David takes a look back at the recent IHRSA Conference in Dublin and shares his insights from the event…
There’s a saying in Ireland that “there are no strangers here, only friends you haven’t met yet!”. After three full days of IHRSA conference, Irish hospitality and a daily helping of Irish Coffee and Dingle Gin ice cream, I’m wondering how many friends I might have missed saying ‘hello’ to.
Some top IHRSA presentations came from Shivvy Jervis (Innovation Futurist), Alan Leach (CEO of West Wood Clubs and one of the Irish hosts) and Barry Walsh (President of Ireland Active and CEO of Iconic Health Clubs).
They say never work on stage with children or animals but Alan along with a dog called Pippy, managed to pull it off, giving the best presentation of his life. It was so packed with new learning that the whole audience refused to move on when the session finished and so, in true Irish fashion, he kept going! Another highlight was Jan Spaticchia, fresh from selling his company énergie Fitness to Bridges Fund Management, filling the stage with great insight from his own belief system.
This year I was invited to contribute to the Russian roundtable, speaking through the wonderful interpreters of Leila Timergaleeva and Anastasia Yusina. These breakout sessions are a great way to meet new and old friends, like Irina Kutina, CEO of Encore Fitness, and Natalie Razumyshkina from the distributors MFitness who organise MFORUM.
The panel included Fausto Di Giulio, from the lovely Italian seaside resort of Tortoreto in Abruzzo; Alan Leach, who came with his swimming manager rather than Pippy the dog; and Ahmar Azam, former CEO of Leejam Sports, the largest health and fitness provider in Saudi Arabia with over 100 clubs.
It was a fascinating discussion with plenty of insight from the global fitness market; did you know that swimming is now a multi-million euro business for the West Wood Clubs? Ahmar provided an update on how life is changing, particularly for women, in Saudi Arabia. For example, cinemas with mixed audiences, sports stadiums admitting women and mixed public entertainment concerts. However, fitness, spas and sports centres remain segregated for now. Following a successful IPO Justin Musgrove, former CEO of Bannatynes in the UK, has taken over from Ahmar as CEO of Leejam Sports.
Thank you for all the walks and club tours which ensured I got in my 10,000 steps everyday. I’m looking forward to next year’s event in Berlin on 17th-22nd October 2020 so put it in your diary! Until then, I’ve posted a few photos from Dublin on our new Instagram account @leisuredatabase and you can also follow me @davidtldc to find out what I'm getting up to!