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We met the Float On founders from Oregon at the Float Summit 2012 and want to pass on some of their ideas because they seem to work and are really inspired.

First, underlying the word of mouth campaigns, is the idea of bartering floats for working hours which morphed into an intern program.

People who want to float but cannot afford it are encouraged to volunteer for five hours work in the centre in exchange for each float. This developed into an intern program where the floats are actually on the curriculum of their training with a structured learning/ working program leading to the opportunity after some months to become an employee. Some of the interns do things they are good at like website or computer work so a basically volunteer froce is built up. Some of them can run the programs or campaigns which are the marketing effort. Neat? No cash required!

The first program was to invite local artists to three float sessions in exchange for an art work. The collection is currently on tour! Float On published all of the art in a book "Art from the Void" This helped attract media attention.

They went on to invite chefs from all the local restaurants in the same way to create signature dishes, inspired by their float experiences. Some of these got featured in the menues. See how that spreads the word? Same with musicians and so on. The programs create interest and media coverage and most important, word of mouth referrals. They are doing a thousand floats a month. They operate nearly 24 hours and the staffing for that is mostly interns and volunteers!

What we like especially is that Float On want to share their ideas and publicise. They do not spend a penny on advertising, it is all inspired generation of word of mouth marketing. Although they are capitalising globally by publishing the art and the music, the idea is essentially local and can be done in any float centre, inviting local people to be creative in exchange for some free float time. The intern idea enables the programs to run without tying up all the owners' time.

We were excited to be at the Float summit on the 21-22nd April 2012 in Gothenburg, Sweden. 

The results of the Fibromyalgia study were announced and now we all hope floatation therapy will be accepted as the treatment or cure for this painful condition.  Fibromyalgia affects more women than men and often starts after Trauma such as an RTA or surgery.  It can vary from just annoying pain to crippling pain and stiffness and powerful pain killers do not control it.  In the trial a volunteer group floated three times with self assessment before and after.  Several countries were involved and all found the same pattern of statistically very significant reduction of bothersome pain after each float and progressive improvement.  Now a bigger study will be attempted for publication and submission to medical councils for official recognition.

Soon there will be a dedicated Fibromyalgia/floating website with interactive ability for the participating float centres to report online.

We were very impressed by the marketing presentation by the three guys from Float On in Portland Oregon. (www.floathq.com)  They have really found the way ahead.  Many interns help run the centre and provide other services and most exciting is the range of programs for local artists, chefs, musicians and so on with creative results and that essential word of mouth awareness storm. They open nearly 24/7 now and offer unusually long standard sessions, 90 minutes minimum.

Sweden now has more float centres per head than any other country in the world and there floating is already recognised as an official treatment. We learned more about the impressive research that has been done at Karlstad Univesity under prof Norlander.  For example a study has demonstrated that the floating effect on hormones, pain and stress is not a placebo effect of expectation.  The detailed work on endocrine cycles allows a hypothesis about the brain sensitivity to pain, rather like an allergic response, and why floatation might be expected to help reset imbalances.  Sweden has its own manufacturers of frankly old fashioned float tanks and is progressing towards a more medical ambience than other countries.

Floataway founder, Colin Stanwell-Smith tackled various technical questions about float rooms, couple floating disinfection and all those details that need to be sorted in a new centre.

The summit was organised by Mark Frickle of floatfinder.com. You will find more about the summit on his website.

Floataway has recently completed a special float pool for a private client with remote storage, air to water heat pump and full automation.  Each of these systems is designed individually by our qualified team. Find out more about our custom systems designed for your pools.

Find out why our products are so technically excellent here. 

Floataway wins best relaxation product on UK Gadget show getting 5G rating fwd.channel5.com/gadget-show

The Float Summit is taking place on 20th April 2012 in Gothenburg, Sweden. 

We are sponsoring the event and looking forward to meeting many customers and researchers there.  Sweden has been the home of most current research into Floating and has many float centres.  The very positive research results into creativity, pain and stress (among other things) by professor Norlander and Anette Kjellgren at the Karlstad University have obviously been noted in Sweden and if the rest of the world catches up we will be very busy!