Next month, exciting Las Vegas will host IHRSA’s 32nd Annual International Convention & Trade Show

In 2013, IHRSA will be held for the first time at Mandalay Bay, an upscale venue that will serve as the location of all event programming and the trade show – in one building, on the same level.

More than a dozen sessions will be translated into both Spanish and Russian, including all four general sessions outlined below. Here are just a handful of the highlights that are not to be missed:

General sessions
Optimism Can Take You Anywhere – Tuesday 19 March Bert Jacobs is co-founder and ‘chief executive optimist’ of the Life is good® Company. A privately held business based in Boston, US, Life is good spreads positive vibes through its colourful collection of apparel and accessories, and through its social mission to help kids overcome poverty, violence and illness.

In 1994, with a combined sum of just US$78 in the bank, Jacobs and his brother John officially launched Life is good. Today, their products are sold by over 4,500 retailers nationwide. The Jacobs brothers are living proof that “optimism can take you anywhere.”

Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks & How They Shape Our Lives – Wednesday 20 March Nicholas Christakis, MD, PhD, MPH is an internationally recognised authority on how social networks affect our behaviour and wellbeing. One of fewer than 10 people in the US trained as both a sociologist (PhD) and a physician (MD), he specialises in health and social networks and other social factors affecting health, healthcare and longevity.

He is the co-author of Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives, which describes the profound influence social networks have on who we are, what we do, and how we feel.

PEAK: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo From Maslow – Thursday 21 March

No hotel executive in the world has overseen the development and creation of more boutique hotels than Chip Conley, founder of Joie de Vivre, California’s largest independent hotel company and America’s second largest boutique hotelier.

At the age of 26, with no industry experience, Conley transformed a seedy 1950s ‘no-tell motel’ into the world-renowned Phoenix Hotel, a legendary Rock ‘n Roll hotel that catered to the likes of David Bowie, Linda Ronstadt and Nirvana. Today, Joie de Vivre consists of over 40 unique and award-winning hotels, restaurants and spas across California, over 3,000 employees, and annual revenues approaching US$250m.

FL!P: Creative Strategies for Turning Challenge into Opportunity, and Change into Competitive Advantage – Friday 22 March

Peter Sheahan is known internationally for inspiring innovative business thinking and creating lasting behaviour change. He has established himself as a highly successful entrepreneur with his international thought leadership practice, and as the CEO of ChangeLabs™ – a global consultancy building and delivering large-scale behavioural change projects for clients such as Apple and IBM. Sheahan has worked with some of the world’s leading brands, including Google, News Corporation, Harley Davidson and GlaxoSmithKline. He is also the author of six books, including international bestsellers Fl!p and Generation Y.

Trade show
Taking place on Wednesday 20 and Thursday 21 March, from 11.00am–6.00pm both days, the trade show will
be hosted at Mandalay Bay’s South Convention Center.

The show will celebrate the innovation, technology and entertainment of the fitness industry. Exhibitors will provide hands-on opportunities in group classes and one-to-one sessions, as well as demonstrations as delegates make their way across the show floor. And if you are ready to purchase, show-only special deals will also be available on the latest equipment, supplies and services you need to make your club an incredible experience for your valuable members.

Visit www.ihrsa.org/trade-show for a current list of confirmed exhibitors. For details and to register for IHRSA 2013: Call +1 (617) 951-0055 Email [email protected] Log on to www.ihrsa.org/convention