Although the weather was awful in Fort Lauderdale, it didn't stop attendees from joining in the fun at IECSC Florida, where I spent this past weekend mingling with spa industry insiders. I arrived on Saturday evening and met up with some co-workers for dinner at the hotel pool for about 20 minutes of sunshine before it started raining (for the next three days). Sunday morning, we got an early start and headed over the Broward County Convention Center to walk the show floor and meet up with some of our favorite exhibitors at their boothes. ( I, of course, needed to make my ususal detour to the Blinc booth to pick up my favorite mascara.) I've been to this show before, and although it is not quite as big as the ones in New York City or Vegas, it still holds its own. But this year, the aisles were packed with people interested in learning more about all the good things the industry has to offer. Then it was time to head back to the hotel in a torrential downpour to get ready to SpaExec, where I had the pleasure of introducing our keynote speaker, Haley Bane of Coyle Hospitality Group, who talked to a room of about 80 spa professionals about what consumers are looking for and how to provide them with what they need. After that, I was honored to moderate a panel on trends in marketing, retail, and treatments. I'd like to give a shout out to my amazing panelists, George Powell-Lopez and Ilana Moses of the Florida Spa Association, and Catherine Keeble, who is the spa director of MySpa Intercontinental in Miami. They came beyond prepared and offered an exceptional amount of insight on the topic. After a packed weekend in the pouring rain, I finally returned home to NYC, where I was greeted with more rain. But after such a great weekend hanging out with so many wonderful spa owners, directors, and vendors, my disposition is sunny.
Our next IECSC show will be taking place in New York City April 22-24. To find out more, click here. Hope to see you there!