Aloha to North Shore Community College on December 10 & 11

Maui Wowi was back in action at what we do best: Serving Smoothies, Coffees, and Espressos to people at events and taking the already well-planned party to the next level!! On December 10th and 12th we found ourselves serving smoothies from our Tiki Hut to the students and faculty at North Shore Community College at both their Danvers and Lynn campuses during their Winter Carnival! We had a lot of fun and so did the students. North Shore CC told us it was the most succesful event they had ever had! Many students came back several times to try our different flavors of smoothies and get a Hawaiian Lei on their way to class. Mahalo to all who came by to enjoy a smoothie. Hopefully we'll see you again in the spring!

Maui Wowi Brings The Islands to a Bat Mitzvah!

What Bat Mitzvah would be complete without a Hawaiian Islands Theme? My thoughts exactly! Maui Wowi served up smoothies at the Charter Oak Country Club this past weekend at a Bat Mitzvah! No stranger to catering our smoothies at Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, we fit right in and added that special something to this already special event. They wanted an Island Theme, and we showed up with our Tiki Hut, Hawaiian Shirted Servers, Palm Trees, Leis, and of course, our Hawaiian tropical smoothies! The guest of honor chose Strawberry-Banana and Pina Colada for her choices of flavors for the evening. As usual, the guest of honor gets our Maui Wowi special Tiki Cup to drink from and keep as a gift from us and a souvenier to remember the night. It was a beautiful evening overall, and very well planned. Maui Wowi was honored to have been a part of it!

Speaking of Amazing People from NACA...

In my previous post, I mentioned meeting some amazing people and seeing some top-notch performers. At the top of that list, were the people who's booth was right next to mine. Atypical Entertainment. When I first arrived at the conference I introduced myself to them, and spoke with them as I would any other group of people whom I would be "booth buddies" with for a few days. Little did I know I was in the presence of world-reknowned performers!

Jason Tardy, and his brother Matthew are jugglers. But not just your normal jugglers. They are high energy jugglers. Their show has been described as X-Games meets Juggling. It also looks a little like Blue Man Group in a way, but even better! The name of their show is Two High Energy Juggling. If you're a college, looking for something new and exciting, you have to check these guys out. They just got back from their 3rd show at the White House and have been on Inside Edition and Fox News, and perfomed at Atlantis Resort for Natalie Merchant!

Jason started Atypical Entertainment and now represents not only himself and Matthew, but several other artists, including Eepy Bird! Have you ever seen the Diet Coke and Mentos Experiment on YouTube? I'm sure you have and these are the guys that started it! They were also in the booth next to me and I was shocked when I realized who they were! They have been on Letterman, Ellen, The Today Show, and Mythbusters. They've also performed at Caesar's Palace (site of my wedding last year), Paris, and Madrid! Like Maui Wowi, they can be the event, or be part of an existing event, so check them out!!

Maui Wowi Serves Up Smoothies at the NACA Northeast Regional Conference

From November 6-8, Maui Wowi served up smoothie samples to attendees of the the National Association of Campus Activities, aka NACA, in Hartford, CT. Campus Activites Planners from various colleges and universities from all over New England and some parts of New York were in attendance. It was a great way for Maui Wowi to connect with one of it's core customers: Colleges! We set up the portable Tiki Hut, served sample sizes of of our smoothies and spread the Aloha Spirit throughout the Connecticut Convention Center. Even I was surprised at how well we were received. At most times, there was a line of students waiting to try a sample and receive a Hawaiian Lei. Many students recognized us from events we've done at their colleges, but for those who weren't yet familiar, I was excited for them to actually see Maui Wowi in action, Tiki Hut and all, and actually taste our delicious smoothies. Virtually everyone commented on what a unique concept Maui Wowi is as well as how delicious the Black Raspberry, Pina Colada and Mango Orange samples they tasted were.

While there, I met some amazing people and saw some amazing performers. There were comedians, rock bands, hip-hop artists, and all kinds of cool "Toys" for students to bring on campus and entertain their fellow student body with at events. What people seemed to most like about Maui Wowi, was that we can either be a part of an event, or be the event itself. I also heard comments about how flexible we are and customizable for each colleges' specific event needs. From drink combinations to equipment. I also spoke with a few students about having Maui Wowi at their Orientation Programs for incoming freshman. Maui Wowi can be a great ice-breaker for those scared little Frosh who don't know anyone yet. While they are waiting in line for a delicious smoothie, they get to talking and begin making their first friends in college that will hopefully last a lifetime. Now, that's the Aloha Spirit!

Maui Wowi Winter Wonderland

When you think Maui Wowi, you think Smoothies. We call it "Vacation In A Cup". One sip, and you are immdiately whisked away to a warm place, reminded of a vacation you were just on or sitting by a pool in some exotic location. All the more reason to continue drinking Maui Wowi smoothies throughout the winter too. In fact, the winter could be the BEST time to have Maui Wowi at your next event, because you have the best of both worlds: A delicious smoothie that reminds you of Summer when it's cold out, and warm, authentic Kona Coffee and Ghiradelli Hot Koko to keep you warm and help you get through the cold winter months. Whatever time of year it is, Maui Wowi is there to serve you!

Maui Wowi Serves up Smoothies, Coffees & Hot Koko at Newburyport Fall Festival

Who said people don't want a nice, refreshing all-natural smoothie in 55 degree weather? Maui Wowi once again found itself in the wonderful city of Newburyport serving our delicious smoothies, coffees and Hot Koko to the crowd there. While the weather in Boston and the rest of Massachusetts was 70 degrees, it was barely 60 and very windy in Newburyport, but that didn't stop people from enjoying Maui Wowi smoothies as they do every time we are there. Many came back for a second time to have a delicious Ghiradelli Hot Koko with whipped cream or a warm cup of our Kona Coffee to stay hot the rest of the day and enjoy the festivities. All along the streets, the lamp-posts were decorated with custom scarecrows which made for a lot of fun as well. Just take a look at the one donated by the Boy Scouts. It's Scout Vadar! Very creative. Once again, Mahalo to the Chamber of Commerce in Newburyport and all who showed up!

Island Blendz, DBA Maui Wowi wins Franchisee Of The Year Award!

I know I mentioned it in a previous Blog, regarding our Nomination, but this blog is regarding the actual awards ceremony The Entrepreneur Source held in Miami, Florida. It was a large, formal affair, with over 500 people in attendance, held on September 15th. Of course, being Maui Wowi, we had to show up in our typical garb, Hawaiian Shirts and linen pants. You might've thought it was a Magnum P.I. re-run. Everyone seemed to embrace the "Aloha Spirit" we brought there and we were also joined by Justin from Maui Wowi Corporate. Naturally, they were pleased to see one of their franchisees win this prestigous award as well. We were honored as their Franchisee of The Year. To say we were flattered to be honored by such a large, succesful organization that watches and works with thousands of Franchisees year round would be an understatement. Also joining us there was our Franchise Coach, Suzanne Gray, seen in a couple of the pictures here. Without her, purchasing this business just wouldn't have been possible and she is a large part of Island Blendz' success. If anyone reading this ever has a dream of owning their own business, particularly a franchise, do yourself a favor and start by talking with Suzanne.

Maui Wowi Welcomes Back Westfield State College Students!

Maui Wowi was invited to Westfield State College's Opening Day Celebration to cater our smoothies to all 3,000 attendees! We were there from 2-8 and it was non-stop the entire time. We served up Strawberry-Banana and Mango-Orange from our two different tiki bars and were a huge hit. Everyone from Students, to professors to visitors came by to get a little piece of Smoothie Paradise. The event itself was to start off the school year with a bang and it certainly did. We're not quite sure at this point how many smoothies we served up in 6 hours, but we know for sure we went through over 3,000 of the Westfield State Stadium cups provided by the college. Overall, the event was a success. Mahalo to everyone at WSC. We look forward to serving you smoothies again really soon!!

Maui Wowi Serves Smoothies to the crowd at the Newburyport Buskers Festival

Aloha! Maui Wowi was back in Newburyport once again serving smoothies and frozen blended Kona Coffees to the crowd on-hand for the Buskers Festvial. For all who aren't familiar with what a "Busker" is, Busking is the practice of performing in public places for tips and gratuities. People engaging in this practice are called buskers. So, that means there were plenty of street performers on hand, most performing right in front of us, and it was a great time had by all. There were some very talented people there that will surely be stars in the future. Lots of other acts, including the Blue Man Group and Steve Martin, got their start doing this exact same thing. Maui Wowi was happy to be a part of this event, sponsored by the Newburyport Chamber of Commerce. We love Newburyport and hope to be invited back to this event again next year! Mahalo to all those who stopped by to enjoya Kona Mocha Chill or a smoothie!

Maui Wowi: The Drink of Olympians!

If you needed any more proof of how healthy and delicious our smoothies are, just ask Olympic Runner, Josh McAdams! NBC News caught him and his wife enjoying a Maui Wowi Smoothie recently. Looks like Pina Colda! Yum!

If you want to watch the whole thing, go to this link: http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/player.html?assetid=3528&channelcode=st_ksl&adv=localthe pic appears approximately 3 minutes & 20 seconds into the video stream.

Maui Wowi Joins NACA!!

Maui Wowi is proud to announce it's affiliation with The National Associatoin of Campus Activities (NACA). With so much of our business being focused on the college market, it was almost a no-brainer to join up with such a well-respected organization that consisted of our primary customer base.

NACA links the higher education and entertainment communities in a business and learning partnership, creating educational and business opportunities for student and professional members. For 40 years, NACA has been the nation’s largest collegiate organization for campus activities, with programs and services designed to reflect the field’s increased responsibilities for student leadership development as well as entertainment programming.

Maui Wowi is proud to be a part of such an organization and we are excited to continue serving our delicious, healthy smoothies and gourmet Kona Coffee to it's members! We will also be at this year's NACA Northeast Regional Conference in Hartford, CT from November 6-9. Please be sure to stop by booth# 326, if you are there, and get a free sample smoothie! Mahalo!

Umass Boston Says 'Mahalo' to it's Staff

On August 13th Maui Wowi was invited to Umass Boston to cater our all-natural smoothies, Kona Coffee, and Mocha Chill to the staff as a 'Mahalo'(Thank You in Hawaiian) for their hard work on planning Commencement Ceremonies. There were roughly 400 people there and all were treated to Strawberry Banana, Mango Orange, and Pina Colada Smoothies, along with our delicious Kona Mocha Chill. As you'll see from the pictures, everyone had a fantastic time. As usual, we handed out Hawaiian Leis to everyone and brought the 'Aloha Spirit' to their event. Just another way Maui Wowi loves to serve the colleges. We'll serve staff or students! We are looking forward to working with Umass Boston several more times throughout the year!

Maui Wowi at the New England Sand-Sculpting Festival

Another event we love vending at is the New England Sand Sculpting Festival on Revere Beach in Revere, MA. This is one of the coolest events by far in New England. You really appreciate how much time and effort is put into each sand sculpture when you watch them get built from scratch and get to see the end result. What's more, is they last so long! I'm sure we've all attempted to build a sand-castle or two in our lifetime, only to have the wind or ocean knock it down. After being around these magificent sculptures, I started to forget they were sand and began thinking of them as stone sculptures! Next year, we are going to have one of the sculptors make us a Tiki Hut made of sand to serve our smoothies and Kona from! Mere words cannot describe how busy this event can get for vendors. The sea of people that came by to get a sip of smoothie paradise was going strong all 4 days, but Saturday was unbelievable. The beautiful weather, combined with the mind-blowing sculptures on the beach made for a perfect day for everyone. We'd like to think that having a Maui Wowi smoothie in their hand made it even better! Mahalo to the city of Revere and Celebrity Marketing, Inc, who produced the event and made it possible for us to be there.

Maui Wowi at the Hartfod Riverfront Festival

When we are not doing catering for private events, we can be found selling our smoothies and coffees as a vendor at many major events in New England. On July 5th, Maui Wowi served smoothies as a vendor at the Hartford Riverfront Festival in Hartford, CT. The event is essentially Hartford's version of the Boston July 4th celebration and despite a little bad weather, it was a fantastic event for all who attended. The final estimate was 350,000 people. Not too shabby! Sometimes it felt as though all 350,000 were at our booth buying smoothies, which is never a bad thing, just really keeps us going. We brought the Ka'Annapali Cart (see the pic) and it was a big hit. People would walk by, very curious about what it is that we do, and they would almost always come back for a smoothie or coffee. It was a great way to spend the day and we were fortunate enough to meet some great people while there. Mahalo to the city of Hartford and all who attended the Riverfront Festival!

Maui Wowi at The Amherst Boys & Girls Club Event

We were invited to serve our delicious, all-natural, fat-free smoothies and Hawaiian Kona Coffee to the guests and attendees of the Amherst Boys & Girls Club Event in July. We were very honored to have been asked to serve our smoothies and coffees there and had a great time doing it! Everyone loved the Pina Colada, Mango Orange and Strawberry-Banana Flavors and we got a lot of compliments on the gourmet Kona coffee. We take great pride in serving both and were even happier to be able to do it for a great organization such as the Amherst Boys & Girls Club!

Maui Wowi on the set of "The Surrogates"

Maui Wowi went back to Hollywood again to serve smoothies and our "Chillin'" Blended Kona Coffee to the cast and crew of the new Sci-Fi Movie, "The Surrogates", starring Bruce Willis and Ving Rhames and being filmed here in Boston. We set up right on the set while they were filming practically in front of us! You know you are really on the set, when you have to stop blending smoothies so they can film the movie! We were able to meet some very interesting people and had a great time! The cast and crew enjoyed Mango Orange, Strawberry-Banana and Pina Colada Smoothies, along with our Chocolate Chunk Chillin' Blended Kona Coffees. Mahalo to the cast and crew!

Bikers Love Smoothies!

That's right, even Harley riding,

Maui Wowi at Bike Week in Laconia, NH!

WOW. Who would have ever guessed that Bikers love smoothies?!? We made the hour and half trip up to Weirs Beach in New Hampshire to sell our smoothies and coffees to the bikers for the week at Laconia Bike Week 2008. We spent 9 straight days there. What an experience! It was our first time at Bike Week and we were very curious to see how our product would sell to the Bikers. Make no mistake about it, Bikers Love smoothies! They also know gourmet coffee when they see it and would line up every morning for either an iced or hot Kona coffee straight from the "Big Island". The Mocha Chill sold out in 2 days!!

In addition, We met many, many great people up there whom we are sure to be friends with many years to come. We introduced them to smoothie paradise too, and they continued to comment that they couldn't believe something that tasted so good was also good for you! Mango Orange was by far our biggest seller for the week. Special Thanks goes out to the girls from Outback Leather seal too, who were very helpful to us in helping hand out samples as well as keeping us entertained for the week while they gave free motorcycle boot shines to all who passed by. Many bikers would stop by to get their boots conditioned, get smoothie sample and head on over to the K-Cart for a smoothie, based on the girl's reccommendations.

Another Big Mahalo goes out to "Chickie" from George's Gourmet Grill for not only keeping us fed all week long with his delicious gourmet steak tip sandwhiches, grilled chicken sandwiches, 1/4lb. hot dogs, and sausages; but also for having his son, Chris and his girlfriend Annie give us a hand with samples and set-up/take down every day. Some of the nicest people you will ever meet!! They can be found all over Boston as well, including at all the Boston Cannons Pro Lacrosse games at Harvard Stadium. Be sure to stop in and get a steak tip sandwich if you're there! Tell them Maui Wowi sent you!