Fitness Seminars: Rising Tide

We’ve been finalizing the details on the International Youth Conditioning Association Summit in Louisville in February, as well as another ‘monumental’ event we’re pulling together, you’ll probably hear about it next week

Anyhow, in preparing, I was reminded of how much benefit I’ve always gotten from fitness seminars and events such as these.

I’ve always told Pat and Jim I felt like I could get my investment back several times over in the first hour of a seminar – I should just leave then and go implement the new ideas! Of course I wouldn’t actually leave after the first hour, but I certainly have ideas to implement immediately.

And I don’t think I’m the only person who gleans information from events like this – I think everyone can. Some choose to, and some choose not to. There are a few ideas that I keep in mind that help me take home as much applicable information as possible.

1) Get in the ‘mood’. You’re lying if you don’t recognize the atmosphere in an educational seminar, from presenters to attendees, from the opening night social and networking, all the way to the end of the last session. The ‘Do-ers’ are on fire at these events! Creative juices flowing, networking, brainstorming – it’s not hard to see the movers and shakers who WILL get the most out of these events. Get excited about the atmosphere and jump in!

Speaking of networking……

2) …….I can trace the Ultimate Business Systems, Inc., beginnings all the way back to networking and some small talk at an event years ago. What started out appearing as if Labadie needed a drinking partner, was actually the beginning of a business venture that is part of what you see today. Worth the trip? I think so. (Just joking about Jlab and the drinking partner, although the conversation beginning was very funny, I may have to bring that out pretty soon!) I can think of several other instances in which the networking at fitness and business events is STILL paying us back. Anyone can be taking advantage of the same opportunities.

3) You can always learn. I don’t believe there’s a situation in which you can’t learn something. When the presenters are great and the environment is electric, well that’s easy. But sometimes it’s up to you to dig in and find it. I’ve been at seminars with some pretty poor presenters, talking about an overpriced products I still don’t know what I would use them for. Instead of cutting out and heading up to my room for a nap (don’t pretend that some people don’t), I find SOMETHING in that presentation I can learn from. During the worst on stage presentation I’ve ever witnessed, I was watching how the presenter exited the stage, and realized he had two tendencies we could learn from in our PT session closing. One we could mimic, and the other we swore never to do!

Look at what people see value in, what they pay for, things they should be paying for but don’t for some reason, who they migrate towards and why, how people interact, how they address crowds or individuals, who drags in late each morning, what gets everyone’s attention, who seems to be in every conversation, who gets complimented repeatedly, etc.

I’ve made diagrams of how the rooms were set up (at least a dozen times), because I knew we would be planning events in the future too. There’s always something you can take away.

I don’t want to make this too long of a post, but I’m already excited about the events we’ve got coming up.

The lineups are incredible, I can already feel the atmosphere, and my mind is sharper and moving faster because of it.

Remember, ‘A rising tide lifts all boats’, and we can all be a part of the tide. Make sure you say hello when you see us at these fitness seminars!

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