2017 World Gym Convention Celebrates the Barbell with Made of Iron Theme

Source: World Gym International

Los Angeles, California – September 13, 2017 - World Gym International, the iconic global brand for bodybuilding and seriously fun fitness, gathered franchisees, vendors and partners from 11 countries for the 2017 World Gym International Convention in Las Vegas on September 6-9, 2017.  The annual gathering was held at the Mirage Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas with nearly 200 attendees, including gym owners and staff from the United States, Canada, Australia, Russia, Egypt, Mexico, Brazil, India, Lebanon, Taiwan, Costa Rica and the Cayman Islands.  Featuring a “Made of Iron” theme, the convention celebrated the return of the barbell, a core piece of exercise equipment integral to World Gym’s signature small group training program, World Gym Athletics.

“I look forward to the convention every year, which really feels more like a family reunion,” said Guy Cammilleri, CEO of World Gym.  “Our global network comes to the convention to train together, learn together, support each other, share ideas and help each other improve our businesses.  This year’s convention was our most successful yet.”

On Wednesday, the event kicked off with an opening ceremony led by Cammilleri, followed by an energizing and unbelievable keynote session from Boaz Rauchwerger.  Rauchwerger spoke about improving attitudes, building better relationships, creating outstanding marketing ideas and most importantly, how to keep our members and staff happy and engaged with the World Gym brand. 

Following the keynote, guests attended a welcome reception which also marked the opening of the trade show.  At the trade show, World Gym owners were able to meet with a variety of different vendors highlighting their latest equipment, apparel and services.   The trade show included Premier Vendors like Precor, ABC Financial and Matrix, as well as important service providers, who help with local and digital marketing, customer acquisition and member retention.  

Over the next three days, franchisees had a chance to participate in different roundtable discussions and educational sessions hosted by the World Gym International team, including topics like using social media to drive sales, developing fitness programming, inspiring members to become athletes who want to train, and the latest digital marketing tools with speakers from web.com and Google.

On Thursday, Cammilleri highlighted the successes of the past year and the future of World Gym, including the launch of the newworldgym.com, a new app for members, and the opening of the first corporate-owned gym in Ingram Park, a neighborhood of San Antonio, Texas.  Cammilleri highlighted photos from the new 25,000-square-foot facility, which opened in mid-August with the new brand standards for gym design and a dedicated World Gym Athletics area.

World Gym Athletics was a focal point for the convention as it has become a focal point for the brand.  Developed and led by Doug Katona, WGI’s Senior Vice President - Operations and Director of Training & Education, World Gym Athletics launched earlier this year as both a signature small group training program for members and a new ongoing education and training program for coaches.  Over the past few months, WGI has certified more than 300 trainers at dozens of World Gym facilitates across the United States.  Every gym that has implemented the World Gym Athletics program has seen a dramatic increase in personal training revenue and a dramatic decrease in membership churn.  To highlight that success and demonstrate the program to all the franchisees in attendance, Katona and Cammilleri led group morning workouts and demonstrations of three signature classes: Performance (Olympic lifting and functional training), HIIT Camp (boot camp style HIIT) and PACE (group treadmill interval training).

The event concluded with the annual awards gala recognizing franchise owners, members, and staff for their achievements over the last year. The people recognized were: 

Also at the awards banquet, World Gym honored longtime World Gym International team member Karin Michael.  Michael has been with World Gym for more than 25 years, currently serving as Director of Franchise Relations.  Michael’s quarter century of commitment to World Gym has helped to shape the company’s growth and success.

The convention is also where World Gym unveiled its new 2018 global fitness ambassadors, Lindy Olsen from World Gym Burleigh in Queensland, Australia and Ty Bakr from World Gym Vista near San Diego, California.  The ambassadors were selected as part of the third annual search with thousands of World Gym members entering by posting on social media.   Olsen is a well-known fitness personality in Australia and the editor-in-chief of Oxygen Magazine.  Bakr is a Wounded Warrior, overcoming extreme nerve damage by training to become an award-winning bodybuilder. 

The World Gym Convention is made possible in part thanks to its sponsors, vendors, and exhibitors, including Premier Sponsors Precor, ABC Financial and Matrix Fitness, as well as featured vendors American Barbell, Cushman and Wakefield, Encore, Europa, Stages Cycling, HydroMassage, Muscle-Up Marketing, Octane Fitness, U-Max, USI, TRX, Styku Body Scanners, web.com and X-Treme World Sport. 

World Gym will gather again September 5-7 next year at the Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas for the 2018 convention.  More information will be available in the coming months at convention.worldgym.com. 

For more information on World Gym International, please visit worldgym.com.

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 worldgym.com.