The 24th annual CanFitPro Event in Toronto I attended had it all – 300 educational sessions, 230 presenters, 15.000 attendees, 225 exhibitors event– including an evening VIP party. A few pictures to remember the event are here.
Stephen Tharrett with Hans Muench
Tony Caparotta from Anytime Fitness with Hans Muench
Tony Greco with Hans Muench
Upcoming events that I will be attending this fall:
- September14-15: FW Top, Houten (NL)
- October 23-25: IHRSA European Congress in London
- November 8-11:SIBEC Europe, Marbella (ES)
Other trips in Germany in September include Willich (Halle 22), Hamburg (Kaifu Lodge) and Munich (Oktoberfest with meetings with Body Street, a 250 site franchise of EMS centers).
Short profiles of some of my current clients:
Virtuagym: based in Amsterdam, NL, this innovative software provider specialises in Coaching Apps for trainers to efficiently create and share training plans and provide nutritional advice to clients. They are a great team to work with. www.virtuagym.com
Club Joy: also Netherlands based, this provider of pre-choreographed group exercise programs and virtual classes is expanding into several European countries, with UK, France and Spain the main focus of future growth. www.clubjoy.nl
Dorent: a Finnish concept that is the „AirBNB“ of fitness memberships, allowing members to rent our time they are not using the club. This encourages members to promote the virtues of the club on their social media networks, and brings in potential new clients. www.dorent.me
Aerobis: based in Cologne, Germany, they have a product called Revvl, a rope trainer that can be easily attached to a frame (theirs or other manufacturer’s products such as Precor’s Queenax), as well as Slingtrainer. Distributed in 30 countries, this is functional training gear made in Germany to high quality standards.
Gymsound: eliminates the need to pay music license fees for group classes or background music. www.gymsound.de
AFS Advisory Council: the California-based association focusing on the boutique fitness market, the fastest growing sector of the fitness market. I have joined the AFS Advisory Council. www.afsfitness.com
July trip to Scotland:
A lovely country with great scenery, I visited Edinburgh, Stirling, the Isle of Skye, Ullapool, Thurso, Inverness and Balmoral, covering 2000km in eight days.
A visit to the headquarters of Edinburgh Leisure, which boast 31 locations (including golf, climbing centers, swim and fitness facilities) was the only business meeting on the trip.
Scotland is the home of Ian Anderson, the flautiest and lead of the folk rock band Jethro Tull (Ian raised sheep and cattle and was involved in salmon fishing)… Thick as a Brick (at times), perhaps influenced by some of the Scotch whisky I sampled, I thought I actually saw him one of the small towns where we stopped at for a drink.
Unopened Gifts:
A friend and colleague based in California who I worked with at Life Fitness in the 80’s and 90’s, James MacPartland, is coming out with a book later this year, whose first chapter you may read using the following link: Exclusive Book Preview