Almost 12,000 fitness industry professionals from over 80 countries were in Los Angeles, March 8 to 11 for IHRSA 2017, the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association’s 36th Annual International Convention & Trade Show.

See the IHRSA 2017 Highlights Video.

IHRSA 2017 by the Numbers

  • Convening for IHRSA 2017 were nearly 12,000 industry professionals (health club operators, suppliers, and fitness industry professionals) including over 7,400 Convention & Trade Show attendees.
  • Attendees traveled to IHRSA 2017 from 80 countries and all 50 states.
    The exhibit hall, with 376 exhibitors was alive with activity during the two-day Trade Show and early morning workouts.
  • Attendees chose from more than 150 educational sessions, networking opportunities, exercise classes, workshops and small-group tutorials
  • Social posts with the #IHRSA2017 hashtag achieved more than 10M impressions and reached more than 1.4M people.

By comparison, IHRSA 2016 in Orlando attracted over 10,700 industry professionals,  6,500 Convention and Trade Show attendees and 415 exhibitors.

The Movement to #PassPHIT

A major focus at IHRSA 2017 was a ‘virtual fly-in’ to support PHIT, legislation that would make access to physical activity more affordable for U.S. taxpayers. If passed, the Personal Health Investment Today (PHIT) Act, the fitness industry’s top legislative priority, would save Americans 20-30 percent on annual fitness expenses by allowing the use of pre-tax savings accounts to pay for qualified fitness expenses, including health club memberships.

During IHRSA 2017, the Virtual #PassPHIT Fly-in encouraged attendees to contact their member of Congress to support the bill. Due to the combined efforts of industry professionals in attendance:

  • The #PassPHIT Campaign made 2.4 million impressions via social media.
    618 email messages, tweets, and Facebook posts were sent to over 300 members of Congress. These messages contributed to the larger movement to pass this legislation. As of March 23, IHRSA members have sent 3,196 messages (3,116 emails) to members of Congress from about 969 unique senders, asking for passage of PHIT.
  • Attendees participated in a Facebook Live broadcast demonstrating the importance of what PHIT would mean for this industry and American health club consumers. The livestream reached 4,469 people and has been viewed more than 1.4K times to date.

Education Highlights

Each day of the four-day event was highlighted by an inspiring keynote presentation. To kick off IHRSA 2017, Seth Mattison spoke about the interaction of workplace trends, generational dynamics, and leadership strategies in his Wednesday morning keynote: The Relationship Revolution: Building Better Connections in the Digital Age, sponsored by MYZONE.

On Thursday morning, after the #PassPHIT Rally, Martin Lindstrom, author, change agent, and brand futurist, presented: Forget Big Data, Small Data Defines the Future, sponsored by Technogym SpA. His presentation as well as the #PassPHIT rally was broadcast via Facebook Live.

On Friday, attendees were prompted to think out of the box by entrepreneur Johnny ‘Cupcakes’ Earle, founder of the Johnny Cupcakes t-shirt brand. His session on Viral Business: Inspiring Customer Loyalty was sponsored by Matrix Fitness.
And on the final day of the Convention, Soraya Darabi, co-founder of Zady, gave attendees unique insight into how they could successfully create their own customized engagement plan that would keep members coming back for more. Her presentation: Creating & Maintaining Engagement was sponsored by Daxko / CSI Software.

Additional Convention highlights included:

  • The 21st Annual IHRSA Financial Panel moderated by Rick Caro.
  • The 3rd Annual Health Promotion & Wellness Track.
  • A special presentation from Nick Westergaard on establishing your personal brand during the Industry Leadership Council Summit, sponsored by ABC Financial.
  • The Women’s Leadership Summit, sponsored by the American Council on Exercise (ACE), featured Sima Dahl, on Personal Branding to Catapult Your Career.
  • Attendees of the 12th annual Bash for Augie’s Quest learned of ground-breaking research advancements, celebrated almost $3.5 million in funds raised and presented Orangetheory Fitness with the 2017 Augie’s Quest Leadership Award.
  • On the eve of IHRSA 2017, the IHRSA Foundation announced that five pilot ACCESS Health programs for special populations will be conducted in IHRSA clubs in 2017.

In addition to the various receptions and networking events, keynotes, and leadership events, more than 150 educational, exercise, and networking sessions were offered, many simultaneously translated into Chinese (sponsored by ChinaFit), French, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.

2017 Award Recipients
Three industry leaders were recognized during IHRSA 2017 for their commitment to the industry and serving their local communities. The Outstanding Community Service Award was presented to FITNESS SF of Corte Madera, California; The Julie Main Scholarship was presented to Ellen Latham, MS, co-founder and partner of Orangetheory Fitness; and the The Associate Member of the Year was presented to TRX. Criteria, past award winners and applications for next year’s awards are available at ihrsa.org/awards.

IHRSA 2017 Multi-Media

  • Audio MP3 recordings of nearly 70 IHRSA convention sessions will be available for sale in April at ihrsa.org/store. Video recordings of those same sessions will be added soon after.
  • Official show images are available for a limited time at thephotogroup.com, password IHRSA17PRESS.
  • The IHRSA Live team provided thorough coverage of the Convention through the IHRSA blog and social media accounts, including live-streaming video on Facebook Live. The event hashtag—#IHRSA2017—trended several times on Twitter throughout the Convention.
  • For IHRSA Live video interviews from IHRSA 2017 Exhibitors, Rising Stars, ILC members and club operators.

IHRSA 2017 Sponsors
5-Hour Energy, ABC Financial, Airex AG, Aktiv Solutions, American Council on Exercise (ACE), Anytime Fitness, LLC, ASF Payment Solutions, Augie’s Quest, Balanced Body, bootybarre, ChinaFit, Cigna, Clif Bar Company, Daxko / CSI Software, Debitsuccess, Digilock, eCard Transactions, eGym GmbH, Financo, Fitness Brasil, Fitness Business Canada, Fitness Industry Council of Canada, Genavix, GoalPost Solutions, LLC, Healthy Learning, Hyperwear, Intenza Fitness, InTouch Technology, Iron Grip Barbell Company, JumpSport Fitness, Inc., Jonas Fitness, Inc., JumpSport, Inc., Keiser Corporation, Leisure Industry Week (LIW), Listen360, Management Around Sports, Master Lock Company, LLC, Matrix Fitness, Mercado Fitness, MERRITHEW, MINDBODY, Inc., Motionsoft, MYE Entertainment, MYZONE, Netpulse, NuStep, Inc., Ojmar US, Parisi Speed School, Perfect Gym Solutions S.A., PFP Media, Polar, Power Plate, Power Systems, Inc., Precor Incorporated, RealRyder International, LLC, SportsArt, Styku, Suples Ltd.,Technogym SpA, Total Gym, TRUE Fitness, TRX, TuffStuff Fitness International, Twin Oaks Software, VFP, ZIVA and STRONG by Zumba.

Photo courtesy IHRSA