Behind the Scenes of Dance Teacher Expo

Hello, friends. I'm Amanda Barr.

And I'm Rebecca Lou Brennan. And welcome to Dance Principals United, the podcast.

Together, we are passionate about helping studio owners with the business of running their studio.

Join us as we talk everything from marketing systems, studio culture, motherhood, life, and everything in between.

This is the Dance Principles United Podcast. Hey, friends, welcome to a very special episode of the Dance Principals United Podcast. I can't even get through the intro. Oh, my gosh. But I'm going. I'm going to keep going. We're having one of those mornings where we just have to keep recording. I'm so sorry, but we excited to have this special episode of the Dance Principals United Podcast. Pulling back the curtains on everything Dance Teacher Expo. Beck, you got to stop laughing at me now. I think you need another coffee this morning.

Like, both of us had tough nights. You've got a dog that's barking all night. I've got a little boy that won't stay in his own bed. And we're both just feeling very tired this morning.

But we are excited for Dance Teacher Expo, so we are going to chat about that. We are at exactly a month out of Dance Teacher Expo, so we thought we'd do a little bit of a podcast, you know, pulling back the curtains, letting you know a little bit about behind the scenes of what it takes to put on Dance Teacher Expo. Because there's so many key takeaways and ways that it also applies to our studios, right?

Yeah, totally. And haven't you and I learned a lot about expos, Amanda?

Like, we definitely have.

Like four years ago. Four years ago, we knew nothing about expos and had no idea of any of the things that went on in an expo. I didn't even think I'd been to many expos. Had you?

No.

You kind of go to the old one, but you don't really know anything about it, right?

No, not at all. And, you know, Dead Seizure Expo has evolved a lot. We're going into our third event this year. For those of you who don't know, our third event is on the 5th and 6th of April in Gold coast at the Gold Coast Convention center, which is super exciting, a pretty brand new building. So we're super excited for that. But it is. It's been such a evolution of this brand and this event. We're excited to kind of chat a little bit about it.

Yeah. So I guess we should probably talk about how it started first.

Absolutely.

So I went to Vegas with my other company, Dance Circ, and was a part of the Expo there. Called Dance Teacher Web. And I was really impressed by it because. Because we don't really have anything like it or didn't have anything like it in Australia, where it was just for studio owners and teachers. I think all of our events that I knew of anyway, all had kids at it. And as you know, when there's kids at an event and you're a studio owner or a teacher, you're just focused on the kids. You can't focus on your business. So that's what I loved. And came back to Amanda and Nathan said, we should totally do this. I think I went in August and I said, we should totally do this in Australia. And Amanda said, nah, bad idea. We're not doing that.

You were calling me in the middle of the night is what was happening.

And then we decided that we would do it just as Amanda and I do, probably over a bottle of wine, let's be honest, a bottle of champagne. And we were like, yeah, let's do it. And I think we decided to do that in October, and we held it in April. That is crazy.

Which was. It was a really short turnaround that first year that we did by the time, and just even booking the venue, getting vendors on board, I don't think we realized that it was a short turnaround. I think we just thought, oh, yeah, this is fine. We can pull this together in a couple of months. But now, knowing what we know, like, for all of our suppliers and stuff, it was a really short turnaround that year.

But don't you think that's just kind of how we live life anyway?

And I. We're like, just do it.

Let's just give it a go and see. No, I just make it work. And we. We hired a Airbnb, I don't know if you remember this, in Berry, and had all our kids there for the weekend and just started calling up vendors and seeing if it was something they were interested in. And the response was crazy.

Absolutely.

And so then that's how it started.

Absolutely. And I think that's a really, you know, interesting point. Like, we were like, okay, let's just test this out before we go and book the venue. Do all the things. We're like, let's just try it. Let's call some people and ask them if that'd be keen. Because I think, you know, too often people, like, get too invested in their ideas without actually testing them. You know, Nathan's obsessed with a Gary Vaynerchuk quote, that is, test your ideas in the market rather than in your mind. And I think that's a really, really good quote and something that we totally live by is, you know, don't get so like, hey, this is going to work. This is going to be amazing. I'm going to keep working on this. I'm going to keep, you know, creating without actually asking people if that's what they want and just putting it out there and making it work as you go along. Right. I think otherwise we get too like caught up in the perfection of it and. Or something.

Yeah, I love that. And it's like you can think about it with your studio. It can be something so simple, like even a new uniform line, you know, even right now I'm just thinking like, we've got studio jackets. And then my team was like, let's get the puffer jackets. It's just like, do we need the puffer jackets? Is that really a thing? Is that what people want? So exactly what you're saying. We're going to pull it out and see if people want puffer jackets rather than us spending an exorbitant amount of money on puffer jackets and then no one buys them and finding out that.

No one wants them. That's great.

Yeah, yeah, like, I think that's right. So we definitely tested that and then it was kind of panic stations from there on in, really.

It was. And we pulled it off that first year, you know, we, we knew it was something that was missing in the Australian market and we were so keen to be able to bring that to Australian dance teachers and studio owners. Because whilst I'd, I'd never been to Dance Teacher Web and you'd been just that one time, you're over there going, gosh, this is good, this is something that we all need. And I think it's so good to be able to have a safe space for teachers and studio owners to, you know, grow their business, explore different business opportunities and also like have a bit of fun dancing because, you know, there's so many great open classes to go to for sure. But then they also have young, you know, I wouldn't feel comfortable dancing somewhere like that because, you know, my technical skills are not what they used to be as a teacher. Doesn't make me not a great teacher, but I love that we've created a safe place that, you know, there were people that were, you know, 60, 70 years old, like up and dancing and that was fine. Dancing next to a 19 year old teacher as well. Because the class wasn't about how good you could dance, it was about taking something back to the studio. And I love that.

I love that too. And I think like getting to have those top cool teachers that like you said, aren't really accessible to that and getting to learn a bit of their choreography is so inspiring. Like to take that choreography back as well. I always find it inspiring when I do class with someone like that, you know, and you think, oh yeah, that's a cool move that I could put in or. And we don't have enough of that for, for us, do we? We really don't.

No. Especially when they encourage you to take it back as well. Like all of our teachers are like, I just want you to like take this combo, go use it for a warm up. Like, you know, it's not just like, oh, am I like, you know, that's what all of our teachers want is for you to be able to like share this knowledge with your students as well.

Yeah, absolutely. The other thing I wanted to say, just tracking back is we did really educate ourselves. We were lucky enough to be able to go to a big expo with Darren from Flare D. There. Not a dance expo, but actually a petrol station expo. Random.

Yeah. Convenience store. Yeah. It was amazing.

It was so amazing and we learned so much. But I think it's so important to educate yourselves. That's what expo is about anyway. But you know, Amanda and I are so big on that and consistently educating yourself in the space that you want to be successful in.

Absolutely. And. And so that's what we did. We went to this one big event and learned so much from Darren, which we super grateful for of seeing behind the scenes. But then we went as attendees to other events as well and went just to kind of go, hey, I like this about this event. You know, I don't like this. This is really cool how they do that. And I think that that's always such a great thing about business. You know, don't just like, you know, go and walk the walk, like rather than talk the talk, like actually go and try it out, test it to see how it feels and learn from others.

Yep, absolutely. And then it was a big investment. Like you just don't know how much things cost until you get there. We were chatting about this before Amanda and relating it to concert, but you know how like the first concert you do, you just don't think of the staffing costs and then the cost of the extra stuff that they charge you on the day and then the cost.

Of the AV or the usher or the. Yeah, like it all just adds up.

Got so much stuff like that, that Adds up. And we just had no idea how much money expo was going to be. Right. Like it's insane.

Some of the things it is absolutely crazy. And you know, things that we didn't know we needed to learn anything about, like forklift drivers and how much you have to pay them to pack pallets and put things in, you know, into the service lifts and you know, wearing high vis and the, oh and s of the like wearing high vis behind the scenes, you know, even at. Look this, this might or might not be interesting to our listeners, but I'm going to share this anyway. But you know, at the ICC where we've been having it the last two years, you know, you have to book a lift time with a porter to get your goods up and down from the levels, from the loading dock and just to have to like, just to go in the lift, you've got to have a purse, a porter that like, you know, that's a high biz person that takes you up and down on the lifts. You've got to book a time, you've got to label every single thing that goes in. And all of that's just nuts, right? Like it's just things and obviously it costs money as well because you've got to pay all that staff per hour. So many things we didn't know that we needed to know about.

Well, you like get this, you cannot walk through the ICC with equipment or things. You're not actually allowed to walk through the ICC with that stuff. Like there's something we didn't know and just like the expense of the beverage packages and the. It's just mind blowing. It's mind blowing. Anyway, the reason I'm saying this is because we obviously had this massive investment and I don't know if you remember this, but we got there on the Saturday.

First year.

Yeah, yeah, our first year. And we were standing under the archway in our hot pink suits and we just, just looked at each other and went, I hope people actually turn up. Like, just didn't even know if anyone was going to turn up to the actual event. Like that was the crazy part about it, you know?

Yeah, it was like so scary. And I'm sure you've all been like that as well when you've run something at your studio. But so scary that first year going, oh my God, what, what, what's happening? Oh my God, I'm scared, I'm overwhelmed. I'm. All the things. I'm so nervous that someone's going to show up. But we've been so thrilled that we've had such a great response. You know, that first year, you know, we still had amazing number of attendees that first year. It was a little bit smaller than it was last year for those of you who attended. You know, and it was a little bit. It was a little bit less. Like the first year, you know, the fashion show was a bit more casual. We didn't have all the lighting and stuff. We had it in the foyer. Whereas last year we like upped it with like incredible lighting and sound and all of that. We're upping it even more this year. Should we tell them about, like some of the incredible things for the fashion show this year? Absolutely. We've got this incredible LED screen which will be amazing. Dance the Magic has helped us with that as well, which is so, so crazy, which is going to really, like, level up everything inside that fashion show as well, which is going to make it look so fantastic. We're super excited for all those things. It's going to be incredible.

Yeah, it's crazy what you learned there. I mean, everyone still loves that first fashion show. Yeah. Like, but people were sitting on the ground. It was quite.

Yeah, we didn't have chairs.

Yeah, yeah, we didn't have chairs. Like, we just didn't even think of that stuff. And then year two, we're like, okay, we'll take it into the vendor room because that's going to be better. And then, you know, had chairs and it was still packed. Like, it was still great. And then the next year, you just keep stepping things up. I guess it's the same at your studio. You do your first concert and you're like, this works. This didn't. Let's fix it next concert. Let's up it, let's up it. You know, you just, you have to keep upping it. It's. That's why that self reflection is so important. Like, I think after any event, to go back after the event, be it your concert, be it, you know, your open day, whatever it is, and go, okay, what went well, what didn't go well, and what can we fix for next year? And then make sure you write that down. That's after a year's happened. You don't remember any of the bad stuff that happened, right?

Absolutely. I literally was writing things in my notes on the day as it was happening so that I didn't forget and that I could fix that for next year. And so I've gone back and looked at those notes and, you know, we had a big debrief session. Like, yeah, this Was great. This one. Oh, we need to fix that for next year. Bits and pieces, you know, on the night after, over a glass of champagne, of course, to celebrate. But all of those things are so, so important to really make sure that you're reflecting on year on year. And like this year is different for us again, you know, we've moved venues, which is scary exciting. All the things, you know, we're recording this on the 10th of March and you know, obviously Gold coast had a, you know, the tropical cyclone Alfred over the weekend or it actually, it got degraded.

Degraded.

I don't know. I don't know, I'm not sure. Downgraded, that's the word I wanted. I'm like, wait, that's not right. It got downgraded. And you know, thankfully it wasn't as powerful. Obviously there was still a lot of damage done, but it wasn't as powerful as they thought. And obviously that's all a little bit scary. But we're, you know, we're really fortunate that, you know, it's all going to go ahead and it's going to be great in the new venue. But it is scary going to a new venue because, you know, we're changing states. We've got to move everything up there this year, which is just a whole nother thing.

Yes. And like we. Yeah, just getting the logistics of that venue sorted and making sure that everything's going to work the way that it does at the other venue and which we're on top of. But I don't, I think it. Yeah, it's always scary, but it's so exciting. I love the Gold coast so much. Like it is. It's going to be incredible venue, favorite places on earth. It's just so beautiful there. It's going to be so fun. It's got a fun feel to it, this venue.

Absolutely. And I love that there's so many great places to stay as well. Like it's across the bridge from anywhere at the Star and you know, the Star has like four or five hotels and then straight across the road from Broad beach where they've got different priced things. It's on the tram line. It is going to be such a great event. You know, the vendor arena is even bigger than it was for those of you who came last year, it's a bigger space, which is fantastic. And we've got more vendors. Yeah, it's going to be incredible. I'm so excited. And oh my God, the designs. We've been working with Glow Events on the decor and the prettiness of it. You guys are going to be blown away. It is so exciting. Right, Bec.

That's your favorite part, I think, is doing. You're so good at that, too.

It's the most stressful part, but we're super excited for that because that's part of the fun, right? Like, all of that is part of the fun and what makes events like that memorable.

Even learning that stuff, though, like, you need a rego disc. Who would have known that we needed a rego desk? And you need photo ops and you need. You know what I mean? Like, there's just so much of that stuff that you're just like, oh, gosh, there's so much to this, actually.

Absolutely. So tell me, what are you most excited about this year, Beck? What sessions are you, like, super excited for that you think are going to be incredible?

Look, obviously all of them. Obviously all of them. I love Shannon Atkins and, you know, she's such a amazing speaker, so I'm super excited to hear her speak. I'm excited to. I'm really into the ballroom thing. We've got a ballroom company coming from America. Amanda and I met them when we were over there, and I just think it's kind of like the next thing that needs to be happening in your studios, because if you've got dancers who are becoming pro, you'll notice that that ballroom behind them is very important. If you look at America trending right now, they're doing ballro with all of their students, so it's obviously the next big thing that's coming in. So that. Yeah, I. I love that. I know.

That looks amazing. Mandy's session looks amazing that she's running and they teach it that it's not like, without partnering, which I think is so incredible that it's. You know, I think they do a little bit of both, but they teach a lot of the footwork, which is what you need if you want to, like, you know, have professional dancers, because they do need that footwork.

They do. They do. We've got another American company, Relative Motion, coming over, and they look great. Yeah. Have you seen this? So they have these tights that they wear that represents the different muscles in your body. So when you're doing their technique work, it's actually helping the kids to isolate the different muscles. I'm. I'm really into it. It sounds amazing. I reckon getting to one of their classes with would be really cool just to see how that all works.

Absolutely. That sounds great. That sounds amazing. I'm so excited for those sessions. We've also got Jason Coleman coming from. On behalf of On Point. He'd be really interesting to hear. We're super excited about that. There's so many good sessions.

Kieran Kulik, oh, he's so gorgeous. He's just such a wealth of knowledge. He's going to be incredible. Marco, of course, always brings the energy and the hype and look, I have to say, like, my favorite thing on the day is getting to speak. I love getting up on stage with you, Amanda, and speaking. We jam it out. It's definitely my favorite thing to do is to get up and speak. So I'm excited for us to get up and hopefully inspire some of you guys. I loved meeting everyone at Expo as well. You know, we haven't got to meet a lot of our Queensland friends, but I can't wait to meet you all. But I just love interacting and meeting everyone. Isn't that just such a fun thing to do?

It's so nice and it's so nice for dance teachers and studio owners to take some time for themselves, right. And, you know, just have a little bit of a moment where they can learn but celebrate as well. That's why I love the cocktail party, you know, and being able to, you know, just interact, take some time, you know, I, I think that we don't get to do that enough as an industry. Like most, you know, if you have a partner that works in the corporate world, they have a lot of conferences, Christmas parties, expos, all of that. And it's so nice for us to do that too because obviously there's an element of education, but there's also a bit of an element of fun and that's great too, and something that we all need. So I love that. I'm super excited for that. I'm also excited to see the fashion show. We've got some new brands joining us which will be amazing, including Wiseman's coming over from the US for the first time, which would be awesome. To see some of their designs in person will be so, so good. TLC Spirit wear. I'm excited to see their stuff too. They look cool.

CC Dance, where there's lots of new brands come from. For the fashion, I always love Hamilton's theatrical, always brings something so special and I know hers for the fashion show is going to be so epic, but I've said this before, but as a studio owner, there were brands that I didn't even know existed that I went to Expo and I was like, oh my gosh, there are so many brands. I always thought There was the three brands that I always bought from and that was pretty much it. That was your options. But there is actually so many brands, it's crazy.

There's so many brands. And so the fashion show this year also is featuring Studio 7 Dance where they've got great, great costumes as well. So good. And they're, you know, all in stock in Melbourne which is so good. Flair dance, something very special for Xbox. Oh, how exciting. Flare Dancewear, which have incredible costumes as well in stock in Sydney makes it really easy dance to Parry. Were there last year but didn't get to be part of the fashion show. So we're excited to see their stuff in the fashion show. I was in they sell their stuff in block and I was in block on the weekend with my daughters. Oh my gosh. Their leotards are just beautiful.

Stunning.

So, so pretty. So pretty. Who else? We've already mentioned Hamilton's, Wiseman, CC Dancewear, tlc, Capezio Square Rose and Cozy G which is so fantastic to see all of those labels as well.

Cozy G, your wife brings the energy too. They've got a always great energy in there, costumes and they're set and I love it.

Absolutely. We are so excited for an incredible weekend in the Gold Coast. We're also hosting a event for our Studio Growth Club members two days before that as well on the Gold coast as well because we're making the most of it whilst we're there which is always so, so lovely because I love getting together with those people and you know, it's so lovely. We all connect, we all learn and share from each other at so incredible.

And that's what it's called, connect. And you know, I think that's the thing that we find with Studio Growth Club and Expo is that you guys actually get to connect with each other. You get to meet like minded people which, you know, one of the biggest things we always hear from studio owners is that they feel so lonely and you know, I totally get it because it is such a crazy different industry to anything else. So it's great for you guys to actually get to connect with other studio owners and, and teachers. I think that's so important.

Absolutely. We all don't want to feel lonely in this world anyway. It is going to be the most incredible event. We are so, so excited. Beck's laughing at me. Was that a weird comment? Sorry.

Don't want to feel lonely in this world. Amanda.

We don't want to feel lonely in this world. It's nice to feel supported. It is nice to have connections and it's nice to. And it. It's hard, but it's so good to be brave and to make friends in the industry because, you know, otherwise, like this dance teacher life, it is, you know, it's hard to relate to other people. We work weird hours. We have weird problems that other people don't have. We wear all the hats in our businesses. So it is nice to have other people that just get it to celebrate with, to vent to any of those things.

Yeah. And we say it all the time, but you just might meet your business bestie, because Amanda and I would never have met if we didn't go to events and things like this. So make sure you do it.

Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, we so hope to see you at Dance Teacher Expo. We're going to do a little bit of a giveaway. If you've listened to this podcast and liked it, we'd love to know what is your favorite thing about expo or what are you most looking forward to. We're going to put a reel on our Instagram and. And we've got some merchandise packs to give away for the best answers, which will be fantastic. We've got some cool merch coming for expo this year, so we're super excited for that as well.

You always crush the merch. I'm so pumped for it.

So yay. Well, we cannot wait to see you if you haven't already. Make sure you get your tickets. We'll put the links in the show notes. But we cannot wait to see you at Dance Teacher Expo. Do you think we should give them a little sneaky discount code? We should give them a sneaky little discount code if you would like. If you haven't bought. We're just making this up on the fly, but if you haven't yet bought your tickets and you'd like to come, we have a 25 off discount code for you for let's go for one week only. Use the code podcast at checkout to get 25 off. We hope to see you there. Bye, friends.

Bye.