What do you do when a Harvard Business School professor asks you to come on stage at the end of his presentation to start the video portion of his presentation? You do it, of course, regardless of how inept you feel around computers.
Harvard Business School Professor Steven Rogers gave the keynote address at our 2014 CEO Summit this past October in Chicago. The CEO Summit is an invitation-only event for the owners and CEOs of clubs on our Top 100 health clubs list and is part of our Club Industry Show.
Prior to the keynote, Rogers had emailed me his Power Point so that I could put it on my computer for him to use during the presentation. When he arrived in the room, he seemed confident (and tall), obviously having given many presentations during his career. However, I noticed a bit of nervousness when it came to operating the computer. So, my initial offer to get the video he wanted to present at the end of his presentation ready for him so he could just push a few buttons to start it was met with a bit of resistance. The truth is that I have caused more than one foible when it comes to computer presentations, so I was concerned that I might cause a fiasco during the finale of this highly respected business professor's presentation that would eclipse the entrepreneurial gems he was about to impart on our high-level owners and CEOs. But I dutifully snuck up on stage at the end of Rogers' presentation to start the video—without incident.
If you watch the presentation, you'll see my cameo at the end (even though you won't see the video, which didn't show up well on the camera so we had to cut it out), but I would urge you to watch the presentation for the many words of wisdom that Rogers shared with the group, including the three important Ps of being an entrepreneur, the traits of a high-growth entrepreneur and examples of what helped some well-known entrepreneurs become successful.
In addition to Rogers' presentation, we posted the presentation from Gerry O'Brion, owner of What Big Brands Know. O'Brion had worked in marketing for companies such as Procter & Gamble, Coors and Red Robin. In his presentation, which he gave to the 2014 Fitness Leadership Forum attendees at the Club Industry Show, O'Brion shares the five questions all fitness facility operators must answer to be successful in marketing their brands.
Because the executives in attendance at these events paid to hear these presentations, we have made both videos accessible only to our Premium subscribers. If you would like to watch the videos, you can become a Premium subscriber for $69 for the year. The subscription gets you access to all content on the Club Industry website plus a discount for one of our reports and a discount for an all-access pass to our show in 2015.