Hey everyone, here is my article about the IBM/SAM Combined Convention which was recently published in The Magic SYMbol! Tell me what ya think of it!

A Convention of Memories

By Cody Clark , SYM Member, Louisville KY.

After what seemed like forever, the IBM/SAM Combined Convention finally came to town and provided memories that will last for a lifetime. This is my second magic convention that I've attended, the first being the Unconventional Convention at Cumberland Falls State Park in Kentucky. With so much to do and so many people from around the world coming to my hometown to share in the magic, I had the best time of my life period!

To start off, the dealer room was amazing! With six rows of dealers and dealers on both sides of each row, I was like a little kid in a candy store. My fondest memory was only taking a few steps into the dealers room when Steve Axtell handed me the controls to his new animatronic bird and let me operate it. Even though my mom was very nervous seeing me control it, it was a awesome experience getting to work the newest technology in the Axtell Creations repitore.

Another dealer room memory was right when I about to buy Terry Herbert's Children's Magic The Herbert Way DVD at Marty Hahne's booth when I realized that Terry Herbert was right next to me! After introducing myself to him and chatting with him for a bit, I got him to sign the inside of my DVD case and got some great advice on doing childrens magic from him. He is a great guy and if I had just a bit of the knowledge that he has, then I would probably be a better magician. And to close up the dealer room talk, I ended up buying Terry's DVD, a Silver Spectre (Also from Marty's booth.), several videos, and some silks and sponges from Duane Laflin's booth.

Even though I didn't get to see much of the competitions, from what I did get to see and from what I've heard, the competitions were great, with some of the competition acts being better then some of the Gala Show preformers.

The lectures were pretty unique indeed. Despite them being mostly history based and not offering to much in the way of teaching, they were still great to watch. My favorite was David Kaye's History of Childrens Magic lecture since being a childrens magician myself, it was interesting to see how my type of magic evolved from its gospel and pantomime roots into what it is today. And David Kaye is the nicest person, magican or layman, that I've ever met. He was really glad to see me there since we've talked on email several times before and I think he sees some potential in me as a childrens magican. After the lecture, I got his lecture notes and the Seriously Silly book & DVD combo, which I have already learned a lot from.

The Gala Shows were top notch and greatly produced. The acts were unique and talented, the theater served its purpose well, and everything went perfect technically, with little to no mess ups. My seats were probably the best in the house, since I got to sit in a Grand Tier Box with a unobstructed view of the action!

At night, I had some pretty great memories hanging around at the above street section of the hotel, showing tricks to new and old friends and getting to meet so many magic celeberties. Even though my parents were cringing every time me or one of my friends pulled out a magic trick, it was still a great experience that will be remembered for a long time!

Cody... it was great meeting you. I'm glad you had fun messing around with the Hands-Free Toucan. I've got some photos and video of the Toucan from the IBM/SAM convention here http://www.axtell.com/remote.html

Ax

It was nice meeting you too Steve! And even though I'm not that well known, please feel free to use that part of my article as a testimonial for your fine new product!

Cody,

Your dedication and drive shine right thorugh in your article, congratulations ! How I wish I could have been there. You got to meet some of my idols. David Kaye has been a driving force behind my desire to become a better children's entertainer. Terry Herbert is a legend among legends, and Ax is , well Ax ! He is so unique and creative words cannot describe how deep he goes. I just ordered a bird arm illusion from him.

I wanted badly to see all these guys at the Kidabra convention this week, but right now I am recovering at home from a VERY nasty case of Strep Throat. It was bacterial and moved all through my head, so I will be down, on meds, for days.

NICE job on that article....

Mark Pettey
Naples, FL

Thanks for the kind words Mark and I hope you get well soon! By the way, I wanted to go to KIDabra really bad too, but school unfortunatly started yesterday in my area. And also, there may be more articles from me coming in future issues since the editor of the Magic SYMbol happens to be in my local ring/assembly and he liked my article as much as you did.

Just to give you a sneak peak, I may be reviewing some products in future articles and there may be a story on a show for National Magic Week that me and the other young magicians in my local ring/assembly are doing at a local elementary school!

Get well soon my friend!