Tattoo Expo - an unexpected surprise

Tattoo Expo UK wasn't really a convention I expected to be writing a blog about.

For a start, we weren't even exhibiting.

The event takes place at Sandown Racecourse in Surrey which, if you've never been, feels like a slightly odd place to hold a tattoo convention. You're driving through all these massive houses and quiet country roads wondering where all the tattooed people are, then suddenly there's a convention in the middle of it all. I'd also heard the previous year had been fairly quiet, so I wasn't expecting a huge amount from the weekend if I'm honest.

Turns out I was completely wrong.

The original plan was actually for STARR to represent Cool Soothe for us. They'd given us a section on their stand and were running their STARR vs Killer Ink competition, so we'd supplied custom balms and foamers for all the STARR artists taking part. It was only quite late on that I decided I'd head down myself, just to put a face to the brand and catch up with people.

I'm glad I did because I couldn't believe how busy it was. The convention had teamed up with The Leadroom, which is a custom car show, and because the weather was decent there were loads of people wandering around all weekend. You had everything from American muscle cars and classics through to modern performance cars parked outside, which definitely helped keep footfall up. It gave the whole event a buzz and there was a really good atmosphere about the place.

Most conventions I end up seeing the same faces over and over again, which is one of the things I enjoy about them. But Expo brought a lot of new people into the mix as well, as it's a convention I'd never been to - in fact Surrey isn't an area I'd visited at all before. What I really wasn't expecting was how many people already knew about Cool Soothe.

A few people had used the products already, quite a few had seen us at other conventions, but most had simply heard of us somewhere along the way. That might not sound like much, but when you've spent the first part of a year travelling around the country introducing people to a new brand, it's quite strange when people start introducing it back to you. More than once over the weekend somebody mentioned Cool Soothe before I did, which is probably the first time that's happened.

A lot of that comes down to STARR as well. They're one of the most respected supply companies in the UK and they've built that reputation over a long period of time. People trust their judgement. If they recommend something, artists tend to pay attention. Seeing them introducing people to Cool Soothe throughout the weekend was genuinely nice to see because I know how selective they are about the products they get behind.

One thing I loved about this convention was the amount of effort artists put into their booths. Everybody seemed determined to express their own personality, which made the whole place feel far more interesting than rows of identical stands. There was also loads of good old-fashioned tattooing and tattoo culture on show, which I always enjoy seeing. It felt like a convention that really celebrated the industry.

Another really good thing to come out of the weekend was bringing Jakub Hendrix onto the Pro Team. I've admired his work for years. His colour surrealism is ridiculous and he's one of those artists whose work you can spot from the other side of a convention hall. Some artists join a team because it makes sense commercially, but this felt different. It felt more like bringing somebody in whose work I've genuinely respected for a long time.

Because I wasn't tied to a stand all weekend, I actually got chance to do what conventions are really about, which is spending time with people. Usually when Cool Soothe has it's own stand I'm  constantly serving customers, answering questions and dealing with general 'convention work'. This weekend I had chance to wander about, catch up with people properly and have conversations that lasted longer than five minutes.

A lot of those conversations ended up happening with Perry from Total Tattoo, which is probably a good point to mention the accommodation. Perry had booked the room for us and because he'd been to the convention before, I just assumed he knew what he was doing. As it turns out, he'd remembered staying near a racecourse in Surrey and correctly remembered that part. The only problem was he'd booked accommodation near the wrong racecourse in Surrey.

I only realised while driving to check in and wondering why I appeared to be driving FOREVER. To be fair to him, the room itself was decent, so although it left us with a thirty-minute Uber journey every day, I couldn't really complain too much.

Over the weekend me and Perry spent a lot of time talking about the future of the industry. Not in some dramatic "save tattooing" sort of way, just honest conversations about conventions, artists, what people want from events now and how things can keep improving. Perry spent a lot of his time helping to promote Cool Soothe because he genuinely believes in what we're doing. Equally, I spent a lot of the weekend talking to people about Big London Tattoo Show because I genuinely believe in what they're building.

The older I get, the more I realise that most good things in this industry come from relationships. Not because somebody's signed a sponsorship deal or because they've got a bigger marketing budget, but because people spend years supporting each other, helping each other out and genuinely wanting to see good things happen for good people. That's the part of this industry that I LOVE!

The convention was much busier than I expected, the atmosphere was great, and Cool Soothe got loads of exposure despite not even having its own stand. More than anything though, it reminded me how much of tattooing is built on friendships, and after spending most of the year with my head in business mode, that was quite nice to be reminded of.