Any improvements yet with your shows from the bad economy?

Post topics about the business side of magic.
Dynamike
Posts: 69
Joined: August 8th, 2009, 1:22 pm
Location: Detroit, MI
Contact:

Any improvements yet with your shows from the bad economy?

Postby Dynamike » November 23rd, 2009, 11:02 am

Have shows picked up for anyone yet from the bad economy? Mine are still running the same, very slow.

Mark.Lewis
Posts: 842
Joined: September 12th, 2009, 7:18 am

Re: Any improvements yet with your shows from the bad economy?

Postby Mark.Lewis » November 23rd, 2009, 3:56 pm

That is a bad question to ask because all sorts of people are going to appear saying they are doing as well or better than ever. Ignore them. They are all telling lies.

I have noticed a definite drop but then I am not pushing or promoting myself since I have so many other things to do. Recessions have never affected me in any way and I have been through many of them.

The psychic business actually improves in a recession. And although I am not selling svengali decks to any extent any more if I were to go out and work them tomorrow sales would be no different to what they always have been. I am selling low price merchandise so I am just not affected. In fact one of my biggest seasons with the svengali deck was right in the middle of a recession. People can always afford a lousy 10 bucks for a svengali deck recession or no recession.

Recessions have never bothered me personally in the slightest but I do feel sorry for all the people who are indeed affected. No doubt things will improve. Canada is far better off that the USA where this is concerned but things are still rough for a lot of people up here though.

I am just lucky that recessions always pass me by even if I don't get a single show.

Steve Cobb
Posts: 52
Joined: April 16th, 2008, 11:35 am

Re: Any improvements yet with your shows from the bad economy?

Postby Steve Cobb » November 23rd, 2009, 5:01 pm

My opinion is things are pretty bad for at least trade show magicians. I live in Chicagoland and used to attend at least half a dozen trade shows a year at places like McCormick Place, Rosemont convention center etc.

At these shows I would routinely run into guys working the show like Danny Orleans, Paul Gertner and guys of this caliper. I cannot remember even seeing a trade show magician in Chicago in the last couple of years.

I attended the big Food Show at McCormick Place a few weeks ago and a pretty good size show there last week and did not see one
magician working.

I seriously thought about doing trade shows when times were good, but now... In my opinion would be like trying to find a job related to the automotive industry.

My background is in technical/industrial sales of things like machine vision/ bar code scanning systems, industrial controls etc. I have been actively looking for several months for a sales position with nothing yet. I consider the economic situation in the U.S. presently as brutal.

Mark.Lewis
Posts: 842
Joined: September 12th, 2009, 7:18 am

Re: Any improvements yet with your shows from the bad economy?

Postby Mark.Lewis » November 23rd, 2009, 5:18 pm

I am delighted to hear that all the trade show magicians are out of work. I have an odd way of looking at things. I love it when I am the only magician at a trade show and yes, 75% of the time this does indeed seem to be the case. And it isn't just the recession. I have noticed all the trade show magicians disappearing since the 9/11 tragedy.


Mark.Lewis
Posts: 842
Joined: September 12th, 2009, 7:18 am

Re: Any improvements yet with your shows from the bad economy?

Postby Mark.Lewis » November 23rd, 2009, 9:29 pm

Yeah? Not that I am a cynical type of course but I bet he ain't doing too much trade show work either.

Dynamike
Posts: 69
Joined: August 8th, 2009, 1:22 pm
Location: Detroit, MI
Contact:

Re: Any improvements yet with your shows from the bad economy?

Postby Dynamike » November 27th, 2009, 3:32 pm

My business is improving slightly because of the time I have added to internet marketing.

Bob Sanders
Posts: 47
Joined: July 25th, 2008, 11:51 pm
Location: Magic Valley Ranch Alabama
Contact:

Re: Any improvements yet with your shows from the bad economy?

Postby Bob Sanders » January 25th, 2010, 12:24 pm

This economy in the USA is self-inflicted so the citizens certainly have themselves to blame. But there are also opportunities here too.

US trade shows are down. However, the world economy isn't the disaster for other better led nations that it is here.

There is plenty of work but it is overseas. Remember that the USA ranks #14 in world economies now. We are just below South Korea. The best markets are in China and India.

Rule #1 in Duck Hunting is go where there are ducks.

Trade shows are markets for producers. The USA is seldom a player in that area today. (Our current agenda appears to be "Borrowing our way out of Debt".) "Production" isn't a word used in political America in at least a year and more like three years since the new Congress of 2006.

The logic of having trade shows here is a going-away thing. Consumption for non-producers is retail. Trade shows are for business-to-business.

Magic to promote retail in the USA is perhaps the better choice. Restaurant magic is an example. Reality is that ultimately production feeds consumption. As America goes out of the production activity and concentrates only on consumption (as is the current agenda in the USA) limited success there is the opportunity. However, once the nation's savings is gone, there will be nothing to trade for consumption only. Plan ahead. It may mean seeking out the productive people in the world to serve. They are likely to not be in the USA.

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander
DoveLite Silk
SilkMagic@DoveLite.com
Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander / The Amazed Wiz
AmazedWiz@yahoo.com
SilkMagic@DoveLite.com


User avatar
NCMarsh
Posts: 1223
Joined: February 16th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Favorite Magician: Devant, Wonder, Richiardi, Benson, DeKolta, Teller, Harbin, Durham, Caveney, Ben, Hoy, Berglas, Marceau
Location: Orlando, FL
Contact:

Re: Any improvements yet with your shows from the bad economy?

Postby NCMarsh » January 25th, 2010, 1:14 pm

First, the shift in economic activity away from manufacturing has been decades in the making -- trying to lay it at the feet of congress and economic stimulus is bull, whatever you make of their current activity -- and this isn't the forum -- they certainly aren't able to change the past.

The shift you're describing is the result of a shifting labor market -- highly skilled workers in developing countries that makes those places the logical venues for production.

The logic of having trade shows here is a going-away thing. Consumption for non-producers is retail. Trade shows are for business-to-business


Because we were totally a producer driven economy during the trade show boom of the late nineties...

Whatever the basis of the economy -- retail or production -- businesses need stuff from each other. Electricity, software, insurance, fraud detection (listed here because they're products/services I have sold on trade show floors in the past year, as someone who does a small amount of trade show work as a small part of my business.)

Best,

N.


Return to “Marketing & Magic Business”