Report on the 2011 ISPA Conference & Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada
by Julie Register

2,250 attendees from 38 countries attended the 21st ISPA Conference & Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada November 7th, 8th and 9th, 2011 at the Mandalay Bay Conference Center. The theme was Believe. The three general sessions I attended each featured inspiring and interesting keynote speakers. During these sessions, ISPA bestowed the following honors:

• ISPA Alex Szekely Humanitarian Award - Bert Jacobs, chief executive optimist for the Life is Good Company and one of the keynote speakers
• ISPA Dedicated Contributor Award - Angela Cortright, founder and owner of Spa Gregorie’s

The annual ISPA Foundation Live and Silent Auction raised $102,000 to fund scholarships, educational spa resources and research. I spent a few days at Red Mountain Resort in Ivins, Utah before the conference. I had such a great time, I didn't want to leave. Thanks to my good luck, I bid for a stay at Red Mountain Resort in the Silent Auction and won! Now I can go back to Utah and bring my husband with me as well as feel good about helping the ISPA Foundation!!

There were 20 professional development sessions offered as well as a number of treatment demonstrations in the Relaxation Area.

This year's expo featured more than 200 companies, and 50 new products.

One of my favorite parts of the conference, as always, was the opportunity to catch up with many of my spa friends that I only see at this event.

Here are some other highlights of the 2011 conference for me:

Keynote Speakers

Optimism Can Take You Anywhere - Bert Jacobs
Bert Jacobs, chief executive optimist for the Life is Good Company, told the story of how the tee shirt business started by himself and his brother has become a $100 million company. One of the most interesting things about his journey to me was that they never spent a penny on advertising. Bert is a proponent of the "half full" outlook on life and believes in childlike openness, simplicity, humility and sense of humor. This started when he was a child. His mom would ask him to tell about something good that happened each day. Whatever you focus on will grow. Optimism is a self-fulfilling prophecy. The first Jake, the smiley face that became the icon for Life is Good, was created 17 years ago. People loved the positive messages that Jake delivered. People randomly brought ideas for new shirts to Bert. "Does the guy ride a bike?" they asked. "No," replied Bert, "but he will." "Does Jake ski?" they asked. "No," replied Bert, "but he will." People told others. The company took off. "Do what you like, and like what you do." became the tagline for the company.

Bert found that people who face the most adversity are the ones who embrace optimism the most. A number of years ago, he met Lindsey Beckett, an 11-year-old with cancer, who was wearing a Life is Good tee shirt. He asked if she understood her diagnosis. She did. Then why a Life is Good tee shirt? She said that before she was sick, she took life for granted. Afterwards, she appreciated every moment. Bert established the Life is good Kids Foundation which helps kids overcome life-threatening challenges such as violence, illness and extreme poverty. He finds that giving feels real good - it's by giving that you become rich.

"Takers may eat well, but givers sleep well."

 Life Is Good: Simple Words from Jake and Rocket  

Future View: How Trends are Affecting Consumer Lifestyles - Faith Popcorn

Faith Popcorn, CEO of Faith Popcorn’s BrainReserve, stated that her mission is to lift people to their best future. She says that 2012 will begin a decade of SHE - feminine energy fueled by money, power and compassion. She introduced “The Ark”, a place of nurturing, transparency, honesty and reinvention for everyone looking for transportation to safety from economic and climate-related disasters. She provided five steps for companies to get on "The Ark" -
1. The consumer is dead; long live human beings who seek substance of superficiality.
2. Ark brands listen and respond. Human beings buy from businesses that care. We are touch-deprived. We are interconnected through a web of wellbeing.
3. Ark companies have power. In nothing we trust, but we still crave leadership. We believe in actions, not words. Ark companies demand inclusive growth. Ark companies don't support causes, they solve problems.
4. Ark companies embrace the feminine side. Nurturing will prevail. Hope is delicious. Ark companies innovate to meet women's needs.
5. Ark companies do not fear change, they make change. Ark companies don't compete, they collaborate. Brilliant ideas come from the heart and gut. Create the highest good for the citizen, planet and brand

EVEolution: The Eight Truths of Marketing to Women  

Delivering Happiness - Tony Hsieh

Tony Hsieh, Zappos.com CEO, spoke on the last day of the conference. I've seen Tony at two other ISPA conferences and have enjoyed his willingness to share his discoveries on the path to success. Tony told us about his journey from running a pizza business in college to leading Zappos.com to sales of more than $1 billion in gross merchandise sales annually. He talked about the importance of business culture. Since the last time, the mission has evolved to delivering happiness (what everyone ultimately wants) from delivering the very best in customer service and customer experience (a subset of delivering happiness). Providing excellent customer service and experience is the key driver of growth and repeat customers.

Tony recommends taking the high touch approach vs. high tech approach. Zappos.com finds the telephone to be the best branding tool they have. It only accounts for 5% of sales but it is the way to establish a connection with the customer and communicate the company's culture. PEC - personal, emotional, connection.

If you get the culture right, customer service will follow. He discussed the company's 10 values that they hire and fire by. It's important to hire people whose personal values are the same as the company's values.

Great companies have: strong cultures, a vision with a higher purpose, passion that gets them through tough times. Chase the vision, not the money. If you can inspire passion and purpose, you don't have to motivate.

The brand is the lagging indicator of the culture. Spas are in the stories and memories business. Think bigger.

http://www.deliveringhappiness.com/
http://www.zapposinsights.com/

Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose  

Professional Development Sessions
I attended five professional development sessions. Recordings of all sessions are available exclusively to ISPA members.

• Dan Chandre

  The Next Generation of KPIs by Dan Chandre, Vice President, Operations, GramercyOne
  Dan shared a few interesting data points from SpaBooker, an online spa booking product, with us. Currently there are 85,000+ online bookings per month. 33% of those bookings are made between 8pm and 8am. He presented a number of statistics about online and mobile device behaviors and growth.
  
  Dan noted that traditional spa analysis looks at data such as average treatment revenue per treatments sold, average treatment revenue per treatment room, utilization of rooms and therapists, revenue per square foot, hotel capture rate, treatments per guest, etc. This data only measures success after the guest is at the spa. There has not been any evaluation of the customer acquisition performance. He said it is necessary for spas to measure their success as marketers as well as operators. Here are some of the KPIs he recommended:
  - % of customer-initiated bookings
  - % of online bookings that net new customers
  - % of online bookings made outside of spa operating hours
  - Online bookings by channel (website, mobile, social media, deal sites, third parties, promotion specific)
  - Retention % by online channel
  - Final Opportunity Factor = Value of Final Ticket at Checkout/Original Booking Value (captures upsells and add-ons)
  - Future Value Factor per Channel = Retention % x Final Opportunity Factor (compares ROI across channels)
  
  Spas should be tracking and analyzing every booking method they use.
  
  Unfortunately, the last 20 minutes or so veered off topic and degraded into a discussion on the merits of sites such as Living Social and Groupon.

• Leading a 5-Star Service Team: What Does it Take to Lead a Team of Service Superstars? by Dr. Bryan Williams
  This is the third time I've seen Bryan make a presentation at ISPA. He is always informative and entertaining. He also does a great job with follow-up material after the presentation. Here are some of my notes. They just capture some of the points and don't do justice to his presentation.
  
  Bryan started the presentation by stating that people do what they are allowed to do. Good leaders must become good servants. People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. Ask what can I do to help? Organizations with world-class service have leaders that have high expectations and believe in their staff. He said there are three types of people: those that hear it (conceptual); those that believe it (superficial); and those that live it (emotional and personal). Whatever you focus on will improve. Leaders should spend the most time with those who give them the most (energizing).
  
  If you say you only expect excellence, those that don't deliver excellence will stand out. If staff sees a manager tolerating mediocrity, it will demotivate and disengage the best. The top causes for low performance are:
  60% poor performance feedback
  31% lack of training
  40% high individual stress levels
  37% lack of clear individual goals
  39% no performance standards
  
  Every person who works hard craves appreciation. If they don't get it, they will quit and leave or quit and stay (worse). Make sure each employee knows that their efforts help the team. Tell them why the team is better because they are part of it. Remind them of why they were hired. Leaders show appreciation and know what motivates their staff and how they want to be recognized. Acknowledge good behavior daily. Reserve recognition for outstanding performance.
  
  He provided a list of Non-Negotiables of a 5-Star Leader. Click HERE to read them.



• Todd Hewitt

  Simple and Cost-Effective Tips and Tricks to Enhance Your Guest's Spa Experience by Todd Hewitt, Senior Spa Director with Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts 
  Todd shared many of Four Seasons' methods to enhance their spa guests' experiences.  He invited spa managers to rethink their operations from their guests' point of view. Todd was one of the few speakers who provided notes on their presentations. His list was so thorough, that I won't list the ideas here. You can read the basics and extra touches for every part of the spa operation by clicking HERE.


• Rebooting the Future: Reclaiming Your Strategic Dream, Post-Recession by Peggy Wynn Borgman, president of Wynne Business and owner of Preston Wynne Spa
  Peggy noted that we have all come through a crisis and, we have three choices: 1) return to the habits we had before the crisis (which contributed to creating the crisis) 2) continue to function in survival mode or 3) recreate ourselves with a new vision. She discussed her process for helping spas create a shared vision through graphic facilitation of Strategic Dreaming.


• Evaluating Finances, Operations and Guest Service -Implement Change to be More Profitable by  Monte Zwang, principal of Wellness Capital Management, and Christi Cano, president and founder of Innovative Spa Productions
  Monte and Christi discussed the top 10 profitability areas that spas should evaluate in order to assess their business operations and financial condition: Guest experience and guest results, Price, Cost per treatment, Menu of Services, Compensation, payroll and staffing, Optimizing the appointment schedule, Inventory control, Purchasing, Retail and Marketing. The presentation is available HERE.

The Expo

Here are a few of the booths I visited at the expo:

Capterra Looking for software for your spa? Start here! This company helps you find software that has the options you need and helps you compare and evaluate various software products.	Suite Spa* This cart system is designed to transform a hotel guest room into a complete spa environment. With one retractable plug to power everything, the cart is equipped with everything needed for massages, facials, hot stone therapy, wraps, pedicures and manicures.
Tasha & Co	MiaLena Designs
Naturopathica	FarmHouse Fresh
The Comphy Company*	Pino*
Life is Good	Body Bliss*
Oka b*	Kneipp*
Mama Mio*	ilike organic skin care from Szep Elet*
RevitaLash*	Sonoma Lavender*

The 2012 ISPA Conference and Expo will be held at Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Kissimmee, Florida, USA on October 15 - 17, 2012. 

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photos copyright Tiffany Brown 2011
unless marked * which are copyright Julie Register 2011