IHRSA 2021 Recap

November 10, 2021

A woman in workout clothes exercises in front of a camera and ring light. Behind her, a screen displays “Fitness on Demand #VirtuallyAnywhere.” Two blue exercise balls and a plant are in the room.

Quality not Quantity – an IHRSA perspective

If IHRSA 2021 proved anything in October, it’s that the way tradeshows are done, may be changed forever. Even as recently as two years ago, companies and organizations headed to the world’s most important industry shows would throw everything and everyone at them in the hopes of bringing back orders and building business. And when that happens, when the sheer volume of attendees becomes so big, it just becomes hard to find time to meet with quality prospective customers whatever the show you’re attending or whatever your business.

The great news coming out of Dallas last month is that with 4,000 attendees on the show floor over three days, and countless virtual attendees dialing in for webinars and education sessions, IHRSA seems to have found a new sweet spot. A balance of decision-makers in person and virtual attendees learning, engaging and interacting to further our industry.

Other takeaways from the show:

Mobile content in hug demand – club operators report when it comes to integrated digital content in their mix of member offerings, easy convenient access to digital content and virtual classes continues to be one of the biggest must-haves and must-do’s
Live Streaming growing fast – our team saw enormous interest in our latest offering, the launch of Live Streaming into our platform of on-demand, curated classes and workouts. Integrated, one-stop convenience and the ability to keep all digital offerings in one, convenient platform continue to be a major selling point
We’ve moved on – whether it’s pandemic-exhaustion or a desire to look to the future, the club industry is busy proactively designing the future for members. Things that were tried and tested in 2020 our now offering immense member convenience and creating brand ecosystems for clubs. In short, members are now engaging with club brands in-club, with streamed live classes on the go, and own-branded content from the convenience of their own homes. That used to be called the new normal. Now it’s just club membership.