Clubindustry

After the keynote presentation, I made my way to the Hard Rock Hotel, where Club One was hosting a reception in the Float Lounge, a swank and moodily lit location. I had a chance to meet to speak with Sal Pelligrino of Les Mills, who was excited about the company’s “The Future of the Fitness Industry” white paper. Pelligrino was speaking with Karen Woodard-Chavez, consultant and owner of Premium Performance, Boulder, CO. Woodard-Chavez is one of our columnists, so I picked her brain for ideas about upcoming stories related to what U.S. clubs can learn from clubs in other countries. We also talked about the reasons women entrepreneurs don’t grow their businesses like male entrepreneurs do and what good customer service really is. more

After sitting in on the REX Roundtables, I headed to the awards presentation and keynote address.

The Associate Member of the Year award went to Balanced Body, which was represented by its president, Ken Endelman. The award, which is presented to a company for its contributions to IHRSA and the fitness industry, went to Balanced Body this year because of its innovation and its commitment to the integrity of Joseph Pilates equipment, which it provides to studios, health clubs, rehabilitation facilities and individual consumers globally, according to IHRSA. Through Balanced Body University, the company provides access to Pilates instructor training programs as well as continuing education opportunities, offering a network of more than 50 educators for assistance with Pilates programming and certification. more

I arrived in San Diego yesterday afternoon to a partly cloudy day and intermittent sprinkles. However, that didn’t stop the IHRSA 2010 show, which was in full swing with seminars yesterday.

I headed over to the San Diego Convention Center to catch the last portion of the REX Roundtables. Unfortunately, a 90-minute rain delay prevented me from sitting in on any of the roundtables, but I did get to hear Bo Burlingham, editor-at-large for Inc., offer the keynote, which focused on small business giants. Burlingham is the author of the Inc. article about Joe Cirulli, founder of Gainesville Athletic Club, which he considers a small giant. more

With today’s opening of the International, Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association (you know it better as IHRSA) show in San Diego, Club Industry will be there covering all the latest (equipment) and greatest (events) through Saturday. more