Why Sallie Mae Brought Me Back for a Second Year
Some corporate events are one-time things. A holiday party, a product launch, a team offsite. You do a great show, everyone has a good time, and you move on.
Then there are clients who call back.
Sallie Mae brought me in for the second year in a row to perform strolling mentalism at their cocktail reception in Newark, Delaware. About 100 guests, drinks in hand, mingling the way people do when the workday is finally behind them. My job was to move through the room and make things interesting.
Strolling mentalism works differently than a stage show. There is no spotlight, no microphone, no clear beginning or end. You walk up to a small group, you do something that stops the conversation, and then you move on before they have fully processed what just happened. The reaction travels around the room faster than you do.
One moment from this year’s event stood out. I approached a guest and told him I had picked up something specific from the way he carries himself. I told him I thought I knew the name he had always imagined for his dream rock band. The name I gave him was right.
I did not plan that moment. That is the nature of strolling work. You read the room, you read the person in front of you, and you go where the energy takes you.
The fact that Sallie Mae came back for a second year is the part I find most meaningful. It is easy to book entertainment for an event. It is a different decision to bring someone back. That only happens when the first experience was worth repeating.
If your team deserves an experience worth repeating, I would love to talk about your event.
