James Nestor, a science-adventure journalist with a focus on reporting about humans relationship to water. He is speaking at the Conference this year and Ashkahn took the time to ask him about some of the research John Lilly did on dolphin communication back in the day. He shares cool stories about Lilly's work at that time as well as the impacts it's had throughout the scientific community since.

Today is the last day to buy discounted tickets for the Float Conference!

Today, Graham and Ashkahn talk all about everything they're excited to see at the Conference this year, everything from the Bus Tour, to the Speakers that are coming (some returning, some coming for the first time), the Bus Tour, The Marketing Forum, other Friday activities, the awesome after parties, and did Graham mention the Bus Tour yet? 

It's Float On's last year hosting the Conference, and it's gonna be excellent. See you there!

Gloria Morris is a rockstar in her own right, having immediately hit the ground running with Float Sixty out in Chicago. It's been amazing watching her influence grow throughout the float industry as she helps others consult with marketing as well as help behind the scenes in float projects like her work on the Art of the Float Podcast.

She recently opened up a second location in Schererville, Indiana, basically a suburb of Chicago. Ashkahn takes the time on this episode to ask her about the challenges running a center in a suburban area compared to an urban one and some of the important business lessons she's learned throughout the experience.

Customer testimonials can have a huge impact on a float center's marketing. It adds a sense of legitimacy for any small business, after all, who wouldn't want to hear stories from other who have tried out a service.

Derek and Graham hash out the benefits of having testimonials. Where to get them, third party sites as opposed to personally sourced testimonials, and the different forms that customer experiences can take.

Owning a small business is a juggling act of priorities that range from putting out small metaphorical fires, to big picture thinking about the scope of the company. At what point does a float center owner prioritize hiring a marketer to shoulder some of this burden and how can an inexperienced business owner find the right one for them. 

Graham and Derek tackle these questions and offer some advice for running a small business and the types of mentalities and practices that lead to the longevity and peace of mind that comes with finding someone to trust with some of that big picture thinking.

Graham and Ashkahn wax nostalgic in this episode tracing back the history of Float On to its origins. They were younger, bright eyed and the world felt full of possibility. How they advertised floating was a whole different beast back then, too. Part of it was how different the industry was, part of it was how different awareness in Portland was, and parts of it were just about Float On still being a young business.

The guys share their successes, lessons, and bold faced mistakes they made along the way in learning how to deal with the idea of filling tanks, as well as some of the constants that have remained throughout the years.

Float Tanks are expensive. Purchasing tanks can easily end up being half of your opening costs when starting out, so it makes sense to want to purchase tanks that have a long lifespan. 

Thinking about which float tank manufacturers might last the longest, though, is probably not the way to think about this issue. For one, it's impossible to tell what manufacturer is going to be around the longest. What's more, if anything does break, the vast majority of the time you don't need to go to the manufacturer to get it fixed in the first place. 

Ashkahn and Graham share their thoughts on proper float tank care and the steps any float center owner should take when considering a tank.

It's important to acknowledge that float center owners without a scientific background probably shouldn't be running experiments on floaters willy nilly. It should also be noted that Graham and Ashkahn aren't scientists, despite being huge fans of self-experimentation. 

There has been a lot of talk recently, however, of float centers collaborating with student researchers to help run experiments, though. Graham and Ashkahn discuss (with a fair amount of levity) what it might take to properly run experiments in a float tank, which they understand is no easy task.

Plants give life, both aesthetically and literally, to any room they're placed in. The environment inside a float center, however, can be the absolute worst place for certain plants, even ones that would normally be considered fine for your local area. 

Graham and Ashkahn pull in Jordan to talk about different plants that thrive in a humid float center environment and some tips on how to take care of them.

With the Float Conference coming up, Graham and Ashkahn are talking with lots of really smart people who will be presenting this year. It's not every day that they get to ask molecular biologists questions about float tank sanitation, so they decided to take the opportunity to ask the experts the questions that the industry needs answers to.

Today Roy Vore is taking time to share some of his knowledge about microbiology and water sanitation, along with his work in the pool and spa industry.