The month of January started and ended in Asia. Finishing my 6th Ayurveda retreat in Sri Lanka (losing 4 kilos that I have kept off after a month back home), I visited a girls’ residence supported by my partner before flying back home. I ended the month visiting the Asian part of Istanbul, with several trips in between covering five cities in three countries.
After arriving in Düsseldorf Jan. 13th, I visited a yoga teacher I met at the Thaulle Resort in Tissa, then on the morning of 14th attended a FIBO meeting in Köln where the new digital marketing opportunities were presented.
Then made a quick visit to the Urban Sports Club offices in Köln, before heading to Amsterdam for dinner with Train More owner Han Doorenbosch.
Meeting with Train More’s Han Doorenbosch
The Virtuagym Team
The next morning started with two meetings at Vondel Gym with the heads of two cool companies: First Gym and Friendscallmegym, then held 9 back to back meetings at my client Virtuagym’s head office.
From Amsterdam that evening I headed to Berlin for meetings at the Urban Sports Club headquarters, followed by lunch with the CEO of Fitbox. I stopped by the Evo Fitness nearby, then after a visit to Softgarden, who assist companies in their personnel search process, visited the head offices of Mrs. Sporty / Pixformance / VAHA. Finally caught up with top Personal Trainer and creator of the Seven Rocks programme, Eileen Gallasch.
Hans with Eileen Gallasch in Berlin
The following weekend I attended a leisure swim complex called Miramar near Heidelberg, before holding a meeting in Kornwestheim by Stuttgart at the offices of Glucker Kolleg.
From there I headed to Munich for the grand opening of Prime Time Fitness’ third location there. Happy to report that I will be supporting Burda Fit Tech Summit at FIBO and their major event in the fall in Munich.
Hans with Natalia of Burda Fit Tech Summit, son Julian and PTF owner Jim McGoldrick at Munich 3 opening
Closing the month in Istanbul, a vibrant city I have been to several times before, I met with the IT Director of MacFit/Mars Sportif, who now have close to 100 locations in Turkey. But It was primarily a birthday celebration trip for/with my partner Annette.
February Outlook:
Four trips are planned, starting with:
- Frankfurt (presentation at the annual conference of the German PT Association), with a stop on the way back in Buggingen/Müllheim (Baden, in SW Germany where I meet relatives and a club owner I have known for 20 years)
- London (Sweat boutique fitness Conference 20.02. before that various meetings and club visits)
- Berlin: two birthday parties of friends met in Sri Lanka, as well as meetings with Urban Sports Club staff
- Frankfurt, Bonn, Düsseldorf and Amsterdam trip with meetings set up with existing and future clients. Originally only a Frankfurt was planned, but I have learned the art of combining meetings in different cities, and outsmarting the extortionary flight prices on the monopoly route Zürich-Frankfurt (served only by Lufthansa and Swiss, who are part of the same airline group)…flying “open jaw”, that is, into Frankfurt and back from Amsterdam was cheaper than a one way trip.
- Zürich: only 30 minutes from my home of Winterthur, I attended an interesting evening event organized by the Zürich PR Society, with a high level panel discussion on the effect of streaming services on TV and media
I started playing tennis again indoors, and look forward to the outdoor season.
March Outlook:
- Meet the Top, Mallorca
- Luxembourg dinner with co-lecturer of the German University
- Saarbrücken – MBA course lecturing in Strategic Planning
- Paris – Body Fitness show
- Vancouver – visit with my older brother en route to San Diego
- IHRSA Convention, with club and supplier visits
- Toronto one day/night stopover to see my siblings and 93 year old mother
Till next time,
Hans