What I Learned Performing at IFSEC - One of Europe’s Largest Trade Shows
Trade shows are exhausting.
That probably sounds like a strange opening line coming from somebody hired to work at them, but it’s true.
They are loud, relentless, crowded and mentally draining environments where hundreds of companies are all competing for exactly the same thing:
attention.
And after performing at IFSEC at London’s ExCeL Centre, I quickly realised that successful trade show entertainment has very little to do with simply “doing tricks.”
It’s about stopping people walking past.
Performing at La Manga: My First International Corporate Event
There are certain moments in your career that quietly change the way you see everything.
For me, one of those moments happened in 2013 when I was invited to perform at a corporate event in Spain for Intrinsic Financial Planning at the renowned La Manga Club resort Up until that point, I had travelled overseas to lecture and perform within the mentalism world, but this was different.
This was my first international corporate booking.
After Dinner Entertainment at Oakley Hall Hotel
One of the most rewarding aspects of working as a professional mentalist is discovering where the next booking might come from.
In many cases, the strongest form of marketing isn’t advertising at all - it’s a live audience experiencing a performance first-hand and later deciding they want that same experience for their own event.
That was exactly how this particular booking came about.
Performing at the NEC Birmingham
There are certain moments in your career where you suddenly realise you’ve stepped into a completely different world.
For me, one of those moments happened the first time I performed at the NEC in Birmingham.
Up until that point, most of my work had revolved around weddings, private functions and corporate hospitality events. I was comfortable mingling with guests, creating moments of astonishment and naturally moving between groups during relaxed social environments.
Trade shows, however, turned out to be an entirely different beast.