Each year the Association of Professional Piercers hosts an educational conference in Las Vegas that brings body piercers, studio owners and managers, support staff, and jewelry designers from around the world to the largest event in body piercing.
Piercing Conference Planning
New Flower Studio in Long Beach, California serves as a receiving point for packages that need to be shipped in the weeks leading up to the event. New Flower’s owner John Johnson fills an SUV each year and delivers them.
Days before the event, APP administrators and event planners, like John, meet with hotel management to finalize the details related to catering, parties, security, and technical needs.
This pre-conference meeting includes a tour of different facilities like this nightclub reserved for the event’s closing party.
The association has a dedicated Audio/Visual team to make the week’s many hours of lectures and other offerings successful.
The designated AV room also served as a Green room for speakers to verify their technical needs are met and rehearse their presentations. Above shows New Flower’s John Johnson rehearsing his speech welcoming attendees to the conference.
Body Piercing Education
This piercing conference is a massive event for our industry and the image above captures the calm before the storm.
Vanessa Jo, a former body piercer at New Flower Studio in Long Beach was one of 2023’s presenters.
Each day of the event saw classrooms filled with piercers from around the world.
John Johnson takes a selfie while the room is being populated with attendees.
Lines for classes at conference often look like this.
The piercer known as Squeeze, also from New Flower Studio, is one of the Association’s instructors.
Vanessa Jo and John Johnson at the end of Vanessa’s second speaking engagement of the week.
Squeeze is doing a live online survey of attendees while they enter the room for one of his presentations.
Joeltron from Australia teaches a class on septum piercings.
John Johnson
Body Piercing Events
In this picture John Johnson poses with two health inspectors and the chairperson of the NEHA body art committee after a meeting specifically for regulators.
Ryan Ouellette hosted a live episode of his body piercing podcast, The Piercing Wizard.
Volunteers having their pictures taken.
Body Piercer Networking
Former UKAPP president Lola Slider, Former APP board member Ryan Ouellette, Former APP secretary Aaron Cobb and wife Joanne, and John Johnson watch a Dodgers game at the Planet Hollywood sportsbook.
New Flower piercer Brielle poses with Jim Ward, the grandfather of modern body piercing.
New Flower’s John Johnson poses with regulators attending conference.
Former APP board member Brian Skellie and New Flower’s Kenny.
Fakir Intensives graduates meeting up.
Kenny and Chicago piercer Johnny Velez.
John and Gus Diamond who is one of only three people to attend all 26 APP conferences so far.
Piercers having dinner during the Thursday night party.
Red carpet pictures during the Thursday night party.
John’s annual Thursday night picture.
Hika from Germany won an award for her jewelry booth in the vendor expo. Hika has pierced some of you at New Flower in Long Beach when she visited several years ago.
International attendees.
Many awards are given out on Thursday night.
Punk Rock Museum
The Punk Rock Museum in Las Vegas opened up earlier this year and was a very popular destination for piercers.
John and Jennifer Finch from the band L7.
Jennifer Finch was the week’s docent.
Each year around conference time, many international visitors fly into, and out of, Los Angeles and tour local studios. This year was no exception. Above is our friend Ava from the Netherlands.
Above is J’son from India spending time at New Flower in Long Beach.
