Seattle Magician for the Dark Months
Seattle Magician for the Dark Months
Seattle companies put their event budget into December and then spend the next two months in the dark. The holiday party happens, everybody returns in January to short days and persistent grey, and nothing else is scheduled until the weather improves and people are cheerful anyway.
That's the wrong way round. I'm Magical Katrina, an award winning magician and mentalist, and I want to make the case for a winter event, and what a Seattle magician booking does in the months when nobody plans anything.
December Gets the Budget It Needs Least
Start with the argument. In December people are already in a reasonable mood: there's a season happening, there's an end in sight, and the party is one of several things making the month feel different.
January and February have none of that. People come back to a long stretch with nothing in it, daylight that's gone before the working day ends, and weeks of weather that wears on everybody. An event in that period does considerably more good than the same event in December, and most organizations spend the money in the month where it's needed least.
Nobody Wants to Go Out in February
The practical constraint and it shapes everything. A Seattle evening in mid winter is dark by half past four and frequently wet, and an event requiring people to travel across town after work will be declined politely by half your team.
That argues for something at lunchtime, something immediately after work in the building people are already in, or something online for the people working from home that week. The event that happens is better than the better event that people skip, and in February the travel is the deciding factor far more than the content is.
Attach It to the Working Day
Worth planning carefully. An optional evening event in winter competes with going home, which is a strong competitor when it's dark and raining.
A lunchtime session, an hour at the end of the afternoon that runs into the working day rather than after it, or something attached to a meeting that was happening anyway removes that competition entirely. Attendance at a four o'clock event is dramatically better than at a six o'clock one in February, and nothing about the hour itself is worse.
Keep It Short
Worth getting right. People in the dark months have less appetite for a long evening, and an event that runs to three hours in February is tolerated rather than enjoyed.
An hour is plenty, and an event that finishes early is received well in a way it wouldn't be in June. Say the finish time in the invitation and hold to it, since in winter the thing people most want to know before committing is when they can leave.
Hybrid Is Not Optional Here
Practically relevant for Seattle specifically. A meaningful proportion of this city's workforce is hybrid, and in the winter the days people choose to work from home are the wet dark ones, which is exactly when you'd be holding this.
Plan for that rather than being surprised. Either pick a day you know most people are in, which usually means midweek, or plan something that works for the people at home too. An in person event in February that half your team joins from a laptop by accident is worse than one designed that way on purpose.
This Is the Slot Where It Does the Most
Worth stating plainly, since the budget case is the obstacle. The same booking, the same fee, and the same hour produces a noticeably different effect in February than in June, because it's landing in a month that offers people very little.
If your organization runs one discretionary event a year beyond the holiday party, winter is where it earns the most. Companies that move their social budget out of December and into February frequently find the February event is the one people talk about, precisely because nobody expected anything.
It Doesn't Need a Venue
Worth knowing for both budget and logistics. Winter is the worst time to be moving a group somewhere, and the good news is that nothing about this requires it.
Close up magic needs no stage, power, sound, or setup and works in your own office with the furniture as it is, which means no venue hire, no travel, and nothing for your team to arrange. In a month when people won't go anywhere, entertainment that comes to the room you're already in is the format that actually works.
Say What It's For, Which Is Nothing
Worth being clear about in the invitation. A winter event attached to a business update or a planning session is a meeting, and people will read it as one and attend accordingly.
Let it be nothing. An hour in February whose only purpose is that people enjoy themselves is unusual enough to be noticed, and saying so plainly in the invitation is what gets people to come. The organizations that do this well resist the urge to make the hour productive.
A Note on "Local vs. Traveling In"
Worth knowing: I'm based in the Los Angeles area and travel to Seattle for corporate events, and I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, so the February point is made from experience rather than from a weather chart. Travel is discussed openly and factored into the quote rather than being your problem to arrange, and winter dates are generally easier to secure than December ones.
Why Book Magical Katrina
If you're planning a winter event, here's my case. I'm a member of the Magic Circle in London and the Academy of Magical Arts in Hollywood, I've earned multiple magic awards, and I've performed for clients including Formula 1, the Olympics, Porsche, Prada, Zapier, and the Ritz Carlton, with appearances on Penn & Teller: Fool Us and Masters of Illusion. I need no stage, power, or setup so your own office works as it is, I work a lunchtime or late afternoon slot as readily as an evening, I can cover the people joining from home in the same session, and I keep to the finish time you've asked for.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why not just do the December party?
Because December is the month people need it least, with a season happening and an end in sight. January and February offer a long stretch with nothing in it and daylight gone before the working day ends, so the same event does considerably more good then.
Why is attendance so difficult in winter?
Because a Seattle evening in midwinter is dark by half past four and frequently wet, so anything requiring travel across town after work gets declined politely by half your team. In February the travel decides attendance far more than the content does.
When should we schedule it?
Lunchtime, late afternoon running into the working day, or attached to a meeting that was already happening, since an optional evening event competes with going home. A four o'clock event gets dramatically better attendance than a six o'clock one.
How long should it be?
An hour, and no more than that, since appetite for a long evening is lower in the dark months and three hours in February is tolerated rather than enjoyed. State the finish time in the invitation, because that's what people want to know before committing.
What about our hybrid staff?
Plan for them deliberately, since the days people choose to work from home in winter are the wet dark ones, which is exactly when you'd hold this. Either pick a midweek day when most are in, or design something that works for the people at home.
Is this worth the budget?
It's the slot where the budget does the most, since the same fee produces a different effect in February than in June. Organizations that move social spend out of December into winter frequently find the February event is the one people talk about.
Do we need a venue?
No, which is just as well in February. Close up magic needs no stage, power, sound, or setup and works in your own office with the furniture as it is, so there's no venue hire, no travel, and nothing for your team to arrange.
Should we attach a business update?
No, since that makes it a meeting and people will read it as one. An hour in winter whose only purpose is enjoyment is unusual enough to be noticed, and saying so plainly in the invitation is what gets people to come.
Spend It When It Counts
A Seattle magician booking in February costs the same as one in December and does noticeably more, because it lands in a month that offers people very little and nobody is expecting anything.
Hold it in the building your team is already in, put it at lunchtime or late afternoon so nobody has to go out in the dark, keep it to an hour with a stated finish, plan properly for whoever is working from home, and resist attaching a business update to it.
Reach out with a winter date and roughly how many you have, and I'll tell you how I'd shape the hour.