Blog: Mind of a Mind Reader
Jeff Newman: Mentalist, Magician, Trickster.
Take your Fundraiser From Flat to Fantastic With These 9 Tips
As a professional entertainer, I’ve worked more than my fair share of fundraising events; everything from small-town groups raising money for a local project, to huge galas for giant non-profits looking to boost their annual donations. And, with fundraising season coming up this fall in Alberta (and, really, western Canada), a lot of people will be planning these kinds of events for the first time.
And, whether you’re in a bigger center like Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Saskatoon, or Regina, or a smaller community outside of the metropolitan city limits, the basics and the main goal are the same.
Put on a stellar event to not only reach your fundraising goals, but also have a great time doing it!
So, what do you need to do to make your fundraiser a huge success and bring in the big bucks? Well, I'm about to spill the beans on how to make more money at your next fundraising event!
7 Things To Look For When Hiring A Magician For Your Event
Ok, you’ve bit the bullet and decided to get a magician or a mentalist for your next shindig.
Maybe it’s because you read my blog outlining all the reasons why magic and mentalism is the best kind of entertainment for your event. Maybe it’s because someone in your office really wants to see some magic. Or, most likely, you want entertainment for your event that’s unique; Something different from the standard corporate entertainment choices.
Whatever the reason, you’ve settled on hiring a magician for your event. So, you open Google, type in “corporate event magician,” or “magicians near me,” or whatever else you’ve decided to search for…and BAM, there are literally HUNDREDS of options.
4 Reasons Why You Need A Magician For Your Corporate Event
It can seem like entertainment options for your event are endless.
And there are lots of options out there: bands, DJ’s jugglers, comedians and more.
And, while I acknowledge I may be a little biased, I can confidently say that when it comes to entertaining your guests at your next corporate event, gala, fundraiser, or whatever else you may be planning, there’s one option that blows the rest out of the water: A magician.
Why? Well, I'm spilling the beans on four reasons why you should consider hiring a magician or mentalist for your next corporate shindig!
6 Tips To Make The Most Out Of Your Event Entertainment
There is one phrase I hear every year that makes me cringe.
“We hired entertainment last year, and it was a total bust.”
This is like nails on a chalkboard to me. Not only because someone didn’t get what they paid for, but now that one bad experience has probably turned them off from hiring someone to entertain their guests again.
But, I completely understand the frustration.
All that hard-earned cash basically gets thrown down the drain. Why risk the investment again?
What if I told you that all you had to do was a few simple things and you could put on a night of entertainment that would not only knock your guest’s socks off but make you look like an absolute hero? All you need to follow some simple tips, and you’ll have an event you’ll never forget!
7 Tips On How To Put Your Best Zoom Face Forward
Unless you are a seasoned professional, it's tough not to feel at least a little self-conscious on video.
I mean, think about it…at the best of times, people have no idea how to act in front of a camera. But now, work, play, happy hours with friends, family get-togethers…they’re all taking place on video calls.
Every day, we’re faced with cameras pointed at ceilings, fuzzy video, and endless streams of “can you hear me’s.” But fear not. Over the past year, I’ve become a Zoom Master, and I’m here to give you seven tips to put your best face forward and look like a video-call All-Star.
Rethink Your Event Planning: Add Some Fun!
Recently, I had an unusual gig. Rather than my usual theatre show or after-dinner event entertainment, I was asked to perform my magic and mentalism schtick and MC an event hosted in a store, where all their suppliers came to showcase all of their hot new things for the year. I would do a bit of magic, introduce two or three presenters, do a little more magic, and lather, rinse, repeat until the end of the event. It's the kind of gig I do often enough to have it in my corporate magician skill set.
After the event was over, the client came up to me and told me how thrilled she was about the event. She was not only impressed by the magic that happened on stage for her guests, but was also very pleased about how the crowd was interested, engaged, stayed at the event much longer than expected, and (hopefully) became more informed customers that helped my client make a profit.
It was a great event all around, and when it was all over, I was thanked abundantly for helping make their event a smashing success.
And, while this particular gig is a bit different from the norm, the reaction of the client at the end of it was one that I’ve seen time and time again. And while they could have done what they did before with the same results as before, they decided to add an extra little spark and hire a professional. And what did that do for their event?
It made it fun.
5 Reasons Why You Need To Have A Magician At Your Event
Over a given year, I split my time between doing public theatre shows, and private events like Christmas parties, fundraisers, galas, weddings, and the like. For a lot of people, the thought of hiring a magician for their event never even crosses their mind. And a good number of my first-time clients are these people. Now, I don’t mean that this is their first time hiring me before. I mean, I’m the first magician/mentalist/something-other-than-a-guy-with-an-iPod-and-a-speaker they’ve ever brought into their event to provide some entertainment ever.
And it always goes the same way: I show up, amaze the pants off the guests, and later, when I speak to the organizer about the event, they say something like, “WOW, that was amazing. Thank you so much! Everyone loved it...we’re still talking about it! I’m so glad I decided to do something different for our event this year and bring you in.”
The fact is, for many reasons, adding entertainment like a magician or mentalist to your event can be a HUGE boost to whatever you’re planning. And a lot of my first-time clients never anticipated the added bonuses of professional entertainment at their event.
6 Tips To Make Your Event Amazing
It’s Booking Season. You know, the season where I sit down, answer emails, make phone calls, and schedule meetings to book shows for the following year. Now these shows can range from thirty people in a basement, to five hundred people in a conference center or theatre.
But a least a few times a year, I come across someone planning an event that has a boatload of other questions that usually pertain to the rest of the event. Sometimes, it’s about catering. Or, it’s about audio and lighting. Other times, it’s about how to make whatever the event is special or unique in some way. And, being an expert event-goer, I’ve been to my fair share of events from every edge of the spectrum. And this year, I’ve had a few back-to-back requests about how to really add some pizazz to upcoming events that clients are hosting. So, to help all the would-be planners out there, I’ve decided to put together a little list on how to add some simple things to make your event pop.