#WhyGetActive reaches more than 1 million Twitter users

Rep. Ron Kind shows why he gets active.How often have you walked in your club, glanced around and considered how unique and different all of your members are?

The thought occurs to many club operators virtually every day.

The motivations, the reasons, that bring people to your club are endless. Some of them are clear and understood, and others, subliminal and barely sensed. But, in either case, none of the reasons have much impact on others unless they can be articulated and well aired.

That’s precisely why IHRSA has launched a new social media campaign, #WhyGetActive. Its mission: to share one’s personal motivations for exercising with the world.

Read on to see the popularity, why people have gravitated toward it, and more.

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Company keeps clients, members InTouch

InTouch's booth at the IHRSA 2014 trade show.Perhaps the most vexing issue health and fitness clubs face today is how to keep their members. Reverse sides of the same coin, the retention/attrition conundrum is the bugaboo of most clubs, from small studios and gyms to massive high-end, multipurpose facilities.

As a certified personal trainer, Scott Johnston has dealt with this challenge from both the club and the member side. Over the years, he’s watched as friends and family members made serious overtures to join clubs, only to be forgotten.

The problem, Johnston realized, is that club staff often fail to stay in touch with both prospects and current members - hence the name of the company he cofounded with Nico Bot: InTouch Technology, headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, now a leading provider of health club sales and retention software.

“Many people walk into a club, express interest, but hesitate, saying they’d like to think about it first,” says Rachel Lai, marketing manager at InTouch. “Scott saw that, too often, no follow-up e-mails were going out, and no calls were being made to these prospects,”

So, four years ago, Johnston and Bot launched their Web-based communication management system that’s helping to revolutionize the way clubs generate leads for memberships and personal training and follow-up - and encourage people to stay once they join.

Read on to see more on InTouch Technology.

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Expect new ideas from fresh faces of IHRSA board

New board members, from left, Jim Zupancic, Derek Gallup and Gustavo Borges.Throughout IHRSA’s 33-year history, the members of IHRSA’s board of directors have agreed on one thing: their four-year tenure has been one of the most fulfilling experiences of their professional lives.

Serving on the association’s board offers a unique opportunity to work with the best, the brightest, and the most prestigious group of business leaders in the health and fitness industry. It also affords a chance to help set the strategic course for both IHRSA itself and the industry at large.

“There’s nothing like it for individuals who are looking to share their expertise, affect public policy, and, potentially, make a difference in the lives of millions of people,” says Joe Moore, the president and CEO of IHRSA.

Each year, as two to four current board members complete their terms of service, their positions are filled by newly elected members. This process ensures that seasoned and new members sit side by side, facilitating an exchange of ideas and a balance of views, which ensures that IHRSA—and the industry – will move forward.

This month, CBI introduces you to the three newest board members - Gustavo Borges, Derek Gallup, and Jim Zupancic.

Read on to learn more on each new board member.

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Inclusive fitness means fitness for everyone

Fitness for Health founder Marc Sickel and a client.Before joining Fitness for Health in Rockville, Md., the last time that Locla Byron, 70, had walked up a flight of stairs without holding on to the railing was when she was six years old.

Byron was born with cerebral palsy, a general term for a set of neurological disorders that severely impair muscle function, and, so, throughout her life, she’d struggle to do simple things that most take for granted - things like maintaining good balance.

Then, through her doctor, she heard about Fitness for Health, a fitness center that works exclusively with people with disabilities.

Six months into her training at the facility, s regimen that involved a variety of exercises, games, and equipment adapted specifically for the handicapped, Byron walked up a flight of stairs without the support of a railing - for the first time in 64 years!

Fitness for Health is at the forefront of the emerging inclusive fitness (sometimes called adaptive fitness) movement, an effort to create and provide exercise facilities, equipment, and programs tailored to individuals with special needs.

Read on for more on inclusive fitness.

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New way to sell memberships

When it comes to health clubs, what’s one of the most important, indeed critical, aspects of the operation?

The answer is: membership sales.

The most important aspect of the business, of course, is member service, but the sale comes first - you can’t serve a client until you have one.

That’s why, during IHRSA’s 33rd Annual International Convention and Trade Show in San Diego, no less than eight sessions were devoted to the topic. That’s also why, this month, CBI turns to the participants in one panel discussion, “Generating Leads and Positioning Your Sales Team for Success,” for their best thoughts on the subject.

The four - moderator Chuck Hall, Jason Reinhardt, Amanda Konigsberg, and Shawn Stewart - emphasize the importance of well-defined sales systems, the need to monitor key performance indicators, the critical role of referrals, the use of strategically sophisticated promotions, the seminal impact of social media, the centrality of community involvement, and the need to remain alert to changes in the greater membership sales environment.

See the entire story on new ways to sell gym memberships here.

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