Attendees to industry conferences expect to hear from certain people, and with good reason. These people have proven their expertise time and again by delivering quality presentations with deep insights. They have reputations for seeing the big picture when it comes to the fitness industry.
Earlier this week, I shared how next week’s Future of Fitness virtual event includes many new voices, but today, I’m focusing on the people who have spoken at our events multiple times—and often at other industry events. We have them again at next week’s free virtual event because they always deliver for you.
Let’s start with Rick Caro, president of Management Vision, one of the founders of IHRSA—and really of the modern health club industry. He often works behind the scenes, but he always does a financial panel at IHRSA, and he helped Club Industry launch our CEO Summit about 10 years ago. For next week’s event, Caro will moderate a panel, “The Financial Community’s View of the Club Industry’s Comeback Potential,” which includes panelists Peter Moore, CEO of Integrity Square, and Sharon Zackfia, partner and group head of the consumer sector at William Blair. This panel covers an important topic that you’re not going to find elsewhere: how the club industry is viewed today in the financial markets, and what that view means for future growth and investment.
Someone you will see elsewhere—and with good reason—is Blair McHaney, who is CEO of MXM but also a club operator in Washington state with his company Confluence Fitness Partners. McHaney will share his perspective on the industry’s future in our last session of the event on June 17, “Where the Fitness Industry Is Heading.” Make sure to bring your questions for this panel, which also includes Todd Magazine, CEO of Blink Fitness; Emma Lehner, founder and CEO of Bodystreet; and Sue Glass, president and CEO of the YMCA of Metro Denver.
Bill McBride, CEO of Active Wellness and of BMC3 Consulting, is moderating a panel, “Member Loyalty and Lifetime Value,” that came about because of an article that he wrote on the topic. McBride has insights on a lot of industry trends, and he has helped Club Industry put together the leadership track at our live events for the past five or more years. His panel includes Kate Golden, director of health and wellness operations, Newtown Athletic Club, who has made her presence known quickly in the industry, probably because she can speak to a variety of topics. It also includes panelists Bill Davis, CEO of ABC Fitness Solutions, and Aaron Moore, director of operations at VIDA Fitness, who also is becoming a regular at our events due to his insights.
Allison Flatley, owner of Allison Flatley Consulting LLC, is another person who has a reputation for always bringing her A game to her presentations (and she helped us with speaker suggestions for this event). Flatley will moderate a panel “Results of 2021 Club Management System Survey” that includes panelists Dr. Ted Vickey, founder and president of FitWell Inc.; Bonnie Patrick Mattalian, president of Club & Spa Synergy Group LLC; Nick Hahn, vice president of product at Club OS and ASF; and Allison Rand, director of marketing at EverCommerce.
And from across the pond, we welcome Paul Bedford, the Retention Guru, who will present "Fitness Recovery: What’s Next and How?" We haven't done one of our virtual events without him yet.
Then we have the tag team of Chris Stevenson and Marisa Hoff. These two run Stevenson Consulting but also recently started a U.S. branch of Be Military Fit. They have helped us with speaker suggestions for the past several years and chaired tracks at our in-person event as well as offered their expertise as speakers for many years. Stevenson will present “Engaging with Your Members Through Advisory Boards,” and Hoff will talk about Instagram marketing as part of the session “Sales and Marketing in 2021.”
Other notable people who have become valued speakers at both of our first two virtual events and are doing so at this event are Al Noshirvani, founder of Motionsoft; and Adam Zeitsiff, CEO of Intelivideo. Noshirvani, who also suggested several speakers for next week’s event, will moderate the panel “A Successful Sales and Marketing Playbook Starts with Automation,” which includes Sandra Lei, senior marketing director of In-Shape; Jarrod Saracco, COO of World Gym; and Dharmesh Trivedi, co-founder and COO of CIPIO. Zeitsiff will moderate the panel “What Is Next in Hybridization?” Make sure to bring your questions for the panelists, who are Chris Craytor, CEO of ACAC Fitness & Wellness Centers and CEO of Welld Health; Tiffany Hamlin, national director of group fitness at World Gym International; Tommy Matthews, business development director of Be Military Fit; and Ronn McMahon, president and CEO of Greater Wichita YMCA.
Next week’s free event is jam-packed with quality speakers addressing important topics. You don’t want to miss the event. Even if you can’t attend live, make sure to register so you can watch it on-demand later. You can find more details here or go directly to the registration page here.