Back in November*, I was given a ticket to the #140 Conference at the Indigo 02 in London. I was really excited and nervous all at the same time (in fact when I couldn’t get on the tube at London Bridge due to all the people trying to get to work I very nearly turned back and gave up.)

While at Brain’s house the night before I had realised that I had forgotten my charger, when I was in St Pancras station waiting I tried to get to the mobile store that is within the station but it was already closed. I asked Brain’s and her housemates but we couldn’t come up with a USB cable so I had to risk being battery-less for most of the day.

I got to the O2 arena and found the O2 store and managed to get a charger – then I just needed a power socket.

I went to the front desk and asked one of the guys if there was a plug socket I could use.

Little did I know that my rescuer was Dr M aka Adrian. He guarded my phone while it charged for a little while. The conference gave each one of us an amazing chance to make friends. I chatted to quite a few people who normally I would have never come into contact with, there was Jennifer from Kodak (@KodakCB), Misae from MR Media Group (@MinxyMoggy – she became my power socket and lunch buddy), Ehsan who blogs at Wise Marketing (@Media_Lad), Dr Sue Black from University of Westminster (@Dr_Black – we discussed about education and Twitter – so much fun!!) and Heather from News 12 in Connecticut (@hrkovar – she was also my lunch buddy!)

Anyhoo so why am I recounting stories from over 3 months ago, surely this is about something particular – well there you are correct. Actually this is about an event that happened on the 21st January – that I was invited to. (Yup me invited to a special party in London!!)

Adrian’s company celebrated 20 years in the business last week with the premiere of “Masquerade Reloaded” (the trailer can be found here)

I was very excited and wanted to attend but I would have had to get the train home on my own and stuff (I’d have reached Bedford around 12:30am)

Anyhoo, I’ve been able to interview Adrian about what he does and how he does it and also about the film. At present I haven’t seen the film but I’ve been told that I will be able to acquire a DVD of it at some point in the future so another post will appear then when I’ve seen it.

Han: Adrian how did you get started in the business?

Dr M: Back in 1990, I was working for a medical publishing company as a Director of Sales and Advertising but was also putting together my wedding to Lisa, so Masquerade seemed to be a natural synthesis of Ade the Businessman and Ade the Party Host! It was natural, unplanned and pure serendipity!

Han: Serendipity seems to have become a real buzzword since @DarenBBC did his presentation at the #140conf. Do you have a specific favourite party or event that you organised? Or do you like them all?

Dr M: I love the danger and buzz and sheer action/adrenaline fix of them all, but I have mad bad soft spot for my world famous hijacks that are run by Vlad! (Vlad is one of the many crazy characters that pop up and each party depending on the theme). They are so real, so crazy, so totally thrilling that they could easily have been taken straight from a 007/Mision Impossible film and script! My team is ace and I have some of the very best actors, stuntmen, performers and fellow nutters at hand to assist my madness and mayhem!

Han: Definitely sounds like a Dr M party would go down in history, have you had any famous clients?

Dr M: Fame is what you make of it! A-Listers come and go but we have a strong and personal link for 5 years now with Jonathan Ross! Masquerade has worked with so many names over the years but a few that have been great fun include Jeremy Beadle, Bob Monkhouse, Sir Stirling Moss and Bobby Davro to name but a few!

Han: I’m a follower (on Twitter) of your Son @Sebsilas, does entertainment run in the family?

Dr M: Well, let’s just say that Sebastian is detined for great things as a jazz musician and has an equally fun sense of occasion and parties! A mini Dr M indeed! His Sisters Claudia and Amelia, now also on Twitter, are both dancers and also like to party! Claudia is going on to be a West End performer too! Amelia has seen the light and wants to be a Lawyer! Guess that makes us an entertaining family.

Han: Where did you get your inspiration to create a film and a premiere for the 20th anniversary?

Dr M: From a bottle of bubbly and a couple of glasses of fine Cognac after a mad mad Masquearade party last year!

Han: Good idea, funny how the best ideas start life as a general chilled out conversation. I’ve been following you on Twitter since the conference back in November but how has the use of Twitter affected your business?

Dr M: Twitter has enabled Masquerade and Dr M to acquire a massive cult/PR following from all over the globe! 1100 followers in just 15 weeks no less! It has been a major live-time Social Media Platform from which to promote Masquerade and Dr M from the Twitter “Batvace” to an eclectic and vibrant new market and niche group of people who are pioneering real-time communication by sharing, connecting and engaging together!

Han: Earlier I asked about any famous clients you’ve had, following those, is there a dream client you’d like to work with?

Dr M: I’d like to do a party from Dr M HAHA! Failing that, let serendipity bring that dream client to Dr Masquerade and Ade! Expect the unexpected!

Han: As someone who has been in the business over 20 years, if there is someone out there reading this who was interested in getting into event organising, do you have any suggestions or tips?

Dr M: Yeah, do it! And expect the unexpected, always! It’s the best job you could ever have! Work hard and play harder as Dr M says!!!!

*Technically I was given the free ticket in about September but for my story count it as November lol

Links and Information

You can follow Dr M on Twitter here: @DrMasquerade.
The company website is here.
And the Masquerade Reloaded site is here.