SINCE SIGNING CONTRACTS with two new suppliers—ProEvent Event Solutions on July 29 and Squirt Clothing Design Studios (SCDS) Textile Tradings on July 12—the Student Council (SC) has “twice received faulty items” from SCDS.
SCDS and ProEvent Event Solutions were chosen upon careful inspection and negotiations in their merchandise and audio-visual capacities by the SC alongside the Office of the Prefect of Student Activities (OPSA).
Additionally, before coming in an agreement with OPSA on the College of Arts and Sciences’ (CAS) official suppliers, potential suppliers went through a bidding process last July 2 and July 18 for merchandise supplier and audio-visual supplier, respectively.
“In-invite namin sila dito sa school para may bid sila individually of their companies and then syempre nakipag-negotiate din kami on the spot whether parang, sinong may mga lowest prices, sinong may pinakamalaking discount na mambibigay samin all throughout the academic year,” SC Vice President for External Affairs, Chriselle Marie Tamares narrated.
She added that “so far, nakakailang order rin kami from Freshman Welcoming Day to Pep Rally, and now sa Teacher’s Day. [Pero] medyo nagkakaroon ng din talaga ng ibang mga defects or mga errors [sa merchandise].”
It was during the Freshman Welcoming Day (FWD) last July 31 that the SC received their first batch of defected merchandise of tumblers and notebooks which, upon careful inspection, “medyo natatanggal ‘yung mismong print dun sa [tumblers], so dun palang parang napansin namin na [may error] … and pati pala sa notebooks during…Freshman Welcoming Day. Bale, parang hindi pantay ‘yung pagkaprint mismo dun sa… sa tumbler and notebook, tapos hindi rin buo ‘yung print,” explained Tamares.
Fastforward, a day before the Pep Rally last August 16, the SC returned their second package of products back to SCDS. This time was a batch of over 20 blank pieces of caps meant for the student-athletes.
“Blanko lang ‘yung mismong cap which is dapat may print talaga siya. So binigay namin siya or parang ni-return namin siya… mismong same day ng before the Pep Rally na nag-memerch packing kami,” she recalled. Hence, as a result of the delay, distribution was re-scheduled to the very day of the Pep Rally.
In hindsight, however, Tamares said, “Sakto lang din naman, pero sana nabawasan ‘yung stress namin nung mismong day ng Pep Rally if nabigay na namin ‘yung merch the day before pa lang para at least… morning ng August 16, wala kaming pinoproblema, only ‘yung mismong event proper.”
Meanwhile, ProEvent Event Solutions was “so far, so good,” according to Tamares. Just like with SCDS, their first partnership with the SC happened during FWD. The company was “flexible in accommodating” the SC’s adjustments during the program.
Furthermore, Tamares added that “anlaki ng discount na nabibigay [ng ProEvent Event Solutions]” and that San Beda University (SBU) have also opted to contact the company for its recent institutional activity, the University’s First Anniversary as a Laudato Si’ institution.
So far, the SC has purchased T-shirts, tote bags, tumblers, stickers, notebooks, caps, small, customized orders, and umbrellas from SCDS.
On the other hand, ProEvent Event Solutions were tapped for FWD, Pep Rally, and SBU’s Laudao Si’ celebration.