Got air?

Monday, Feb. 28, 2000 | 9:20 a.m.

What: 16th Annual Festival of Balloons.

When: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday.

Where: Riviera Convention Center.

Cost: $5 general admission; free for children 12 and under.

Information: Call 697-4995.

George Gilardi's father made balloons for festive occasions in San Francisco around the turn of the last century, long before the 1906 earthquake in the city put festivities on hold for a while.

Everyone called him the balloon man.

"You couldn't buy balloons in a store back then like you can now. He made them all by hand. He would fill up ballrooms and auditoriums with thousands of balloons, all hand-made," Gilardi once related in a conversation that took place 30 years ago, just before he retired from his janitorial job with Pacific Telephone in San Francisco.

Over the span of a century, there has been no deflation of the balloon's allure.

In fact, today there is even more fascination with the latex expandable containers of air that have become synonymous with good news and happy times.

"The industry has really grown. It sprouted from nowhere in the past 20 years," said Tim Vlamis, director of brand marketing for the Pioneer Balloon Co. of Wichita, Kan., one of the oldest balloon manufacturers in the country.

For the past 13 years Pioneer has been one of the major sponsors of the annual International Balloon Arts Convention, which begins Wednesday and continues through Sunday at the Riviera hotel-casino's convention center.

The convention is primarily for those who make a living from balloons -- decorators, delivery people and entertainers, those who turn long, flexible balloons into animals and other shapes.

The event is closed to the public until Sunday when, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., there will be a Festival of Balloons. The balloon sculptures, figures, centerpieces and arrangements that were created for the convention will be displayed.

No longer are balloon customers confined to a handful of shapes and colors and sizes -- today almost anything is possible.

Pioneer has been making balloons since 1918. There were no balloon factories in America before 1907. The growth in the balloon industry has been inflated by advances in decorating and delivery businesses.

"It got going in the early '80s," Vlamis, who keeps close tabs on the industry, explained. "Traditionally, balloons had been a toy item associated with happy times -- birthday parties and carnivals. When people started applying that to the professional level, the industry took off."

Entrepreneurs took a page from the floral industry's marketing manual and began expanding their base of customers by targeting professionals and other groups and individuals who had not typically been part of the balloon crowd.

Bouquets of balloons started turning up as a means of celebrating business-related successes, as well as at bar mitzvah, weddings and even funerals. "Growth was because of marketing and because of advancements in decorating techniques," Vlamis said.

"Before (the change), people just inflated a balloon and put it on a string. But techniques were developed for making garlands and arches. That's when the decorating started taking off."

The explosion in the industry was largely ignited by word-of-mouth. People learned that they could make a good living by delivering balloons and decorating rooms for celebrations, and the information quickly spread.

Vlamis said that 20 years ago there were a few dozen businesses around the nation whose primary focus was delivering balloons or using balloons to decorate for special events, not counting carnival operations.

"Today, there are between 15,000 and 20,000 such businesses, just in the U.S.," he said. "We (at Pioneer) manufacture millions of balloons a day -- billions every year."

Glenna Kipp will be one of those conducting classes and workshops at the convention.

She has a one-woman balloon decorating and delivery business that she operates out of her Santa Ana, Calif., residence. The name of her class is "Zen and the Art of Balloon Basics." She's been teaching the starter course in balloon design for several years, each year giving it a new name but retaining the same basic information.

"Last year it was 'Basic Training' and I dressed in army fatigues. This year it's called 'Zen' and I dress in a karate uniform," said Kipp, who gave up a career nine years ago managing a physical therapy facility when she learned she could make a comfortable living at home with balloons.

"My business is seasonal, with the heaviest time during the school year. A lot of what I do is connected to schools," Kipp, who has a degree in music education, said.

Marie Mandoli, owner of the Balloon Lady Co. in San Francisco, produces the balloon convention. "We'll have more than 1,000 people from all over the country and the world in attendance. It will be the biggest we've ever had in Vegas," she said.

Mandoli has owned her business, which employs 14 people, for 27 years. "I'm the oldest full-service balloon company in the country, if not the world," she said.

Mandoli used to follow the Rolling Stones, decorating the auditoriums for the group's concerts. "For three to four months at a stretch there would be a new show every day. I'd go through 10,000 to 20,000 balloons a day," she said. "I cut my teeth doing large rock 'n' roll shows."

She said that when she started her company, balloons were mostly for kids. "Today, our business is 90 percent adult," she said. "We still deliver for kids, but the bulk of our money comes from corporate events."

Corporate events, social events, concerts -- balloons are everywhere today, not just on a shelf in a drug store or on a stick at the carnival.

Mandoli said that balloons are popular because they attract the child that lives inside every adult, conjuring up fond memories.

"When people grow up they don't believe in Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny anymore, but balloons stay in that netherworld between fact and fantasy," she said. "It is something that never gets touched as you get older."