ISSE Long Beach has now come and gone. There were a few changes for the better when it comes to attending as a nail professional and we can only hope to see more improvements next year. If you follow me on Instagram  or Facebook, my goal was to help you feel like you got to attend the show alongside me. Everything from getting a demo to taking pictures of things that caught “our” eye as we walked around. I also had the privilege of teaching a class for PBA. It was my first time to apply to teach at a show and it was an honor to be accepted. For those of you who missed the social media coverage, here’s a recap.

Started out the show looking for things to cover in my new position as Contributing Editor for NAILS Magazine. It was really exciting to hand out my new business cards! One improvement this year was that a large percentage of the nail booths were grouped together, and in addition to that, they were positioned on the way to the Nail Spot. This meant you could go back and forth between shopping and demos to the classes and competitions. There were large directional signs pointing towards the Nail Spot, however I still heard lots of complaints about the difficulty in finding it. What suggestions do you all have for making it easier to find the Nail Spot at its current location?

Another upgrade was to the Nail Spot itself. There were several seating areas in addition to power strips placed all around so that we could take a load off and relax while charging devices and checking social media. The free wifi was helpful for those who did not have coverage. There was a good variety of classes offered. The IBX class I had the chance to wander into had great attendance. Just so you’re aware, when there’s a show going on, you can find coverage from NAILS Magazine on Facebook, Instagram (@nailsmagazine), Twitter, and Snapchat! You might have even recognized my voice in a few things!

All three days were full of information-gathering, networking, and photo opportunities. A tradeshow or networking event is such an amazing opportunity to catch up with friends and fellow professionals. As you know from my pre-show blog last week, Doug Schoon and I decided to host an informal get together for anyone in the nail industry who could get away and attend in the Nail Spot for an hour on Sunday. It was a wonderful opportunity to be able to chat away from the noise of the show floor, get great pictures, and visit with some industry icons! You can catch the Facebook Live recording and the rest of the photos on my Facebook page.

Some of the attendees you might recognize were Doug Schoon of Schoon Scientific, Helena and Ian of Scratch Magazine, Elizabeth Morris from The Nail Hub, Jim and Linda of Famous Names, NAILS’ executive editor Beth Livesay, Maisie Dunbar of Bluffa Jo Cosmetics, Rise Carter from Associated Nail Professionals, Suzie of Nail Career Education, Kelvin from A.I.I. , Cheryl of Mirage Spa Education, and more. If PBA does not make an official event of it next year, look for Doug and I to host it again and get nail professionals together for some hang out time!

I hope you enjoyed the show coverage whether it was on the NAILS Magazine channels or my own. We would love to hear ideas from you about things at the shows you enjoy seeing.