Southern England Magic Convention
Statement For Information
This statement is released on behalf of The Southern England Magic Convention by Black Swan PR. It has been sent to all parties we believe may have an interest in the situation arising, in order to inform and update.
For more details contact
Collin Richardson, Geoff Pescud, Convention Organizers - 0800 118 2688 collins.magic@virgin.net
Black Swan PR, PR Agency, 07760236762, pr@blackswanpr.com
<Statement Begins>
The Southern England Magic Convention has been started to progress magic in the UK. We firmly believe that the south of England is in need of a large, multi-national magic convention. The UK has always been a strong centre for magic around the world, and we feel that having more than one large magic convention here, can only be of benefit to the UK Magic Industry.
However, during the organisation process for the convention, we have come up against problems caused by Blackpool Magicians Club Ltd, hosts of the Blackpool Magic Convention.
Blackpool Magicians Club Ltd issued a letter to all their dealers, stating "Dealers exhibiting at any other British convention 5 weeks prior to the Blackpool convention will not be offered a dealer booth at Blackpool".
They have issued the same clause to all their performers, in some cases stating that those who choose to perform at the SEMC will be banned for life from Blackpool Magic Convention.
Following these clauses being made, we have had 4 dealers remove themselves from our program.
We believe that these clauses are unfair and unlawful, and place undue pressure on dealers and performers from around the world, to make decisions they should not have to make. We believe that these trade restrictions have the potential to severely damage the UK Magic Convention industry.

We have since started to instigate inquiries to the Office Of Fair Trading (Trading Standards) and the Monopoly's Commission due to the clauses being introduced by BMC Ltd. We will also be looking at taking legal action against those who have damaged or seek to damage the new convention by their actions.
We feel that Blackpool Magic Conventions actions are unilaterally out of line with the spirit of the brotherhood of magic, and that their actions are likely to damage the UK's reputation as the world leaders in magic conventions.
We have no problems with getting along with the Blackpool Magic Club, and in providing and receiving healthy competition. The UK has enough magicians, dealers and artists for more than one large magic convention, and we wish to prove it.
We are aware that the BMC have tried to divert the attention away from the real issue at hand, by quoting members of forums and private letters, and attempting to directly associate them with the SEMC, however we now wish to bring this back to the real subject at hand, and alert people to the situation currently arising.
We are not asking you to take or choose sides, we are simply asking that you do what you know and believe is right for the UK Magic Industry. In the long run, without a strong UK magic convention scene, we all lose out.
Take a stand for what you believe in, and help keep the spirit of the brotherhood of magicians alive.