Fitness confab says goodbye to Chicago

After a 30-year association with Chicago, the fitness conference known as Club Industry had a last event Oct. 9-11 at the Hilton Chicago.

This year’s event—geared for fitness professionals—featured talks on subjects such as facility-membership retention, online training, nutrition, workplace equity/diversity and many more. Other items included a club community breakfast, show floor happy hour and even a “sisterhood stride.”

And, as always, there was the exhibit hall, packed with vendors pitching everything from ergonomic equipment to insurance. Just a few of the vendors included Optavia (http://Optavia.com), which offers what reps called a proven nutrition plan; Birt Strength Systems (http://BirtStrength.com), which has ergonomic free weights designed to maximize workout versatility; GLF/Gym Leads Fast (http://GymLeadsFast.com), which aims to procure members for fitness facilities; Flex Wipes (http://Kleen-Machine.com); nutrition companies Larabar (http://Larabar.com) and Hummingbar (http://TheHummingGroup.com); WAVE Drowning Detection (http://WAVEdds.com); and even EMMA (email marketing) Inc., whose rep, Jaci, said was “like MailChimp, but better.”

The conference will next take place Oct. 14-16, 2020, in St. Louis.

Photos by Andrew Davis