Professional Beauty caught up with event director, Julia Erben, at the Expo, to find out more about this year’s event.
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Why was it on a Sunday and Monday rather than Saturday and Sunday this year?
We changed the dates based on feedback that Saturday is the busiest day in the salon, so we wanted whole teams able to attend. For an owner to be able to bring their whole team is very important. With the scope of education sessions this year, an owner could have had a one-stop-shop usage of the event – younger workers would have been able to up skill, while the owners would have been able to attend business workshops and the whole team could have been able to source products.
What was new for Salon Melbourne in 2013?
Firstly, we extended the education offering to include Business Education and sessions on Age-Management, to help salon owners gain a valuable insight into these areas.
Age-Management is a particular growth area for the industry and will again be a feature of next year’s show. The brow and braiding bar directly referenced the current trends – brows especially have proven to be very relevant, with Jazz Pampling’s seminars both sell-outs and her Main Stage appearances proving very popular.
Another new area this year was the LaunchPad Stage, where young artists got their time to showcase their skills in short, sharp demonstrations. This isn’t something new for the hair world, but new for the world of beauty and important to help these budding artists looking to build their profile in the industry.
A show party was introduced for the first time at the event, which was great for people to be able to unwind and celebrate together.
We also had celebrities on stage including Amanda Grafanakis – who performed both at the show party and on the Main Stage in Rhiane Schroder’s demonstration on Monday.
And last but not least, we introduced a hair education partner, which we have never had before: Pivot Point joined our beauty partner, Elly Lucas, to offer educational workshops at the event and on their stand.
New Brow & Braid Bar
Why did you incorporate more educational workshops and open discussion panels this year?
We felt that the demand was there for an independent offering of knowledge not driven by suppliers. The panel discussions are formatted to reflect we are the source for non-biased information. Visitors expect to see a range of ideas and knowledge in the one place and panels take up the opinions of several people – especially in anti-ageing where there is so much conflicting information. We also wanted to showcase that Victoria has an enormous amount of successful entrepreneurs, who were especially supportive in sharing their experience.
How did you decide which speakers and educators to have or did they find you?
We go out and source speakers and educators by researching who the top voices in their fields of expertise are. We also ask people within the industry to recommend who the most relevant sources of information are – often they will be those who have taught or influenced the industry in some way. Sometimes these people are quite surprised that we are asking them, but they are often the most credible because they are so highly regarded by their peers.
What were the highlights?
Having Amanda Grafanakis perform at the party and also on stage on Monday was definitely a highlight. We have so much talent here and to see the whole package presented – from the transformation in hair and beauty, then to hear her perform was a goose-bump inspiring experience. The Launch Pad Stage was also a great highlight. We've had such amazing gratitude from the people involved in it for creating that experience for them. Also, the fact that we sold a record amount of education tickets this year shows that we are providing the industry with what they want. I'm always proud to see the passion in the industry – no matter how skilled they are, they're always looking to grow their skills and find new inspiration.
Salon Melbourne will be back for 2014, visit www.salonmelbourne.com.au for further information.