Report on the 2005 New York Spa & Resort and Medical Spa Expo and Conference - Julie Reigster attended this event at the Jacob Javits Center on Sunday May 22nd

The Spa & Resort and Medical Spa Expo and Conference was held at the Jacob Javits center this year, having outgrown its location for the last two years at Pier 94.

I was able to attend on Sunday, May 22. I only spent about an hour touring the Expo floor where a couple hundred companies had booths (see photos below). Most of the day was spent listening to speakers at the conference. Summaries of the three sessions I enjoyed most follow.

Linda Bankoski is Managing Director of Education and Assessment for SpaQuality LLC,* a company that provides quality management standards (The International Standards of SpaExcellenceSM), education, assessment and certification for spas. She presented The Power of Three (3): How Your Spa Can Thrive Using Quality Management Principles. This presentation was designed to help spa owners and managers identify practical steps take to improve profits and customer satisfaction based on quality principles that have been proven to help many types of organizations. Linda talked about the concepts of simple vs. easy, process improvement, system improvement and right-to-left thinking. She identified the keys to successful spa management through:

* Julie Register co-owns SpaQuality LLC with Linda Bankoski and serves as Managing Director of Operations.

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Susanne Warfield, President/CEO of Paramedical Consultants, Inc. is an expert on the business, legal and liability issues that affect physician and esthetician relationships. She gave an in-depth discussion on legal and liability issues surrounding Medical Spas. Topics included Federal and State regulations for Boards of both Medicine and Cosmetology, the delegation of rules, the scope of licensure, OSHA regulations, the ANSI Standards for Laser Safety, as well as guidelines of Patient Confidentiality, Security Standards, Record Keeping, Electronic Transactions and Compliance.

This was a very enlightening talk for me. I was unaware of the legal issues surrounding etheticians working in medical spas. In ~30 states, the cosmetology boards do not recognize the esthetician liscense in a medical spa because what a medical spa does is outside the scope of the cosmetology practice. While it may protect the boards, it doesn't seem to be in the clients' best interest. It appears that in these states, medical spas can hire untrained people to provide esthetics services. I was also unaware that there is no such license as a medical esthetician or clinical esthetician. These are marketing names only. These were just a couple of the things Susanne touched upon. NCEA, the National Coalition of Esthetic & Related Associations and the Society of Dermatology SkinCare Specialists are good resources for more information.

Susanne S. Warfield is the publisher of the PCI Journal™, The Medical Journal for Skin Care Professionals©. She authored " The Guide to Building a Medical Esthetic Practice" (PCI) "The Esthetician's Guide to Working with Physicians"(Milady), "OSHA Manual on Bloodborne Pathogens" (PCI), and , and co-author of "Laser Safety for the Salon & Spa" (Nicholson/PCI) "Physician's Guide to In-office Dispensing" (Ellzey/PCI), "The Standard Textbook for Professional Estheticians-Revised Edition" (Milady) and "The Practical Application of Estheticians in the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon's Office" (W.B. Saunders). She recently completed, "Estheticians in Dermatology," for Dermatologic Therapy's Cosmetic Editor Zoe Draelos, M. D.

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I first heard of Sarah Noble a long time ago. Perhaps it was when I visited Chiva Som in Thailand, but I think it was well before that. She spent 3 years as the Group Health & Wellness Director for Chiva Som and is currently the Director of Projects, Asia for spa consultancy company Raison d'Etre who have created award-winning spas for such hotel groups as the Aman, Six Senses & Taj resorts. I was happy to finally get a chance to meet her and hear her talk, The A-Z of Spa Success & Spas Around the World. I was pleasantly surprised that my name was familiar to her, also. Her message is one that I don't hear often enough at these conferences. Don't get me wrong - profits, marketing and retail are critical to a healthy business, However, it's nice to hear about the real core of spas - guest expectations, wellness, peace of mind and health of body. Sarah asked the question, "While outside beauty is a component, what if beauty was judged by how you looked inside? Would you be proud?" Her vision of a spa is that it is a proactive part of a person's health routine - a place is to maintain wellness. She talked about how important ambiance is and how important it is for staff to recognize clients as individuals. She discussed the four pillars of spa, bathing (internally as well as externally), lifestyle (exercise, relaxation, breathing, home care, healty eating, lifestyle choices) and treatments. She walked us through a typical guest's experience from beginning to end and noted critical elements at each stage. She also talked about the aspects of opening a spa from market analysis to opening the door - with all the business considerations. An hour was not nearly enough.

A few of the companies at the Expo

JAMU Asian Spa Rituals & Educational Programmes	Juara Skincare
Amber Products	Salonware Spaware
Inara at Universal Companies	ESS Aromatherapy at Universal Companies
Nayer Kazemi - Water Art	Actifirm
Taking The Waters