It’s hard to believe we’re already finishing our last issue of 2024 — it feels too early to be reflecting on the year. I am so proud of everything my team has accomplished this year. They put together a yearlong succession planning series, which included webinars, podcasts and articles; launched 30 Under 40 for SpaRetailer; started the Hot Tub Hall of Fame; and behind the scenes, have been working on a new website, which will be coming soon. And of course, the backdrop to all of that are the big life milestones that everyone experienced. I threw a lot at them this year, and they knocked it out of the park.
I hope you all join me in congratulating the first inductees into the Hot Tub Hall of Fame: Chris Robinson, retired from Lucite International; Steve Hammock, retired from Watkins Wellness; and posthumously Rich Werber, the founder of Great Atlantic Hot Tubs and Saunas. They will be honored at the Pool & Hot Tub Alliance’s Awards of Excellence at the Pool | Spa | Patio Expo in Dallas on Nov. 11. I hope some of you can join us to celebrate these well-deserving industry legends.
There are a lot of awards out there, but I thought it was important to have a place where our industry can honor and remember the people who have helped us get to where we are today. The hot tub industry is still relatively young, and we should take the opportunity to record our history while so many of the founders and innovators of the early days are still with us. I’d like to thank the PHTA and International Hot Tub Association for seeing and supporting this vision. We have short write-ups on these three in this issue (Page 42), but be on the lookout for more in-depth profiles in our February/March issue.
Come see us at the Pool | Spa | Patio Expo in Dallas and The Pool & Spa Show in Atlantic City! We’d love to chat with you.
Best,
Megan Kendrick, publisher
megan@kendrickcontent.com