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Helping People Succeed Amid Revolutionary Change

Bryan O'Rourke

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Top Stories by Bryan O'Rourke

Its always a pleasure and privledge to attend IHRSA's annual conference, and this year is no exception. Its a full week meeting with everyone from Michael Bruno, fitness manufacturing icon and legend, my partner and health club guru Robert Dyer, our Fitmarc team, the Les Mills team and many other leaders in the fitness and health club industry like Brent Hallo, Lisa and Nigel Champion, Lauretta Stace , Sal Pellegrino, Ginger Collins and many many others. Make sure you stop by the Star Trac booth (they've got some pretty cool stuff there this year) and the Les Mills booth to see the latest in group fitness. Please consider attending The Next New Thing, Wednesday from 2:00 - 3:30 pm where I'm on a panel with Patch Evans and others discussing key trends. You should also check out the Fit-C group on Wednesday afternoon (room 301 A) to learn why technology standards ar... (more)

Facebook's $1 Billion Acquisition of Instagram - How Does Fitness Relate?

I know, I know...I can almost read the minds of some of the folks who will read this article. "Gee Bryan, give it up already with this creative disruption stuff....Picture taking has nothing to do with the health club or fitness industry. Enough !" OK, I'll try not to beat the "dead horse" of disruption too hard again, be it with examples of Best Buy, Sears, or Borders Books. In this case, however, I could not help but serve up the interesting tale of Kodak and Instagram in light of Facebook's announcement that they'll acquire the Instagram business for $1 billion dollars. I thou... (more)

Lessons The Health Club Industry Can Learn From Struggling Retail Bricks & Mortar Brands

You heard the news last week of course, Best Buy is shuttering 50 locations. Conventional thinking says that bricks and mortar retailers, like Best Buy or Sears (here is a long nostalgic list of failed retailers to prove the point) are becoming dinosaurs. Online competitors, like Amazon, are the future because they don't have to invest in physical locations and offer better pricing and selection. Retailers argue that Amazon's competition is unfair because people don't pay sales tax and customers can come to their retail locations, obtain the information they need, and buy online... (more)

Highlights From IHRSA 2012 - WOW

Wow, last week was quite an IHRSA event. I just penned a note of thanks to several IHRSA leaders because I thought this years convention in Los Angeles was really great. There were so many highlights I can't get to them all, but thought I'd share a few for those who might have been unable to attend. First, Simon Sinek and Guy Kawasaki were super keynote speakers. A little tip for those who did not know is this; when you contribute to the IHRSA Industry Defense Fund, you get very special access to these speakers, literally almost one on one. So consider making a contribution today... (more)

The New Enterprise Requires A Progressive Technology Platform

Believe me, all industries and institutions, and in particular the health club, fitness and wellness business, are going through tremendous change, whether one wants to admit to it or not. History tells us that transformative times are met in two ways: as an exciting opportunity for advancement or as a threatening force to the status quo. What people think about change is usually aligned with how much they benefit from the way things are not the way they could be. When I say that the fitness, wellness and health club industry is wrestling with "Digital Darwinism" "the evolution ... (more)