- CONVERGENCE SUMMIT 2026
- TEDGIBSON.COM
- CONVERGENCE SUMMIT 2026
- TEDGIBSON.COM
- CONVERGENCE SUMMIT 2026
- TEDGIBSON.COM
- CONVERGENCE SUMMIT 2026
- TEDGIBSON.COM
- CONVERGENCE SUMMIT 2026
- TEDGIBSON.COM
- CONVERGENCE SUMMIT 2026
- TEDGIBSON.COM
A personal invitation from Ted and Jason
We created Convergence because we believe this industry deserves a space that feels as joyful, supportive, inspiring, and alive as the people in it.
Whether you join us as a Pro for the full weekend or as a beauty enthusiast for Sunday only -- we can not wait to welcome you to Palm Springs.
Let's celebrate this industry together!
TICKET FEATURES
Panel discussions and master classes with industry professionals
Mainstage presentation sessions from beauty, health and wellness experts
Consumer “How-to” informative and instructional sessions
Cocktail party, “Beauty in Motion” fashion show event and after party on May 3, 2026
Network with peers, professional experts and Palm Springs community members
Curated retail experience with insider pricing
VIP Experience
$499
All access weekend + private inner circle magic.
Limited to 30 guests
Includes exclusive VIP entrance to attend:
- The Ribbon Cutting to launch the event with the Mayor of Palm Springs
- Beauty, Health & Wellness Sales Area with specialty brand offering insider pricing
- Owners Session (*exclusively for professionals)
- VIP Seating Area for all Mainstage Presentations & Evening event
- Panel Discussion with Beauty, Health & Wellness Experts
- Mainstage Presentations featuring session from the beauty, health and wellness Specialists
- Breakout Classes spotlighting up-close & personal education from industry professionals
- Network with Peers, Palm Springs Community Members and Professional Hair, Skin, Health &
Wellness Experts. - Ticket to the VIP ShroomBoom Party at The Shag House
o VIP & invite only
o Exclusive tour of The Shag House
o Mingle and party with the VIP Crowd
o Music & entertainment
o Hors d’oeuvres & Bar - Cocktail Parties, Entertainment & Fashion Show
- Pre-Entertainment Cocktail Party with a DJ, Hors d’oeuvres & a Cash Bar
o 2 Drink Ticket - Premium Gift Bag with Full-Size Swag from all the Beauty, Health & Wellness brands
Professional
$399
The full two-day Convergence experience.
Education, connection, celebration, and community.
Group Rate Buy 5 get one free: $1,995.00. (6th Ticket Free)
Includes entrance to attend:
- The Ribbon Cutting to launch the event with the Mayor of Palm Springs
- Beauty, Health & Wellness Sales Area with specialty brand offering insider pricing
- Owners Session (*exclusively for salon owners & independent salon owners)
- Panel Discussion with Beauty, Health & Wellness Experts
- Mainstage Presentations featuring session from the beauty, health and wellness Specialists
- Breakout Classes spotlighting up-close & personal education from industry professionals
- Network with Peers, Palm Springs Community Members and Professional Hair, Skin, Health &
Wellness Experts. - Cocktail Parties, Entertainment & Fashion Show
o Pre-Entertainment Cocktail Party with a DJ, Hors d’oeuvres & a Cash Bar
o 1 Drink Ticket
o Entertainment Event featuring BEAUTY IN MOTION Fashion Show with Ted Gibson &
the Ted Gibson Artistic Team
o After Party with a DJ & Cash Bar - Gift Bag with Swag from all the Beauty, Health & Wellness brands
Sunday Consumer
$199
One joy-filled day of beauty, inspiration, and celebration.
Perfect for beauty lovers, clients, and artists.
Group Rate: Buy 5 get 1 Free - $995.00 (6th Ticket Free)
- The Ribbon Cutting to launch the event with the Mayor of Palm Springs
- Beauty, Health & Wellness Sales Area with specialty brand offering insider pricing
- Attend Master Classes:
o Taking Care of Your Skin
o Taking Care of Your Hair
o Taking Care of Your Hair & Skin from the Inside out
o DIY Bowdry & Finishing - Network with Professional Hair, Skin, Health & Wellness Experts
- Cocktail Partys, Entertainment & Fashion Show
- Pre-Entertainment Cocktail Party with a DJ, Hors d’oeuvres & a Cash Bar
o 1 Drink Ticket
o Entertainment Event featuring BEAUTY IN MOTION Fashion Show with Ted Gibson &
the Ted Gibson Artistic Team
o After Party - Gift Bag with Swag from all the Beauty, Health &. Wellness brands
Professional Mainstage artists
Min Kim
Min Kim is a NYC-based master colorist, global educator, and L’Oréal Professionnel Global Creative Contributor known for precision-driven artistry and purpose-led teaching. Over the past decade, she’s trained 300,000+ stylists across 20 countries, blending luxury color mastery with business empowerment—helping pros create with intention, price with confidence, and lead authentically. She’s a respected international judge and sought-after speaker, educator, and globally recognized Influencer shaping the future of modern hair artistry.
Zachary Goldberg
Zachary Goldberg entered the hair industry with ERGO Styling Tools in 2019 and quickly became a driving force behind the brand, now serving as Chief Experience Officer and an Artistic Team Member. Known for his ability to connect education, service, and profitability, he helps shape how professionals and consumers experience ERGO at every level. His mission is simple: raise the standard, elevate the industry, and deliver excellence everywhere ERGO shows up.
Our esteemed panelists
Bill Bastian
Dr. Bastian facilitates healing through a science-based integrative approach as a Transpersonal Therapist. As the only doctor of Chinese Medicine who nationally certified as a Chiropractic Biophysics Practitioner, his work is rooted in Traditional Medicine, yet his protocols are unique in that they transcend the conventional boundaries of acupuncture and herbal pharmacology. Dr. Bastian is a meditation counselor and a shamanic practitioner of energy medicine, which enables him to facilitate profound psycho-spiritual and Chi (energy) healing.
Donna Flood
Donna Flood has spent the last 30 years studying and practicing astrology throughout North America. With a Bachelor's degree in Human Kinetics, a Master's Degree in Spiritual Psychology, and as a Certified Archetype Consultant, she believes understanding who you are is what gives you clarity, confidence and heightened intuition. Donna leads astrology & personal growth workshops and retreats around the globe and provides counseling services in personal development, self-improvement, and self-fulfillment.
Lauren Del Sarto
Lauren Del Sarto is the Founder and Publisher of Desert Health, the Coachella Valley’s leading resource for health and wellness. Lauren’s diverse career began after graduating from James Madison University in Virginia and heading to Wall Street to work in internal communications at Morgan Stanley. She then moved to San Francisco where she produced nationally-acclaimed events as the Associate Producer of Events West before becoming a Marketing Manager with Dorothy Hamill’s Ice Capades. Her entrepreneurial endeavors include a successful marketing and sponsorship agency, an equestrian construction management company, and Good Vibes Floating Sound Baths.
Lauren’s many accolades include the Women Who Rule Trailblazer Award and the Palm Springs Health Run & Fitness Expo’s Health Influencer Award. She is a board advisor for Coachella Valley Volunteers in Medicine and Women Leaders Forum.
Ted Gibson
Ted Gibson is a globally recognized beauty entrepreneur with a career spanning decades as a salon owner, celebrity hairstylist and educator. His work has been featured in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Marie Claire, and his backstage presence at fashion houses such as Chanel, Prada and Dolce &Gabbana, along with New York Fashion Week, has cemented his influence at the highest levels of beauty and style. His celebrity clientele includes Angelina Jolie, Anne Hathaway, Lupita Nyong’o, Mckenna Grace and many more women who trust him not just for style, but for transformation. Gibson is a prominent figure in popular culture with international reach. He starred in the Paramount+ series “Blowing LA,” served as the resident hair expert on TLC’s “What Not to Wear,” and has appeared on “The Today Show,” “Good Morning America,” and “Oprah,” to name a few. Ted's most recent venture, Ted Gibson Beauty Wellness Science, co-founded with his husband Jason Backe. Inspired by his mother’s dementia diagnosis, he began exploring the connection between brain health, longevity and inside-out beauty.
Dr. Hessam Mahdavi MD
Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Dr. Mahdavi has practiced primary care and urgent care and previously served as medical director for a vein clinic in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He began his career as a chiropractic physician in Orange County, California, where he ran a successful practice for five years prior to obtaining his medical degree and completing his residency at Michigan State University.
In addition to treating musculoskeletal conditions with regenerative therapy, Dr. Mahdavi has extensive training in nutrition, integrated medicine and hormonal management issues for both men and women.
Dr. Gina Oliver
Dr. Gina Oliver is a scientist and founder of From The Land, where she develops climate-controlled micro-farms growing Lion’s Mane and other functional crops year-round. With a background in microbiology and controlled-environment research, she brings
a scientific perspective to mushroom cultivation and wellness. Her interest in functional fungi began long before it became mainstream, and she is passionate about making high-quality mushroom
products more locally accessible.
Dr. Edith Jones-Poland
Edith Jones-Poland is an integrative primary care physician and women’s health coach. Following medical school,she studied under renowned doctor Andrew Weil, completing a Fellowship at the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine.
As the founder of Circe Healthcare and Coaching, she focuses on disease prevention, not just treatment, through the most natural and least invasive means possible.
The buzz
"Ted Gibson and Jason Backe are set to debut the Convergence Beauty Wellness Science Summit, a two-day event taking place May 3 and 4 in Palm Springs, Calif.
He (Gibson) and Backe — his husband, business partner and longtime hair colorist — aim to bridge the evolving relationship between beauty professionals and today’s increasingly informed consumers."
“Convergence is not a trade show,” says Gibson, a celebrity stylist and TV personality, whose latest enterprise with longtime partner Backe isTed Gibson Beauty Wellness Science. “It is a summit that is changing the way education is delivered.”
"As a hairstylist to the stars, Gibson’s client roster includes Angelina Jolie, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong’o, and Sandra Oh, and he is also known for past roles as the resident hair expert on TLC’s “What Not to Wear” and starring with Backe in the Paramount+ series “Blowing LA.” Backe’s roster of celebrity clientele includes Tessa Thompson, Renée Zellweger and Priyanka Chopra, and he is also an award-winning hair colorist and past educator for global beauty brands."
"Attendees will experience a mix of technical education, panel discussions and speakers that support professional and personal growth and well-being, exploring topics like ingredient literacy, mycology, longevity science and more, in addition to retail shopping with insider pricing. Consumer sessions include educational demonstrations in skin and hair care, while professional sessions focus on mastering skills in hair cutting, hair dressing and business strategy and logistics. Community is a central focus of the summit, shaped by Gibson and Backe’s decades of experience attending and leading global beauty events."
“When we came to Palm Springs, it was an immediate love affair,” says Backe. “The inspiration we feel here has just been incredible.” They bought in 2018 and, in 2024, decided to call Palm Springs home. Driven by their newfound dedication to wellness, they are already making an impact in our community. Last year, they introduced Ascension, a functional mushroom blend additive available in neighborhood shops and online (try the Ted Gibson®Cloud 9 at Coffeeism), and began clinical trials on Hyper Shroom Complex, a groundbreaking wellness hair care line. This year, they are also launching the Convergence Beauty Wellness Science Summit at the Renaissance Hotel Palm Springs in May."
“I’m a classic hairdresser with a twist,” says Ted Gibson. “I love cutting hair just as much as I love dressing it. I’m inspired by cinema and timeless icons—women like Diana Ross, Rita Hayworth, Diahann Carroll, Dorothy Dandridge, and Farrah Fawcett. Everything always comes back around, and I’m drawn to styles that feel glamorous, intentional, and rooted in history while still feeling modern.”
Backe emphasizes the community aspect of the summit: “People are paying closer attention to ingredient lists, environmental impact and how beauty fits into their overall wellness. Convergence gives the industry a place to talk about that honestly and intelligently.”
"For years, Eastern customs have treasured the mushroom not only as a source of food but as an intelligible and physical canon. All the while, the West spent the last hundred years focusing on lab-created quick fixes, the East was embracing the use of adaptogens (substances that help the body adapt to stress and restore balance). Now that ancient knowledge is finally fusing with the beauty world, a new category is emerging: Beauty Wellness Science.
It is not about mushroom coffee or another fleeting fad. It is about incorporating the functional strength of fungi into the daily routines that shape how one shows up in this world.
No brand does this better this better than Ted Gibson Beauty Wellness Science."
"The professional landscape is shifting rapidly. Clients are asking nuanced questions and seeking science-backed solutions that address root causes rather than surface concerns. Clean beauty has matured beyond marketing language into biotechnology-driven performance. At the same time, nervous system health, hormone balance, and scalp vitality have entered everyday salon dialogue. Beauty professionals are also examining how to build careers that support physical stamina, mental clarity, and sustained growth."
Palm Springs, California
CONVERGENCE welcomes you to the desert! Our convenient downtown location will land you within walking distance to all of the best shopping, dining, casino, tourist destinations, and nightlife the city has to offer.
RENAISSANCE PALM SPRINGS
Escape and unwind at the Renaissance Palm Springs Hotel, where desert modernism meets vibrant local culture. Our host hotel is conveniently connected to the Palm Springs Convention Center, our hotel puts you in the heart of the real Palm Springs.
Join us at Convergence Saurday, May 2 & Sunday, May 3rd, 2026
Want to enjoy more time in Palm Springs? You can book an extend stay with our room block rate up to 3 days before or after the event!
To book an extended stay, call the hotel directly at 1-888-236-2427 or send an email to alexandraguadarrama@remingtonhotels.com
Frequently asked questions
How do I purchase a ticket?
To purchase tickets to CONVERGENCE click here!
Can I book a room at the Host Hotel?
To book a room in the CONVERGENCE block at the Renaissance Palm Springs Hotel please follow this link to book directly through Marriott using our block.
Ticket delivery details
Tickets are purchased and held with our ticketing partner, HUBNOX. Please visit our ticket page here.
We recommend downloading the HUBNOX app from the App Store or Android Store for easy purchase and makes check-in easier on event days!
Refund details
Tickets are non-refundable. Cancellations within 30 days prior to the event, may receive a credit for the following year.
Our Partners
Testimonials
"My beauty business has elevated through the innovative strategies, techniques, and practices I have learned from Ted Gibson and Jason Backe. I have had so many professional developments and personal successes with these two people. I chose them to become my mentors because I admire the education, strength, courage and community commitment that they bring to the industry. I am so blessed that they were willing to work with me. I adore them ."
"Working with Ted and Jason has been an incredibly rewarding experience. Their guidance has been consistently motivational, inspiring me to push past my comfort zone while still making the process fun and engaging. They have a unique ability to challenge and support at the same time, which helped me grow both personally and professionally.. Their impact on my journey has been meaningful and lasting."
"I always leave every experience with Ted Gibson and Jason Backe feeling energized, inspired, and more connected to my craft. I’ve had the privilege of working backstage at NYFW with the Ted Gibson Artistic Team. I love the sense of community that they create. The teamwork and positive energy is a joy to be around. What Ted Gibson teaches is beyond any technique. He teaches you how to train your eye. To have a relationship with the hair and client you are working on. For every movement in your work to be with intention. That is something that everyone can learn from, regardless of what area of the industry you are in. It really transformed the way that I move through the world of beauty. I have even more confidence behind the chair after working with Ted. If Ted and Jason are putting on an event, you know it’s going to be fun and unlike anything else. You don’t want to miss it!"
"I first worked with Ted and Jason during NYFW 2020, and it was truly a dream come true. Not only was I working New York Fashion Week, but I was being directed by THE Ted Gibson. From the very first moment, I felt welcomed, cared for, and genuinely loved. I instantly knew I had stepped into something special — a true community they have intentionally created for hairstylists, built on support, inspiration, and connection. Since then, I’ve had the privilege of working with them several times, and with each experience, my confidence has grown tremendously thanks to the incredible education and mentorship they so generously provide. Despite their enormous success, I have never once felt intimidated. They are humble, down to earth, and deeply invested in the people around them. Every time I leave their presence, I feel inspired — not just as a hairstylist, but as a human being. There is always a sense of transformation that happens, both professionally and personally. And beyond all of their talent and iconic status, there is always fun. There is laughter. There is joy. They make sure of it. I am constantly grateful to know them, to learn from them, and to work alongside them. Being part of their community is something I will never take for granted."
