The LIW Countdown….

Guest blogger Hayley Bevan, The FIA's Events and Sponsorships Manager, counts down the days until Leisure Industry Week 2010 (21st - 23rd September, NEC Birmingham)

The biggest gathering of the health and fitness sector is just around the corner and we at the FIA can’t wait to get back to the NEC!

After over a year of research, debate, consultation and industry-wide feedback, Dave Stalker and the TwentyTen Commission Panel will be announcing the industry’s five year strategy on Tuesday morning in the opening keynote. Something we at the FIA feel very strongly about, it will provide vision and recommendation around the 5 key cornerstones: Community Hubs, Work Place Activity, Data and Consumer Insights, Exercise as Medicine and Up-skilling the Workforce. Devised to generate positive outcomes and direction for the industry, we hope you will join us at the start of the industry’s new journey. How exciting!

Expertly delivered education will of course be on the agenda this year, with something for every single one of us.

The largest gathering of Independent Operators ever has dictated the provision of a specially tailored day of seminars, looking at various topics, all in response to the challenges that independent operators have voiced they face.  Following the age-old “work hard, play harder” life motto – the FIA/IOU members will be found sipping cocktails and chilling out at a rather exclusive bar in the evening - let it not be said that those CFM boys don’t know how to party!

Following fantastic feedback on speakers at the Flame Conference earlier this year, we’re bringing some of them back for follow-on education at LIW!  Personally I can’t wait to hear what else Pete Cohen has to share – his wisdom on happiness was well received in Cheltenham and this time he’ll be looking at how to become ‘exceptional’ – I wonder what that entails!  Joining Pete are Sue Anstiss, Keith Burnet, Georgina Jupp, Michael Crowe and Mark Talley who will each provide insight and debate from their field of expertise.

The FIA has also teamed up with Sport England to host a day of seminars which will look at our industry’s crucial contribution to the Olympic legacy – less than 2 years and counting, the partnership couldn’t have come at a better time…..  Our expert panel will advise on how we can position ourselves as a KEY Olympic partner and what this means for the industry.

Those of you who attended the Ball of Fire in July will understand the sheer competition and motivation that fuels the prestigious annual Flame Awards – and the tension and anticipation that finalists feel as Dave utters those promising words “and the winner is…”.  I am delighted to announce that Flame 2011 will launch at LIW this year and that gruelling (yet enlightening) process of excellence can build again for all who enter! 

As always we assume that everyone else takes as much pleasure in social opportunities as we do, which is why we will be buying everyone a drink after the first day of the show!  Matrix and Active IQ have graciously sponsored the FIA Drinks Reception this year, giving members the chance to debrief with colleagues, peers and a special celebrity guest….

As you can see, it’s an action-packed LIW this year, so whilst you get to work planning your itinerary, so shall we! 

For more info on the FIA’s schedule of events visit our website, otherwise I look forward to seeing you there!

Hayley Bevan

Londoners Saddle up with Boris’s Bikes

I think it’s fair to say that you couldn’t miss the introduction of Boris’s Bikes here in London last week, with the man himself pictured across every newspaper in town. But how far has the initiative been accepted and what are the implications for our industry?

Opinion on the scheme still divides the city but personally, I can’t help but feel slightly proud that we have a cycle station installed right here, behind the FIA offices.

Admittedly, we’re not all cycling to work just yet, but then the scheme wasn’t ever going to change the lifestyles of a city overnight. That, as we all know, takes a great deal of time, engagement and perseverance. It will be interesting to see how the scheme rolls out and performs against its target of generating 40,000 cycle journeys in London. No pressure!

Despite the teething problems, due largely to those who accumulated hefty bills after renting the bikes for 24 hours (they’re meant for short distances), I think the initiative is a great way to get Londoners more active, more often. It contributes to the recommended 30 minutes of physical activity 5 times a week and not only brings the mental and physical health benefits as with any form of exercise but it is also good for the environment and welcomes an entirely new group of commuters to the activity landscape.

It also promotes very easy access to facility based gyms pre and post work – perhaps an opportunity for our city clubs to increase both membership and frequency?

It helps commuters develop their own active habits and for some, this may be their first step back into activity for a long time. We should support them as they look for a more involved, longer term lifestyle solution which has the potential to drive customers through our member’s doors.

It would be interesting to see if there’s been any peak in spinning classes in the city due to they hype around cycling and the benefits it brings….

The TFL partnership with Barclays is a perfect example of how we can work with large, commercial brands to bring more customers to our industry and put more wind in the sails of Change4Life, as suggested in our TwentyTen Commission.

There’ s still a long way to go in terms of reaching the 20% target and addressing the issue of cycle lanes, lighting, provision of helmets but personally, I can only see benefits for the scheme and I hope to see it roll out nationally. What a great form of transport to have in place for 2012.

A friend of mine who took one of the bikes commented how he felt in his prime again after receiving so many ‘interested glances'... Until he realised, it was the bike they were looking at, not him! It’s still a novelty at the moment, but I will certainly be saddled up, following the initiative as it gains momentum.

FIA Conference and FLAME Awards 2010

Well. FLAME has come and gone and I personally feel that all I want to do is find a hole somewhere and sleep for a week.

A fair number of the 700 plus attendees have told me that it was a great success – complimenting everything from the calibre of the speakers, to the new ‘fruit & food grazing’ feeding arrangements.
For me, it was (as always) great to see and meet up with so many old faces - and new. But what really excited me was the attendees’ hunger for knowledge for information on subjects which, even a couple of years ago, would have only attracted enough people for a five-a-side team, let alone pack a room. Topics ranging from applying psychology to our delivery models, to the importance of data, the value of social media and the whole issue of ‘exercise as medicine’ filled session after session.

Thinking about this, as well as the calibre of FLAME Award winners and runners up suggests that there is a real and very tangible sea change in our industry. Everywhere I looked and every conversation I had gave me the feeling that people are taking everything we do and improving it by 50% - whether it’s the graphics on kit or its phenomenal capacity to record and interpret data: whether it’s new programmes which are reaching deeper and more consistently into communities, or the phenomenal work currently being done by a handful of organisations with GPs and health professionals.

Now, this isn’t a cheap plug for the TwentyTen Commission, but there are pockets of excellence throughout our industry; just think of the contribution we could make to the nation (and our own bottom line), if we collated best practice, shared it and used it as a springboard for improving what we do and how deeply we engage with our respective communities. The catalyst to that is the Commission, but the drivers to that are you.

Thinking about drivers makes me think about ‘Movers and Shakers’ ... wait ‘till you see the pics from the Awards ... think Strictly Come Dancing ... then think John Sergeant!
Need I say more ... I don’t think I should, or there will be no greeting of ‘old faces and new’ next year.

Click here to see a sample of the photo's from the event.

David Stalker, Executive Director at FIA

The Conference that will take you into the next dimension

Today, I felt as if I was on the flight deck of the Star Ship Enterprise.

Less than a week to go to the Flame Conference and we've just hit the Warp Speed button: the stars have turned into streaks of light: the staff of Star Ship FIA have pinned their ears back and the old bus is rattling as we travel at the speed of light.

I know when we arrive at Planet Cheltenham, the air will be pure and intergalactic attendees (drawn from the four corners of our solar system. The Fitness Way), will be..."Enough!" I hear you cry.

But seriously, as the FIA prepares for the industry's second industry conference, goody bags are being checked, speakers' slides are being double checked and seating plans for the Ball are being poured over.

As for the golf day, judging by the fact that less than 10% of players will be playing off a single figure handicap, whilst over 50% are playing off a 20+ handicap, I can only assume that as an industry, we spend more time at the coal face than we do on the green... or maybe golf is our handicap.

But just like Captain Kirk and all the other starship troopers (or am I mixing my Sci Fi), next week we really will '...go where no man has been before'. The Twentyten Commission's Industry Consultation will be launched. It's ambitious and will have profound implications for ambitions, business planning all seem overshadowed by uncertainty and a certain collective insecurity, it's gratifying to think that we at least, are trying to think rationally about a coherent strategy designed to achieve specific future goals.

But in the short term, some of the country's leading experts will be stimulating us with new ideas for old problems. Think of the power of harnessing those three horses of business- psychology, marketing and communications- and the advantage it could give you.

If your are the Flame Conference next week, I look forward to seeing you.

If you're not...well there's always nest year.

To quote Captain Kirk... I'll spare you. See you on the other side of the Warp Factor.

David Stalker, Executive Director of the FIA

Information is Key

At a recent health & fitness industry dinner someone described our industry as a ‘fact free zone’ which made everyone in the room laugh...nervously, as we know that there was more than a grain of truth in what he said.

Of course every time an operator decides to open a new facility he/she does some modelling to determine potential demand, competitor impact, etc. Yes, we are good at collecting and tracking new joiners and leavers data and yes, the TwentyTen Commission – the strategy development exercise currently in place, designed to help us develop a five year (macro) plan for the industry – is reviewing the whole issue of ‘data and consumer insight’ but the truth is, as an industry we are miles behind other sectors, such as retail, in understanding:

- What consumers like about us
- What they don’t like
- Which age, socio-economic group, ethnic minority use us most
- Which uses us least
- The ‘why’ question to both the above
- Which service is ‘consumed’ most/least
- Trends
- What impact have we made on people’s lives (mental, attitudinal and physical improvements against a benchmark)

I could go on, but I won’t.

I know this sounds like a rant, but as business people, we know that market intelligence is key to managing and growing our business and yet, on mass, we do not seem to be very good at it. I think it’s a cultural thing; we never did it so we haven’t got into the habit of doing it. Together we have built a £4bn industry based on limited data and considerable ‘gut feel’.......so, perhaps that wise man who said “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” was right.

Mind you, I am surprised that market intelligence which does exist – the FIA Media Review for example – is not consumed by the 200K people who work in our industry, every day. Viewer figures are good, but nowhere near 200K a day. And yet, what could be more important than to know and be prepared for comments from members when they’ve just read some article based on dodgy research claiming that exercise isn’t good for you or that we are all a bunch of charlatans and thieves.

If you don’t know what they read in their morning papers, how can you prepare a compelling case to rebut it?

How else do you keep abreast of trends and new ideas which will influence and affect the people walking through your door.... and most importantly, walking past your door.

If you currently get the Media review I urge you to read it daily. If not and you are an FIA member get on the phone 020 7420 8560 and get your email address added to the list today!

David Stalker
Executive Director
Fitness Industry Association