This year’s Spa Life International (Ireland) Convention was, for the first time ever, hosted as a Virtual Event on 29th September and was hailed a success by delegates and sponsors alike.
The innovative Spa Life platform provided different custom-designed floor plans to reflect the separate activity areas of a live event including a Virtual EXPO Arena and Conference Theatre.
On arrival into the platform all delegates arrive in the EXPO where sponsors enjoyed a branded booth at which they could network and chat with delegates. Each booth enabled sponsors to host up to six guests at once with simultaneous video chat as well as a dedicated floor reserved for one-to-one business meetings.
Laura Meeson, Corporate Account Manager at Premier Software Solutions commented: “Spa Life is a key networking event, so it was great to see how the Organisers have successfully pivoted to a virtual format. The EXPO was excellent, and it was great to be able to invite delegates to our booth for a casual introduction which often turned into a more serious business conversation and we came away with a couple of serious leads to follow up”.
After some free networking time in the EXPO, delegates were given the choice of jumping into the Virtual Conference Theatre where speakers delivered a series of presentations throughout the day on a diverse range of topics aimed at driving business in a post-pandemic environment.
Clair Davidson, Head of Sales at VOYA said: “It was great that the education programme was so positive; rather than dwelling on the difficulties that we’re all facing, the presentations focussed on the future and how organisations can improve their businesses in different ways.
Also, although the Convention was billed as an event for Ireland there was an international feel about it with participants and speakers from around the world which is a great way to unite the spa community”.
The event attracted 240 registrations from all sectors of the industry including spa operators, suppliers and Consultants plus a number of delegates who were currently ‘between roles’ due to redundancy and these were offered complimentary access by the Organisers.
Co-Founder and Event Director, Andrew Hammond told us: “We knew there were a lot of spa managers who have been made redundant or temporarily laid off who would probably be feeling out of touch so we wanted to extend a small gesture to these individuals to allow them to network with former colleagues and peers from the industry during this difficult time. About a dozen participants gratefully accepted this offer and we are delighted about this as ours is an industry built on relationships so it was the least we could do for the people who have supported us for so long”.
The next Convention, Spa Life UK is scheduled for 24th & 25th November and will also be hosted on the virtual platform. The organisers say they have learned a great deal from the first virtual event and have already made improvements included a dedicated area exclusively for pre-scheduled one-to-one meetings between Buyers & Suppliers.
Mike Fitch, Co-Founder said: “The speed-networking forum is an established element of the Spa Life format and a great way for operators to review the supply market and discover new innovations so we’ve built an additional floor plan exclusively to accommodate this activity”.
Registration for Spa Life UK is now open and can be booked on-line via the event web site or interested parties can call for more information on 01268 745892.
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