I Drank The Purple Coolaide At The Anytime Fitness Conference – Part I

I have been fortunate enough to speak at fitness conferences and fitness business company conferences across the globe and what I witnessed last week was simply mind blowing.

Let’s get something straight first: I do not have an Anytime Fitness club and I am not exclusively contracted with Anytime. I have no investment in Anytime Fitness. These 2 blogs are written to inspire you to learn from an extraordinary experience I have just had.

I do run an Anytime Fitness Roundtable in Australia and also facilitate the Anytime Fitness MCO Rounds in the US. I am aware of their business model and even the pros and cons of that model. These experiences could not prepare me for the past few days.

Oh and if you think I am going to share the exciting direction Anytime are heading, you can click out now. No, what I am going to share are examples of people bleeding purple that every business can learn from . . .

The Conference Location

Let’s be honest, Lake Placid is one of the most beautiful places in the world. It is however a pain in the arse to get to!

Generally, many conference attendees flew into Albany and then caught a 2.5hr shuttle to Placid. Others drove – in fact one person I spoke to told me, “I drove 12 hours but I wouldn’t never miss the conference.”

It could have been deemed an inconvenience to get there. Many though saw it is an opportunity to immerse themselves in the brand and they made the extra effort. Including representatives from around the world.

People were not going to miss this event!

Registration Experience

I went to Registration as I was asked by Corporate to help out. I wasn’t needed as they had the process so efficient. In fact FAC committee members – ie fellow owners – helped staff out (working their butts off) which allowed me to sit back and watch.

The energy at this point was about an 8 out of 10. People were high fiving, hugging and back slapping each other. Old friends catching up and others making new friends.

And then they were heading to the 3^rd floor: the merchandise stores!

OMG! Within 30 minutes of opening their merch stores it was like a frenzied piranha attack on a helpless piece of flesh. Owners, managers and staff were hitting the shopping as if it were Boxing Day or Black Friday sales. Take into account everything for sale could be bought anytime on online and was not on sale.

The energy here was palpable and infectious. I even went into the stores but the lines were so long and moving so slowly I decided not to purchase anything as I didn’t want to wait the 45+ minutes.

As I walked out I saw yet another line of people. This line was to have your skin branded! Just 30 minutes after opening, there was a line of 10+ people waiting to have a running man tattoo emblazoned on their body. And yeah sure some people were having a small tatt in a private place where only their partner could see, while others were loud and proud.

The Streets of Placid

The streets of Placid were humming. I have a feeling the energy would not have been as high in this village since the 1980 Olympics when the USA beat the USSR in the ice hockey match of the century.

There were banners on street poles welcoming Anytime Fitness, signs in windows and a huge sign in the centre of town.

The town had embraced the purple people and the purple people were embracing the town.

The Opening Ceremony

I was wondering how many people would attend an ‘opening ceremony.’ I mean let’s be honest: a parade of nations, a key note and then words from the owners compared to drinking beer and catching up with friends I know where many fitness people would go.

Not at this conference.

The ‘House Full’ sign went up as every person attended in body and soul. They ‘hooted and hahed’ as people they didn’t even know walked in behind flags of their nations. They cried in the Member Success Story. They gave a standing ovation to Mike Eruzione, who was the captain of the Miracle on Ice hockey team. And they metaphorically filed in behind the direction Anytime is heading after hearing from their leaders.

Is It A Cult?

Cults are defined as “excessive admiration for a particular person or thing.” So I guess by this definition perhaps what I had witnessed in just 8 hours was a cult?

If I call what I witnessed a cult to help explain the feeling in the Herb Brooks Arena, I mean it as the utmost compliment. I was beginning to understand the concept of ‘bleeding purple.’

And I wasn’t the only one!

Eruzione after his key note was given and then put on a one off hockey jersey – the place erupted!!!! As he walked from the stage he took it off and I was thinking, ‘that’s a bit rude.’ He then paused at the barrier and handed it to Matt, one of the 2016 member success stories. They spoke with only them knowing what was said, embraced and Matt put on the jersey. Now the roof of the arena was lifted with clapping, cheering and energy – not to mention teary eyes.

Part II tomorrow – the importance of leadership in the bleeding purple culture.