We’ve attended Rise every year, and it continues to be a wonderful collection of kind humans perpetuating greater gentleness to the rest of the world. This is the third annual Rise gathering, and it promises to be just as third eye-opening as the previous ones.
Last year, Graham and Ashkahn got to sit down with Kevin McCulloch and Jacob Resch, the organizers of
During that conversation, Kevin shared his thoughts on how Rise compares to the Float Conference. As he says, it’s a “gift that the Float Conference is already operating” since it’s “the pulse of the entire industry… and we wanna focus on this little sliver. And it wouldn’t even make sense to do that if the Float Conference wasn’t servicing the whole industry.”
(If you’d like to see some of our coverage from last year, you can check out the podcast episodes where Graham and Ashkahn took live questions all day or you can check out the live blog we ran during the presentations.)
It’s difficult to talk about
Kevin and Jake will no doubt be leading us in thoughtful conversations, introspective meditations, and sharing the warmth and love that they feel for everyone who comes.
At Rise, everyone does everything together at the same time. If there’s a presentation going on, everyone is in the audience. If there’s lunch, everyone is at lunch. If it’s time for guided meditation, you’re right there for guided meditation. Each event bonds you closer with the rest of the people there until
One of the best ways to see this contrast is to look at the speakers who attend both events. Justin Feinstein, the head researcher at the Float Lab at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research, shares updates on his research every year at the Float Conference, and at
While Glenn and Lee Perry are consistently delightful and kind, in the context of
Even Graham and Ashkahn are more laid back at
Not to mention that St. Louis itself is such a lovely city. There’s always something to do, and getting to visit Float STL is really a treat.
So far, every year we visit, we take a group trip out to the City Museum, which is like no other place on Earth. If you’ve never been, it’s a surrealist wonderland for children and adults. Beyond being just a museum, it’s a monument to the oddities that exist within the human mind. While yes, there are historical artifacts, artwork on display, and educational experiences aplenty to be had, the entire building functions more as a giant playground filled with wrought iron structures, disturbing tile mosaics, and a giant ball pit at the center of a climbing maze. Honestly, it’s something that needs to be seen to be believed.
In short, if the Float Conference is like a family reunion, Rise is like coming home for the holidays. It feels so cozy and familiar. In both cases, everyone there is family, but the setting for
*Also, consider this an open invitation to join us this year at the City Museum! We’ll be visiting Monday, May 6th, after the Rise gathering has concluded. Below are just a handful of images from the museum to help entice you.
Ten-story tall slide
Ashkahn marveling at stamps
Museum Parking Lot
The Odditorium
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How to Deal With Burnout – DSP 166
Running a float center is hard work. Especially if you just opened up and dealt with months of agonizing, crazy construction, and then go straight into pulling long hours keeping your center open. Even with the reward of seeing floater’s post float glow can fall short of satisfying in some moments.
It’s important in these moments to take time for yourself so as not to get devoured by your work. Ashkahn and Graham share some of the things that helped them stay sane working long, thankless shifts at Float On in the early days and get through the hard days so that they could thrive.
Will Hard Water Affect a Float Tank? – DSP 165
Hard water is something that comes from having too many minerals in your water source. It can cause a lot of problems with plumbing if it’s too hard, and most buildings will have resources for dealing with this to help avoid calcium buildup in pipes and along tubs or pools. As for how it interacts with a float tank, specifically, it seems like the larger issue is going to be how it impacts the rest of your building.
Graham and Ashkahn break down what they know about how hard water affects float tanks and the differences you’re going to have to look out for if you’re using well water over municipal water sources.
Announcing #FloatForMAPS
#FloatForMAPS is a float industry-wide gift card campaign that will take place this July.
Not only will the #FloatForMAPS campaign generate extra funds for PTSD research, it will also bring in new customers during notoriously slower summer months for float centers.
Participating centers will donate 15% of their #FloatForMAPS Gift Cards to MAPS.org to support the exciting Phase 3 trials of MDMA assisted psychotherapy for PTSD.
Learn more on how you can sign up your float center for the #FloatForMAPS campaign.
How do you Know What to Delegate and When? – DSP 164
The eternal small business challenge. You can’t be everywhere at once, but how do you decide what to delegate and to whom? Unfortunately, there’s not an easy solution, but there are some philosophies behind how you run your business and operate that may be helpful to review.
If you’re reaching this wall and you’re not sure what to do, think about how your work is laid out and what is required of you. Some things are naturally going to be more repetitive and have more built in redundancy. That’s a good place to start looking for delegating responsibility, but it doesn’t have to end there. It all just takes time.
Graham and Ashkahn get into the Float On way and how it’s come about that they’re the owners, but don’t run the shop and are no longer making the major decisions in running it as a business. Worth a listen even if you’ve never even seen a float center before.
Float Room Construction Costs Specifics – DSP 163
In this episode, Graham and Ashkahn succinctly breakdown the cost of float room construction. The average float room cost per the industry survey is $75,000 per room. How much of that is float tank cost and how much is construction? There are some variables to consider based on geography and types of tanks, but the guys lay out the average and clarify some of the numbers we’ve released previously.
How to Delicately Handle Difficult Customers – DSP 162
Sometimes there’s just that one customer. The “Problem Child” customer that you don’t like having to deal with. The one who totally know is definitely (probably) making things up to try and get a free float. And they’re such a nuisance! What can you do about that? Obviously you don’t want them getting vengeful if you tell them to kick rocks and spread lies about you.
How do you handle that situation? Well, Graham and Ashkahn lay out some nice ground rules for how they handle people and it comes down to setting clear boundaries that at least appear rigid on the outset. Then, if those boundaries are crossed, the reactions you have are totally expected.
What’s the Difference Between a Residential and Commercial Float Tank? – DSP 161
Ashkahn and Graham break down the differences between float tanks designed for home use in comparison to ones intended for a commercial setting. Depending on how it’s intended to be used can drastically affect the construction of the tank. Most home use tanks, for example, aren’t made of fiberglass, because those large, rigid structures are difficult to move by yourself or just with one other person. Likewise, the filtration demands for a home use tank are a lot different.
Listen in and check out all the differences and which tanks are more intended for use at home as opposed to commercial use.
Do Floaters really Go into a “Theta State”? – DSP 160
Sometimes it’s difficult to differentiate the claims of scientific benefit of floating from those that are just anecdotal. The idea that floating causing greater theta brainwave activity is one of those things that sounds right, but what does the data say? And how can everyone else find out?
Fortunately, Graham and Ashkahn have done the legwork and even talked to the researchers who do this kind of stuff. They break down exactly how true the Theta claim is and what, if any, real research corroborates it.
Can People Undergoing Chemotherapy Float? – DSP 159
Naturally, most float centers want to be available for anyone who needs it, but there are practical limitations that they may not know about with certain conditions. Is there any risk or issue to having someone with cancer float in a float center? Do they need special instruction or care? Are float centers opening themselves up to liability by providing them floats?
Ashkahn and Graham answer a few of these questions, but the most important thing to remember is to consult the patient’s doctor. Leave the medical advice to the professionals.
Quick ways to get cash now for your business – DSP 158
Being strapped for cash isn’t a fun situation to be in. With an operating business, you have options, fortunately.
Graham and Ashkahn brainstorm some ideas for quick cash and some they’ve even used at Float On when a surprise expense has come up. It’s worth noting that to get money in the short term, you’re likely sacrificing something in the long term.
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