The second day of IECSC Las Vegas ’11 started off with a quiet morning, but by afternoon both the show floor and classrooms were packed with attendees sampling the latest products, networking, and enjoying the education.  I stopped by several excellent classes, including a class in the Medical Spa track entitled The Power of the Purse, by Kelly Fletcher, on marketing to women, and an update by Seth Gardenswartz of Spa Boom on How the New Gift Law Affects Your Spa.  Presentations on retailing were given by both my colleague Peggy Wynne Borgman and Louis Mattassi, on ingredients by Ada Polla, CEO of Alchimie Forever, and on Oncology Esthetics by Mórag Currin, who is becoming a fixture at esthetic shows.  The Sole Practitioner Track offered Risky Business, a risk management class for estheticians from Jesse Cormier of the ASCP, and a class on Building an Esthetics Practice from Scratch by Douglas Preston and Rebecca James Gadberry, among many others, and our own Dan Chandre gave a great class in the medical spa track on all things digital; managing your SEO, social media integration, online reviews, and operating software.  Dozens of classrooms were filled with manufacturer classes all day, as well as the variety of technical demonstrations happening down on the show floor.

Attendance at IECSC also includes entry to the IBS show  on the other side of the convention center, and it’s always fun to visit the hair/nail side for a little excitement.  But when it gets too loud and crazy, it’s nice to retreat back to the more calming atmosphere of the spa side of the show.  But it was only relaxed in comparison; many vendors reported that both interest and orders were up over 2010 show numbers, and hope abounds that we will continue our slow climb out of a recessionary environment.

Monday was a shorter day for the trade show floor, and also offered a number of 3-hour Advanced Management workshops, including diverse offerings such as a very informative session by Jamie Ginsberg entitled Blogging; Organically Improving your SEO, and Connecting Wellness to Organic thru Aromatherapy by industry veteran Bonnie Canavino.

Next up on the show schedule is the Spa & Resort/Medical Aesthetics Expo June 28 & 29^th, co-located with HBA Global Expo.  If you’re not going, stop back to the blog for my report on those events.