​

Hey Reader,

There's been a lot of buzz about NB Live, our upcoming event in February and I wanted to tell you a little more about what it is, how it came about, and how much it costs us to run! If you are a new subscriber and would like to read all my other emails so far, you can do so by clicking here. Without further ado, here’s everything you need to know about NB Live...

Where did the idea come from? 💡

The idea for NB Live came about some months ago. Two colleagues of mine in Sweden (Peter and Alex of SESSION MAP) run an event they call “SESSION WEEKEND” every second year. I’ve not been but anyone that has, raves about it. From talking to the two guys, I took from them that this was much more than just an educational event. It was a fully immersive industry experience where people could learn, network and party.

I saw this as an opportunity to do far more for the Irish hairdressing industry than has been done before. We came up with a tag line which would guide us: INSPIRE - EDUCATE - CELEBRATE

The Irish salon industry supply chain is mostly divided amongst 4 key distributors. These salons are supplied by Loreal, Wella, Xpert and ourselves. Generally speaking, a salon is mostly or wholly stocking the brands of the distributor and to that end, only ever take part and get access to education of the distributor. I wanted to change that and create something that everyone could be a part of and learn from - regardless if you’re a customer of National Beauty or not.

The date initially came about because of ELEVEN Australia. I was offered two dates (one in February and one in May) to have Joey Scandizzo in Ireland for a couple of days. After discussing it internally, we decided that May gets a bit close to summer holidays and schools being off. February felt like a great month to restart the year and we were also conscious that some salons may choose to use the event as their Christmas party 🎄

Picking the venue... harder than you think! 🤔

To date, the most difficult part of the planning process was actually choosing a venue. We wanted something central, with loads of accommodation and a fantastic events space. It ultimately came down to The K Club and Lyrath Estate. I went to see both myself and while the K Club is “wow”, I felt the function room fell short of what we needed. The ceiling was low and you had to walk across the garden to get to it. In February, that might not be ideal. Lyrath offered 130+ bedrooms and a first class room for the show.

Once we had secured the date and location, we went about talking to our brand partners on what talent they could provide us with...

Signing the talent ⭐

This was the fun part! To be fair, most of our brands were amazing. Color Wow have organised Dom Seeley who is arguably one of the biggest celebrity stylists in the World right now. We have Joe Hill and Leah Hill from Aveda as well as Aaron Firmstone from Bumble & bumble. Of course, Joey Scandizzo will be joined on stage by Conor Doyle and Melvin Royce Lane of ELEVEN Australia.

K18 are sending both Jordan Alexander and Amber Maynard and KEVIN.MURPHY have confirmed Massimo, Nathan and Pascal to be on stage. We are still finalising who Living Proof will be sending and finally, I have been working on a mega famous industry star who I hope to confirm next month ⭐

What can I expect if I come? 🎉

The venue will open at 9am for registration and the show begins at 10am. The stage element of the day will run until 5pm when we will break to give people some time to change for the night event. We will meet again in reception at 6:30pm where you will be greeted with live music and a drinks reception. We will then move to the function room for a full gala dinner and live entertainment by Spring Break. Make sure you dress to impress!

This will be followed by a DJ and a party late into the night 🎉 When you leave for home (that night or the following day), you will take away a goodie bag with a value of €500+ containing lots of the products you've seen being used on stage throughout the day and some exclusive NB Live merch that you won't see anywhere else!

How much does all this cost? 💶

A show like this is no small undertaking. Venue, Accommodation and Catering is €70K+, Production is €80K+, Entertainment is €11K, random stuff comes to another €20K but the cost that will surprise you most is models. The budget so far for 20 people is north of €20K 😲 I was just as surprised at this as you are! As a business, we expect to take a significant loss here but, it is our investment into our brands position within the marketplace in 2024 and beyond.

If you've made it this far, you deserve a discount. It is KIERAN20 and that will get you 20% off not only the €495 standard ticket, but also, 20% off the €395 early bird! Go to the NB Live Website to buy yours now.

I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone there. If you have any thoughts or suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Just hit reply to this email.

take care,

​
​Unsubscribe · Preferences​

​​​​​