You remember that feeling you had when you opened your first club, right? A tingling excitement and anticipation about what was to come, long days (and nights) of planning, rallying your staff to provide the best service and product possible, a little bit of uncertainty about how people will respond and the hope that all of your hard work would pay off.
As Club Industry enters our 30th year in 2014, we are experiencing many of these same feelings. Obviously, we are not opening a new club, but we are doing something new by moving completely online—the first of our peers in the industry to do so. Yes, for those of you who have not heard, the December issue was our last print issue. From now on, we will focus all of our time and efforts on developing the best online and digital products possible in the fitness industry, as we have seen a growing number of you reading us online, through our e-newsletter and through our mobile app.
We will continue to provide you with the best news coverage in the industry through our website and our weekly e-newsletter Newsbeat, but we will add more content for you. Our website will expand to provide more articles on topics related to marketing, sales, management, operations, training, group exercise, nutrition, weight loss and technology. These sections of the website will include existing and new articles as well as videos (some from the editorial team and some from our sponsors). Our plan is to create the most comprehensive coverage of these topics in the industry. We will add more topics in the future.
Because of video’s popularity, we will feature Master Class educational videos created by industry consultants, who will share best practices with our premium subscribers. Plus, some of the industry’s visionaries will share their thoughts on industry-relevant topics in a sort of “TED Talks” for the fitness industry as we revive our Executive Insights videos.
To keep you informed of all this content, we will add two new e-newsletters. Our monthly Trendbeat e-newsletter will keep you aware of the latest content posted on the new sections of the website and feature snippets from our Master Class videos. Our monthly Resourcebeat e-newsletter allows vendors in the industry to share their expertise with you on topics such as software, cardio, strength, group exercise, accessories, training, certification, nutrition, supplements and technology.
With this move, the editorial staff and the conference program staff are working together more closely to bring you an even better Club Industry conference, which will be held Oct. 22-24, 2014, in Chicago. Watch for some new offerings and an improved education program at the next conference and trade show.
Just as you discovered when you started your first club, time and experience may necessitate some tweaks, but our plan is focused on serving you even better than we have in the past. Instead of spending the time, money and resources on designing, printing and mailing a monthly magazine, we now are focused solely on providing you with the best daily content.
Sign up for our e-newsletters, download our mobile app and check our website often so you can let us know what you think. Your comments are welcome at [email protected]. We will see you online in 2014.