January 2010 Highlights: Orlando trade show, San Diego meeting, Atlanta nightclub

This blog has been neglected for several weeks, but for all the right reasons!

I traveled to Orlando to represent ultrasound equipment manufacturer Biosound Esaote at a trade show and conference. This group hired me for a trade show in Ohio last quarter, and as a result of this month’s conference they have already hired me for another event. Yes, we had the biggest crowds at the show, and in fact we had other exhibitors bringing their own customers over to the booth to see what was going on!

I left Orlando to go to San Diego for the midyear board meeting of the International Brotherhood of Magicians. I joined the Executive Committee of this organization last summer and am serving a three-year term. San Diego was beautiful (if still damp from the heavy rains). It was great to see International President Jack White recovering well from his spinal cord stroke last summer. All the meeting attendees were treated to a visit to Jack’s fantastic museum of magic, which houses his amazing collection of props and memorabilia. IBM Ring 76 also put on a fine show to entertain us after dinner. Can’t wait to go back for the convention this summer!

Finally — I start a new gig in the Buckhead district of Atlanta this week. I’m now the resident magical entertainer at Tongue & Groove nightclub and lounge at Lindbergh City Center. Keep an eye on my Facebook status to see what nights I’ll be appearing. (By the way – thanks for helping me get more than 1000 fans on Facebook!)

My first night at T&G is tomorrow, January 28th, from 10pm to midnight. This venue certainly departs from my typical corporate fare… but then again, after December’s fantastic event at the Wynn in Las Vegas, I guess I’m up for the challenge. But don’t bother trying to corrupt me, girls (or boys!) — I’m happily married!

Tongue & Groove Atlanta

Turner named FEA Atlanta Magician of the Year for 2009

It seems impossible that the first month of 2010 is almost complete, but this January has been one of the busiest ever! This is a welcome continuation of the year-end momentum from 2009.

On the first day of 2010, Family Entertainers of Atlanta named me “Atlanta Magician of the Year” at their annual “Power Training Day.” FEA is an organization comprised of a variety of family-friendly professional entertainers and other business owners in the metro-Atlanta entertainment industry. It was formed about two years ago, but the age of the association doesn’t at all diminish the honor I feel in being singled out for an award by any group of my peers in this wacky industry. Thanks, FEA, for your respect, friendship, and this honor. (I should mention that this is a separate award from the Greater Atlanta Magician of the Year trophy, which is voted on specifically by Atlanta-area magicians, including both professionals and hobbyists. I won that prestigious award in 2000, and am now the first and only performer ever to win both!)

Speaking of that FEA “Power Training Day” — I was tapped by that group to deliver a talk on the art of negotiation for self-employed performers. It was extremely well-received… so much so, in fact, that I was asked to extend the training over the coming year and add more next January. (Perhaps I should compile my notes on the subject and share them more widely – would that be of interest to you, dear reader?)