Health & Fitness Business '08: SNEWS® Fitness Forum panel named, Beuerlein joins pre-show golf, exhibitor update … and more

Hard to believe it’s only two months until the annual Health & Fitness Business Show. The new two-day format compacts all the parties, events and networking into the same number of hours but on fewer days, so you may be hopping around faster to catch it all.

The SNEWS® team will be there in full force in our booth, which is part of the show’s “Community Hub” – a central gathering place on the floor for industry networking, computer stations to check email, attend a show-sponsored Happy Hour (yes, with beer) on the first evening July 17, and much more. Be sure to stop in to greet the SNEWS® team, and swap the talk. SNEWS® will debut its newly redesigned magazine, now with the banner SNEWS® rather than GearTrends®. No worries though: Same great content you’ve come to know and expect. Get your copy at the show if you don’t get it in the mail by the end of June.



>> 4th-annual SNEWS® Fitness Forum: Friday, July 18, 9 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. — Strength in Numbers: Building Walls Won’t Build Business — You think fitness is alone in its push-pull on how, if, whether and how much to collaborate? Nope. We’ll bring aboard a panel from inside and outside the industry, including outdoor, bike and run, that can talk about their experiences in building collaborative industry groups of all sizes that help grow business for everyone, meaning growth and profit. We’ll talk about hurdles, benefits and success to help the fitness industry determine what it needs to indeed work together. In fact, in today’s economic times, connecting and collaborating could mean the difference between business-do or business-die.

Panelists from inside and outside the industry so far (stay tuned for other additions) include folks that are sure to get you thinking about your business development as well as the future of the industry:

• Tim Blumenthal, executive director, Bikes Belong – Bikes Belong is a non-profit sponsored by the bike industry to get more people on bikes. The group focuses on federal funding, lobbying, national partnerships, community programs and simply promoting a positive message about bikes. www.bikesbelong.org 

• Kim Coupounas, past chair, Outdoor Industry Association; co-founder/CEO, GoLite – The Outdoor Industry Association encompasses all arms of the industry and works broadly for its growth. It provides trade services, as well as business training, networking, lobbying and outreach. www.outdoorindustry.org

• Paul Crimmins, operations director, BGI Fitness; member, The Biking Solution – The Biking Solution, just launched in 2003, is an arm of CCAGlobal, which provides services — operational, training and advertising — to industries to improve their development and profitability. www.thebikingsolution.com

• John O’Neill, owner, Colorado Running Company; board member, Independent Running Retailers Association – IRRA was founded in the last two years because specialty running retailers had no association to help them improve business and gain networking opportunities with communication, discount programs and advocacy. www.theirra.com

All have their story about how the group was founded, the hurdles it faced and may still face, benefits it offers members, and generally how such a group can help an industry grow and improve. We expect this to be more of a discussion with plenty of time for questions and participation from the audience, so don’t miss it.

To make sure you don’t waste a minute, the Forum will be on the trade show floor, starting an hour after Friday’s Early Morning Workout is over and an hour before the show opens at 10 a.m. Stay for the entire discussion, leave early if you need to get to your booth or an appointment, stay longer for more in-depth talk with panelists. We’re sure this will spark more people to action and, if nothing else, get people thinking about how the industry does business.



>> Third-annual SNEWS® Golf Scramble at HFB – the date is set, the carts reserved, the beer chilling. Get your application in now to play in the SNEWS® pre-show scramble to kick off a couple of days of business with some fun and fund-raising. Former NFL quarterback Steve Beuerlein will hold court at a challenge hole as he did last year, so you better get to practicing if you want to beat his swing. Or you can just pull a few greenbacks out of your pocket (all proceeds to go Augie’s Quest) to use his.

Click here to download information and a registration form to get yourself and your colleagues signed up.

Save the date, July 16. Check-in at 1 p.m., tee time at 1:30 p.m. Donations to play range from $200 to $700, with all proceeds going to Augie’s Quest, searching for a cure for ALS and started by fitness’ own Augie Nieto, the founder of Life Fitness and the chairman of Octane Fitness. BBQ and beverages after the round is over. Additional corporate sponsorships are available!

For more information or to inquire about sponsorships, including product donations for golf participants’ goody bags, additional corporate sponsor opportunities or sponsorship of individual holes, email fore@snewsnet.com.

Pass the word! Any and all are invited, including any fun-loving colleagues or friends you may have in the Denver area.

>> Exhibitor update: Now added to the exhibitor lineup are CardioGym by Avanti Fitness, Pacemaster and PowerBlock. To get a look at the floorplan as of May 16, click here.

Any questions about SNEWS® events at the show, drop a note to snewsbox@snewsnet.com.