John Johnson
Owner of New Flower Studio

Editor’s note: This is John Johnson’s response when asked to explain what is involved when deciding what classes are offered and what instructors will lead them. Our goal was to provide attendees with behind-the-scenes information about the classes they attend.

The short answer is the nine person Conference Committee creates a suggested curriculum for each Conference. This curriculum gets presented to the Board who approves it or requests changes.

The longer version is more like this: After Conference, the committee starts its round of meetings for the next year. Many things are discussed, classes and instructors are a major topic. Each of us on the committee have ideas about what is needed and what can be improved. Those ideas are all put into a list. We used to get only a few class suggestions each year, but now that Conference has grown so much over the most recent years we have more proposals submitted than we know what to do with. Some people suggest classes they would like to take. Others suggest classes they want to teach. When similar topics are proposed by multiple people, the ideas are combined. This is often how multiple people present a course at Conference.

We have core classes that we offer every year like Anatomy, Medical Risk, BBP, Initial Size and Style, etc. These are fundamental subjects and will always be offered. But any courses that are introduced as an initial offering, may rotated in and out of the schedule every few years, and are selected based on their relevance to the industry at the time, or the number of years since they’ve been offered.

Many years ago, before committees were in place the way they are now, the Board of Directors did all conference planning and most of the instructing. The Association has grown so much and has so many things like outreach and legislation work, it isn’t practical for them to do everything. Fortunately, 19 years of conference planning has given us an effective system that includes a strong and consistent conference staff.

The instructors are selected based on being known experts on the topic they teach, and after 20 years we have a long list of reliable presenters who can be used in their regular spots and inserted where needed. But the industry grows and there are always trailblazing piercers who make their mark and get the opportunity to teach at Conference. When their classes are well done and well received by the attendees they have opportunities to return. Some people will be asked to present but not feel comfortable doing so; public speaking isn’t easy. Sometimes people teach for the first time and decide they don’t want to do it again. Instructors have an obligation to present information that can be both useful and understood by the attendees. A course isn’t useful if the learner can’t take the information home and use it in their studio. So public speaking rule #1 is to know your audience. Also, the content must be in the context of the current piercing environment and the APP’s mission. The APP has printed literature like the Procedure Manual and several brochures. An instructor must not present any material that directly contradicts the current positions of the Association. Piercers work very differently and diversity is appreciated. This is why many classes with different instructors can be so great, because different opinions or strategies are offered. But we still need to present information that aligns with the APP’s available materials.

For the months leading up to Conference, instructors are hard at work developing outlines for their course. What will they offer this year? What can they leave out? We review the previous years’ handouts and slideshows. We review the material other past instructors used. We make calls to colleagues to ask their opinions. We look for ways to make the information useful and up-to-date, without being the same course as the previous year. When we include new instructors to the lineup we add fresh ideas and that’s sometimes all it takes. All of this comes together to create the schedule of classes that you see at Conference each year.