As promised here is my IHRSA 2011 presentation on Using Technology To Improve Membership Sales & Retention. What a great crowd and thank you for attending if you did. Special thanks to Nigel Champion fouder of the Australian Fintess Network for introducing me and of course to my colleagues @RoberjDyer, @Kellihatton, and Cary Wing for attending. As promised, I will be posting follow ups from questions I received. Remember, if you donate to the American Red Cross to benefit the Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami victims, I will donate an hour of my personal time consulting with you on your specific needs. So, what did you think of the presentation ? Contact me Bryan O'Rourke, and share your views on technology, consumer trends and key challenges for improving membership sales and retention in health clubs.
The fitness industry has great promise - if its leaders and participants embrace the revolution that is going on in business and organizations that promise will be MUCH greater.
At IHRSA 2011, its 30th anniversary, a lot of professionals are going to be talking about "social media" (I hate that term but don't have a better one yet) and the revolution of business. If you'd like to learn more about what I am talking about watch my video above and check out Gary Vaynerchuk's new book - The Thank You Economy.
Thanks to my friend Robert for sharing the book with me and for admitting I've been right for the past 4-5 years. If you are at IHRSA please check out my presentations on Wednesday and Saturday and share with me, Bryan O'Rourke your view: is there a better term than "Social Media"? Connect with me at IHRSA !
Its going to be a long week, but I'm not complaining I live for this stuff ! Having arrived late last night in San Francisco, I got a 6 mile run in before meeting up with my friend and partner Robert Dyer for breakfast (fun as always). It is rare we get to spend time alone uninterrupted . Our first meeting of the IHRSA 2011 show was with our strategic partner, Les Mills International (if you don't know by now fitmarc distributes Les Mills in 12 U.S. states to over 600 customers).
Arriving without his luggage that was misplaced by the airline and after visiting his son in Los Angeles, Les Mills founder Phillip Mills and I sat down for a chat about Les Mills, its future and our business relationship. He recently has a new 3 month old grand son, and is trying to recoup from the terrible earthquake in New Zealand, where he lives, which destroyed two of his Les Mills gyms.
My partner and fitmarc CEO Robert Dyer was, as always, animated and positive and the rest of the group including LMI's CFO, General Counsel and Marketing Brand Guru (see picture on left and yes I was the guy holding the camera) exchanged pleasant and frank views about how we could continue our great relationship and potentially expand our relationship. This, the beginning of a full week of discussions and meetings about the future of the fitness industry and where we might possibly have a role. There was considerable interest among Les Mills executives about the recent strategic advisory alliance our companies Fitmarc , Integerus and I have with Star Trac and its owner Michael Bruno. All was positive as our business is broadening its influence and relevance in the industry. I know Robert and I both, as well as our customers, partners, employees and stakeholders are delighted at the prospects. I'll be sharing more each day as the IHRSA 2011 30th anniversary unfolds.
I had a great few days this week with some of the key leadership of MFA. The new executive director Ken Germano, along with other board members and participants, engaged in a fulfilling workshop on the future of the association, conducted by Bill Shannon, the former Chairman of ACE, among his other accomplishments.
I can't get into details, but I do expect great things to emerge from MFA in the coming years. One of the activities Bill engaged in was asking us to vision 5 years down the road. Technology is obviously a major component of the wellness revolution and during the chats with leaders in the medical fitness business, I raised the topic of Google Health. This FREE solution is robust and enables people, physicians and other service providers to enjoy access to medical records among many other features. Check it out here. Interestingly it hasn't been succeeding. In a June 2010 article, John Moore asked about Google Health's future:
Since its initial launch to much fanfare, Google Health has struggled to be relevant. Since its formal launch in May 2008, Google Health has not dedicated the resources to build out this platform into a truly engaging ecosystem of applications to assist the consumer in managing their health or the health of a loved one. Rather than build out new features, support a broadening array of standards, focus on the necessary business development that is required to establish partnerships, Google has taken a laissez-faire attitude to this product/service never dedicating more than a handful of engineers to the effort and most often flexing in outside vendors, such as IBM who built the module to bring in biometric from Continua compliant devices.
As a patient it is interesting to me how Google health seems so unknown to so many. The diagnostic group Qwest offers an interface for medical records with Google Health , yet not one of my doctors uses it or even knows about it. When I've brought up Google health in the past in the fitness business or with medical fitness professionals not a single person has been aware of its capabilities, which are significant. That confuses me.
I've included a video on Google Health below and wonder: Why is the solution not being adopted by more care proviers ? Where Is Google Health In The Evolution Of Wellness ? Please let me, Bryan O'Rourke, know your thoughts.
During my upcoming IHRSA presentation on using technology to improve member sales and retention I'll touch on 5 key technology trends. I'll also be sharing some of these concepts and more during the FILEX presentation in April on the future of the fitness industry.
Let me know what you think. How are these trends impacting your fitness or wellness business ? Contact me Bryan O'Rourke and please share your thoughts.
