LOS ANGELES, CA—September 18, 2019—World Gym International, the iconic global brand for bodybuilding and seriously fun fitness, gathered franchisees, coaches, vendors and partners from 9 countries for the 2019 World Gym International Convention in Las Vegas on September 4-7, 2019. The annual gathering was held at the Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas with over 200 attendees, including gym owners, coaches and staff from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, The Cayman Islands, Mexico, Taiwan, The United States and Russia.
“When we all get together, I’m reminded about how we are truly a global family of fitness enthusiasts,” said Guy Cammilleri, CEO of World Gym. “We spent four days training together, sharing our successes, working on challenges as a team, learning from each other and recognizing the great work across our network and all around the planet.”
The 2019 World Gym International Convention started on Wednesday with a Keynote Session by James Lawrence, known as the Iron Cowboy. Lawrence is best known for completing the 50-50-50, the greatest feat of human endurance. Lawrence completed 50 Iron Man distances in 50 states in 50 days. Lawrence spoke about how to “Redefine Impossible,” inspiring the team to tackle any challenge one piece at a time.
Following the Keynote, franchisees were given a first look at the 2019 trade show featuring the latest products and services from World Gym Vendors including: Precor, ABC Financial, Matrix, American Barbell, Booty Builder, Club OS, Dymatize, Ecore Athletic, Europa Sports Products, Hex Tanning, Hitachi Capital America, HydroMassage, Hyperice, La Colombe, Muscle Up Marketing, MyZone, Power Life, SOCi, Stages Cycling, UMAX Strength Web.com and X-Treme Activewear.
On Thursday, the Convention continued with an early morning workout featuring World Gym Athletics: HIIT Camp, followed by a full schedule of educational sessions including “Effective CRM Using Social Media,” led by Jessica Clough and Murray Ash from Padawan Inc., “Fueling Workouts and Nourishing Physical Transformation,” a nutrition focused workshop led by Dr. Rob Wildman, Chief Science Officer at Dymatize, and a franchisee panel and town hall moderated by COO Doug Katona featuring Michal Sanciprian (World Gym Taiwan), Mike Nysten (World Gym Australia), Sammy Chehayeb (World Gym Quebec) and Amr Saber (World Gym Dartmouth).
The afternoon featured the first ever coaching certification for World Gym Athletics: ROW-IT, a 30-minute interval rowing program. Over 75 coaches and franchisees were certified to offer the program at their World Gym locations. The ROW-IT certification, like all World Gym Athletics’ certifications, is ACE and NASM certified. ROW-IT will debut at World Gym locations later this year.
Thursday wrapped up with “Training for a Stronger Future” where CEO Guy Cammilleri and COO Doug Katona, highlighted the company’s growth over the last year, future growth plans, the latest support tools and offerings available for franchisees, and a preview of the latest brand advertising campaign set to debut this month.
On Friday morning, coaches and athletes trained together for a World Gym Athletics: Performance session, featuring barbell complexes. The barbell is central to the success of World Gym Athletics. The second day of educational sessions included “What is Your Gym Worth?,” a financial analysis by David Hochman, “Getting the Gens to the Gym,” a look at how Millennials and Boomers have different needs at the gym led by Sal Pellegrino from Precor and “Gorilla Marketing: Using Grassroots to Grow Your Membership Base,” with Brian Rosman from Dog and a Duck.
Later in the day, coaches and franchisees participated in the NASM and ACE credentialed certification for World Gym Athletics: SMASH, a ground-breaking strength and mobility program unlike anything else available today. SMASH will be offered at World Gym locations with World Gym Athletics by the end of the year.
The convention concluded on Friday evening with the Annual Awards Banquet and Gala, recognizing franchise owners, members, and staff for their achievements over the last year. Highlights from the event included Tommy St-Onge from World Gym St. Jerome in Quebec. St-Onge was recognized as the Most Inspirational Member. A double leg amputee with several other health challenges, Tommy worked with his coach at World Gym to train for and complete an obstacle course, despite not being able to run. You can see more about his inspiring story here.
The full list of honorees included:
- Best Social Media Marketing: World Gym Burpengary (Australia)
- Best Overall Marketing: World Gym Taiwan
- Best Rebranding - International: World Gym Griffintown (Canada)
- Best Gym Design & Branding – International: World Gym Penrith (Australia)
- Most Improved Gym - International: World Gym Dokki (Egypt)
- Most Improved Gym - Canada: World Gym Kelowna (Canada)
- Most Inspirational Member: Tommy St-Onge, World Gym St. Jerome (Canada)
- Most Inspirational Employee: Derick Gramling, World Gym Rochester (USA)
- Best New Gym - Canada: World Gym Dartmouth (Canada)
- Best New Gym – International: World Gym Kee Lung (Taiwan)
- Best World Gym Athletics Program: World Gym Ingram Park (USA)
- Longevity Award: World Gym San Francisco (USA)
- Best Australian Gym: World Gym Coomera (Australia)
- Best Russian Gym: World Gym Sterlitamak (Russia)
- Best Taiwanese Gym: World Gym Taoyuan Guoqian (Taiwan)
- Vendor of the Year: Matrix
- Franchisee of the Year: World Gym Quebec
The World Gym Convention is made possible in part thanks to its sponsors, vendors, and exhibitors, including Premier Sponsors Precor, American Barbell, ABC Financial and Matrix Fitness.
World Gym will announce the dates and location for the 2020 International World Gym Convention at the Convention website in the coming weeks.
For more information on World Gym International, please visit the World Gym website.
About World Gym International
The iconic World Gym brand was founded in 1976 by Joe Gold during the glory days of “Muscle Beach” in Santa Monica, CA when serious fitness collided with the world of Hollywood celebrities. Since then, World Gym has evolved into an internationally recognized brand that has captured the imagination of fitness enthusiasts around the globe. World Gym is dedicated to creating a network of ultimate workout destinations everywhere. With its headquarters located in southern California, World Gym currently has over 200 locations in 22 countries and territories, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, China, Costa Rica, Egypt, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Hong Kong, India, Lebanon, Macao, Mexico, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Taiwan, the UK, and the United States. To learn more about World Gym and franchise opportunities with this storied brand, please visit the World Gym website.