It provides a place for lectures of subjects related to the craft, as well as a series of sample performances of noted or innovative techniques.
Many conventions also hold competitions to judge who excels at a particular style, and present awards in various categories such as sleight of hand, card tricks, mentalism, and stage illusions.
[1] Some small conferences have great prestige within the industry, but are not open to the public: The MAGIC Magazine Convention Guide provides a comprehensive list of upcoming magic conventions and allows events to be compared to each other based on dates, price, location, number of events, etc.
Other Magic-related organizations are: The most prestigious "stage magic" award in the International Brotherhood of Magicians competitions is the I.B.M.
Less scrupulous magicians will often claim that they have a prestigious award, without indicating its origin, or declare themselves an 'award-winning' act, implying a high quality of performance.
If a magician is or has been a genuinely notable and successful competitor in magic contests, he or she will probably have won an award, perhaps more than one, which are recognised at an international, national, or at least regional level.