BUSINESS: You Name It Events can do it all

You Name It Events prides itself on doing it all

Need a petting zoo for a birthday party? No problem. Need a face painter or a dunk tank? No problem.

Whatever is needed for an event, You Name It Events says it can pretty much come up with it. Heck, it found three midgets who agreed to sky dive in the nude.

What started as one man who performed magic tricks while dressed as a clown turned into a business that bills more than $1 million a year. You Name It Events is Richard Ballen's company, and it is regularly booked for corporate events for Cox Communications, Park Place Entertainment, Interstate Bank, GC Wallace and a slew of others.

The road to success dates back to when Ballen was 13. A friend gave him a beginner's magic kit. He and another boy interested in magic would try to best each other with new tricks. Ballen used his paper route money to buy new tricks from the Circus Circus magic shop, a place he would manage by age 16.

He and his friend Steve became the Ballen Brothers and appeared at birthday parties, retirement homes and preschools. On showcase nights, they'd perform at the Sahara. One of those Casbar Lounge dates got them discovered and they began working various downtown hotels and opening for rock groups. Eventually, Steve quit the act.

Soon after graduating from Chaparral High School, Ballen was named 1979's "Young Magician of the Year." He performed with Paul Anka's Jubilation, at the Fremont, Hilton, Aladdin, Frontier and on cruise ships. On his days off, he worked private parties and soon was the go-between when people needed a juggler, a fire eater, a caricature artist, a belly dancer. Whatever anyone needed, he knew how to get it.

It was while working as a clown at one party that he overheard the hostess bemoan her choice of caterers.

"Here I am in a clown suit with bunny ears on and I turn to her and say, 'You know, I do food,' " Ballen said.

He really didn't "do" food but he had a friend with a small bakery and soon Ballen was in the catering business. His first job was a corporate event with 500 attendees.

Part of the secret to Ballen's success is that he reinvested almost every dollar from his early contracts back into the business. His rule is to never pay top dollar for anything.

When a catering company would fold, he'd be the first one there to buy up the equipment. When an entertainment business shut down, he'd purchase the props.

That's how he came to have a fully outfitted catering kitchen, enough chairs for 2,000 people, disc jockey equipment, a Velcro wall, eight bounce houses and a giant slide that rises 34 feet. What once cost $50,000 new, he picked up for $5,000.

One of his latest acquisitions is a micro reality race car set. Its track measures 20-feet by 40-feet and "is a blast to play." The original owner paid $30,000. Ballen bought it for $2,000 -- the amount it rents for per day.

Ballen's acquisitions easily fill his three warehouses, totalling about 10,000 square feet. A portion of one is the operation's base. Besides offices, it includes a 1,500-square-foot kitchen where he showcases recipes for new clients to sample.

The company catered production crews in town to film the action flick "ConAir," a Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen movie and various music videos.

Ballen credits his wife, Lori, who he met in 1991, with successfully marketing the business. It was her idea, for example, to offer companies special rates on "Spirit Day" parties after the terrorist attacks threw the business into a free-fall.

Now back on its feet, the upcoming holiday season will see about 15 bookings each day. His goal is to cater a party for 100,000 people.

"It's just more tables, more staff," he said. "I love doing the big events."


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