Club Industry Show Successfully Concluded its 31st Annual Event, Brought Together Engaged Fitness Professionals from Every Aspect of the Health and Wellness Industry
Posted: October 10, 2017 in Other News
Club Industry Show
BOULDER, CO – The Club Industry Show wrapped its 31st year, hosting both large and small brands that continue to launch innovative products in the fitness and health & wellness industry. This year’s event drew an engaged community of fitness professionals from health and wellness facilities of all types to a new venue, Hilton Chicago October 4 – 6, 2017.
“We are back to the venue where we started in 1986, and the location has been a hit with the attendees and vendors,” said Marty McCallen, managing director of Club Industry. “The speakers expressed that the session attendees were very engaged, and the exhibitors were pleased with the quality of the leads they received.”
Attendees from top facilities, such as Chicago Athletic Clubs, East Bank Club, Fitness Formula Clubs, Germantown Athletic Club, Anytime Fitness, Gold’s Gym and Midtown Athletic Clubs, joined with a variety of YMCAs, university rec centers, Kroc Centers, and parks and rec facilities to explore the newest fitness products from returning vendors, such as Life Fitness, Core Health & Fitness, Matrix, SportsArt, as well as 30 first-time exhibitors.
This year’s show had a number of returning speakers but also 32 new speakers. Some of the most popular sessions were in the Wellness track, the Leadership track, the Sales track and the Business Basics track.
“We had very high-quality speakers and attendees in this year’s Wellness track, which grew from last year to include two additional sessions for beginners in wellness, plus our five sessions for people already involved,” said Wellness track chairman, Dr. Kevin Steele. “I am happy to see that the Club Industry Show has taken a leadership position in bringing quality wellness content to this industry.”
Michelle Poler, founder of Hello Fears, brought the audience to their feet with Wednesday’s keynote presentation, “What Are You So Afraid Of?”. She shared how to challenge your comfort zone to tap into your full potential. Author and owner of Nick’s Pizza & Pub, Nick Sarillo, offered his keynote presentation, “Building a Culture of Trust, One Slice at a Time,” which focused on offering leadership that starts with trust and is built through more effective communication and development of their employees as people. The two keynote addresses were standing room only.
Norm Cates, publisher of Club Insider, received the Lifetime Achievement Award, and gave a heart-felt acceptance speech. Cates started in the fitness industry as one of the owners of CourtSouth in Atlanta in 1976, was one of the founders of IHRSA, and now is the publisher of monthly trade tabloid, Club Insider.
PFP magazine announced its Trainer of the Year Award to Josh Bowen, owner of Aspire Fitness, Lexington, Kentucky.
Co-located with the show was the CEO Summit, which drew it largest attendance with more than 80 CEOs from some of the largest revenue-generating clubs in North America. As a cornerstone of the CEO Summit, Dr. Steven Rogers, Harvard Business School professor, led an interactive case study on how to determine whether a company is worth purchasing. The CEO Summit was sponsored by Motionsoft, MyZone, Good Earth Distribution, Cardio Ready, TMI Sustainable Aquatics and str.
Visit clubindustryshow.com to learn more or read coverage of this year’s event at www.clubindustry.com. The Club Industry Show will return to the Hilton Chicago, October 24 – 26, 2018.
