Friday 29 August 2014

Weekend Reads

After the wonderful and fast paced event that was Elsecar...things have outwardly calmed down a bit.  Though still a lot of behind the scenes work going on!

Hopefully we'll all have a few moments over the weekend to relax a bit.  If you find yourself at a loose end, we've got a few awesome sites to check out!

Whatever your plans this weekend, have a great one.

NASA (Image Gallery)

Phenomenal shots from the NASA  archives.  Not just missions and launches but some of the most beautiful shots of our planet and what lies beyond it.  Looking at these images it's very easy to see why many astronauts return home with a new found sense of spirituality.

Do You Yoga

A daily dose of yoga.  From news, to inspiration to blogs and instructors.

The Creekside Cook

A slice of life from an American lady reviving some family recipes and gardening tips.  Some good things on here with a bit of everyday fun too.

The Daily Epic

Epic stories from around the world.  Like a classy version of BuzzFeed!  That's the only way I can think of to describe it...

Monday 25 August 2014

Featured Exhibitor - Joylina Goodings

Joylina Goodings is an intuitive spiritual life coach, inspirational speaker, psychic clairvoyant, healer, teacher, author and angel expert.

She travels all over the world teaching, giving workshops, healing and readings.

Joylinas' website www.joylina.com has a big selection of articles and information and provides a platform for distance healing which she sends out free of charge around the world.

Her main motivation is to connect people with their authentic selves and find their souls' purpose.

She is very much in demand as a speaker and healer and has contributed to many magazines including Chat its Fate, More To Life, Kindred Spirit, Soul & Spirit and Spirit & Destiny.

If you want to know more about her and her work pop over to her website and have a quick look at this interview/article she wrote for Silent Voices.

Joylina is also the author of the book Your Angel Journey which I can personally recommend!

We are always very honoured to have her at our events and she will be at our next event at Newark in September.

Wednesday 20 August 2014

Interview - Sue Hickman

Today we've got an interview with Sue Hickman from Forever Living products.  Sue is at many BSSK shows throughout the year.  We've asked her a little bit about herself and the products and would like to say thanks to her for taking the time to answer our questions.  Personally I'd heard of Forever Living but didn't know a huge amount about it, so it's been fascinating to learn about more.

1 - To start with could you tell us a little bit about yourself.

For 30 years I was a Police Officer and if you had told me 6 years ago I was going to become an advocate of Natural Health products I would have looked behind you for the men in white coats.
However I had a health challenge in that I had arthritis and was taking pain killers on a daily basis. I bought a new puppy and this changed my life. I played with the puppies on the floor and had to use a chair to lever myself back to my feet and the women suggested I tried drinking aloe vera and it would help me. She told me it came with a 60 day money back guarantee and I thought what have I got to loose. I tried it and within 6 weeks I was off my painkillers and back doing the things which had become so difficult like climbing flights of stairs and playing golf. I would never be without it!

2 - Could you explain the benefits of Aloe Vera

I'd never heard of Aloe Vera but when I researched it I found that we have been using it for healing for thousands of years. Records of it being used for medicinal purposes go back to 2100 bc in Southern Iraq but the most famous is 1550 bc in the Papyrus Ebers  which details the ancient Egyptians use of it. There are many other references to it throughout history Christopher Columbus and Mhatma Ghandi both refer to it and it forms part of the Veterinary Coat of Arms.
So why is it so good. We have established that Aloe contains over 75 nutritional compounds including vitamins, minerals and amino acids but the synergy of them working together make it naturally anti inflammatory, it balances the immune system, its a natural antibiotic and is naturally both fungicidal and bactericidal. Most people know it is excellent with all kinds of burns (anti pyretic) but it is also anti itching (antipuretic). This means that it is excellent in helping the body to cope with a number of challenges like mine.

3 - How do you sell, is it just online and show or do you do parties as well?

I attend the BSSK Shows as a way of letting as many people as possible learn about the benefits Aloe has. I do have an online shop which repeat customers use but in the first instance I prefer to talk to people  and discuss the benefits which can be achieved. Once you actually feel the benefits of taking Aloe Vera you do find it difficult to stop talking about it. I occasionally will arrange a party at someones house if they want their friends to find out about the aloe they are using or will speak to Womens Institute or Church Groups but primarily I just talk to people wherever I go.
Forever Living are the Worlds biggest growers of Aloe Vera. It is all organically grown and has been since the beginning. We do not grow our Aloe for anyone else and only use the inner leaf gel in our products. The outer leaf is put back onto the fields for fertilisation. Aloe is like an apple once you cut into it it starts to oxidise so you have to stabilise it. We have a patented stabilisation process using fruit and vegetable juices not heat treating or carbon filtering it like the commercial process.

3 - Forever Living have a lot a bee products - is that a sustainable source, can more bee farming help to increase their numbers?

What is often unknown is that we are also the worlds largest bee keepers. Our bees are kept in the Sonoran Desert away from all pollutants. This keeps our bee colonies strong in a time when the world is becoming more and more worried about loosing bees. We have specially designed hives which allow the bee's to keep all the Royal Jelly, Pollen and Propolis they need and skim a little surplus off for our use.

4- which writer/thinker has influenced you the most.

I have been most influenced by the American Motivational Speaker Jim Rohn. He shows us that we can all lead inspirational lives starting today and if we want something badly enough anything is possible. One of my favourite Jim Rohn quotes is:
Its not what happens which determines your lives future. Its what you do about what happens.
All of us are in like a little sailboat and its not the blowing of the wind which determines your destination its the set of the sail. The same wind blows on us all. The wind of disaster, the wind of opportunity, the wind of change….. the wind when its favourable and unfavourable.. The same wind blows on us all…….. the difference in arrival is not the blowing of the wind but the set of the sail.


5 -What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given.

The best advice I ever got was "if its to be its up to me". We waste time and energy looking for someone to blame if our life isn't exactly what we want it to be but we all have it in our gift to live the life of our dreams. We have to just stop wasting that energy, decide what we want and actively pursue what we want.


Forever Living Products is a Network Marketing Company and I use my experience with the Company over the last 6 years to show others not only what remarkable products the Company has but also how they can use the Company as a vehicle to get whatever they want in life.

Monday 18 August 2014

Guest Post - Pendulum Divination by Carolyn Donnelly

Pendulum Divination - It’s Fun and Anyone Can Do It Pendulum Divination - It’s Fun and Anyone Can Do It by Carolyn Donnelly

Divination is a simple way to tap into the deep reservoir of wisdom that each of us holds in our higher conscience. The pendulum is not a magickal implement. It is only a tool. The magick comes from our ability to access a vast pool of knowledge that we already have at our disposal. Everyone has the ability to divine. For some it will come easily and immediately. To others it may take a little practice. It is a fun way to find answers to some of life’s questions and to develop your psychic ability.

People normally turn to divination when they have a burning question or when they are at a crossroad and must make an important life decision. It is usually a time of indecision and divination can help us to determine what is really important to us. Our mind is a strong and influential force that often rules our decision making. Our logical mind, however, can trick us into making decisions that do not take all the important aspects of ourselves into account. Divination helps you to tap into our intuition and find out what you really want and what will really help you to achieve your life goals.

Divination can also help you in many everyday practical ways such as: finding something that is lost; for better health; for healing; and even to help you make better gardening decisions. This paper will concentrate on how to use a divination pendulum.

The Pendulum

A pendulum is a convenient tool for divination as it can be carried around in your pocket or worn as a necklace. A pendulum can be made from any small symmetrical object that can swing freely and easily on the end of a cord or chain. You can use a bolt, screw or nut from the garage tool box, a ring or pendant from your jewellery box. The kitchen drawer can also offer surprising small objects that you be used as pendulums. Before writing this article, I searched through my kitchen drawer for examples and found a round key-ring, a small padlock and a symmetrical key, all of which could be used as a pendulum. The object must be reasonably symmetrical however in order for it to work correctly and it must be of a certain weight. For instance, if it is too light it will not pull the cord tight and swing correctly. If it is too heavy, you will find it difficult to hold it gently between your fingers.

Choosing a Pendulum

Although you can use just about any symmetrical object, made from any material, most people tend to choose a pendulum that they like the look of and feel comfortable with. You can buy beautiful pendulums for a small amount of money from new age and metaphysical shops. They are typically made from metal, wood, semi precious stones or crystals and usually come with a chain or cord attached. Remember, that the pendulum is not a magickal implement but only the tool that allows you to unlock the secrets of your own higher self.

However, the material that a pendulum is made from can increase particular energies that contribute to the power of your divination. Pendulums made from semi-precious stones or crystals bring to your divination the special quality that the stone or crystal provides. These special qualities can assist you by increasing the positive energy during the divination process. Below is an example of some semi-precious stones and their particular qualities:

Amethyst – soothes the nervous system, balancing emotions. It helps you to feel more in control. It is good for relieving physical and emotional pain and overcoming addictions, dispelling anger, fear and anxiety.

Citrine or Golden Topaz - a highly positive stone that can guide you in a positive and creative direction. It is good for dispelling insecurity and negative thoughts and for attaining inner calm and security. It is motivating and helps you to achieve clarity of thought and resolution of problems

Clear Quartz Crystal – a highly spiritual stone, quartz is good for psychic development. It is purifying and creates harmony and balance. It enhances the qualities of other stones and can be programmed to achieve just about any goal.

Rose Quartz Crystal – the love stone, rose quartz creates harmony and balances emotional states. It is the stone for self-acceptance and appreciation of all things. It brings peace, compassion, self-love, happy relationships and receptivity to beautiful things.

Sterling Silver – brings clarity of thought and enhances your ability to deal with intellectual problems.

Tiger Eye - strengthens convictions and brings courage and confidence. It is good for mental focus and for promoting energy flow around the body. It is said to attract the people and things into your life that you need to achieve your goals.

Chambered Pendulums

Many pendulums contain a hollow chamber into which you can insert an object of significance to your divination questions. Chambered pendulums are usually made from metal and have a small hinged lid that opens to a small hollow chamber. Objects that are commonly inserted in the chamber include small crystals or stones to increase particular energies or a hair or piece of clothing from someone central to the question that is being asked. This makes chambered pendulums a very powerful tool for use in pendulum divination.

Preparing for Divination

Because we often turn to divination when we have a great desire to find the answer to a question, it is important to ensure we are in the right state of mind for undertaking divination. A genuine desire to find an answer is an important factor to successful divination. However, it is also important that you do not approach finding the answer in a desperate way with too much emotional attachment to the answer. You must approach divination in a relaxed manner, remaining a little detached from the answer. If you are too anxious and put too much pressure on yourself, the process will be ineffective.

For the best results, especially if you are using divination as a way to answer a question that causes you stress, it is advisable to undertake divination directly after meditating. Alternatively, here is a relaxation technique that will assist in reducing any anxiety directly before undertaking divination:

Light an aromatic candle or incense in a relaxing scent (examples: amber, lavender, geranium, jasmine, frankincense) in a room where you will not be disturbed. You could put on some relaxing music if you find that calming. Sit or lie somewhere comfortable. Once you are settled, imagine a light entering your body from your feet and gradually filling your body. As the light travels up your legs and through your body visualize the light entering every sinew, muscle, tendon and vein – every cell. Imagine the light to be soothing, calming and relaxing you as it pours into every aspect of your body. If you have an ache or a pain, concentrate the light on that point, making it bright and imagining the light healing the pain. As the light continues to make its way up through your body, it takes with it any pain, discomfort or stress until finally pouring out through the top of your head, expelling anything that is making you ill at ease.

By relaxing prior to divination, you will reduce your internal ‘noise’ and will be better able to focus your mind on the question. A more relaxed state will help you to remain calm and will assist you to get in contact with your intuition.

Determining the Question

Because pendulum divination is used to provide a Yes or No answer, you must be careful how you ask the question. The question must be unambiguous. Sometimes it is better to ask a series of simple questions that can be answered with either yes or no than to ask a complicated question where answering yes or no does not really give you a meaningful answer. Spend some time on your question as, if you ask ambiguous questions in the early stages of learning to use the pendulum, you may loose confidence in the accuracy of the process.

Practicing with a few simple questions first will help you to determine how to best form a question to find an answer to the important issues. Sometimes the timing for the question is not right. If this is the case, you will not receive an answer. You can, however, ask the pendulum whether the timing is right.

How To Use Your Pendulum

Determining the Yes and No Signals

Find somewhere comfortable to sit. Hold the cord or chain of the pendulum between the thumb and forefinger, leaving 2 to 4 inches of cord between the pendulum and your fingers. Ensure that your fingers are pointing down so that the pendulum can swing freely.

Hold the pendulum in front of you, so that it has plenty of room to swing above your knees.

To start the divination process, swing the pendulum in a motion away from you and towards you. This is the neutral action and is a way of saying, “I am ready to start divining”.

Firstly, you need to predetermine the signals that mean Yes and No. To do this, you ask the pendulum.

To determine the Yes Response - While your pendulum is still swinging in the neutral action, state, ‘show me my Yes response’. You do not need to say this out loud but make sure you state it clearly in you mind. Now watch the pendulum. It will change direction or change its movement style or it may stop altogether. Whatever movement it makes after you ask for your Yes response is the movement that will be your signal for Yes.

To determine the No Response - Swing the pendulum once again in the neutral action. While the pendulum is still swinging in the neutral action, state ‘show me my No response’. Watch the pendulum and whatever motion it makes will be your No response.

Repeat the process outlined above until you are confident that you have a predetermined response for Yes and No.

If You Don’t Get a Clear Signal

When you first start using a pendulum this process may take a while as you are using a part of your psyche that may not be well practiced. You need to be patient with yourself and keep you mind focussed on the question you are asking. For some this comes immediately but for many it will take practice.

If, after trying a number of times, you are not getting a clear signal from the pendulum for Yes and No, you can decide your signals using your conscious mind. To do this, repeat the exercise as stated above but this time decide on what movement you would like to be your Yes signal and what movement you would like to be your No signal.

To consciously determine your Yes signal, firstly swing the pendulum in the neutral position, then state in your mind, or out loud, ‘this will be my Yes signal”. On making this statement, deliberately swing the pendulum in the motion that you have chosen to mean Yes. Do the same thing to determine the No signal. Once you have set your responses, practice swapping between Yes, Neutral, No, Neutral, Yes, etc. Test out the predetermined responses by asking some simple questions and let the pendulum signal the answer.

Like anything new, your divination will improve through practice. Practice helps you to focus your mind and will help you to develop an emotionally detached disposition when divining. Over time you will increase your ability to ‘hear’ your intuition and improve your general psychic ability.

Carolyn runs Placid Moon, an online New Age Store that sells a range of Metaphysical and New Age Products and Gifts. Placid Moon features a number of quality and reasonably priced Silver and Semi-precious Stone Divination Pendulums, including Chambered Pendulums. We also feature a range of Aromatherapy and Relaxation Products including Meditation CDs, Scented Candles, Incense, Essential Oils, Oil Warmers and Incense Burners. Visit us at http://www.placidmoon.com and browse our site today!

Article Source: NewAgeArticles.com

Friday 15 August 2014

Weekend Reads

Have a great weekend!

With only a week to go until Elsecar, we have a few sites to waste away a few lazy weekend moments...

Nell Rose

A prolific article writer on lots of weird and wonderful subjects.  A great site to dip in and out of.

Spiritual Awakening Blog

Musings on one persons' spiritual journey.  Opinions, inspiration and great articles.

Edgar Cayce A.R.E.

The official website for the Edgar Cayce Association for research and enlightenment.

Eartheasy.com

Tips and articles on sustainable living, lots of ways to help protect Mother Earth.

Tuesday 12 August 2014

10 Things...Instructions & Inspirations for Making Altars

All spiritual traditions have a place for worship, meditation, remembrance, or simple contemplation.

Sometimes they can be as simple as a few favourite things place together and other times they can be an area full of magical items placed carefully and according to ritual.

Here are a few inspirations for making your first.  Or, if you've already fell into making altars, some new ideas and inspiration.

Silverwitch

A lovely blog post on the placing of a spiral altar which can be made inside or outdoors.

Mind Body Green

Simple steps to creating a simple altar.

Elephant Journal 

Creating sacred space with a simple altar.

Happy Black Woman

Using an altar as a "spiritual centre".

Pagans Path

An altar for magik.

Feng Shui

Creating a feng shui sacred space.

Mexico Retold

How to make a Day of the Dead altar.

Custom Pet Urns

From an urn business (sorry!) but the idea of a pet altar or shrine is nothing new but this site has nice, creative ideas.

Spirit Voyage

Creating an altar specifically for meditation.

Spirit Makeover

Angel altars.




Friday 8 August 2014

Weekend Reads

Here's a few interesting looking sites to have a look at this weekend!

Whatever you are doing have a lovely time ;)


Spirituality Health

The site for the magazine Spirituality and Health.  Lots of great articles from spirituality to self care.  A great site to read through.

Simply H

Simply H is the website for kinesiologist Hilary Cooper.  As well as information about her work, she has a lively and interesting blog.

High Existence

This one is a bit more "out there"  it's a lot of articles, quotes and discussions about all manner of things.  A lot of spirituality, world issues and inspirational quotes but a bit of warning - there are some drug references on there as well.

Witchy Words

Interesting Wiccan blog.  This girl is interesting in herself but has also managed to compile a great list of resources.

Wednesday 6 August 2014

Interview ~ Matt Hall from Paracon UK

As you may know we are really excited about the upcoming Paracon UK event in Derby later this year. So today we're bringing you a great interview with Matt Hall from Paracon UK, to tell us a bit more about the event.  See you there!

To start with can you tell us a little bit about the people behind Paracon?

Well, our team consist of volunteers from all walks in the paranormal community.  My core team consist of US service members along with local British professionals whom for "Serious Paranormal Investigations".  Then we have some wonderful people that stepped in with different skills to help carry the load.

How did the idea for this event come about? 

Being American, I am am a fan of the Paracon circuit.  I wanted my team to have that experience as well.  However, I found that  the UK has yet to have an actual Paracon event!  In amazement we decided to put one on ourselves. Bring the UK it's 1st annual Paracon UK to be!

This will be the first event of it's kind in the UK, do you think interest in the Paranormal is growing or has it always been big but we've been slow to embrace it?

There is a large following in the UK for the paranormal.  The new shows that are coming from America are adding to the reality once again.  There has been the saying that the UK rolls up about 10 years behind the States, but I want to disprove that!  Paracon UK will be sure to have all the US celebrities and paranormal elite clawing to be a part of the UK's community!

Is this going to be an annual event and if so will it travel around or stay in Derby?

Yes, this will be an annual event and only grow from year to year.  Paracon UK is set to be the largest international paranormal event in the UK.  All of our wonderful guests are already asking to take part in net year's event as well. We are not against giving Paracon UK a home. However, we need to be able to facilitate everyone comfortably and try to remain central so that all have an equal opportunity to experience this event.

Can you tell us a bit more about the charity you're supporting? 

The two charities we are supporting are "Wounded Warrior Project" and "Troop AID".  Both charities are set up to offer assistance to wounded heroes and their families.  The efforts have been certainly as we are coming out of two horrific wars and have so many that gave their all for us.  With SPI having a majority make of of military members, we knew it was our duty to give back as we can.

What kind of work does the "Serious Paranormal Investigations" do?

 SPI is a dedicated research team and we are seeking the causes as well as the stories behind the paranormal phenomena people experience.  We utilize are talents and military disciplines to create a professional approach to solving the mystery.  SPI also offers a bootcamp to train investigators from the amateur to the seasoned, and endorse an array of techniques that should be used.  The goal is to get better informed investigators out there and helping in our goal.

You have a really impressive line-up for this event, who are you personally most excited about?

I am sure that everyone on the team is excited to see their individual favourites.  I personally have a special want to see all of them.  There is a reason that our guest list was put together this way and honestly we still have several celebrities from America wanting to come, but without sponsors I can afford the airfare..lol  We will have to wait until next year!

Monday 4 August 2014

The Life and Times of an Event Promoter - On Finding a Venue

Morning :)

Today we have the first of a series called The Life and Times of an Event Promoter.  A fantastic inside look into the world that Angie inhabits!


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People often ask me just what it is a promoter does.  I think they see me twiddling my thumbs in a show and think it is a push over of a job.  By the time I get to the middle of a show, my work is more or less done, apart from trouble shooting during the weekend and the pack down at the end. The hard work goes in before we ever get to the weekend of the show. 

Over the years, people have often said I should do articles about what goes into a show, so I have decided to do a series for our blog of ‘The Life & Times of an Event Promoter – a Promoter’s Musings’, giving some insight into how those wonderful stands miraculously appear in a hall and visitors miraculously walk through the doors :)

The best place to start is always at the very beginning, and the first task before any show can begin is to find a place to hold it, so here is my first article in the ‘Event Promoter’s Musings’, on finding a venue!

I always say that one of the hardest parts of my job is finding an actual venue that works for a show.  People often say to me, ‘why don’t you do a show in X or Y?’ The simple answer is, I can’t find anywhere suitable and affordable to hold one!

When we go on a venue hunt, I go armed with a list of twenty-two requirements.  Some of them are essential, others are preferred, but can sometimes be worked around. They include things you might not even consider on first thought.

First and foremost of course is space.  In the good old days before the recession hit, we always needed a minimum of 750 square metres, otherwise we would be turning away too many of our ‘regulars’!  Now however, anything over 600 square meters is worth a look, as we are considering slightly smaller shows due to falling exhibitor numbers.  Just as High Street shops have closed, so exhibitors have gone out of business too.

Next, having found the room, we need to look at practicalities such as:


  • Is it lockable, alarmed, is there a security guard? 
  • Does it have enough electrical outlets to supply every stand? 
  • Is there somewhere to site the entry desk that controls the flow of visitors and can we easily restrict it to one entrance only?
  • Is there a separate room in which to hold the talks that seats around 70 plus people?  If not, can a marquee be used effectively for this purpose? 
  • Do we have exclusive use of the rooms during show?  I have memories of a University where although the management said we did, the students who used the atrium as access to other parts of the University, saw no reason why they couldn’t walk straight through the show!  Quite a difficult weekend ensued and of course, we did not return!
  • Timings are important – council and university buildings cannot always accommodate our access timetable.  We need access from 10am to 7pm on the Friday preceding a show, from 7am to 6pm on the Saturday and from 8am to 8pm on the Sunday to allow for breakdown of the show.  So many times, we get this far and the excess hours on Friday and Sunday nights, or the early start on Saturday cannot be accommodated.
  • Parking and food come next.  Is there onsite parking?  If not, is there good on-road and car park facilities nearby?  Can exhibitors park near enough for unloading and is the unloading point suitable for trollies? We prefer one large room on the ground floor of a building, but if it is split level, then is there a good, modern lift – is there a service lift or secondary means of access if the lift should break down? 
  • Does the venue have facilities to run a cafĂ©?  Do they have in-house catering which we are obliged to use or can we get our own?  These days, there are hardly any venues that allow us to bring in our own catering, as they want to make the extra revenue from this too.  Getting them to cater for a larger than usual number of vegetarians, special diets and stock copious amounts of bottled water can be a challenge in itself!
  • After all of that, we get down to the bits and pieces, such as can we put up a large banner outside and for how long?  Some venues won’t allow it, some restrict the length of time it can be there and others charge for it!  At Chester for example, it has cost over £800 to have a banner up for one week! 


  • Will they allow posters and flyers in their reception and a pull up banner?  You would be amazed at the amount who won’t. 
  • Do they supply first aid provision or do we need St Johns? 
  • Do they have trestle tables and chairs or do we need to hire them?  Both of these add to the quoted cost of course.
  • Do they hold the necessary Markets Licence and entertainments licences?



Having managed to tick all these boxes, the crunch comes – can they do the dates we want and how much will it cost?    You would think this would be the first question, but most venues won’t quote or look at dates until they have gone through all your requirements.

Dates are a problem with hotels, as most don’t want to book shows in the summer because of weddings.  Some won’t take three-day bookings at any time of the year, preferring to get a wedding, party or formal dinner on the Friday and Saturday nights.  We need three days of course – one to set up the show and two for the show itself.

If we do get over all of this, it is then ‘cross-fingers’ time, as we wait for the quote.  Quotations of up to £12,000 per day are not usual with city centre venues that tick most of the boxes, and quotes of around £3,000 a day are common with the larger types of facilities.  Some can be negotiated to a reasonable figure, others will not budge and so fall at the final hurdle.  These days I try and push for a ‘ball park’ figure before going through everything, but venues are very reluctant to commit themselves until they have all your requirements.

When we really want to do a show in a particular area and cannot find something ideal, we do look at a compromise, as happened with our recent Nottingham show.  Most of the city centre venues were in the £7,000 to £12,000 a day bracket, hotels were not interested and so we found ourselves at Nottingham Forest FC.  It was an upstairs room, not our favourite, had two lifts one of which broke down and was a very difficult shape to work with, complete with fixed seating along one side and a ‘balcony’ type area which was overlooked by many visitors. Signage was restricted by the football club and catering was not what we usually look for, all of this came at a price of over £3,500 for the weekend but it did enable us to try out Nottingham.  As it turned out, with the show falling far short of expectations despite heavy investment in advertising, I was pleased I had not paid more!

So here we have it – the life and times of an event promoter, or at least, a very small part of it.  You can perhaps see why, when after all of this, exhibitors walk in and say ‘this is hard to find’, I don’t like the atmosphere, the lighting, the parking, the unloading, the position I am in or any one of a hundred other things, we sometimes sigh deeply to ourselves before summoning up the cheery smile and trying our best to make them feel comfortable and happy.

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Next instalment – Things That Have Gone Wrong – a trip down the memory lane of my biggest nightmares and some of the things that have provided the steepest and sharpest learning curves!  Fortunately my sense of humour and sense of the ridiculous usually enables me to look back at them with a grin, even though at the time I was probably on a search for the nearest rafter to hang myself from! :)

Friday 1 August 2014

Weekend Reads

A bit late this evening, sorry!  We hope you all have a great weekend, here's a few hand picked sites to check out x

The Mind Unleashed

Not sure how to describe this site but I've spent hours on it.  Fascinating articles - in their own words:

"We are all connected; To each other, biologically. To the earth, chemically. To the rest of the universe atomically. Many say exploration is part of our destiny, but it’s actually our duty to future generations and their quest to ensure the survival of the human species."

Aquarius

A great curation of new age articles.

Self Help Astrology

Phil is a favourite at the BSSK events but have many of our visitors had a look at his site?  Great information with a really lively and informative blog.

Paracon UK

Not a lot of articles on here, but we're really excited about this event.  The Paracon website gives us a little taste of what will be the UK's first paranormal convention.