tabs on a tabbed wristband. If someone wants to purchase more than five raffle tickets, they just get another tabbed wristband. Easy!

Tabbed wristbands come in a wide variety of vibrant, solid colors. To add more fun and flair, custom imprint logos, coupons, or quick response (QR) codes onto tabbed wristbands. Doing so enables you to further promote the brand or cause. You will make a strong impact with guests and participants by reinforcing your branding message.

Custom imprinting on tabbed wristbands is an effective way to get raffle participants and guests who are eligible for door prizes to take action. Imprint the charity or company logo, along with a QR code that, when scanned with their Android or iPhone, takes people to the appropriate Facebook page where they can “like” the brand. When the number on their tabbed wristband is called as the winner, they can post what they won, who gave it to them, where they’re at, how much fun they’re having and how great the company is or what an incredible cause it is.

Another way to put tabbed wristbands to work for you is by selling advertising space to sponsors. This strategy may help cover the cost of the tabbed wristbands. In fact, you might even make a profit. Or, maybe you want to do an exchange. If a sponsor donates a prize worth X amount of dollars to the raffle or door prize drawing they get to advertise on the tabbed wristbands.

Sponsors can have their logo and a coupon or promotion imprinted on the tabbed wristbands. It could be something as simple as, “Come to our store, show us your wristband, get 20% off any purchase!” or “Show us this wristband, buy one item full price, get $20 off 2^nd item.” Sponsors can also take advantage of QR codes with an invitation to follow them on Twitter or like them on Facebook to get exclusive discounts.

Any way you cut it, custom imprinting on tabbed wristbands is strategic branding. It’s like a walking, talking mini billboard. When people have a great time at an event, they are likely to hold onto the memory for a while. When that happens, as it often does, the tabbed wristband will stay on the guest’s wrist for a while. Especially, if it looks cool with a great logo or useful coupon. Winning a prize would be an added bonus!

The fun colors of tabbed wristbands with custom imprinting will catch the eyes of family, friends and acquaintances at work, the grocery store, the gym, the hair salon, the mall and more. Curiosity will be struck. Questions will be asked. Whether they won a prize at the event or not, guests will provide a positive testimonial of your brand and sponsors. Word-of-mouth advertising is powerful.