On January 5th & 6th, Phorest Salon Software hosted its 6th annual Salon Owners Summit in Dublin, Ireland. Applauded as one of Europe's leading Beauty Business events, this year’s edition attracted an International audience of over 500 Salon and Spa Owners from across the US, Canada, Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Ireland.
The festivities kicked off early on Saturday, 4th January for US/CA delegates with a special itinerary for those who made the trip. This included a walking tour of Dublin, a special lunch at the Dean Hotel and finished off by a pub crawl of Dublin’s iconic Temple Bar district.
Sunday, 5th January saw the addition of a brand new event to the Salon Owners Summit Schedule. At ‘Inside Phorest - The Future of Technology for the Salon Industry’, attendees got the chance to meet Phorest’s product developers, hear more about what’s coming down the line in Salon Technology for 2020 & give feedback on Phorest features in development. Other elements of the afternoon included a special guest speaker from Instagram’s European Headquarters & a live recording of Phorest FM. This was followed by the Salon Owners Summit pre-party where guests networked the evening away ahead of the Summit itself on Monday.
The 2020 Salon Owners Summit in Dublin’s world-class Convention Center kicked off early on Monday, 6th January with an electric rendition of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ - the perfect start to a day jam-packed with engaging and inspiring mainstage & breakout sessions. The theme of this year’s event was ‘Create a 2020 Vision for your Salon’ and welcomed a stellar lineup of 10 guest speakers to help attendees curate that very vision.
In his opening words, CEO of Phorest Ronan Perceval drew on a few examples of how technology has transformed the way we work in the Beauty industry in the past decade - things like online bookings, apps, and social media. He went on to share the important competitive edge the salon industry has in this technology-dependent age
“..some things have not changed. Salons and spas are one of the very few spaces that still provide that personal connection. Your profession is unique in that people will let you, a stranger, into their personal space and in some cases, you are considered a close friend as opposed to somebody who provides a service. With technology seeping ever more into our lives - this rare personal connection becomes even more important and we as an industry need to understand how to leverage this when looking forward to the next decade. This personal touch, for example, should be used to create highly successful and effective marketing campaigns which will, in turn, help you guys get more clients into the salon more often. So although technology is undoubtedly important, you, the marketeers, relationship builders, style icons, are what will drive the success of the business, the technology we provide is merely a tool to help you succeed.”
The mainstage was opened by Marcus Allen, whose presentation proved to be a standout for many of those in attendance. Marcus was the man behind the phenomenal growth of Urban Retreat in London’s famous Harrods, possibly the largest single-unit salon business in the world and his message was that of the importance of self-awareness in business, thinking like a start-up and constantly re-inventing for ultimate business success! Orange County’s Jamie Dana also proved a massive hit with the Dublin audience. In her presentation, Jamie demonstrated how Salon Owners can really leverage Instagram to grow their business as well as sharing tips for helping staff contribute to the creation of a strong, cohesive online brand.
Other speakers included:
- Pamela Laird, CEO of MoxiLoves & star of the UK Apprentice
- Ken Picton, President of the ‘Fellowship of British Hairdressing’ and owner of the multi-award-winning Ken Picton Salon
- Stefanie Jackson, Salon Owner & Generational Leadership Expert
- Millie Kendall MBE, CEO of British Beauty Council & Retail Maven
- Christophe Robin - Celebrity Colorist & Product Innovator
- Kristian Tognini - Director of liloffthetop education & Product Innovator
- Phil Jackson - Salon Owner & Consultant
- Ryan Power - Beauty Business Coach & Numbers Driven Marketing Geek
After a day packed with education, attendees were transported to the afterparty hosted in one of Dublin’s best-known nightclubs for an exclusive night of networking & dancing!
Information on the 2021 event will be released soon #LetsGrow
About Phorest
Phorest is a cloud-based salon software, however, it is not just a tool to manage appointments. It is a powerful system designed to assist with day-to-day business driving new business and generating referrals. Phorest is the software of choice for over 6,000 salons globally. For more information, visit https://www.phorest.com/us/