After spending the year 2011 thinking over APTPI future and the different ways that could have been taken, we presented our 7th International meeting.
Many events and a tight three days schedule took more time and efforts then ever before, but, though we had less attendees than the past editions, at the end we are really satisfied!
The attendees could appreciate a rich and various schedule, that covered almost all the aspects helpful in improving the quality of a Tattoo/Piercing Shop.
First Aid, sterilization, digital photography, shop aesthetic have been the topics of the shared lessons; while more technical and diversified lessons dealt with Dot-work tattoo, Female genital piercing, Glass as material for piercing jewelry, Color theory (Emiliano Marchetti), the use of
O-needles, Jesus Sayalero’s work.
The real novelty in 2011 edition were the workshops, both for tattooing and body piercing.
Jee Sayalero, Human Fly Tattoo in Madrid (www.humanflytattoo.com), has made a tattoo while explaining every step of his way of working and his personal tips and tricks to get a well done new school tattoo, a style he’s internationally renowned for.
Luis Garcia, professional piercer since 1994, taught a lesson about facial piercings and then put in practice his lesson by piercing some volunteers.
Both the workshops have been appreciated: people actively partecipated joining interesting debates not only between speakers and attendees but also among attendees.
The shared lessons were really useful: Flash sterilization (Brian Skellie), First Aid (Italian Red Cross), Digital Photography (Massimo Carlisi) are very different topics, but every one of them contributes to improve the quality of the service a Tattoo/Piercing Shop can offer. On the same direction APTPI boarding members involved the attendees in a roundtable discussion: Studio Aesthetics, in which they explained how to promote the business and simplify the work process.
Jason Pfohl, Gorilla Glass founder, offered an in depth lesson about the use of glass as material for body jewelry.
Elayne Angel explained how to do a “Safe and effective female genital piercing”.
Last but not least, Marco Galdo (www.trafficantidarte.com) taught his lesson “Inkdot and Neo Tribal Tattoo” in which he shared his knowledge in the Modern tribal style and the dot-work technique.
The attendees had no chance to get bored during the day breaks and the night: the Expo Area offered a rich exposition of jewelry and tattoo supplies from the very best suppliers, mainly from Italy and U.S.A. Aptpi has been very happy to support Skin’s Friends whose charity work collect funds to sustain the Progeria Sammy Basso Onlus Association.
Each night offered a different show everyone could enjoy: Isosmosi, Havve Fjell from Oslo Pain Solution and the projection of Herbert Hoffmann’s life documentary.
We would like to thank Skin’s Friend; the suppliers: the ones supporting us from the very beginning and the new ones; the speakers, that gave us the chance to deal with very interesting topics; and all the volunteers, that greatly helped us to reach such a good organization.