Self Care National Spa & Beauty Conference
Millbrook Resort, Arrowtown, 17-19 May 2008   

When you are able to enjoy one of the most magnificent settings in New Zealand, with seasonal weather that brings out the best, you have a great head-start for an uplifting, enjoyable conference.

The image on the right is of the view which greeted us at 7:00 am on the last day, a fitting start to any day and an enchanting one from the balcony of your luxury apartment.

Surrounded by mountains, with autumn colours adding splashes of warm colour in every direction, Millbrook Resort has an almost magic quality. The large, open, gently rolling spaces of the golf course are encircled by a superbly designed grouping of apartment blocks and cottages, each with its own private setting and a vista to enjoy. It only took moments after arriving and settling in for everyone to feel the peaceful influence of the surroundings and the refreshing mountain air. The hustle and bustle of everyday life quickly slipped away.

Several dining/drinking options, a spa, a gymnasium with covered pool, and kilometres of paved paths through ever-changing views meant that leaving the resort was not necessary, though the quaint village of Arrowtown or the lakeside sparkle of Queenstown were inevitably tempting.

With over 140 guests from all over the country, as well as Australia, the Cook Islands and Fiji, arriving during the day on Saturday, the comments "What a beautiful day and fantastic venue" were heard repeatedly around the resort. Sunny, late autumn days of 15 degrees encouraged the wearing of colourful jackets, adding further splashes of colour. Even the resort staff seemed to have a fresh spark with so many attractive, enthusiastic young and young-at-heart guests.

On Saturday evening everyone gathered in the conference room above the rustic Mill Restaurant, beside a mirror-surfaced lake. Enticing finger food and enjoyable wine and fruit juices helped the flow of conversation and the air of anticipation for the weekend. Eb Just, Self Care's CEO, introduced the management and sales team to delegates, outlined something of Self Care's philosophy and the goals of the weekend's conference. The conference theme, "Be Remarkable", which he introduced was clearly appropriate at the foothills of The Remarkables mountain range, but also a good goal for personal and business success, especially in times of less economic certainty and something of a sales downturn.

During registration, delegates had been invited to put their names in the hat for a surprise make-over draw. At this stage of the welcoming function 4 names were drawn to be given a make-over with an exciting new make-up range, SLA Creation from France, being shown for the first time (see more HERE). Maureen Bartlett and Shannon Stubbs had joined us from Australia to introduce the range and provide the make-up. You can image there was a lot of interest.

Despite trying to encourage everyone to have an early night so that we could start the main programme on Sunday all fresh and ready to go, it was 11:30 before the lights went off in the conference room.... and inevitable some energetic youngster headed into the clubs of Queenstown.

Sunday morning three large buses were filled by our eager delegates by 8:15 am (no doubt refreshed by the -2 degrees frost) for a quick trip to Arrowtown, where the town hall was set up for a full day's work and enjoyment.

The morning session (until lunch at 1:30) was in the very capable hands of Martz Witty (and as we found out, witty by name and witty by nature). An accountant who's broken out of the mould, Martz offered two topics full of good ideas, reminders and calls to action which would help any therapist or business to improve their performance immediately. His first session was "First Impressions Last", a sound reminder on people's buying and relationship behaviours. The main session was "Explosive Growth - Four Ways to Grow Your Business", a very appropriate topic in the current business climate.

Use of self-deprecating humour and lots of practical examples ensured attention and understanding. What's more, having managed a day spa for a friend for over a year, Martz was able to provide many examples which were very specific and useful to our industry.

The session after lunch is often considered a bit of a grave-yard for public speakers, as the audience becomes slightly soporific while digesting a very enjoyable lunch. Allison Mooney is the kind of energetic, totally enthusiastic and engaging presenter that kept everybody wide awake (a serious "punishment" for even being seen yawning was probably an incentive as well).

Allison introduced a very practical and useful structure to guide our appreciation of personality types and their needs and wants. By the end of the two hours (which seemed to fly), we all had some excellent tools to improve our understanding of, and relationships with, partners, bosses, employees, fellow staff.... and very importantly clients. Anyone who thoughtfully applies the principles outlined by Allison will definitely be rewarded with more personal and business success.

Our two presenters were so dynamic and motivational, that no one complained of sitting on hard wooden chairs pretty much from 9:00am to 5:00 pm on a Sunday. Both got loud rounds of applause.

There was plenty of time after the short bus trip back to Millbrook to go for a pleasant walk, or to have a bath, or for owners to do some team building with their staff, or just to relax.

By 7:30 pm eager participant were in the Pavillion enjoying a pre-dinner champagne... and all looking totally glamorous and sparkling. The Silver Screen theme was enhanced by tables being decorated with large glittering silver stars, rolls of movie film out of their canisters, and lots of small silver stars glittering from the black table cloths. A five-piece 1940's Jazz Band was playing the wonderful melodies of that era, enhanced with the "Marilyn Munroe" and jazz singer looks and performances of chanteuse Kiri.

A most enjoyable time was clearly had by all, with the added highlights of Awards for the Most Improved Salon and Salon of the Year presented to the finalists and winners in the Decléor and Joyce Blok categories. The award recipients can be found in our picture gallery HERE.

Monday morning saw presentation of 3 exciting, sophisticated new Joyce Blok "Alpha-Beta" products, interesting new Decléor facial products and a new range of Men's products. The working session finished with presentation of the marketing calendars for each brand, which showed all the great support for our customers coming through in the months ahead.

The many comments, cards and notes of thanks and appreciation indicated another very successful Self Care conference has joined the long history of valuable industry support.