For those of you who may have missed it, we have just been in Vegas for the Pole Expo 2015.

It was a really awesome fews days (or week if you stayed longer like us!) Our holiday is still going on with a few more days in San Diego and LA before we go home. I thought I’d take a bit of time to tell you some tips for next year’s Pole Expo, to make everything easier!

For the purpose of this article, I’m going to assume that next year’s Pole Expo will be at the Hard Rock Hotel again (which I kind of hope it is!)

The other thing is that being from the UK and having Vegas as my first US trip, I’m not too sure what of the following is specific to Vegas and what isn’t!

Those of you from the States, feel free to let me know in the comments below…

So here goes 😀

My Top Tips

1. Book In Everything!

Workshop places sell-out VERY fast, so if there’s someone you want a workshop or private with, book your place asap.

I booked in 3 workshops for Fri, 2 for Sat and 3 for Sun, which I think was a good plan. I managed to get workshops with most of the polers I wanted to (and have added more to the list for next year) and had enough time to relax in between.

I was worried I would miss out on things, but breakfast, which was free with the expo pass (a massive plus!) started at 8am and the pool didn’t open until 11am, so morning workshops were a great idea.

The pool stays open until 7pm incase you want a dip after class, and most shows start later in the evening. So you can pretty much squeeze in everything you want!

I think next year I’ll book 3 workshops per day, but with enough time for lunch and for the food to go down in between – I learnt this the hard way!

2. Don’t Party Too Hard The Night Before

Okay so this one is really up to you!

All the workshops I did were fully booked in advance, but on the day each had people who hadn’t booked, hoping to get in – and for the most part they did.

I saw a few Instagram posts along the lines of “Vegas got me and I can’t go to this workshop, if anyone wants my place?”.

3. Be On Time

The workshops run like clockwork! It’s all so seamless.

You don’t want to miss a minute of class, so turn up early.

4. Bring I.D

This one applies to both the Expo and to Vegas in general.

You need your I.D. to sign into classes, but also to get into shows, casinos, clubs – everything… even the pool!

5. Bring Layers

Vegas air con is full on! It’s so hot outside (usually 40^oC or higher on this trip) but if you only wear shorts and a vest you will be cold inside.

I wore leggings over shorts and a long top to warm up in and I got cold!

I think next year I’ll buy a hoodie on the first day 🙂

6. Warm Up & Stretch

We were told in advance to warm up.

In all but one of the classes I attended we went through a warm up, but due to the workshops only being an hour long, they were deliberately on the short side.

If you have time, I would warm up before the class and stretch before and after if you can – there were a lot of sore bodies on day 2!

7. Bring A Water Bottle

You can re-fill these in the workshops, so don’t worry about bringing tons of water bottles to see you through the day.

We found out the hard way that you can’t take your own water into the pool though!

8. Buy Lots!

I get overwhelmed when I shop – either too much choice or too many people!

I did a good few sweeps of all of the stalls on the first day, and bought a few things on the second. I knew I wanted a couple of other bits and left it till Sunday, but by the time I had finished my workshops, all of the stalls were packing down. So if you want something, buy it!

There are so many pole things to buy, so next year I’m packing light and buying when I get there!

Prices are usually lower (and some stalls have sales on the Sunday) so if you know there’s a stall you like, you know you can buy your pole goodies when you get there.

I over packed to start with, and now have to squeeze everything in!

9. Don’t Panic

A lot of people were panicking before they got to Vegas, worrying about how to find everything, where to register, and how to find the workshops.

My advice here is to read everything Pole Expo wise you have been sent, properly. The main thing is to go to registration (the queue gets big so get in there early!) and when you’re there you will get given everything you need.

The schedule and location of all the workshops is super easy to understand from the guide in your goodie bag, and there is a great schedule of all the free events to attend as well.

Just make sure that you know which workshops you have booked in for 😀

10. Research

Everyone at Pole Expo is amazing!

There are so many people performing and running workshops, that you should try to find out who they are in advance.

You’ll find yourself walking shoulder to shoulder with anybody and everybody, so if you don’t know who they are, you can miss out. It’s also more fun if you see their performances on YouTube, and then get to see that person performing live.

We ended up doing research in the evenings, after having seen people perform in shows and on the events stage – once you do that you’ll notice them everywhere! 😀

11. Use Social Media

If you’re staying at the Hard Rock Hotel there is free wifi for one device (or two if you’re lucky) per room. I could only get wifi in the room but my partner could get his everywhere. Of course, unless you’re from a far and distant land like us, you may not need to rely on the wifi!

Look on group pages or Instagram to see who’s meeting up – where and when. There were a lot of people saying things like “I’m at the pool, come and say hi!”.

I’ve got a lot of pole friends on Facebook that I have only spoken to online, and only realised that they were at Pole Expo through seeing their Facebook updates.

It makes it a whole lot easier to see and speak to people if you can see what they look like on social media!

I know who people are if I see them in their pole gear at their own studio, but other than that you’re not 100% sure! So check it out first 😀

12. Meet People

The first day of the Expo we ended up in a lift with Natasha Wang – she was even staying on our floor.

Not wanting to bother her, we stayed silent in the lift and ended up doing some whispering when we got out! If I’d know then how super friendly everyone was, I definitely would have said hello.

Luckily we managed to catch up with Natasha after taking her workshop – she is so lovely, and her workshop was brilliant!

I’ve now spoken to so many of my pole idols. They are all so brilliant, lovely and humble. Definitely say hi if you can 😀

Make Sure You Come!

So I could go on and on about Vegas and the Expo, and I’m sure I will in future posts, but for now I’ll leave you here. It was such a well organised event and there was so much to see and do, that you will not be bored.

At the same time, if you want to escape to the pool, you will have a great schedule, so you will not miss out on the things you want to see.

I hope to see you there next year 😀