With the IHRSA 2018 conference located in our hometown of San Diego last week the Strengthportal team was able to attend our very first IHRSA Trade Show. Although we have been working in the fitness industry for the last few years and talked to friends about the event we had little idea what we were getting ourselves into. We knew that IHRSA was viewed as one of the biggest and most important events in the industry, but without attending previously it was difficult to grasp what that really meant. Regardless, we knew that we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to attend and I’m very happy we took the time to do so.

Walking into the IHRSA Trade Show was much more impressive than I thought it would be. Right off the bat we noticed the tremendous scale of the event. There were attendees from all over the world, entire pop-up gyms set up by gym equipment companies, and booths from one end of the trade show hall to the other which took 15 minutes just to walk across. It was overwhelming. It was exciting. It was exactly where our team wanted to be.

As a young and growing software company it can be difficult at times to grasp the reach and impact of what we’re building. It’s a blessing that we can build a software platform that can reach so many people, but even though you see customers and partners using your platform every single day it can sometimes feel distant or remote. Attending IHRSA’s Trade Show was a wonderful reminder how real and valuable the relationships are that we’ve been working hard to build. We had the opportunity to meet lots of customers and partners that we’ve had dozens of calls with in-person for the very first time. That’s special. Those first moments of meeting someone you knew you would be good friends with in-person are moments you won’t forget. That’s exactly what makes IHRSA such a great event because those moments are happening hundreds of times every minute all around you.

Attending IHRSA for the first time felt like a big milestone for our team at StrengthPortal. We’ve worked hard to build a platform that adds value to gyms and personal trainers and that our customers can trust. This year we’ve reached a point in our company's growth where everything is starting to move at a quicker pace in a direction that I’m very, very excited about. 2018 is going to be a fun year for us and I can’t wait to recap it will you all at IHRSA 2019. Till then!