Thanks in advance for all the help.

I am a bar magician doing my first trade show this week for a major company. I have a lot of material for it but am wondering from those who have experience what you do for an opener to draw people in to the booth? I was thinking of something with fire. Too much or am I in the right ballpark?

Thanks again for the responses
Park

Hi Park,

I have seen Park work his bar in Indian Rocks Beach, FL. He does a great job. A real bar magician.

My answer would be to stay away from the fire, you will have no problem drawing people into your booth.
People will get bored be looking for something like you. The word will get around that you are working the booth. They will be looking for give-a-ways so hook them into thinking that you are going to give them something. Instead you will give them an emotional experience. It is all how you play it.

You might start with something simple and visual like a silk handkerchief vanish, but if you have your show table set up at the edge of the booth with your cards in a ribbon spread, it won't take long before you will have a crowd. It is what you say that is more important that what you do to get their attention.

You will do great, I have seen you work. Do your best routines, simple and short. The crowd will keep moving in time, so you don't have to run too long.

On the business side, do you know what your customer is expecting from the show? Do they want you to help collect biz cards, make contacts, or are they just wanting to make their presence known. This is important to know to assure that this successful for both you and them.

Steve Hart
Cape Canaverl, FL USA

Fire at trade shows is ALWAYS a no-no, especially in light of the Rhode Island and Chicago disasters recently.

Fire Marshalls will shut you down in a heartbeat unless you have cleared EVERYTHING in advance with THEM and posted a bond (usually about $2 MILLION - often more), have specific fire insurance, major liability insurance and a licensed pyrotechnician doing your set ups.

Not worth the cost or effort, frankly.

Some things that WILL help - a speaker with a headset mic. You HAVE to be heard by the crowd. While Eddie Tullock in his 2 volume tape set says they are not necessary, times change and sound systems are essential.

Tricks? Anything that you can tie into your client's product or service. Rope tricks and data communications go together well, linking rings and telephone systems go together well, pen thru anything plays well for showing you how easy it is to use the service or product you are pitching.

Remember - your job is to quickly pre-qualify leads and get the attendee's badges run through the machine as well as act as a company spokesmage, so focus on getting names through the machine.

One "trick" that I use is that anyone who comes up to assist HAS to hand me their badge, which I then hand off to one of the reps to run. This really helps as it also forces the volunteer to stay around for a few and hear the whole pitch.

Lastly, play to the CROWD. Most bar work is perfectly fine. Chop cup, cups & balls, C&R rope, even rubber bands (sometimes ESPECIALLY rubber bands!) all play well. Just make sure everybody can see what's going on.

Get them making noise as well. Using a company slogan, spoken or yelled by the crowd is a good way to KEEP a crowd at your booth. Giveaways should only be given to volunteers and people whose badges have been run, obviously.

And make sure that you and the crowd have fun.

Just some random thoughts from a guy who has been doing trade shows since about 1980.

Lee Darrow, C.Ht.
http://www/leedarrow.com

Thanks to both of you for the input. Steve, thanks for the kind words. I will have a six foot table set up at the entrance of the booth so I will be drawing the crowds into the booth area. I have developed a few items to coincide with the company and the products they represent. Thank you for the input on the fire. I am going for an initial impact but with your directions I will walk out into the crowd and start with an in the hands effect.
Anyone else out there want to give me any bits and pieces I really appreciate.

Steve: How are you doing? Gonna be at Magic on the Beach this year?

Park

I always find you don't need to draw a crowd.

You just need to stop the first person
and the rest will follow.
So something quick and intriging directed at one person. Stop them and the crowd will build.

Don't launch into your scripted or themed material
until a bit of a crowd has formed or you waste it.

http://www.magiccoach.com

Got to be the 3 card monte or shell game. Very visual and everyone immediately knows what's going to happen and won't be able to look away/ignore it...

The mix is very simple but very visual and patter is simple...

Get a stack of your clients business cards and punch a hole in each one then ask audience to push a coin through the hole - then show them how its done (using a pencil)and hand out the card (WRITE the stand no. on the card - when they show others the trick they'll see the stand no.).

Get some blank faced cards - get client to get you some sticky labels with their details and stick on blank card then do color monte and hand out card...

Well,
I've got to tell you all, I have been a lurker on this board for quite a long time with a very occasional reply to a post that I felt I had some input in.

This is the first post I have started for help for my self and I just wanted to thank everyone both publicly and private messaged for all their uninhibited help.

It is refreshing to have such a group of people willilng to jump in and genuinely help and give positive and not so positive (but honest) feedback to help guide me. I have carefully read every post and PM and taken ALL suggestions to heart and really appreciate all the angles, suggestions and feedback.

Anyone else who would like to give some input I really appreciate.
But most of all I wanted to thank all of you for the help and support. Steve, you have put together a very valuable tool here with The Magic Café and kept it pure with the help of all your members.

Thanks again guys and girls
Park

Another eye-catcher is, believe it or not, Dice Stacking!

I did this recently at both the Motivation Show and the Society of Actuaries shows in Chicago and Orlando, respectively, and the responses were amazing!

Especially if you use the large die finish!

Standing up on a little platform and snapping a knot in a rope works well, too. If the ends of the rope are a bit frayed, you will often get a noose, which REALLY blows people away!

Tenkai's decapitation (on one of Daryl's FoolerDooler DVD's) plays huge, as does a good linking ring routine. With large rings - remember, you are playingot a crowd, like working the street, frankly!

The more visual for a larger group, the better, IMPO.

Hope this helps!

Lee Darrow, C.Ht.
http://www.leedarrow.com

There are many things competing for people’s attention at a trade show. Your first challenge is to catch their attention and convince them to stop for a few minutes at your booth. I usually open with a quick sponge ball trick.

Two red sponge balls are resting on my table. As soon as someone walking by looks at me, I say, “I’m going to count to ten, when I say the word “ten” you are going to see something amazing.”

Without waiting for a response, I go into the first effect of making one ball travel from one hand to another. It’s quick, visual, and I’m only asking the passerby to invest 10 seconds at first. It is rare that someone says, “No thanks, I’m in a hurry.” If they do, I don’t take it personally. I just wait for the next passerby.

After completing the first surprising effect, I look up and ask, “Would you like to see it again?”
Now I can see the gears turning in their heads. Since it only took ten seconds, they usually will commit to another ten seconds in an attempt to catch me.

I motion them to step a little closer and ask one person to extend a hand. Getting involvement at this point is important.

I “repeat” the trick, this time making a ball travel from my hand to theirs. Now I’ve got them.
More people stop to see what’s going on. My sponge ball routine then progresses to a cup and ball routine that culminates in the production of a potato under the cup.

The psychology behind this opening is simple. At each stage of the routine, I am only asking them for a small time commitment. They initially only commit to staying for ten seconds, but before they realize it, I’ve got them for three minutes.

During the course of those initial three minutes, I am doing something else very important. While making small talk during the routine, I am getting their names, the name of their company, their job position, and any other information which helps me pre-qualify them as prospects for the sales people manning the booth. I know what information is important, because during the initial planning sessions with my client, I asked them who fit their customer profile.

If any of the people I stopped with the sponge ball routine fits my client’s customer profile, I immediately go into another routine, holding them at the booth, while I try to catch the attention of one of the sales people manning the booth.

We have worked it out beforehand, that the salesperson will move close to the prospect, and at some point in the next routine I will get them both involved.
Having the salesperson and prospect work together during a trick is an ideal way to introduce them to each other. During the trick, I make a point of including a reference to the company I represent and booth I’m working. Not a hard sales message, just an introduction.

Depending upon the situation, I may go into a third routine at this point, building the crowd, and getting more sales people over.

The whole process takes only 5 – 10 minutes, and involves only two or three tricks. After my tricks, the prospects and sale people have been introduced, and have shared a common experience, breaking the ice.

At this point, the sales force has been instructed to move the prospect away from the performance area, into the booth. I begin looking for the next prospects, and the process begins again.

I consider pre-qualifying prospects the most important part of my job as a trade show magician. I don’t want the sales force wasting time with people who are not potential customers, so my job not to draw huge crowds to the booth. It’s to feed a steady stream of pre-qualified prospects to the sales people.

The best compliment I ever received from a client at a trade show happened when I was introduced to the new Director of Product Development for a software firm that had been a client for years. After meeting me, he commented that he had heard that I was the best pre-qualifier on the sales team.

That’s exactly how I wanted to be perceived by the company, as a valued member of their sales team.

Jim Snack said, "During the course of those initial three minutes, I am doing something else very important. While making small talk during the routine, I am getting their names, the name of their company, their job position, and any other information which helps me pre-qualify them as prospects for the sales people manning the booth. I know what information is important, because during the initial planning sessions with my client, I asked them who fit their customer profile."

Maybe I just haven't been looking in the right place, but this is the first time I've heard what sounds to me to be the whole point of being a trade-show worker, encapsulated in one concise paragraph. Sort of an A-Ha! moment here. I primarily work withe preschoolers, but have also done some work with corporations and stores, though not strictly trade-show work. But again, perhaps those who do do trade show work might alread know what Jim stated, but for me, it is an eye opener.

By the way, Jim, I do have your SIM books, and at first thought, this isn't flashy, and he makes it sound like it'll take five years to get things going... well, duh, of course it takes time to get things going in a stable way - one can get a few instances where this or that mailing or marketing technique brings in work, and maybe something will click right away, but for most of us, the ongoing stability that the full-timer is looking for doesn't happen overnight, and it does tend to take a little time. You approach the books with a real-world view and without the buzzwords or glitziness.

And I appreciate your posts - you really give practical, encouraging information and advice to your fellow magicians and other entertainers that is equal to the kind of advice that people gladly pay for.
So, thanks!
Charley

Good eve to all,

I'm not putting down any of the great tips I've heard on this list so far, but I find there is something we should know before we give you anything. What is this company selling? A lot of magicians just user random effects and stick in the company's logo. I believe it was Jim Sisti who spoke of forming an act around the company, not the company around a trick. If you want some REALLY good adivce, tell us what you're supposed to be selling and then we can help you with how to sell it. Until then, the advice, although very good, is just taking shots in the dark. Think about these things before you even form an act:

What is your company selling?
Is there a new product or are they selling an idea?
What are the details? What are the advantages of the company and their product and/ or ideas?
Are they focusing on being cost-effective, innovative, or both?

All of these questions should be answered before considering what magic to do.

If you can answer these questions, I'd love to give you a few tips from what I've learned.

---Malak aka Daniel GreenWolf

Hi, can anyone enlighten me on what message that can weave into torn and restored newspaper in a trade show and sales talk?

Putting a message into the magic trick is something I aways enjoy. I would like to think it is my speciality.

Torn & Restored Newspaper is a powerful tool for getting almost any message across. Not only is the effect strong but it leads to delivering a variety of subjects.

One idea; "Businesses spend millions of dollars in advertising their goods and services. How do you know if you can believe what they say is true?
Here is an example.....(point to an ad) How do we know that they can back this statement up? (Rip) Here is another one.....(Rip)? Another one. (Rip) I am going to share a secret with you. The secret in knowing if you can believe in what they advertise? Longevity! How long have they been saying the same thing. Any business that continues to buy advertising with the same ads is making money. The only way they can make money is buy standing behind what they say. I don't know about you, but for me that is "Good News!" (Restore the paper.) For the people at XYZ they know all of their advertising is Good News!"

I hope that give you an idea to work with.

Steve Hart
Cape Canaveral, FL USA

10 Q so very much to you Steve! My mind is once again enlightened. My regards, Neil