Virtual Future of Fitness Event Wraps Up With Plans for Another in March 2021

Club Industry wrapped its first global virtual event, Future of Fitness, with 4,600 registrants and more than 40 conference sessions plus multiple bonus presentations by the sponsors.

“We were pleased by the overwhelmingly positive feedback we’ve been receiving from the industry for this event,” said Marty McCallen, director for Club Industry and Sibec, the two brands that under the Questex Wellness Group put on the event. “We received high marks on the quality of the content and the quality and diversity of the speakers. We look forward to raising the bar in our next virtual event, which will be March 9-10, 2021.”

McCallen thanked the industry groups that came together to help Club Industry and Sibec develop the event, including EuropeActive, UKActive, IHRSA, FIT Summit and Mercado Fitness. These groups helped to ensure the event had speakers from around the globe and topics of interest worldwide.

“It’s a big deal to have so many organizations working together with the interests of the fitness industry at heart,” he said.

McCallen also thanked the 22 sponsors for supporting the event.

“These 22 companies showed that they value educating the fitness industry, and they did so not only with informative commercials and introductions for our sessions but also with bonus sessions they developed, downloadable resources they posted to their resource page and their engagement in the chat rooms during the live events,” he said.

The highest attended session was “Virtual Fitness: Why a Hybrid Model Is a Must for Your Club’s Survival,” which was moderated by Adam Zeitsiff, CEO of Intelivideo, and included on the panel Jennifer Halsall, board member of EuropeActive as well as international retention and member engagement manager at Basic-Fit; Riz Sunny, CEO of My Bollywood Body and Muscle Mecca Gyms; Julio Salado, founder of Fitness Foundry; and Mike Hansen, managing partner of Endorphinz.

Other popular sessions, all of which are now available on-demand, were:

  • “COVID-19 Lessons Learned” (Chris Clawson, CEO of Life Fitness;  Todd Magazine, CEO of Blink Fitness; Martin Seibold, CEO of LifeFit Group; Brent Gallagher, co-founder and CEO of Avenu Fitness; Cheryl McCarver, executive director of Cooper Street YMCA)
  • “Retention in the Time of COVID-19” (Paul Bedford, CEO of Retention Guru)
  • “Retention Quick Hits,” (Justin Tamsett, managing director of Active Management; Chris Stevenson, founder of Stevenson Consulting; and Jenny Hymer, vice president of customer experience of MXM)
  • “Apple, Facebook, Tonal and Mirror: Friends or Foes to the Fitness Industry?” (Michelle Blakely, founder of See Jake and Jane Train; Rob Lander, CEO of Fisikal; Julia Sutton, CEO of exhale; and Ryan Simat, senior vice president of sales for Echelon)
  • “Power Is Local: Influencing Government Strategies” (David Stalker, president of EuropeActive and CEO of Myzone EMEA)
  • “How Private Equity Views the Fitness Industry Today” (Peter Moore, managing partner of Integrity Square)
  • “Building Your Brand and Reputation with Marketing and Social Media” (David Steel, chief viral officer of SneezeIt)
  • “How Clubs Can Help Those Suffering Long-Term COVID-19 Health Effects” (Mel Spooner, managing director of CAWS, and Dr. Colin Robinson, education director of CAWS)
  • “What Members Want from Their Health Clubs in an Age of COVID-19” (Steve Tharrett, partner in ClubIntel, and Chris Clawson, CEO of Life Fitness)
  • “What Leadership Looks Like in a Time of Crisis,” (Bill McBride, CEO of ActiveWellness; Greta Wagner, senior vice president of Chelsea Piers Management; Laurie Smith, senior vice president of VillaSport Athletic Club and Spa; and Frank Ancharski, COO of American Family Fitness)
  • “The Latest COVID-19 Era Research: Making the Case for the Industry,” (Brent Darden, interim president and CEO of IHRSA, and Alexandra Black Larcom, senior manager of health promotion & health policy for IHRSA)
  • “How to Improve the Fitness Industry’s Reputation and Build Confidence in Its Importance,” (Maria Turco, founder of Honor Yoga; Kevin McHugh, COO of The Atlantic Club; and Ori Gorfine, COO of US Fitness Holdings)

Brent Gallagher, who was one of the panelists on the “COVID-19 Lessons Learned,” said: “The Future of Fitness showed that when strong leaders come together with a common purpose, share candidly about their struggles, and extend their trust beyond their circles of influence, the long-term sustainability of our industry is going to be better than before heading into this quarantined season."

Christopher Jamin, senior account manager at Matrix Fitness Benelux, attended the virtual event and called it “inspirational” with great speakers. He also liked being able to interact with attendees in the Sponsor Insights sessions.  

“The Sponsor Insights were an awesome idea,” he said. “Quite a few took the time to go one-on-one, which gave more info and help for all the clubs out there struggling. The ‘my agenda’ option was a perfect way for everyone to plan the vast amount of sessions to choose from. And the fact that you recorded the sessions to watch them later on-demand opened extra time to inform yourself on sessions you might have missed because of a breakout.”

If you missed registering for this free event but still want to view the sessions, they are available on-demand here.

The 22 sponsors of the event were:

  • ABC Fitness Solutions
  • Club Automation
  • Concierge Health
  • Fisikal
  • Freemotion
  • Life Fitness
  • MXM
  • Fitness on Demand
  • Intelivideo
  • Les Mills
  • Myzone
  • Therabody
  • WellD Health
  • AV Now
  • CLMBR
  • Eleiko
  • GymValet
  • Keiser
  • Matrix
  • Sports & Fitness Insurance
  • Stages Cycling
  • Virtuagym