Cleveland and Akron Birthday Party Entertainer
I really can’t believe how fortunate I am to entertain at countless birthday parties all over Cleveland and Akron. I love corporate entertainment and large public events as well, both offer unique opportunities, but there is also something very special about making balloons or performing magic at a child’s birthday party.
I was invited into a number of Akron and Cleveland area homes this week to twist balloons for birthday parties. I enjoy performing magic shows, but this weekend was all about balloon twisting, and I really enjoy creating special works of art for my clients! I often feel “in my element” when I am balloon twisting. All of the birthday parties on Saturday left me and all the guests smiling. The atmosphere was great at all of them and I twisted some amazing balloon sculptures that really impressed.
The last party of the day was very fun. I showed up to a birthday party that I was booked for after meeting the family at a public festival last month. I walked in a recognized a lot of the faces, as they had come to see me both days that I was balloon twisting at the festival. The family and guests were all great and very complimentary. I was asked to create things I had never done before (very rare!) and had a blast. The mother asked me to stay later so that I could make balloons for all the older siblings and even the grandparents!
People often ask me if I enjoy what I do. I tell them, “I’m the Balloon Guy, I get to hang out at birthday parties for a living!” Life is good. I’m very blessed to be doing what I do.
-Grace and Peace
Cleveland’s Balloon Guy
Jeff Wright, Cleveland’s Balloon Guy….it has a nice ring to it.
I’ve been spending this week with some amazing balloon artists from all over the country and many from right here in Cleveland. We are working on a huge balloon project for the 3rd year in a row up in Kirtland, Ohio. If balloon twisting was Rock and Roll, a lot of these people would be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That’s not an exaggeration either. They are at the top of their games and are very well respected in the balloon art community.
As I talk business with them about their markets, I realize, that they all have it totally figured out. Many of them are the balloon artist for their area. That’s where I want to be. The Cleveland market is fairly saturated (with many of the great artists that are on this project) but I strive to make my name synonymous with quality family entertainment in Cleveland. I want to be Cleveland’s Balloon Guy! After recently winning the 2010 Nickelodeon’s Parents’ Picks Award for Best Party Entertainer in Cleveland (with my awesome partner, Suzan) I think I am well on my way.
I do put out a great product. Time and time again Cleveland people mention how good I am with the guests, and especially the kids. I try to connect to people and I have been complimented before about how I can know every child’s name before I leave a party. To be honest, I have trouble remembering them much longer after that, as the data banks are always on overflow with new kids, but I think it’s important to make that moment special for the person in front of me. I may make balloon sculptures 1,000 times a day, but those few minutes are very unique and special to that person. It also helps to be able to call out a 4 year old’s name when I see them pop his/her balloon from across the room. I’m stopped more than one crying fit before it’s started.
I do great balloons, but I also go beyond that. I try to entertain and engage the people in front of me while I do it. I think Cleveland’s Balloon Guy should be a guy that you want because of his quality of work and because of his quality of character. I hope I meet that standard. I am truly grateful to be doing what I do and I enjoy it very much. I believe that enjoyment comes through when I am in my element, entertaining at corporate, private, or public events all around Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. Life is Good!
Grace and Peace
Cleveland’s Best Party Entertainer!
It’s finally been announced! 5Star-Talent.com is the 2010 Nickelodeon Parents’ Picks Award Winner for Best Party Entertainer in Cleveland! Providing magic, balloons, face painting, and clowning to Cleveland and surrounding areas, 5Star-Talent.com provides the best party entertainment in Cleveland!
You may be wondering why I am excited that a company other than Wright Entertainment, LLC won. The answer is simple, I am 5 Star Talent. Well, at least half of it. The other half is the amazing Suzan Houston. About a year ago we thought we shoudl combine our forces. We both love what we do, do it at a high level, value professionalism, and share many other values. We were debating whether to form a single company when we decided on another solution, an advertising co-op. So that is where 5Star-Talent.com comes in. It is a joint effort by two entertainers that want to bring you safe, fun, professional, family-friendly, and value-packed entertainment. We now pool all of our advertising into 5 Star, but you, the client, contracts with one of our companies. If you require both of our service we just subcontract each other.
Anyways, it’s been a fabulous arrangement, and obviously Cleveland parents have taken notice because we won!!!!!! I’m extremely blessed to be a part of this and I thank God for the opportunities I have to make a living making other people happy.
We provide magic, balloons, face painting, and clowning to Cleveland, Akron, Canton, and all the surrounding areas. We also can subcontract additional entertainers at no up-charge to you. We often work solo, but for big events nothing draws a crowd like the 5 Star Talent duo. We do many large events together and the line never stops. Your guests transform into colorful works of art and the event is changed into a truly memorable sight! Check out our testimonial page to see what previous clients have said.
CONTACT US to book an event.
-Grace and peace.
A Great Week
I just had an extremely busy, but very blessed and awesome week. First off, last weekend was Taste of Hudson so I went into town and twisted balloons. Now, in years past I had always set up a table with a vendor that I have done many events for in the past and then twisted balloons for a long line of kids. While I think that has it’s place, I was on my own time there and I wanted to really wow the audience and show them what I could do at a private party. Plus, there were at least 3 other twisters there doing line work. So what I did was set-up my table and began twisting really elaborate creations. Fire-breathing dragons, princesses, super heroes, and more. As the crowd would gather I would joke around with them and tell them that because I was making such elaborate creations, I was not doing a line (it would have been 3 hours long!). I invited them to stay and watch and directed them to the other twisters. Many of them stayed and I would then have a “biggest smile competition” to decide to whom to give the balloon. It was a nice way of doing things and I really enjoyed myself. I even showed up in a clip on News Channel 5 on Monday or Tuesday.
After the weekend, I began a new private teaching contract with a new student from Japan. I’m teaching him English. It’s going to be an incredible experience and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity. We spent many hours together on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Thursday and Friday I finally had both of my private schools at which I teach Spanish. It was nice to get back into the swing of things and to see all the kids. I’m the only male classroom teacher at both schools (there’s a guy gym teacher at one), so I’m somewhat of a novelty.
So I’m back into the swing of things for the school year. I’m happy to have downsized my teaching load from last year since I am focusing more and more on the Entertainment Biz. I find out tomorrow if my and Suzan’s advertizing co-cop, 5star-talent.com, wins Best Party Entertainer in Cleveland. We were nominated for a Nickelodeon Parents’ Picks Award earlier this year. Here’s hoping!
Finally, this past weekend, I had two great gigs. One was a job for a private Christian School in Cuyahoga Falls. I did my Stupendous Storytelling Balloon show for them. They told me about their school year theme ahead of time and I wrote a custom script for the show. It went over very well. Then I did the Mantua Potato Festival for 2 days. It was a great gathering on great people and they really seemed to like my balloons!
-Grace and Peace
SEO
So I contacted someone to help me with Search Engine Optimization. It’s time I figure this out. I pay for ads in magazines, I pay for spots on party booking sites, I hand out 1000s of business cards, but at the end of the day, if I’m not coming up at the top of Google, I’m missing out on a very important marketing tool.
I know the guy I’m asking is good. I’ve read a bunch of his stuff on WordPress and, most importantly, he is towards the top of a lot of Googles searches for his specific search terms. That says a lot about his effectiveness.
If my Nickelodeon Parents’ Picks Awards win comes through (with the amazing Suzan Houston, www.5star-talent.com), and I’m coming out on top in Google….I’ll be THE balloon guy and magician for Cleveland/Akron!
-Grace and Peace
Labor Day Weekend
After a few corporate bookings didn’t happen for this Holiday weekend I am open to do what I have done the past 2 years, a public appearance at Taste Of Hudson. As long as the sun doesn’t show up in too much fury (like last year) it will be a very good experience with lots of public exposure to the Hudsonites and other visitors. It’s a great gathering and I know a few of the business owners that are happy to have me entertain the masses. I plan to hand out copious amounts of promotional material to stir up some business for the upcoming months. There’s lot’s of “competition” up there every year, which makes it more fun to go nuts with my creations!
Dick’s Sporting Goods Grand Opening
Today I did a Grand Opening at Dick’s in Canton, OH. The gig was coordinated through a company called intertactcomm out of Dallas. They seem to do this sort of thing all the time and have a very polished system. It was a great environment and the customers were all very happy. Our interactcomm contact was also very pleased with our (Suzan, fabulous face painter and 5Star-talent.com partner, was there also) work and told us she would like us to head down to Lancaster to do another opening in October. I really enjoy a smooth corporate operation.
-Grace and peace
Party in Avon, I love my Job!
Had a great party experience today in Avon, OH. Did a magic show and balloons for a 1st birthday party that had a lot of kids there. The setting was slightly less than ideal for the magic show, but I just made sure to focus on the kids and have a good time. The balloons went over very well. The kids all waited on their blankets as I made one balloon at a time and then gave it away based on the biggest smile. It was a new system, but it was very successful. The dad was very complimentary and said that I was “clutch” for occupying such a large group of kids for an hour and a half. 4 or 5 people had already said something to him before I even left. I really really really enjoy what I do.
Grace and Peace
Learning WordPress and Reading Books
Greetings. I have been using WordPress for about 3 days now. After a few hours with “WordPress for Dummies” and 2 hours worth of the “Famous 5 Minute Install” I finally started producing the page you see before you now. I will continue to dig into this technology and improve this site. It’s been fun and I can see it becoming very rewarding.
In addition to “WordPress for Dummies,” I have been getting into a lot of books lately. I just finished “The Girl Who Played with Fire” and now I need to borrow the 3rd book in the series. My current reading list is as follows:
-Spiritual: The Book of Acts, Luke?
-Leisure: The Eye of the World, Robert Jordan (I always remember seeing this book on shelves growing up and I believe I even cracked it open once when I was about 10 but was overwhelmed by it’s size and scope, I recently came into another copy and am now 100 pages in after a day and really enjoying it)
-Business: 33 Ruthless Rules of Local Advertising, Michael Corbett
Power of An Hour: Business and Life Mastery in One Hour A Week, David Lakhani
-Education: Teaching Adult Second Language Learners, Heather McKay and Abigail Tom
I’m soaking it all up!
Grace and Peace