This year’s visit to The Dentistry Show was the usual whirlwind of networking meetings and an absolute pleasure to boot.

We did make a serious mistake on the Friday evening after a few drinks in The Gallery, deciding that a cab ride to Solihull for the traditional informal Bridge2Aid curry was a step too far, when the apparent delights of The Little Owl on the NEC complex were so much closer.

What followed was a long wait for microwaved, processed food alleviated only by the efforts of our second waitress (the first having retreated in the face of our ridicule at his level of narkiness) and the endless laughter of the company present.

Thank you Annie, Shaennna, Nat and Steve for a hilarious evening

Note to self – next year back to the Raj Nagar.

The Dentistry Show has just grown and grown over the years (whilst the BDIA deny that the big glowing thing in the sky is an approaching meteor) and now represents the premier place to be in the firmament of UK trade shows.

Moving the Probe awards to the Hilton is clever, although the traditional Friday night fun in the bar at The Crowne Plaza seems to have been killed off – just as well for my head but a shame.

Stories circulated of survivors staggering from the Hilton at 05:00, searching for their digs and 90 minutes sleep before a shower, full English and strap on smile for their stand.

Speaking for Practice Plan was a hoot – as always, well organised and presented – and my 60-seater theatre was crammed for both sessions – very pleased.

Extremely weird (and nice) to have so many people asking for selfies for their kids because I was on The Island with Bear Grylls last year – I thought that was all over but good old dentistry revived this forgotten celebrity for a few hours and I was repeatedly asked to comment on the trials and tribulations of Series 2 (don’t get me started).

I came home from The Show with a pile of tasks and business cards – lots of doors opening for the future.

Best bit – hearing from one of our Artisan Lifecycle Marketing clients how delighted they were with our team and our customer service – made my day that did.

Second best bit – attending the press launch of the new Philips AirFloss Plus – as sexy as anything in the Apple store and the antidote to my stubby fingers (for cleaning inter-dentally that is – my piano playing and basket weaving are still dreams).

I can’t tell you how excited I was when I managed my first triple-action spurt on Sunday morning.

So I end with the title of this post – how come so many people at The Show have lost so much weight?

Around every corner was a former fatty dumpling now transformed into a slenderised version of themselves and talking about cycling, running, Paleo nutrition and whether I would friend them on Strava.

Is there something going on I don’t know about?

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“These “letters” are the personal observations of me, Chris Barrow and are not intended to reflect the views of 7connections and its team members, they just give me permission to publish here on the basis that they can keep an eye on me, a bit like a mad relative at a wedding reception. I’m likely to upset the sensitive and outrage the sensible – if you fall into either of those camps then read at your peril.”