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General shot of PoleCon: West 2025 main room including vendors and stage.

PoleCon: West 2025 Updates from the Survey

Thank you to everyone who took our survey! We read every response. <3

This blog addresses some common themes and links to previously addressed issues. Because this was the first PoleCon: West some issues may never come up exactly again AND we will still try to learn from them.

GENERALLY people liked the West option!

“You can keep it at Denver!”

“I do not like the east coast and with current politics, am less likely to attend east coast venues. I am more likely to attend West Coast conventions.”

“PLEASE PUT IT IN CENTRAL DENVER. This location was accessible by light rail, directly from the airport. It had plenty of walkable restaurants.”

“Come back to Colorado soon!”

This year only 12% of attendees took the survey. Which is higher than those that took the survey for PoleCon 2025 AND we know does not represent everyone’s opinions or thoughts. <3

The most common theme in the survey is that many people do not read the information provided OR don’t know how to find it.

Many people had really specific issues that all can be found on the online so in case you had one of those and are reading this:

  • Detailed Paid and Free Workshop descriptions (not just titles) are in WellnessLiving
  • The refund policy is in the FAQs section of the website and in WellnessLiving when you purchase something on your email receipt.
  • The Instagram profiles of everyone who performed are in the showcase descriptions on WellnessLiving for that showcase AND in the showcase meme on Instagram published the day of the showcase.
  • We do ask your dietary preference. The question is in the email receipt with directions to log into your WellnessLiving profile to add it along with your emergency contact info. One person had trouble finding this in their profile and reached out via email.
  • There is a MUCH easier to read and formatted for your phone schedule that is the event booklet. There is a QR code at registration — when you get your wrist — to download the formatted pdf.

There is A LOT of detail on the website. -> one suggestion was to separate the East and West coast information. We are looking at breaking the website up more into different pages instead of one long page. Some people prefer one page, and some don’t – the current web trends seem to be more pages than less. Generally, if we could make our scheduler and payment processor, we’d probably all have a much better experience. We have looked at other options and so far, WellnessLiving is still the best option for the price.

1. Expensive – Yes, the event is expensive.

We’ve written about it before so that you can be prepared (please note, some costs have gone up since this blog was published).

PoleCon: West saw the first price increases on passes. PoleCon 2026 will have a price increase on passes (not workshops).

We understand this event is expensive. It’s still cheaper than many fitness conventions or professional conventions and while some people appreciate the food and some hate it, the value of what you get for a PoleCon pass is often more than many other conventions.

Unfortunately, the world keeps getting more expensive.

The hotel/food/rental costs more. The exhibitor services (the people that make the “booths”) is WAY more expensive. The truss vendor is more expensive. We advertised price increase for workshops which were raised for the first time since 2015. And yes, workshop leaders will also make more money from this increase not just PoleCon (because it costs more money for them to come to PoleCon too!).

We understand if this means some of you cannot attend, or that you can do less things. =(

To try and keep PoleCon affordable(ish) for all involved, prices will adjust slowly on different elements of the convention. For instance, some conventions charge vendors and sponsors a lot so they can charge attendees less. Because the pole industry is entirely comprised of small businesses, PoleCon does not do this and instead tries to spread out the cost of running the event over sponsors, exhibitors, attendees, workshop leaders, performers, etc.

2. Workshop leaders and workshops.

A lot of you really liked the workshop leaders but if you have specific instructors you’d like to see teach, please HAVE THEM APPLY.

Applications for PoleCon 2026 will be available in October 2025. We ENCOURAGE all workshop leaders to be VERY VERY CLEAR what their workshops entail so that you know what to expect.

See below for anticipated timeline for PoleCon: West 2026.

3. The Food.

There is a lot of “cognitive dissonance” with the food at PoleCon: West based on the survey. Some of you liked it and some of you did not:

“Food was great, additional beverages and coffee were nice.”

“I was very annoyed that there were not enough meat option and way too many vegan option.”

“Food was okay for the price paid.”

“The food provided could be improved.”

“The food was absolutely AMAZING! Very delicious, beautifully presented, and so much variety!”

Also, as explained in detail under the “Food” section in last year’s blog, the ticket price would be THE SAME without food because hotels charge you for rental or food. This is unfortunately how it works with large hotels. I am working with them to improve the food however if I remove the food, you will still have to pay the same price.

There were some issues at West with the box lunches having non-vegan and non-gluten free items in that box. When I brought this to the hotel’s attention, they were shocked and surprised (no, really). Moving forward, we will insist that hotel’s do “deconstructed” boxes like we do at the PoleCon hotel so people can clearly see what allergens might be present.

4. Showcases

Many people loved the diversity and the new showcases!

“Incredible variety of showcases and different styles of performances!. I lost my voice from screaming and cheering so much. No regrets!”

“I was BEYOND excited to see MORE representation at PCW!”

“I love that Pole Con has so much diversity and has a showcase for literally every group of people. Really nice mix of levels in each showcase and different styles and concepts. Was so inspiring to watch everyone!”

There was some confusion with the PoleCon stage management staff this year regarding the standard spin/static settings and we have all talked about it and honestly have no idea what happened since it’s been that way since 2015 – serious brain farts — which I personally apologized to the performers for. This has caused us to update our staff handbook so that it doesn’t happen again and to include more checks and balances.

Some people noted there were less performers and asked for more local studio representation – you are correct! In previous years when PoleCon moved around, studios reached out to us to be more involved and this year that did not happen. Also, there were less applicants this year, likely because it is a new event and the timeline snuck up on people, or they weren’t sure what to expect, or some other reason. Regardless, if you want more performers, please apply and/or encourage other folks to apply too!

Moving Forward to PoleCon: West 2026

We are looking now – this isn’t bs, it is the truth!

We are limited out West to places that do not have anti-trans laws and places that are affordable. We are unlikely to be at a downtown location again but hope to find a location that is walkable to food and entertainment like we are at the PoleCon hotel in Maryland.

We are unlikely to have privates. If we have the space based on the venue, we will have privates, but it is not a priority.

For 2026 we will run the same, shorter event style. If things continue to grow, we may run a full-sized PoleCon: West in 2027. But we need to grow quite a bit to make that viable.

For showcases, performers, workshop leaders, and vendors — all that information for West will be available once we have a location. I’m hoping in the next two months. In the meantime, if you want more vendors of a certain type, forward emails to your favorite vendors! Tag them in posts! DM them information.

If you want to do something specific – a few people mentioned fun activities and meet ups – talk to me about it! I can share information about space availability (once I have it) or just share information on the PoleCon marketing about something that you are doing during the same time! That is how some of our after parties have come to be – someone else organized them and we just share it.

 

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and helping the event be better! <3

“I had the best time”

Colleen
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