By Jamie L. Swedberg
 

Most tent renters are extremely comfortable with pencil sketches, checklists, and schematics. From such skeletal information they can construct --- both mentally and physically --- a wondrous array of tent, chairs, tables, ceiling liners, and dance floors for their clients' special events. And they can do it in such a way that there's enough room to do the Macarena without anyone tripping over a rope.

Unfortunately, not everyone can think in 3D. Young brides-to-be and leaders of charitable organizations often find it extremely hard to understand why their guests won't fit into a 40-by-40 tent. And sometimes installers have trouble looking at a schematic and figuring out exactly how the tent fits around that big oak tree.

Maybe that's why more and more tent renters are using CAD (computer-aided design) programs to plot out site installations. And depending upon their philosophies and needs they're using the software in a myriad of ways. Some use it to plan and communicate the placement of their temporary structures after they've completed a site survey; others have found that the three-dimensional renderings offered by some CAD programs are a useful selling tool.

Mouse in the house 

There are a wide variety of CAD programs on the market, but most aren't ideal for tent-rental firms. Many are geared toward engineers and architects, and only a very few include ready-made representations of such objects as tents and tables.

"[CAD renderings] allow you to communicate better what you're doing and what you're providing for a client. ... That way they can't argue it after the fact."

John Clingen, partner at Advanced Tent Rental Ltd., Concord, Ont. Canada, says his firm uses two brands of software; the complex, multi-purpose package AutoCAD, and PartyCAD, a simpler package designed specifically for use in the special-events industry. His employees choose AutoCAD for the times when clients send site plans and tenders in CAD format. AutoCAD is complex enough, he says, to successfully import large files so his firm can make amendments and add its structures to the drawings. And it's compatible --- it tends to be the program that the big-time customers use most.

For more basic renderings, and for internal documents, Advanced Tent Rental uses PartyCAD. "It's the most user-friendly for presentation to the client," he says. "All of our sales staff have it on their desktop, and they use it all the time."

PartyCAD is a package designed by Hank Hufnagel, founder of Hufnagel Software, Clarion, Pa. It's the Windows version of an older DOS package called Roomer, which was geared more toward interior designers. When Hufnagel converted the software to the newer format, he changed the focus to exclusively serve party planners. The version released in 1996 was called PartyCAD 2000, but the update released this January is titled PartyCAD ME (Millennium Edition).

The most obvious difference between AutoCAD and PartyCAD is that the latter is specialized. "It knows you're designing a party, whereas a general-purpose CAD program just knows you're designing something," Hufnagel explains. "PartyCAD knows you're going to need a tent, so there's a tent wizard that'll generate that for you. It knows you're going to want standard sets of tables and chairs, so they're there for you to plunk in. You don't have to build your own icons."

Another big difference: Hufnagel has added a virtual reality component to his software, making it possible for tent renters to "fly" their clients through a three-dimensional representation of their party. According to many planners, the feature helps clients visualize what they'll be getting for their money. And there's not doubt that it's emotionally appealing. "It can play Canon in D in the background as you do this, if you like," Hufnagel says, chuckling. "I get carried away sometimes."

PartyCAD also provides a "report" function that works in tandem with Tentmaker software, developed by Codesmiths Inc., Urbana, Ill. Tentmaker provides sales, warehouse, and accounting information based on the installation choices made in PartyCAD.

When it comes to speed, specificity, ease of use, PartyCAD has non-tent-industry CAD programs whipped. But there's a flip side to the issue. According to John Clarke, co-owner of Ace Party Rental, Flushing, N.Y., PartyCAD lacks the layering feature of more complex programs such as AutoCAD. Layering allows users to map out several different levels of detail in a drawing, and to hide and reveal the levels at will.

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(a sample of PartyCAD output appears in the article at this point,

with the caption below. To see a similar sample, click here).

A sample page created with Hufnagel Software's PartyCAD ME. The software provides a selection of over 1,500 pieces of 3D furniture ranging from Chiavari chairs to casino and catering equipment. Users can evaluate their designs in nine different 3D views and generate descriptive price reports.

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For instance, a tent renter might draw in the plumbing and electrical wiring beneath a dance floor for in-shop use, but temporarily obscure these features for simplicity's sake when presenting the drawings to a client. Instead of using both programs to address this need, as Clingen's firm does, Ace Party Rental sticks to PartyCAD and draws its lighting, heating, electrical and plumbing schematics by hand.

"We tend to do those manually still," he says. "But PartyCAD is a great program for sales, and it's very simple for that purpose." Clarke point out that some tent manufacturers have gotten in to the CAD game. So far, though, he's not fully satisfied with the results. "Anchor Industries is coming out with a package now, and Academy has software [ATC Plan Pro], but it's for their own clients." he says. "You might be using a wide variety of different brands. I might need to be able to put a Genesis tent in the picture, and I don't want to spend the time to build it (the icon) myself."

Show and tell 

With its speed and client-friendliness, PartyCAD is at home in the showroom, and Clingen is a great proponent of its use. "We started using it so clients could get a view of what the overall function is going to look like," he says. "On smaller tents, for example, they know that a 30-by-30 tent is going to fit in their back yard, but they have no clue as to what they're going to fit into it. Whereas once you do a layout for them, showing tables and chairs and that type of thing, it make that real simple."

Clingen says his salespeople sit clients down, construct custom CAD renderings, and show 3-D view, all in the course of making a sale. Along the way, clients can make suggestions and gain an understanding of the possibilities. " It allows you to communicate better what you're doing and what you're providing for a client, so that when it gets to the time of the event, there are no areas that are gray," Clingen says. "It means they understand up-front what's happening, what you're presenting to them, and what you're doing for them. That way, they can't argue it after the fact."

Clarke has a slightly different view of the process. "The last thing we want to do is sit somebody down with a laptop and show them the options," he opines. "They'll drive you crazy. Do this, do that, do this, do that. You can't stop them." Instead, he suggests using the CAD program to lay out two or three options, then showing the recommendations to the client. "It keeps them focused on the important things, and it helps you control the sales environment," he says.

Those CAD drawings have a wonderful side-effect, too: They help up-sell the size of the temporary Structures. "We'll say, 'Look, you have a row of tables here. Where are you going to stand? Where are you going to walk?'" Clarke says. "It helps them understand why we're recommending that they go to a bigger size."

A couple of warnings: First, Clarke advises against making too detailed a layout if your firm works with outside caterers and party planners." If I'm not the only potential vendor and I'm trying to show off a little bit, I'll do a full presentation," he says. "But if the person has come to me from a caterer or a party planner, I generally won't. The party planner has already sold the event to the person, and I have to be careful that I don't step on their toes and tell them how to do their job. I'd be causing trouble for the person who sent them to me."

Second, it's not necessary to do a full layout for every potential client. There just aren't that many options for the layout of a 30-by-30 tent, Clarke says, and even though the rendering aren't time-consuming to make, they can be superfluous for a small job. He recommends keeping a few templates or previously-constructed CAD renderings on hand to show clients the options.

Behind the scenes 

Clingen is quick to add that CAD programs have multiple uses beyond the showroom. For starters, his shop produces site surveys and responds to CAD-formatted proposals with computer drawings. CAD also assists in permitting, he says. "We have to do permits for almost every large installation we do, and we have to include a site plan showing the layout of the given property," he says. "If the proposal's already done that way, then it saves you having to draw it in by hand."

Ace Party Rental also uses its renderings for in-house schematics and loading sheets. "It's kind of like a tear sheet for internal use," Clarke says. It would show exactly the quantity of ropes and stake bars. And then when it comes time to review a job with the crew chief who's installing it, we print them out on the laser printer." He says the renderings, plus digital photos of the site, are used to point out special challenges and potential problems in the installation.

Even when computerized drawings are produced primarily to sell the job, they can be extremely useful after the sale. Clingen files away simplified versions of old job renderings for use as templates. And according to Hufnagel, CAD schematics and 3-D drawings can be used as a kind of contract. "A lot of my clients make people sign the piece of paper," he says. "It means this is what your party's going to look like. It's not going to be different than this. Sign here and agree to that." It's hard documentation in an understandable form, he says, that provides and agreed-upon point of view as to what you're going to do for your client.

Gearing up 

While some tent renters find full-scale CAD programs a bit daunting --- the system requirements tend to be moderately high, and the programs often assume a fairly high level of computer and drafting ability --- a simple package such as PartyCAD isn't too tricky to add to your shop's arsenal. "You need a lot more experience on CAD to be efficient using AutoCAD," says Clingen. "But for the most party, anyone who's familiar with Windows can pick up PartyCAD reasonably quickly. You just sit down and follow the directions, which are pretty good."

Hufnagel says he's tried to facilitate quick learning. The software package for the ME edition includes three hours of video training on the CD. There's also a 30-page manual with a tutorial. "There's some basics, then it tells you how to do a pipe and drape job and how to make your own furniture, things like that," he says.

The user's computer, besides being a Windows machine with a CD-ROM drive, needn't be anything special. Hufnagel recommends a 200 mHz processor with at least a 50 MB hard drive and 16 MB of free memory. He offers the following rule of thumb: If the machine runs Windows well, it'll run PartyCAD will. If it's creaky when it runs Windows, PartyCAD will be sluggish, too.

Hufnagel stresses the software's ease of use. "Even if it was somebody's first computer, I believe they would survive," he says. "But if you know which end of a mouse is up, you should be fine." The only real task, then, is figuring out how a CAD program might help your tent rental operation. If computer renderings fit your shop's needs, it may be time to take that mouse in hand.
 

Jamie Swedberg is a Nashville, Tenn.-based free-lance writer,

and a former editor of IFAI's Marine Fabricator.

To see the CAD Resources that accompanied the article, click here