In my opinion, the best thing about our industry is the incredible people. One of my favorites is Jeremy McCarthy, the Director of Global Spa Development and Operations for Starwood. I’m a big fan of his blog, The Psychology of Wellbeing, as well of some of the articles he’s written for American Spa. (Be sure to stay tuned to our March issue for his take on being a man in a traditionally more female field.) So I was excited when I found out he would be the keynote speaker at Spatec Spring, which takes place March 14th to 17th, 2012, at The Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes, Florida. His topic is, “In Defense of Pampering.” According to Jeremy, the rallying cry of the spa industry for the past several years has been “spas are about wellness, not pampering.” In his keynote, he will be sharing insights from his studies into the psychology of spas and wellbeing to help us understand why pampering is an essential part of the spa experience. Rather than turning our backs on pampering, he believes we should understand why pampering is exactly what our customers are looking for and how spas can deliver a healing experience that surpasses those being offered anywhere else. I, for one, cannot wait to learn more!