Just arrived home from my first ever trade show. I spent the weekend at the Listed Property Owners Club show. The punters come to peruse the various craftsman, architects, surveyors that offer their services to owners of historic properties, along with various oganisations that promote conservation. I was there with my boss Nick Barratt to promote the house history research that we offer.

I was quite shy at first, but after I'd listened to Nick talk to some people I jumped in and had a go. Like the familysearch booth at Woking last November, once I got going I actually really enjoyed myself. The first day was relatively slow, but today we exceeded our target for book sales (feels great to make a sale - again a first for me!) and we had one couple commission a project on the spot. I'll be doing the research so that's work for me as well.

Saturday night we went to a reception for the Heritage Together group hosted by Project Book. I got to meet other people who do what I do, which is so rare. I work in isolation most of the time, at home or travelling. Last week I bumped into someone I knew at the National Archives and it was so nice to see a familiar and friendly face. So this was a great chance to get to know other researchers and people interested in history and historic buildings. A terrific evening.