It seemed, for me, to be a slow start…one month and not a single plane boarded! But as expected, I still accumulated a good number of miles by car, train and boat!
NAVI on my way to Lausanne
My highlights in January:
Lyon (France)
A lunch meeting with Anthony Barquisseau of Genae Fitness, who recently purchased four clubs from Decathlon, and a presentation of Club Joy at the headquarters of L’Appart Fitness on January 16th were among my most important events of the month. L’Appart have 63 locations in France.
Marc Neijland of Club Joy and Anthony Barquisseau of Genae
Switzerland
I regularly visit the city for one of my Swiss clients, BodyGee, and attended events with the Zürich PR Society I am a member of.
BodyGee lets its user track the effectiveness of their lifestyle changes with 3D Body Tracking
It was also a highlight to sit down with Swiss industry legend Jean-Pierre Sacco, CEO of Let’s Go Fitness and his COO Francois Victor at their headquarters in Lausanne.
Let’s Go Fitness Club
Amsterdam
Virtuagym’s new offices in the Mondrian Building in Amsterdam-Amstel spanning the 18th to 20th floors is a major step for this rapidly-growing company. Now with 150 staff there (plus 50 staff in new premises in Medellin, Colombia) they are poised for further dynamic growth. Here a link to the official press release: http://www.clubindustry.com/news-central/virtuagym-moves-new-offices-doubles-size-and-hires-c-level-management.
View from the new Virtuagym office
Hans with Lotte and Thomas Woods at new Virtuagym HQ
VES Conference in Uden
My presentation on the boutique fitness sector at the VES conference in Uden demonstrated that this global trend has also hit the Netherlands and will continue to grow rapidly. This took place in a resort hotel owned by Fitland founder Maarten van Kempen (40 locations) that included an outside fitness area – Maarten personally led the early morning workout for attendees.
My opening slide at VES
My presentation at VES
VES award presentation Yvonne S.
Early morning workout with Fitland Founder Maarten van Kempen
ISPO Sports Trade Show – Munich
Although the growth rate of wearables has slowed, technology remained a focus at the ISPO sports trade show in Munich. The latest development is measuring movement of traditional strength equipment using weight-stacks for resistance and even functional training equipment, more to be seen at the IHRSA trade show in San Diego, California March 22-23 and at FIBO in Cologne, Germany April 12-14.
Icaros VR booth at ISPO
ISPO Health and Nutrition Bar
ISPO Mobil Fitness ad App stand
UFC Stand at ISPO
Other places & people this month
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- City Gym in Den Bosch
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- Secret Church Museum Amsterdam
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- Skiing with the Virtugym Team
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- Train More Black Label Amsterdam
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- Watt Cycling Boutique Amsterdam
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- Lake Constance
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- Kirchberg View
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- Beer on the slopes in Kirchberg
Now I am on the road back to Austria, then getting ready to finish the month strong & prepare myself for trips in March.
Wish you all a lovely & successful week.
Hans
Awesome Hans! You keep making the difference in the global fitness industry and i do look forward to see you at FIBO 2018.