Float Conference 2014 - Science, Inspiration & Controversy

For my dollar, this was the most valuable float conference I’ve experienced by far. Never before have speakers been so directly connected to the float industry and never before has so much valuable information been distributed over a 2 day conference window.

If you would like to review my live tweets of the conference between August 9th and 10th 2014 click here. Over the next few weeks I will be writing about some of the controversial topics at the conference and attempt to provide clarity where there is some confusion. Please join our email list to be notified when these posts come out.

I don’t know why, but this year I was much more introverted. While I spoke with far fewer people compared to previous years, I truly enjoyed the connections and re-connections I did have and I had fun observing others at the conference as they made new friends. I enjoyed listening to people’s thoughts on the speakers and the industry's direction. But more than anything, this year I felt completely drawn to the speakers and soaked up every bit of information I could. We learned that Dr. Justin Feinstein is building a facility with two float tanks where research on flotation’s effects will be able to take place in a high tech facility. Rob Shreyer empowered us to do small scale studies within the walls of our own businesses, showing us that this will help further studies as well as help our marketing endeavors. Jay Gunkelman and Tom Fine walked us through a history of floatation research. Meanwhile, Lauretta Young taught us that by learning the language that insurance providers use we can help get our float tanks listed as covered modalities like acupuncture and massage. Several float centers touted their float tanks on stage and elaborated on their advantages. Having tank manufacturers work so hard to produce the highest quality product is exactly what we want as float tank owners. David Conneely opened his chest on stage and welcomed us all to view and share his grief and journey to find peace; a peace he has found through applying programing and metaprogramming to all customers who come through his doors. During Richard Martin’s speech (from NSF International) controversy broke out and a public debate occurred around float tank certifications and water treatment standards. This was great! This conversation is very important and what better way to kickstart it than in the public forum of the Float Conference? Further controversy arose with True Rest announcing their turnkey franchise model. This time instead of a public discourse, murmurs simmered the day after their announcement. Much of this disgruntled murmuring in my opinion is due to a shadow cast over the business by a decision made years ago, the controversy of which lives on today. Aubrey Marcus (From Onnit) and James Nestor (author of Deep) gave us refreshing breaks from the dense amounts of information. Aubrey shared tales of using spiritual tools (usually illegal substances in the US) while James took us on a trip deep into the ocean where humans (according to previous science) should not be able to journey. Bob Crandall managed to make water treatment fun (with the help of a volunteer onstage tasting nasty water) while educating us on the effectiveness of its treatment on spa water. Bob left the question open towards this combo’s effectiveness in float tanks, as there are great differences in float tank water and how it is is used. Glenn and Lee Perry encouraged us to focus on Cultural Creatives rather than Moderns. They also simply set a perfect tone for how the float industry should feel. Full of sweetness, heart and a commitment to the long haul. Graham and Ashkahn taught us that greed had built a lot of todays current standards for business practices. However they also showed us how we can create new models and use current ones for good. Finally, just as he opened the gates to the conference, Stephen Johnson closed them behind us with a gift of mediation on the theta state and it’s gifts to humanity. Something to ponder and take with us on our journeys home.