By Kimberly Zapata

We have focused a lot of energy in the last few issues of The Point on various aspects of the internet (from piercing videos to social media and content sharing), and for good reason. As everyone is already aware, especially us “old-heads” who grew up in the pen-and-pencil days of yesteryear, the internet has permanently altered every aspect of our lives: from how we communicate to how we conduct research, business, and even shop. The pros and cons of the digital age can be debated at length, and without a true resolution, but like it or not, the information era is here to stay. Why do I bring this up? I’m glad you asked.

This issue of The Point is full of coverage that may not have been possible just a few decades ago. It is no doubt cliche to say we are more connected now than we have ever been—not only as a global culture but also as a piercing community. (Just one look at the reach and scope of the Association today is a testament to that.) It is because of this connectivity we can learn what is going on in our global community almost instantaneously. For example, in November 2012, the South Australian government passed legislation making it illegal to perform body modifications on minors. Before the internet, who knows when this would have come to light. Thanks to the digital age, articles about this new law were appearing in my Facebook feed in less than 24 hours—the same goes for the February 21 TENnews story about a proposed amendment to this law, which would also ban reusable ear piercing guns in the region. (For more information on both of these stories, check out our South Australian legislation update.)

However, this 24/7 culture—with its access to, and overabundance of, information—isn’t always a blessing. As Kendra Jane explores in “What age are body modifications appropriate?” this connectivity also breeds contempt. Everyone, expert or not, now has a voice, and platform to stand on. Message boards are full of the ignorant, the combative, the judgemental, and the uneducated. This is not to say that productive discussions cannot occur online (in fact, they do each and every day), it is—however—a downside of our tech-savvy, about.com society: Everyone now has a place to share their thoughts and opinions, for good or ill. For us, as an industry, this should be seen as an opportunity: we now have a chance—unlike any other—to educate the public about piercing, and to tear down long-standing misconceptions. This is our chance to lead a healthy discussion, and I encourage you all to heed the call (which is why I feel all of this “internet” coverage is so very important).

That said, The Point is a direct (and positive) result of this modernization, and we hope to use it to point you in the right direction (pun intended). Beyond the aforementioned content, this issue includes the final installment of the “Making Safe Piercing Viral” series, intended to teach piercers and other industry professionals the basic ins and outs of social media. It also includes a video from our President, in Mexico; coverage of our recent APP outreach efforts, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and an article about the APP brochures, written by several volunteers across the country.

So sit back and enjoy this issue on your computer screen, Kindle, or smartphone; much of what you are reading, and the way you are reading it, are thanks to technology. Just remember, as Voltaire once said (or Uncle Ben from Spiderman), “with great power comes great responsibility,” and we have a huge responsibility to act as the voice of our industry—not only in our day-to-day encounters but online as well.

To find out how piercers can use social media effectively, we interviewed several social media savvy piercers: Jesse Villemaire from Thrive Studios, April Berardi from Born This Way Body Arts, AJ Goldman from 12 Ounce Studios, Derek Lowe from Saint Sabrina’s, Courtney Jane (CJ) from  Saint Sabrina’s, Christina Shull from High Priestess, and Crystal Sims from Evolution.

In this, our third article based on the aforementioned interviews, we look at making social media a part of your daily routine. (Click here for part one and part two.)

But first a word of caution from Jesse:

“Be careful about signing up for all social media and trying to manage them all.  This alone could be very stressful and may require more hours in your day than you are willing to give.  People want answers in a timely fashion, mainly within a 24 to 48 hour timeline is sufficient for email responses; however, some people expect less of a response time from Facebook messages or Twitter.

Only take on what you can handle!

It can become quite overwhelming once you realize you’re constantly trying to keep up with replying to emails and the numerous social networks you have joined.  If you can’t dedicate the time to monitor all these accounts then you should really question why you have them in the first place?  It looks worse on you and/or your business if you do not reply to a message, so make sure you have the time to keep an eye on all the different sites you’ve joined.”

Jesse himself fell victim to trying to keep up with too many social media outlets.  He has since scaled back to the networks that are best suited to his business needs.

The piercers we interviewed spend anywhere from an hour to several hours a day monitoring their social media sites.  Some, like AJ, spend all of their time between clients online whereas Chrissy and Derek may only spend an hour or so a day. (Crystal admits to going in cycles of spending more and less time.) The important thing is to figure out what commitment you can make and what fits into your own schedule.

With Jesse’s words in mind, let’s look at some tips for establishing a routine to keep up with the social media networks you have chosen to participate in.

• You will want to check for comments and questions from your networks at least once a day.  Ideally, you will upload something to them daily as well.  The more you put in, the more you will get out.
• Consider checking your social media sites as part of your opening and closing duties, or delegate the task to your fellow studio members, counter staff, or apprentices as part of their daily assigned work duties.
• Disable questions/comments on social media sites, such as Tumblr or Facebook, if you are having problems overseeing your them. (You can always turn these functions back on when you have the time to maintain them.)
  • Instagram doesn’t really encourage questions so it needs less maintenance. What’s more, since it works primarily from smart phones, it can be as easy as uploading a picture on a lunch break.
• Generate content by taking lots of photos of jewelry and your studio so that you have things to upload when you need them.
• Use the Tumblr queue and Facebook activity log to schedule posts.  These tools could enable you to generate a whole month’s worth of posts in a single afternoon.

All this media can be overwhelming to learn and to use. In order to help studio owners and piercers get ahead, below are some simple “How-To’s”— complete with diagrams to help you utilize these time management features.

Facebook
To see your recent and scheduled posts: Select “Edit Page” from the Page Admin panel. A expanded text box will appear. Select “Use Activity Log” to see all posts—past, present, and future.

To schedule a post: Type content, link an article, or upload an image in your status bar. Instead of clicking “Post,” select the clock icon in the bottom left-hand corner. This will allow you to select the year, month, date, hour, and minute you want your post to go live. Once you have entered all of this information, click “Schedule.”

Tumblr
To use Tumblr’s Queue function: First create a post. By default, your post will publish immediately. Selecting the dropdown menu will reveal options to “Add to queue”, or to schedule your post for a specific date & time.

Once you add your first post to your queue, you will see an added feature on your home page. Use this feature to edit, delete, or reorganize your queued posts.

From your Queue menu, you can edit how often Tumblr posts the items in your queue.

Finding a routine may be challenging at first, but don’t be discouraged. It takes time, as well as trial and error to find what works best for you and your studio. Some find it helpful to keep a journal to track their progress; others find networking groups helpful when they are stuck on ideas or just want to compare notes. Once you do establish your routine not only will you be saving time, you will be helping to make safe piercing viral!

And remember: You can also provide content for the APP’s social media sites.  The APP has committee of volunteers dedicated to posting members’ safe and successful piercing pictures to their network of over 15,000 followers. Along with other health & safety related information, photos are a very integral part of the safe piercing experience we want to provide on our media pages. After all a picture speaks a thousand words.

Please join us next issue where we will share some more “Do’s and Don’ts” for managing your social media sites. Until then, be sure to continue (or start) uploading content to your own page, and send your beautiful piercing photos—with your name, studio name, and a little bit about you—to: submissions@safepiercing.org.

Editor’s note: Due to the time sensitive nature of the information provided—and the constantly changing state of the internet itself—some the content and/or screencaps in these articles may become outdated very quickly. For up-to-date information on each of these sites, please view their individual FAQs, tutorial or training pages.

Monday, June 10, 2013

9:00 AM  -  10:30 AM	Orientation / Mentor Program
11:00 AM  -  1:00 PM	Basic Steel & Titanium
11:00 AM  -  1:30 PM	Preventing Cross-Contamination in the Sterilization and Piercing Rooms (A)
11:00 AM  -  12:00 PM	ROUNDTABLE: Becoming an APP Member
11:00 AM  -  1:30 PM	Studio Documentation
12:30 PM  -  1:30 PM	ROUNDTABLE: Outreach: Sharing the Safe Piercing Message
2:00 PM  -  6:00 PM	Bloodborne Pathogens (BBP)
2:00 PM  -  3:30 PM	Customer Service Philosophy
2:00 PM  -  3:30 PM	Stretching: Everything More than Lobes
4:00 PM  -  6:30 PM	Preventing Cross-Contamination in the Sterilization and Piercing Rooms (B)
5:00 PM  -  6:00 PM	Bedside Manner and Grounding: Connecting with Your Client
5:00 PM  -  6:30 PM	Studio Aesthetics

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

10:00 AM  -  12:00 PM	Aftercare Series: Wound Healing Dynamics
10:00 AM  -  12:00 PM	Marketing & Social Media
10:00 AM  -  12:00 PM	Minimizing Tools: An Intro to Tool-Less Piercing (A)
10:00 AM  -  12:00 PM	Preventing Cross-Contamination in the Sterilization and Piercing Rooms (C)
10:00 AM  -  12:00 PM	The Ins and Outs of Female Genital Piercing
1:00 PM  -  3:00 PM	Surface Piercing: Going Deeper than the Surface (A)
1:30 PM  -  3:00 PM	Aftercare Series: Client Home Care
1:30 PM  -  2:30 PM	Roundtable: Interpersonal Studio Dynamics
2:00 PM  -  4:00 PM	Tools are Not the Devil (A)
3:30 PM  -  4:30 PM	Meeting: Health Inspectors
3:30 PM  -  4:30 PM	Meeting: International
3:30 PM  -  4:30 PM	Roundtable: Aftercare From the Masses
4:45 PM  -  6:15 PM	Aftercare Series: Troubleshooting
4:45 PM  -  6:15 PM	Basic Statim Usage
4:45 PM  -  5:45 PM	Roundtable: Shop Owners
4:45 PM  -  6:45 PM	Minimizing Tools: An Intro to Tool-Less Piercing (B)
6:15 PM  -  7:15 PM	Roundtable: Legislation
7:00 PM  -  9:30 PM	Preventing Cross-Contamination in the Sterilization and Piercing Rooms (D)
7:30 PM  -  9:00 PM	Anodizing is Awesome!
7:30 PM  -  9:30 PM	Aseptic Technique & Suspension
7:30 PM  -  9:30 PM	Corporate Branding: Delivering on Your Promise
8:00 PM  -  9:30 PM	Initial Jewelry: The “Rules” (and when to break them)

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

10:00 AM  -  12:00 PM	Ear Projects: The Ear as Art
10:00 AM  -  11:30 AM	Managing Difficult Clients
10:00 AM  -  11:30 AM	Photography Tips for Industry Professionals
10:00 AM  -  12:30 PM	Preventing Cross-Contamination in the Sterilization and Piercing Rooms (E)
10:00 AM  -  12:00 PM	Minimizing Tools: An Intro to Tool-Less Piercing (C)
1:00 PM  -  3:00 PM	Anatomy of the Body for Piercers
1:00 PM  -  3:00 PM	Surface Piercing: Going Deeper than the Surface (B)
1:00 PM  -  3:00 PM	Tools are Not the Devil (B)
1:30 PM  -  2:30 PM	Roundtable: Statim Maintenance and Troubleshooting
3:15 PM  -  4:15 PM	Meeting: New Attendees & Mentors
3:15 PM  -  4:15 PM	Roundtable: Finding Balance Between Work and Life Outside the Studio
3:30 PM  -  6:30 PM	CPR
4:30 PM  -  6:30 PM	MEMBERS ONLY: Exploring Sexually Functional Piercings
4:30 PM  -  7:00 PM	Preventing Cross-Contamination in the Sterilization and Piercing Rooms (F)
4:45 PM  -  6:45 PM	Minimizing Tools: An Intro to Tool-Less Piercing (D)
7:00 PM  -  9:00 PM	Making Effective Piercing Rituals
7:30 PM  -  8:00 PM	Social: Members Mingle
8:00 PM  -  9:00 PM	Meeting: Members (APP members only)

Thursday, June 13, 2013

10:00 AM  -  11:30 AM	Gold and Diamonds! Knowledge, Sales and Custom Design
10:00 AM  -  12:00 PM	The Grieving Body: Does Body Modification Injure or Heal the Psyche?
10:00 AM  -  12:00 PM	Surface Piercing: Going Deeper than the Surface (C)
10:00 AM  -  12:00 PM	Tools are Not the Devil (C)
10:45 AM  -  11:45 AM	Roundtable: Breaking Barriers: Building a Local Piercer Group
12:15 PM  -  1:15 PM	Roundtable: Transitioning to and Selling Higher End Jewelry
12:30 PM  -  3:00 PM	Oro-Facial Anatomy for Safe & Successful Piercings
1:00 PM  -  3:00 PM	Minimizing Tools: An Intro to Tool-Less Piercing (E)
1:00 PM  -  3:00 PM	Tools are Not the Devil (D)
1:45 PM  -  2:45 PM	Roundtable: Working with Vegetarian/Vegan Clients
3:15 PM  -  4:45 PM	Going Paperless
3:15 PM  -  4:45 PM	Medical Risk Assessment
3:15 PM  -  4:15 PM	Roundtable: The Transgendered Effect
5:00 PM  -  6:30 PM	Beyond Ramps: Disabilities 101 for Piercing Professionals
5:00 PM  -  7:00 PM	MEMBERS ONLY: Technique Workshop
5:00 PM  -  7:00 PM	Surface Piercing: Going Deeper than the Surface (D)

Friday, June 14, 2013

10:00 AM  -  1:00 PM	First Aid
11:00 AM  -  1:00 PM	Tools are Not the Devil (E)
11:00 AM  -  1:00 PM	Surface Piercing: Going Deeper than the Surface (E)

The informational brochures available through the Association of Professional Piercers can be used in a variety of ways to educate the public about safe piercing. To help you better make use of these resources, we have summarized some of these pamphlets in our three part series by outlining the numerous ways in which studios have successfully utilized this vital information.  (See The Point #60 and #61 for more information.)

In this, the last of the series, we will turn our attention to the brochures geared towards minors and to our international users. Remember: The Outreach Committee supplies these brochures FREE of charge to any member interested in doing outreach at a local convention or conference. (If you are attending a convention or conference in your area, please contact outreach@safepiercing.org.)

Brochures for Minors
The APP has a series of aftercare brochures which are specifically geared toward minors. These brochures provide young piercees with a simplified, easy-to-read outline on how to take care of their new piercing. These brochures are extremely useful for piercers working with schools or youth groups, as they have been edited with their young audience in mind. They offer more basic text and remove any mention of genital piercings—making them acceptable for use in elementary, middle, and high school presentations.

International Brochures
Reaching people in their preferred language can reduce confusion, help bridge communication barriers, and help to serve as a relationship building tool to gain the trust of varied clientele. For those very reasons, many of the APP’s brochures are also available in Spanish and French. (The North American population contains not one but three recognized national languages; for this reason it only makes sense that the APP publish brochures in all three languages.) This increases both the numbers of piercers and piercees who have access to proper and vital piercing information and allows for more outreach opportunities.

The following brochures were previously discussed in issues 60 and 61:

What is the APP
Picking your Piercer
Jewelry for Initial Piercings
Oral Piercing Aftercare
Oral Piercing Risks
Taking Care of your Piercing (updated from “Suggested Aftercare Guidelines for Body Piercings”)

Conclusion
Studios are always looking for more ways to get involved in their community, to spread the word and to support the APP’s mission.  We hope that you have found new ways to use the brochures to promote safe piercing. The resources provided by the APP are invaluable and, when used by the entire membership, can impact our communities on a larger scale.

To download these as well as other APP publications, or for more information about the APP brochures and other resources, visit the APP’s website. You can place an order on the website or by calling (888) 888-1APP.  You can also access and download web and quality print versions of  PDF files for free.

The weekend of February 8-10, 2013 brought the Philadelphia Tattoo Convention back to the Philadelphia Convention Center,  and  like last year, the Association of Professional Piercers was also in attendance. Volunteers handed out information and educated the public on safe piercing. I worked the booth, with Lou Quino, on Saturday evening, and can happily report the show was busy. There was lots of foot traffic passing by our well-placed booth. As always, the best response was to our printed materials, with countless brochures and back issues of The Point being passed out. We also talked to a few faces brand new to the industry, apprentices who were excited about all of the pamphlets and general information that was available for the taking, and I personally bumped into a few local clients who were happy just to be able to access aftercare information at a venue outside of our shop (sometimes it is hard to get down to South Philly).

A special thanks to Troy Timpel for his generosity, support, understanding, and ability to be an overall awesome guy.

James Weber manning the APP booth at the Philadelphia Tattoo Convention.

On November 15, 2012 the South Australian government passed a new law—and tougher penalties—regarding the piercing, tattooing or modifying of minors. This new legislation, as outlined by the Attorney General’s Department, made it illegal to “perform a body modification procedure (such as tattooing, body branding or ear stretching) or intimate body piercing on a minor under the age of 18 years[; to] perform a non-intimate body piercing on a minor who is under 16 years of age without the consent of a guardian[; to]perform a body piercing or body modification procedure on a person who is intoxicated (whether by alcohol or other substances)[; or to] sell body modification equipment to a minor.” Those found guilty of unlawfully piercing, tattooing or modifying a minor will be subject to a slew of penalties ranging from a $5000 fine to twelve months in prison. (This is an increase from the previous $1250 fine, or three months imprisonment.) According to Attorney General John Rau—and adelaidenow.com—the new laws represent “the biggest changes to tattoo [and piercing] legislation in decades” and piercers will be held to these standards through written agreements they are now required to enter into with all customers. These agreements will contain any “information required by the [new] regulations…[while also providing customers] with information about aftercare and the possible risks of a procedure.”

For more information about South Australian piercing, tattooing, and body modification legislation, visit the South Australian Attorney General’s Department.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Since the passage of this law an additional push, driven by the industry, has been made to ban reusable ear piercing guns in South Australia. For more information about the propsed ban, view a recent news story—courtesy of TENnews.

In most areas of the world, the body modification industry remains highly unregulated. This means tattoos and piercings are available to the masses regardless of sex, gender, or—in many places—age. In the past, societal pressures on conformity and reserved appearances were strong enough to sway most minors away from body modification.  However, the more popular and mainstream tattoos and piercings become, the more teenagers want them and believe that they are completely socially acceptable. Take a recent example that hit North American media like a wild fire:

Will and Jada Pinkett Smith’s 11-year-old daughter, Willow, was recently given a tongue-lashing on social media after posting a picture of herself sporting a tongue piercing on Instagram. Though she later revealed that it was in fact a fake, magnetic tongue ring, people were already whipping their opinions back and forth about whether young people are too vulnerable to make permanent (or potentially scarring) decisions about their bodies. The issue: What is classified as “too young”? (CNN, 2013 Jul 6)

For us as body modification artists the larger issue at hand is who is going to decide these things for us and our clients. Whether we like it or not regulations for our industry are either a reality for you already or may be in the near future.

Although the battle over modifications for teenagers is typically fought between parents and children (Hudson, 2012), with many examples such as Willow Smith and Instagram, this debate has now entered legislative bodies around the globe.  One of the latest examples comes from Australia, where legislation just went into place (November 2012) affecting when and what modifications minors can receive. An Australian newspaper (Adelaide Now) reported that The Summary Offences (Tattooing, Body Piercing and Body Modification) Amendment Act of 2011 included redefining body modification and its related terms. (These amendments were made to  the original Summary Offences Act 1953 as well as accompanying amendments to the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935.) The amendments covered everything from body branding and body implantation to tattooing, piercing, splitting and stretching—and even the sale of body modification devices to minors. (Check out our Legislation Update – South Australia article for more information about this new legislation, and all of the provisions of the new Summary Offences Amendment Act.)

Closer to home (for many of us) are the examples of Health Canada: although they provide guidelines to prevent the spread of infections, communicable diseases, they do not have a legally established age requirement for body piercing. Instead, professional body piercers and health authorities agree that these requirements are regulated at a provincial or municipal level, and where no requirements exist, it is left up to the individual operator’s judgement. (In British Columbia, for example, provincial recommendations on ear and body piercings call for parental consent on anyone under the age of 19.)

It is no surprise that, stateside, there are regulations being put into place everyday to ensure that modifications are happening in proper, hygienic environments  and on clients of consenting ages, but we are starting to see such legislation being implemented—or updated—around the world. As many recent articles in The Point have discussed, the internet and social media is a driving force for our industry. (For more on “Making Safe Piercing Viral,” click here.) Countless hours are spent by hundreds of thousands  of people every day, tweeting, blogging, reposting and pinning the next piercing we are going to do. This as a call to action; let us do our part to shift the balance from YouFail videos and botched piercings to perfectly placed, well-angled piercings with beautiful jewelry. As APP member April Berardi believes: we should share and share alike. Post your own knowledge, and share what other good piercers are doing. This will do just as much to boost your own clientele, and if you’re too busy to dedicate time to editing and posting your own work, then share, share, share.  Before we are told what we can’t do, let’s show them what we can. Where there are no regulations, we need to police ourselves and promote the change we want to see. Be proactive; we must be the catalyst to drive the changes we want to see.

In a 1970 article about Lyle Tuttle in Rolling Stone, journalist Amie Hill said this in regards to her visit to Tuttle’s studio:

Far from being the sinister, greasy hole that popular fiction associates with tattooing, Tuttle’s establishment is almost disappointingly clean and well-lighted.

That was almost forty years ago, when the concept of regulating and inspecting tattoo establishments was a new idea and not nearly as stringent as some are today. Those who recognized tattoos as an art form sought to protect the future of the career they held so dear (Hudson, 2012).

Those of you reading this are the next generation of piercers and modification artists; seek to protect the future of a career you hold dear. Does Paul Booth need someone telling him how to clean and sterilize his equipment? Does Bob Tyrell or Guy Aitchison need a written reminder not to smoke while tattooing or re-use ink? No – of course not! Even if no such laws were in place, artists of this calibre would continue to raise the bar of body art safety to ensure the continuation and reputation of their livelihood (Hudson, 2012). Although piercing may not garner the same attention that tattoo artists often gain, if the current state of growth and interest in body piercing continues, this will indeed be the case.  If all humans were mature and responsible enough to regulate themselves, we wouldn’t need laws of any sort, but that is not the case. The good news is that these rules should not pose any inconvenience to the true professionals, as they are probably already acting above and beyond these laws on their own.

Editor’s Note: Regardless of any local legislation being more lenient, the APP maintains that “for any piercing of a minor, a parent or legal guardian must be present to sign a consent form. Proof positive, state issued photo identification is required from the legal guardian, and a bona fide form of identification from the minor. In the event the parent has a different last name and/or address from the child, court documentation is needed to prove the relationship, i.e., divorce papers, or a remarriage certificate. Under no circumstances is it acceptable or appropriate for a piercer to perform piercing on the nipples or genitals of an individual under 18 years of age.”