Category: Alcohol Awareness

Make the Most of the Halloween Season at Your Establishment with Safe and Profitable Themed Events

Published on by TAM of NevadaLeave a comment

Halloween_CocktailFall has officially arrived and with it comes the opportunity for celebrations and events to increase sales, and to engage and entertain your guests. Halloween is always a popular celebratory event for restaurants and clubs, because it offers the opportunity for themed promotions and menu items, contests and special events, and more. This year, take the opportunity to experiment with Halloween-themed offerings at your establishment, and apply any lessons learned to other holiday-themed celebrations in the future (Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and more). Successful events will have your guests waiting with anticipation for your next celebration.

Here are some ideas on how to make the most of the Halloween season, and get more patrons into the door.

The party never stops in Las Vegas, but make sure your customers are served safely and responsibly. In 2012, almost half (48%) of all motor vehicle traffic fatalities on Halloween night (6 p.m. October 31 to 5:59 a.m. November 1) involved a drunk driver. In 2012 alone, 26 people were killed in drunk-driving crashes on Halloween night (NHTSA). The City of Henderson reports that Henderson Police officers will be joining forces with officers from neighboring jurisdictions to step up enforcement from Sunday, October 19 through Monday, November 3 looking for impaired drivers. Remember:

  • If any of your costumed-patrons are wearing masks, they’ll need to take them off when you are checking I.D. Also make sure that you are not over-serving your guests when you are featuring special drinks. TAM® of Nevada will train you and your co-workers to provide a great celebration that will keep your patrons safe and willing to come back and party at your next holiday event.
  • The best treat is a safe and sober ride home after a Halloween party. Keep the number to cab companies at your bar so that you can make the call whenever necessary. Companies like Designated Drivers, Inc. provide a responsible alternative to driving while impaired. A driver will be dispatched to take your patron home in their own vehicle, no worries about retrieving their car after they sober up.

How are you planning to kick-off the festivities this season?

Sources

TAM of Nevada to Participate in Henderson Community Expo

Published on by TAM of NevadaLeave a comment

Did you know that for every $100 spent at locally owned businesses, $45 stays in the local economy and helps create jobs? That is great encouragement to buy locally! TAM® of Nevada has been a part of the Las Vegas community for over 25 years, and is proud to continue offering an important service and superior product to local residents and businesses.

We are always happy to get involved with community events to promote safe beverage service, and we are happy to announce that we’ll be on site at the Henderson Community Expo on October 18th from 1:00pm to 4:30pm. The event promises to be a great opportunity to meet your neighborhood business community. The Henderson Community Expo 2014 will feature exhibits from over 50 local businesses as well as City of Henderson services including health and wellness, fire and crime prevention and public safety.

To learn more about the services we offer, visit our website, or stop by our booth and say “hello” on October 18th. Remember, we also offer special onsite alcohol awareness classes for groups and companies, and we’ll make sure your staff is trained the right way. Also be sure to stay up to date about this and other activities and events TAM® of Nevada will be attending by connecting with us on Facebook.

Event Details:

Henderson Community Expo 2014
October 18, 2014
1:00 PM – 4:30 PM
Location: Galleria at Sunset
Address: 1300 W. Sunset Road, Henderson, NV

Recipe for Success: Choosing the Best Alcohol Awareness Course for Your Employees

Published on by TAM of NevadaLeave a comment

TAM Card classAs a restaurateur or business owner, you choose the highest quality ingredients for your successful recipes; why not apply that same logic to all aspects of your business? TAM® training is driven by the same inspired purpose. Servers and sellers of alcoholic beverages in Southern Nevada must complete an alcohol awareness course. Available courses from local providers differ greatly in quality and quantity. As an owner who is passionate about your business, it’s a safe choice to mandate that your employees complete TAM® brand training. Choosing TAM® of Nevada for your employees’ mandatory alcohol awareness course requirements ensures that they are educated by instructors that have the same passion and standards for safe beverage service that you have for hospitality service and food.

Ensuring that your staff is properly trained on alcohol laws and safe beverage service will also reduce risk and liability for your business. Employees issued citations for serving alcohol to minors can also face up to a $1000 fine. When an individual employee fails a compliance check, the business license department is notified which may mean problems when renewing licenses. Owners or managers of a business that fails compliance checks can also be issued a citation and could face the revocation of their business license. Additionally, establishments which violate statute provisions pertaining to alcohol awareness training are subject to administrative fines ranging from $500 to $5000. It’s not worth the risk. Choosing the most comprehensive alcohol education protects you and your employees, your customers, and your business.

Often imitated, never duplicated, TAM® of Nevada has been the sole provider of official TAM® Cards to the Las Vegas community for over 25 years. There are several providers of credible and effective alcohol awareness training and drink cards, but TAM® of Nevada is the only authorized provider of the official TAM® card. Also, more employers recommend TAM® of Nevada for their employees’ alcohol education than any other provider, and for good reason. Remember, management has a responsibility to demonstrate their desire to be in compliance as opposed to just getting by – and the same goes for their team members.

We can evaluate your staff’s current status to make sure everyone is in compliance and holds a valid alcohol education card. TAM® is also able to offer alcohol awareness training for businesses scheduled on-site at work locations after large hiring sprees or several times throughout the year to meet each individual business’ unique requirements. With this option, you can count on a solution that works for your current employees, and ensures any new hires receive the same great training.

TAM® of Nevada has been providing training for corporate clients since its inception. Please contact us today to learn more or to arrange training for your staff.

Promotions and Marketing: Host a Bar Trivia Night

Published on by TAM of Nevada2 Comments

bar trivia nightFall is right around the corner, and with it comes the opportunity for festive celebrations and a string of holiday events likely to increase sales, and entertain your guests. Aside from once-a-year events like holiday celebrations, a great way to increase sales and build a following among regulars, who will come back again and again, is to host a trivia or game night event – any time of the year!

Hosting a trivia night, also called a pub trivia night or quiz night at many establishments, is a great way to draw a crowd into your establishment. These events work especially well on slower nights as a way to get people coming back week after week. Patrons are able to enjoy a team-based event, a chance to hang out with friends, show off their knowledge of random facts, and enjoy food and beverage with others in a festive atmosphere. Thinking about hosting a trivia night at your bar? Here are some first steps you can complete to run a successful event:

Determine the best date to host your event. Choose one that you can make a standing date. For example, if your patrons know that every Wednesday is trivia night, there’s no question about the best time to stop in for dinner and drinks! A great strategy is to choose a slower night where increased sales would be a bonus. A busy Friday or Saturday night may not be the best time to add a trivia game to the regular mix, but a slower weekday night might be perfect.

Determine who will be the M.C. Do you have a particularly outgoing or charismatic team member on your staff? They might be perfect for the job to act as “master of ceremonies” for the event.

Determine where you will find your contestants. You’ll need to spread the word among regulars and new guests alike for the best chance at getting an active group to participate. For the biggest buzz, try a multi-pronged approach to advertising your event. As with any other promotional event, make sure to share all of the pertinent details about your event on your establishment’s social media channels. Also make sure you advertise on-site before the event with menu inserts, table tents or other promotional tools. Use word-of-mouth marketing with your regular patrons and staff. You can even ask your staff to help build momentum for your first event by spreading the word among their friends.

Determine what format and theme you should use. Having a theme, where all the questions are based on a specific topic, will help to keep things simple. You can change up the theme once in a while, or if it’s successful, have a recurring theme night each month. Need some inspiration? Sports-themed, movie-themed, and 80’s-themed trivia are always popular with a crowd. Want to cross promote themed-beverages at your bar? Try a cocktail-based trivia night! Refer to our blog post, “Cheers! Tracing the History of Classic Cocktails,” or the article, “Of Rum and Rumor,” from Nightclub & Bar for inspiration and fun facts.

Create a bank of trivia questions. If you’re looking for great questions to use, you can purchase a general trivia question book from a retailer like Amazon.com, or just do the research and create questions on your own. Make sure questions are intriguing enough to keep the mood fun and competitive, but not so difficult as to make it impossible to for anyone other than a complete whiz to answer correctly.

Set the ground rules. Keep it light and fun, but make sure to set the rules before the start of the event, and make sure participants are clear on what will and won’t be accepted. For example, make it clear if there will be time limits, who will act as judge or tiebreaker, and make sure that participants know they shouldn’t be looking up answers on their phones!

Award a prize. Everyone loves to win something! Distributing a prize will keep patrons coming back again and again. It can be something as simple as free appetizers or gift certificates that can be used toward futures purchases in your establishment, or you can create a trophy or other commemorative item that winners can display for “bragging rights” at your next trivia event.

Most importantly, be creative and have fun! As always, make sure that you are not over serving your guests if you are featuring special drinks or holding a special event, and that the atmosphere can remain light and fun for all of your patrons. TAM® of Nevada will train you and your co-workers to provide a great celebration that will keep your patrons safe and willing to come back and participate at your next event.

Have you hosted a trivia or game night at your establishment?