Will online spa get royal assent?

With his spiky dark hair, boyish good looks and multiple piercings, Bryn Hendricks is not your standard political lobbyist. At 16, he was named Citizen of the Year in his hometown of Delta, BC after campaigning to have sign language taught in public schools. “I don’t know what came over me at that age,” he says, “but I pulled it off – my bill passed in Parliament.”

Ten years later, Bryn hasn’t slowed down – he’s currently Director of Tourism and Economic Development for the Ontario Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (OGLCOC). “I work with the Chamber and government on how we can attract people from other cities to come here,” he says. “All three levels of government have put a million dollars in total towards seducing the gay and lesbian market.”

As of press time, Bryn’s few spare minutes were being spent on Defence Minister Bill Graham’s re-election campaign. “My responsibility is to introduce him to as much of the gay community as possible,” Bryn says. That includes handing out leaflets at Church and Wellesley in minus-nine weather, and taking the MP to Woody’s for the Best Legs Contest. (“No, he didn’t enter.”)

With such a helter-skelter schedule, Bryn’s the perfect customer for WaySpa.com, an online service that aims to be the Amazon.com of spa treatments, allowing customers to shop online for spa treatments at various establishments. Bryn is presented with a $200 gift certificate. “Oh good,” he laughs, “I need my eyebrows done.” He clicks on “Toronto” (Ottawa is “coming soon”) and peruses the list of spas. “Windsor Arms – that’d be nice. A lot of politicians and celebrities go there.” The Men’s PowerSpa has a manicure/pedicure/facial/massage package deal called “Framework Essentials” for $199.99. “Oh yeah, that’d be perfect. And the price is exactly right.”

Bryn clicks on “checkout” (total: $199.99) and fills in all the info, receiving a prompt to print. “So you get a voucher for that particular spa for those services and then you can just take it in there. Hmm.” He’s disappointed that the site doesn’t allow him to schedule a specific day and time, and the final invoice comes as a surprise: “Oh, it says I still owe them $13.99. They didn’t put that in the total.” Now forced to backtrack through several pages, Bryn settles on a similar but cheaper treatment at Chi Spa.

After 20 minutes, Bryn is holding a voucher for his spa but seems unenthused: “This site didn’t do anything I couldn’t have done over the phone, except a phone would be quicker since I have to call and book anyway.” However, he says, some might find the site a great way to comparisonshop, and as he races off to a campaign appointment he’s definitely looking forward to the treatments themselves.

“After this election I’m going to need a spa!”

Book your own voucher at www.wayspa.com.

scott dagostino