The corporate culture at New Flower Studio in Long Beach is safety driven. Involvement with, and membership in, the Association of Professional Piercers (APP) is a result of that safety culture. It’s no surprise our studio’s piercers attended the 2026 Body Piercing Conference in Las Vegas hosted by the APP in June.
The week starts with driving many supplies for the event to Vegas. This means heading out a little early.
Supplies from the association’s storage facility in Las Vegas must be brought in and sorted.
Meetings must be has with hotel personnel.
Volunteers and hotel staff have just a couple days to prepare site.
Some APP volunteers have been doing these tasks for many years.
Volunteers get training each year and APP board member and senior volunteers like Becky Dill and Luis Garcia introduce themselves and offer tips for conference success.
Eventually sessions must begin and one of the first was a presentation delivered by Sarah B. Cruz, sterilization expert, educators, podcaster, and president elect of the Healthcare Sterile Processing Association (HSPA).
Talk APP speakers Cale Belford, Ricardo Miro, and Chavez.
Talk APP sessions are session format which brings three speakers to share stories intended to be inspirational and informal. New Flower’s John Johnson is one of the hosts for these sessions.
John also facilitates the annual meeting for health inspectors who attended the 2026 Body piercing conference.
Body art health inspectors also attend a workshop facilitated by the association’s legislative affairs committee. Chrissy Shull, Christina Blossey, and Shorty are pictured above.
John from New Flower delivered a lecture on body piercing room safety.
New Flower’s Kenny Crespo delivered a presentation about piercing needles with current APP president Brian Skellie.
Every year we sadly add new people to the memorial altar.
The APP’s regulatory affairs committee had an in-person meeting over breakfast at the 2026 body piercing conference.
The conference wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the jewelry expo.
Bryan Thomas of Jewelry This Way poses for a selfie. If you’re wearing a gold ring from us in your nostril, it’s from JTW.
John poses with Terry LeRoi.
Our conference experience ended with a scenic tour of Red Rock Canyon. Thanks for your interest in safe piercing. We hope to see you in our Long Beach piercing studio soon.
