Walking onto the tradeshow floor at Smart Tan Nashville for the first time is a sensational experience. It’s big, it’s bright, and it’s definitely colorful. It’s packed with the latest in equipment and skincare technology, the biggest names and brightest minds in indoor tanning, and some awe-inspiring displays. It’s really something to see, but if you want to be among the first to get a peak at everything the show floor has to offer any given year, walking isn’t an option – you’re going to have to run!

Every year on Saturday when the floor opens for the first time, a crowd gathers outside the doors of the exhibit hall as eager attendees clamor to be among the first ones in. There’s no time to waste when there’s so much to see, contacts to make, and freebies to gather.

Last year, Sarah Hardy from Perfextions Tanning in Texas was one of the very first to make it onto the tradeshow floor. As soon as the doors were opened, her and her friends took off running in order to avoid wasting valuable show floor time waiting in line to meet one of their favorite tanning celebrities.

“It was our first year to go to the convention and we were running to see Snooki and we were the very first to get in line,” Sarah says. “It was pretty awesome, not going to lie. We were waiting in line [at the door] and we met some people from Nevada, I think, and we all ran together. We were happy to be first because it would have taken all day to stay in line to meet Snooki.”

Being her first trip to Smart Tan Nashville, Sarah didn’t know what to expect.

“I had no idea what it was going to look like. I hadn’t really seen pictures and I’d heard about it but I couldn’t really picture it,” she says. “It was a lot more than I’d thought of and I was really impressed. It was really impressive to get such a mass amount of products because you get to try everything and see what you want in your salon.”

That’s the real beauty of Smart Tan Nashville. It’s a remarkable experience in itself, but the true value comes from the unique opportunity to see every major tanning lotion, equipment manufacturer, and sunless brand in one place. No other industry event can provide that. And it’s about more than seeing or even trying out the products. Being the biggest indoor tanning event of the year, vendors pull out all the stops to impressive potential clients – from the extravagant displays, to the fun promotions, to the great show specials they’ll offer. It’s your chance to have companies compete for your business. And it’s also your chance to meet their representatives face-to-face and get a more personal feel of what it will be like to work with that company.

Even if it won’t be your first time experiencing the Smart Tan Nashville tradeshow floor, this year will be a new experience for all of us, as we move to the brand new Music City Center convention complex in downtown Nashville. With more space, impressive modern architecture and décor, and stunning views of the Nashville skyline, everything will be a little bigger and brighter this time around!

Click here to register.