Technology's Increasing Role In A New World Of Fitness & Wellness

Attending NAYDO 2011 last week, I saw an example, meeting with Gene Theslof, CEO of Gluco Fit Club. Later in the week, visiting Robert Hallock of Wellness Layers, I witnessed it again: the emergence of technologies that address diseases by incorporating physical activities, monitoring, and encouraging social interactions both physically and digitally. When people speak about the obesity crisis, these solutions are going to be central to making real progress in the battle as they will for diabetes and other conditions.

Recently in Sydney Australia at FILEX 2011 My Presentation On Technologies Impact On The Future Of The Fitness Industry, started with concepts of Ray Kurzweil, a futurist, author and inventor. His books address an important concept, the law of accelerating returns. As he rightly views it, technology is NOT progressing in a linear fashion but exponentially, resulting in very rapid change. The implications for the fitness and wellness industries are significant.

I share two clips below for your consideration. The first is a movie trailer of Transcedent Man, which features Ray Kurzweil, and the second is an interview by Charlie Rose of Mr. Kurzweil. Tell me, Bryan O'Rourke, what do you think about technology and its impact on the fitness and health club industry ? How are you preparing for the Law of Accelerating Returns ?

Globalism's Impact On The Fitness & Health Club Industries

Its already May and with nearly half of 2011 over I've had the fortune of traveling to China, Australia and across the U.S. visiting major players and participants in the global health and fitness industry. This has led me to a question, "How is globalization impacting the health club and fitness industries?" But more importantly, I ask "are our leaders and organizations doing enough to work together globally ?"

In speaking with business and industry leaders there certainly is great variety on their view points regarding collaboration globally in health clubs, fitness and even wellness. Some of these leaders are doing the hard work and heavy lifting while I think others are more focused on maintaining the status quo, often out of fear.

As a fitness industry expert, I reflect on trends and seek to understand how these will impact our businesses and organizations. In his recent book, World 3.0, Global Prosperity and How To Achieve It , Professor Pankaj Ghemawat explains some important concepts that resonated with me. I wonder, is all of the global leadership in the fitness and health club industries collaborating in a manner to best grow the global pie ?  Are we adopting the World 3.0 view ? (Take this test to see what your view is). Watch the video below and tell me, Bryan O'Rourke, are the leaders in the fitness and health club industries working together well enough ? Is this helping or hurting the growth potential for fitness, health clubs and wellness in general ? P.S. My thanks to Will Phillips for our chat at IHRSA 2011 around this and other topics that inspired me to do something about it.

NAYDO 2011 - See The Videos

NAYDO 2011 was a great conference. I left early after sharing a presentation on ephilanthropy (check out the ePhilanthropy group on Linkedin and presentation content here). A few videos from the event are below. The first is funny and the second is an interview with Dan Sawyer and my friend Sal Pellegrino from Star Trac. I want to mention what a great person Sal Pellegrino is in addition to the entire Star Trac team. Special thanks to Michael Bruno for our relationship as well. Tell me, Bryan O'Rourke, what do you think about the video clips ?

NAYDO 2011 - How Social Media Is Changing Philanthropy

I had the pleasure yesterday to engage in an interesting event that brought together YMCA executives : NAYDO 2011 . Star Trac sponsored a reception at NAYDO where I shared key trends in social media and philanthropy. Lots of fun and thanks to all of you who attended, especially Lisa Ramirez and others from the YMCA of Greater San Antonio, one of our fitmarc customers. Watch this funny video with Sal Pellegrino in it from NAYDO.

When I say a revolution is happening that is and will turn every industry on its head, non-profits and philanthropy are no exception. The deck is included below. Please join the new Linkined group "ePhilanthropy" to learn more and engage in the conversation. What do you think ?

Contact me Bryan O'Rourke and share your views. Do you believe Social Media will revolutionize philanthropy and how ? Thanks to NAYDO

EPhilanthropy, NAYDO 2011

View more presentations from Bryan ORourke.

2011 Social Media - Curation And Why Is It Important

Of the key trends in social media for 2011, digital curation will be an important one. Why ? Because over 70% of social media users only consume information. They don't share it. New technologies are making it easier for people to start to participate in curation, meaning they will be more apt to engage in editorializing and sharing content - an important step in the evolution of social media and its becoming completely mainstream.

What does this mean for fitness and wellness, and for the health club industry ? The likelihood that members or clients will increasingly share and engage in social media is directly tied to the idea of curation because the more people participate in social, not just consume, the more relevant the trend will be and the more impact it will have.

What do you think about social media and curation ? Please share with me, Bryan O'Rourke, your views on this and watch Brian Solis as he discusses the key trends in social media for 2011.