The ANT+ Symposium 2013: The Importance Of Technology In Health & Fitness

Getting an invitation to speak at the 2013 ANT+ Symposium is an honor, to say the least. I am grateful to my friend Paul Lockington and the team at Dynastream, particularly  for their dedication and involvement in the Fitness Industry Technology Council . Dynastream continues to push innovation and develop new technologies, moving the industry forward. If you haven't registered for the ANT+ event yet please do here as soon as possible, since rooms are going to run out. Believe me, you do NOT want to miss it this year.

Having written extensively on the subject of wearable technologies and the looming explosion of opportunities for health and wellness that technologies will create, an event like the ANT+ Symposium is my kind of event. Speaking at this forum is even more important because the players in health care, health clubs and wellness are about to watch the emergence of a New Era of Wellness unfold at a rapid pace (the recent ANT+ integration into the Samsung Note 3 is an example of what is to come). This will be a time wrought with risks, changes and HUGE opportunities for forward thinking leaders and companies.

What I'll be sharing during my talk at the ANT+ Symposium is how industries like Banking, Computing, Publishing and others at one time and presently all faced huge disruptions. I'll share how these industries either embraced or ignored technologies and the implications of those choices. If leaders fail to embrace what technologies like ANT+ and others will enable for the health club business, for example, they will likely be punished severly. This is not just a risk for individual players its a risk for whole industries as the new dynamic of competitive "ARENAS" emerges. As I've written before, industries will increasingly see competition from other industries. How an industry like fitness applies vision and embraces collaborations that create new standards around these emerging technologies will enable us to take advantage of them. Failing to do so will likely mean missing one of the greatest opportunities that ever existed for making a real impact on the quality of people's health through primary prevention. Its up to us to collectively do what it takes to take advantage of this opportunity or miss it. This is exciting to me because I see this new Era happening and attending the ANT+ Symposium is like being at one of the "ground zero's" where that future is happening now.

The opportunity of bringing health care, fitness and wellness together around consumer needs is going to be created by technologies and smart leaders who see what will be possible. Are we ready to embrace this new era ? Spend some time at the ANT+ convention and I'll tell you what I think and how. I hope to see you there.

So what do you think about ANT+, the symposium and how technologies will revolutionize, health and fitness ? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

About the author:

Bryan O’Rourke is considered by many as one of the most prolific thought leaders on technology, health club and wellness trends. He has been quoted in periodicals like the Wall Street Journal, and has been published in journals around the world on his views of how technology will create the dawn of a new era of opportunity for the health club and fitness industries. In addition to being an industry expert, Bryan is a technologist, financier, shareholder and executive in several fitness companies. He has spoken on a range of business and trend topics on four continents. As a contract executive and advisor, Bryan wears many hats, including working for Fitmarc, which delivers Les Mills programs to over 700 facilities in the US. He advises successful global brands, serves as a member of the GGFA Think Tank, on ACE's Industry Advisory Panel and is CEO of the Fitness Industry Technology Council. To join FIT-C visit www.fit-c.org . To learn more contact Bryan here today .