Pole Expo 2016

Day 1:

Three suitcase, one backpack and myself headed off to JFK. Destination – Las Vegas! Upon arriving in Vegas I quickly picked up my bags and headed to the Hard Rock. I didn’t have time to check in since I was going to be a “human prop” for my amazing instructor, Ashley Fox, in her Pole Classic Competition piece! Upon entering the theater I was in awe of the magnitude the set up. We got in our makeup and costume and eagerly waited for our turn.

Ready to attack

Choking her out

getting kicked in the face

shooting my arrow!!

We were all so happy with the piece once we were finished! Ashley ended up taking 2nd place!! It was a great way to start Pole Expo weekend.

Day 2

First day of Pole Expo has started! It was definitely the busiest day for the vendor area, everyone was waiting outside in the morning to come in! It was so exciting to see all the booths set up with a lot of well known pole brands. At first I was a bit intimidated being surrounded by all these established brands but when customers started visiting our booth and complimenting our stuff, I felt validated that I belonged there too.

Me, My crew, and my booth

After a long day selling, meeting new people and fangirling at all the pole stars (Marion Crampe, Michelle Shimmy & Maddie Sparkle stopped by our booth! *swoon*), we changed, ate dinner and headed to the Pole Expo Party at Vanity in Hard Rock.

There were amazing and entertaining performances! My favorite was this beautiful and sexy doubles piece.

#couplesgoals

Day 3

Another day of selling! All throughout the day there were fun free workshops and performances in the Vendor Arena like Vertical Joe’s Twerk workshop!

One of the best things about Pole Expo is how it brings together people who love pole from all over the world! One lady from Columbia walked away with four pairs of leggings. Now that’s my type of girl!

We headed to Pole Show LA after another day of working that booth! It was a really fun show with lots of fancy costumes, sparkles and heels for days! Some pole stars were in the show like Natasha Wang, Amy Hazel and Marion Crampe.

And then we headed straight to Pole Olympia at the Foxtail Nightclub in SLS to cheer on our teacher Ashley Fox for a freestyle pole competition! She ended up winning third and $2000! It was super cool to see Jamilla Deville and Pink Puma compete as well!

Day 4

With the last day of Pole Expo, I suddenly got a big urge to shop. It’s my last chance was the thought in my head. I think I spent half the time actually working the booth and the other time just trying on all the cool polewear out there :X

my haul 

I also took my first and only workshop during the Pole Expo weekend with my pole idol Natasha Wang! I think the fact that she’s Asian (relatable), has no prior dance or gymnastics experience (relatable), started pole a bit “later” in life, and is just freaking amazing and beautiful to watch. We did a lot of her signature threading moves which I love seeing but is so hard to get down.

Overall it was an amazing experience and I would highly recommend it to people out there who have the time and (money) to make it for the weekend!

My Tips for Pole Expo:

• Sign up for workshops early So I kinda signed up for Pole Expo a little too late and of course all the workshops I would have liked to take with the bigger pole stars were all full! I’ve heard they sell out the day the workshops become on sale so definitely mark your calendars for when you should sign up!
  
  
• Don’t have to stay at the Hard Rock The expo is located in the Hard Rock but you don’t have to stay there. We stayed there for one night and I had a struggling experience with them in the beginning. Another gal who stopped by our booth didn’t have a pleasant experience at the hotel either. If you can I would probably look at other hotels on the strip that may have better deals and just a better hotel. Take Lyft or Uber as they are decently priced and if you split amongst a group it’s pretty cheap.
• Wait the last day for sales  Didn’t realize this, but a lot of the brands were holding sales on the last day, hence my compulsive shopping on the last day. Vekker LA had a crazy $40 for 5 bottoms deal. I went into it like how I usually am at a sample sale, intensely focused crazy lady. However if you’re a hard to find size, like an XS, you may not want to wait since the items may be gone already.
• Bring some cash Most vendors accept cards but because quite a few of them are foreign brands cash is just easier.
• Prepare yourself for little sleep Okay, maybe it was because we had a vendor booth, but I knew going into the weekend that I would get little sleep and we were pretty much right. There’s nothing you can really do (unless you don’t go out to party at night, but umm it’s Vegas) so just prepare yourself!