2010 NGH Convention

Fantastic Convention as usual!

I arrived on Thursday afternoon, so I was able to attend the Presenter's Meeting and the Meeting for Certified Instructors. I was very impressed to meet 25 NEW CIs!

On Thursday I ran into some of my old friends from my CI class of 2006, including Stephanie Ho, and Laurie Barefoot, who were also presenters this year.

I always enjoy the seminars, and I also enjoy being a presenter. This year, I was scheduled to present on Friday at 11 am, which they video-recorded. My presentation was called The Hypnotic Fountain of Youth, with an emphasis on Memory Techniques. That was an interesting experience for me, as they have only recorded the audio for my workshops and seminars over the past 9 years. It was also very refreshing to complete my presentation on Friday morning, and be able to focus on and enjoy the rest of the convention.

For me, the Convention is just one great presentation after another. So many great presenters, so little time! I no longer have the energy to start at 7 and go all the way through to 10 pm every day, so I'm more selective. I like to see my favorites, but then I also have the great fortune to just happen to be at the right place at the right time and see a few fantastic new presenters! I have been attending the convention for 14 years now and have seen one clunker in that time. Some presenters are more dynamic than others, but I find I always learn something. I get exposed to all kinds of hypnosis, new techniques, and also get to experience trance in many of the workshops. It is just so exciting to make all these new discoveries in one weekend. So many are real treasures!

There are just so many interesting topics, it is hard to make a selection. But I find the presenters really embody their techniques. I am just fascinated by the contrast sometimes. For example, on Friday, I saw Peter Blum, expertly demonstrating a very permissive pretalk which included many hypnotic techniques, then I saw William Mitchell, who uses authoritative suggestions like a stage hypnotist or maybe a drill sergeant!

Speaking of great new presenters, I got to see Chris Halbohm, who delivered 2 seminars this year. He collected a list of email addresses at the seminar for "Make Sure They Believe You." As promised, he sent me some information this week. I'm looking forward to reading his e-book, "End Worry and Sleep Well."

Additionally, on Saturday, I got to see the charismatic John Weir at 2 different presentations. He is always excellent. A few years ago he was featured in the Journal of Hypnotism as the youngest recipient of the Charles Tebbitts Award. He did the most amazing demonstrations at his workshop on Saturday afternoon, of collapsing anchors under hypnosis! Also, I got hypnotized by Mary Elizabeth Raines and learned how to eliminate clutter from Beverly Keyes Taylor.

Also on Saturday, I was one of about 200 people who got to see John Hughes speak about the History of Hypnosis. He can make history come alive by revealing intimate details about Anton Mesmer's life. There were some technical difficulties at the beginning, as the introduction was supposed to be a video about his new book. Dr. Hughes seemed to be a little concerned about this, but after apologizing to the crowd for being distracted by the technical issues, he got on track with an excellent lecture. Is it his presence, articulation, or vast range of experience that made this speech so riveting?!

Saturday night I enjoyed seeing some more old friends, and of course my hands stung after applauding all the winners! This year I really enjoyed seeing Mickey Mongan sitting in the Ormond McGill chair (Best Presentor Award). And I thought it was a great choice to recognize the efforts of Shirley Kein and Mrs. Banyon, by giving an award to the spouses of Gerry Kein and Calvin Banyon, for hypnotism achievement. It’s always fun to watch the award-winning, yet modest John Weir announce the winners.

Here is a list of the 2010 NGH Convention & Educational Conference award winners:
NFH 104 Service Award – Larry Garrett
William N. Curtis Religion & Hypnotism Award – Rev. Timothy Jones
NGH Chapter of the Year – Las Vegas, NV
Member of the Year – Robert Dunscomb
Hypnotism Achievement Award – Shirley Kein & Maureen Banyan
Hypnotism Hallmark Award – William Horton
Hypnotism Media Award – Cal Banyan
International Visionary Award – Julie Gerland
Charles Tebbetts 2010 Award – Dr. John C. Hughes
Ormond McGill Chair 2009 Award – Marie “Mickey” Mongan
NGH Presidents Award – Melody Damon Bachand
Rexford L. North Award – Martin Kiely

Recipients of the NGH Order of Braid: Dr. Walter Brackelmanns, Mary Rothchild, Robert Bayliss, David Quigley, David Frederick, Robert Brenner, Beryl Comar, Mary Elizabeth Raines, Debi Livingston, Dick Sutphen, Marjorie Reynolds.

The award dinner was Saturday evening. Unfortunately, I had to leave early on Sunday morning and was unable to attend Tom Nicoli's or William Horton's workshops. Fortunately, every workshop and seminar is recorded, so I have already put in my order for several CDs and DVDs.

I would like to thank both Jereme and Jean Sutton for sending me complete information about the winners.

I must sign off now because they have sent out a call to presenters and the deadline for sending in a proposal for Convention 2011 is September 30, so I have to get busy! I can't wait for next year! It just gets better and better!