A Hypno Event Bombs

I've been on roll lately as I cultivate and mature my practice of hypnosis.

For starters, I have found a unique approach by marrying the stress management, relaxation and physical well being benefits of hypnosis with a dash of entertainment achieved from a select set of crowd pleasing suggestions.  Everyone has an enjoyable time and the participants come away from the experience feeling positive and energized.

I've recently performed at a birthday party and a girl scout troop fundraiser.  The feedback has been encouraging and I anticipate it will lead to invitations for future gigs.

I have also been fortunate to link up with a couple of individuals who wanted to experience hypnosis and then learn how to enter a trance state on their own.  Check out this blog post, this one and this one for a recap of a few of these personal hypnosis sessions.

So...I was jazzed this past Tuesday evening as I made my way on the Capital Beltway for my first ever performance at a community festival.  The organizers had a room set aside for me and anticipated a crowd of 400+ at the festival.  Surely I would attract a crowd and a great set of participants.

Oh no...the room 10 minutes after the performance was to start.

My hopes were quickly dashed as my performance turned into a complete bust.  Not a single person showed up.  The festival goers all chose to remain outside enjoying the carnival rides, checking out the vendors and grooving to the DJ.

What went wrong?

With a strong desire to avoid a similar disaster in the future, I have given this a lot of thought.  Here's what I have concluded:

--There was marginal promotion of my event by the organizer because I was added to the entertainment line-up a few days prior to the festival.

--I had intended to arrive an hour early to do some onsite promotion and distribute flyers.  Yet, because of traffic I made it to the festival with only about 15 minutes to promote.  I only passed out a handful of flyers.

--And finally (and most important), it was a family-oriented community festival.  It was crowded, however most people were there with children and it simply wasn't feasible for them to attend a hypnosis show.

My time at the festival may yield some benefit though as I am now in discussion with the organizer to host a dedicated "health and wellness" event in September that will feature hypnosis.  I'll take the lessons learned from this bomb to ensure my next appearance is as positive as the power of hypnosis.