With more than 33,000 licensed beauty professionals swarming the sold-out Long Beach Convention Center show floor January 31 - February 2, the International Salon & Spa Expo (ISSE) surpassed expectations for 2009 and reaffirmed its position as the largest beauty event on the West Coast.
Along with valuable demonstrations on the show floor, attendees chose from more than 250 education classes, up more than 50 classes from 2008, for hair, nails, massage therapy and business strategy classes. ISSE also featured industry icons, such as Tabatha Coffey of the Bravo channel's hit show "Tabatha's Salon Takeover," Kim Vo and Martin Parsons on the tremendously popular International Fashion Theater and Technical Theater stages, as well as the new Latino Fashion Theater stage.
PBA members enjoyed a place to escape and unwind in the PBA members-only lounge and complimentary snacks and drinks at PBA's Super Bowl party. Exhibitors enjoyed complimentary breakfasts while attendees geared up to participate in PBA's Photo-Shoot Give-away. Additionally, PBA partnered with Barbar Artists to give away a full salon set up worth $80,000 and Ultimate Beauty to give away a brand new 2009 Mercedes!
The electricity in the air among attendees, educators and exhibitors was both invigorating and indicative of the professional beauty industry's persistence to thrive in a slumping economy.
Charlene Abretske of Your Beauty Network, based in Carlsbad, Claifornia, talked about utilizing social networking tools to keep your finger on the pulse of computer-savvy clients. "There are a lot of sites out there that may have reviews about you," she said. "Some may be good and some bad, but you should know they're there."
The changing economy, shrinking retail tickets and strategic marketing solutions were just a few topics taking center stage at this year's ISSE PBA Salon and Spa Round Table. A group of about 25 salon and spa owners from across the nation shared some of their solutions to combat these common challenges. "This problem with the economy has really thrown us a curve ball," said Kim Miller of Illusions Salon and Spa in Florida. "We're back to the drawing board, always having to think outside of the box."
PBA Leadership Council members Marilyn Ihloff, of Ihloff Salon and Day Spa, and Cary O'Brien, of Cary O'Brien's Design and ColorSpa, led the discussion and sparked the creative atmosphere. Marilyn spoke of open communication and leading through inspiration. "Communicating the vision...is, to me, the hugest thing. Every person on your team needs to know where you're going, why, and what's in it for them."
Cary stirred the crowd with some innovative ways to use promotions to drive clientele, keep staff from being wasteful and retail training. "All the great ideas we have to promote retail don't matter unless we talk about it," he exclaimed, asking the crowd, "How often do you talk about it - every couple months? It has to be a topic every month."
If you missed the panel discussion at ISSE and are looking for ideas on how to keep your business competitive in today's challenging environment, plan to attend PBA's Symposium: Consumer Culture held during PBA Beauty Week in July. Visit probeauty.org/symposium for details!