InkSpired Magazine Issue No. 33 | Page 9

Pioneers of piercing - Fakir Musafar, Elayne Angel & Jim Ward Miro Hernandez (APP Public Relations Director) Sean Dowdell: What is it specifically that you do you in your role for the APP and how long have you been a member? Miro Hernandez: I have been a member of the APP for eight years and I am currently on the board of directors as the Public Relations Director and the chair for the Marketing Committee. As a board member, we are elected by our membership to serve the best interests of the organization. My current role entails media and PR for the organization and the committee works on marketing and design for the organization. those classes entailed the history of the organization, there were many others that were offered. The needle bevel theory class by Brian Skellie and Luis Garcia is a game changer for many. Jared Karnes from Onetribe taught a class on lapidary anthropology that was well received by many and was one of the most talked about classes this year. Myself and Brett Graham taught a class on ethics in communication which was well received and offered different perspectives on communication in the workplace and social media. A lot of piercers were able to take a lot away from the Piercing as a Career class which offered insight on how to not get burnt out and make a lifelong career out of what we love to do. New courses are always being added as the industry progresses and the old favorites are always being revamped as well. SD: How do you see the APP expanding in other countries in the next five years and what do you hope it will accomplish in the industry? MH: We are currently working on having our procedural manual translated into a few different languages and already offer some of SD: I understand we had quite a few international attendees this year. Approximately how many and from what countries were the attendees from? MH: I don’t have exact counts, but there were over a hundred international attendees from all parts of the world! We had representatives from Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, England, Ireland, Sweden, and Japan. SD: What innovative or interesting courses were given this year? MH: On top of all the historical classes this year, which were super exciting since it was our twenty year anniversary and some of InkSpiredMagazine.com 7