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Corporate Zone Magic Day
London,
23rd April 2006
Reported by Marc Dominic
On 23rd April 100,000’s of people converged on London for a thrilling
spectacle of perseverance and determination, success being the culmination of
years of preparation and training, failure the result of being badly prepared and
having a “well I will give it a go, it can’t be that hard” mentality - They
were going to see the London Marathon.
A small group of magicians, about 50 in total ,experienced exactly the same at the
Corporate Zone Magic Day. They made the effort to learn form the best and the
gems of skill and attitude that were furnished were priceless.
This day, organised by Gary Young at the Magic Zone, was long and I personally
feel the hours break between the sessions was perhaps a bit over long. The six
dealers were varied, but this wasn’t a day of tricks. It was a day of
business.
Doors opened at 10am but lectures didn’t start until 10.30am which meant people could
socialise and enjoy coffee before getting down to business.
The three lectures did the business – all the presentations were multi media
with power point being used very well. The key message was think corporate,
think like a businessman, not a magician. If you focus on tricks and effects then
the corporate world at the high end isn’t for you.
The main trust of the day from all three speakers was Trade Show / Exhibition
magic or Sales Presentations. The focus was you are a salesman, if you don’t
like long hours and selling products then this isn’t for you.
I won’t devalue the day by telling you what was specifically talked about but
the general areas covered were:
Marc Paul
Trade show magic, a look at types of trade show magic, getting the work, and
keeping the work plus advice on add-on sales.
Chris Dugdale
The psychology of trade show magic, motivating yourself and a few sleights and
effects thrown in for good measure. He also presented a brain-storming season, to
help participants focus on where they want to be and motivate themselves.
Michael Bailey
Trade shows and presentation doing theatre style shows, scripting and practical
demonstrations of USP’s in effects.
The day concluded with a Q & A session, all speakers answering
questions and giving advice throughout the day. During this season the speakers
also took up the challenge of giving ideas on how to sell products with magic and
the products where chosen by the audience. Fun was had with bra’s, mortgages,
and ink! To name but a few – this was a great brain-storming lesson in
creativity and lateral thinking.
The day was attended by a mixture of magicians, several magicians who do trade
shows already, some who have dabbled and others who would like to. Many travelled
long distances to get there and if you missed it you missed out on the real
business of magic.
As a business seminar it would not have been out of place at a sales and
marketing conference on event marketing, but if you wanted to see Marc Paul do
mentalism or Chris Dugdale’s beautiful sleight of hand then it wasn’t for you.
The reality of the day was those who attended got one of the most constructive
days in learning about working in a real corporate world at the high end. But
like running a marathon it is something many dream of doing; fewer have a go, but
only those who are prepared to put the work in, cope with the rejection and the
long days, are going to succeed. But for those that do... well those that do will have a
great future and feel the elation of achieving something remarkable, while the
rest of you smirk “I could do that if I wanted to” with envy.
www.corporatezonemagicday.co.uk
© Marc Dominic, April 2006.