A crowd of 160 salon owners was educated and entertained at the 2nd Annual
Heartland Tanning, Inc. Seminar held at the company’s McDonough, GA facility.
Heartland’s Georgia event drew salon pros not only from Georgia, but Tennessee,
South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, Florida and Kentucky, as well.
On the first day, 60 salon operators were treated to education and training
from Suntanning Association for Education’s Joe Schuster, one of the most
well-respected trainers in the tanning industry. The second day, more
than 160 salon pros received training and education from the manufacturer
representatives, and enjoyed an exciting fashion show that showcased Heartland’s
2006 line of California Clothing swimwear and apparel.
Heartland knows that salon pros enjoy training and education, but it’s
always nice to have a few laughs, too. To add some humor to its event,
the distribution company brought in Nashville comic Ric Roberts, which
was a big treat for the crowd. “He was so funny!” exclaimed Shannon Costello,
owner of Sun Sport Tan in Stockbridge, GA. “He had me on the floor with
everything he was saying.”
Costello, who attended the event with three of her employees, said the
seminar was a worthy investment. “We had a great time!” she exclaimed.
“The whole thing moved along very nicely, but we still had plenty of time
to talk with the manufacturer reps, especially Performance Brands. We
sell their products, so we really appreciated all the one-on-one time
we got with them. We really took a lot from it.”
Tina Chupp, owner of Escape Tanning, says the Heartland event was well
worth the five-hour drive from Troutman, NC. She attended with two of
her salon employees. “We just opened the salon in June 2005, so we were
really looking for as much product information as we could get, and we
found it at this event,” she commented. “We really got a lot out of the
Designer Skin presentation by Sheree Lavens – she kept the crowd going;
it was very exciting and informative. Everything she presented was easy
to understand.”
In addition to training and education, every attendee also received a
goodie bag filled with samples donated by Heartland and the symposium’s
many participating vendors. In a raffle held at the event, Mike James,
owner of Extreme Fitness Center in Tyrone, GA, was the lucky winner of
a $2,000 credit toward a Heartland Tanning equipment purchase.
Brad Henson, Heartland Executive Vice President & General Manager,
was very pleased with the success of the seminar. “We have achieved our
goal of offering an exciting, informative and fun event to our clients
in the southeastern U.S.” he commented. “The model is similar to our Lee’s
Summit symposium, which is acknowledged as one of the largest and finest
in the industry. We will continue to refine and add elements that will
benefit our salon partners who have trusted us with their businesses.”
