Covid-Safe USA Nail Event Proves Huge Success

By Alex Fox | 30 August 2020 | Events, News

Running successfully for 10 years now, the Nail Camp events, organised in the USA by Jessica Briarmoon, have been a mecca for techs that desire a four-day break that’s all about – nails.

For 2020, the April-scheduled event was moved just two weeks before being held when Maryland was locked down. “The original date for Nail Camp East was in April 2020. Then Covid hit, however, even in mid-March I was planning on hosting it as normal and had about 100 attendees; then Maryland shut down,” reveals Jessica Briarmoon. “Fortunately, a Korean church group cancelled their event in August due to many of the members flying back to Korea. This presented the space and date I needed to move the event to. I’ve never had to replan an event before and so kept holding my breath and hoping the governor of Maryland wouldn’t do a shut down of events again. Everyone who’d signed up was anxious to get back into the world of nails, take classes and spend some time with each other.

“As an event organiser it was very difficult for me to deal with cancelling the first event because everyone who couldn’t make the original event wanted a refund,” laments Jessica. “However, by that point, the money had gone to the facility and it was not in a position to refund every event that had to be postponed. It was a juggling act made worse by the fact that event insurance does not cover cancellations due to Covid-19. So it was a stressful time for me. In the end I had about a third of attendees cancel for the august date due to kids starting school, weddings, babies being born and some that were not happy to travel. I’m pleased that even though I lost so many registrations, I had new people sign up because the April date didn’t work for them but August did! In the end I had 95 registered and 88 walked through the door for registration. A few people, like the lovely Katie Barnes from the UK couldn’t make it because the borders are still closed. Last year Nail Camp East had exactly 100, so just a little less is a great turn out considering the current Covid crisis.

The day to day event ran as usual and the Covid crisis didn’t affect anything too major other than people wearing masks when wandering hallways and public areas. “The facility was co-hosting other events, so there were people in the building who not part of our group,” explains Jessica. “The meals were served take away style, so everyone ate with their own group that had already been screened. It certainly was safer than eating in a restaurant with strangers that have not been screened. We maintained our safe bubble throughout the weekend and I’m happy to say that a full 14 days after the event, no one has reported any illness of any kind after all their travelling and flights.”

Jessica gets support and help from nail friends and figures such as Nailympia gold medallist and global cup runner up 2017, Allie Baker who runs the competitions and KT who manages the raffle table. But as far as organising the whole event, the logistics, website, registration, educator bookings, classes, programme booklet and getting everything there on time and ready – it’s down to Jessica.

The event, hosted at Sandy Cove in Maryland, invited attendees to a four-day nail event. On arrival everyone was temperature checked and screened. “Creating an atmosphere where people would feel safe was important in these current times,” asserts Jessica. ” When everyone was in the public halls and outside of our meeting rooms or lodging rooms, masks were worn for safety and hand sanitiser was provided everywhere. Our dining hall was located in the centre of our meeting space for our group only.

“We open with a 5-hour workshop that is always a great way to help techs grow. We don’t re-invent the wheel or try to teach too many new things, instead we look at how they do nails and help them fix problems or see what they don’t see in their arch, shape and structure. All the educators help participate in this non-product specific workshop and it begins with Lauren Wireman as the opening lecture. This class allows techs to get to meet the educators and see them as knowledgeable techs that aren’t just trying to sell products.
“For techs who have attended camp in the past, there’s the option of a photography workshop where they can spend hours making the perfect set of nails and get some terrific pro-edited pictures. They can then use those photos once they’re edited for their own marketing purposes.

“All attendees get excited to receive their gift bags. However, the Covid crisis meant many of our favourite sponsors didn’t have the staff on hand to send out shipments for the bags. So many sent more raffle prizes instead, because they didn’t have the manpower or access to samples. Because of this, I’m keeping all the sponsors on the website this year as a thank you for their support. I want to make sure they are recognised and their links kept live up to help promote their products throughout the year.
“The next Nail Camp is to be held in April 2021. I expect 125 at the original location of Vashon Island, Washington. There is still space to join and people can sign up for this event by visiting http://www.nailcamp.org/nail-camp-west-registration/. I limit camp to 125 to keep it a close community, which makes the camp special.”

Next Nail Camp
Nail Camp West re-scheduled for 9-12 April 2021

Covid-Safe USA Nail Event Proves Huge Success

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