In addition to offering “a workout space to regain control of your health”, the Gym Le Vestiaire – Functional Training is committed to maintaining the community spirit that reigns at its two addresses (Boisbriand and Villeray districts in Montreal). With this mission in mind, Karim, its co-founder, had the idea of organizing Jungle Parties with Emmanuelle, the gym’s co-owner.

Through this interview, you’ll discover the benefits of organizing events at your studio or training center and some ideas to inspire your own events.

Would you like to share one of your best practices for engaging your members or boosting the growth of your studio or training center? Write to us at [email protected]!

Why do you organize events at Gym Le Vestiaire?

Our goal is to allow our members to gather in a safe way. To do so, we have set up an outdoor space where everyone can participate in the events while maintaining social distancing (2 meters apart) and without sharing equipment.

Through these events, we also wanted to rekindle the festive atmosphere that livened up our Gyms before COVID-19.

Finally, the Jungle Parties are a way for us to celebrate our members who are also business owners in different industry sectors.

How do you choose the partners you collaborate with for these events?

We most often try to collaborate with local businesses whose owners are members of our gyms. It’s a fun way for us to promote their great businesses and to continue developing strong ties within our community and neighborhood.

At our first Jungle Party, we collaborated with Simon, the owner of Paquebot Coffee and Zab Café Roaster. We celebrated the launch of his new Limo Coffee.

For our second Jungle Party, we worked with Erika, the owner of the cafe Saison Des Pluies, located 2 minutes away from our Villeray location where she is a member. Erika offered lunch boxes during the event.

Did the Jungle Parties help you acquire new customers?

These events gave us an opportunity to encourage referrals from gym members. Some guests came with their friends who were members of other gyms in the area. We certainly wouldn’t have had the chance to meet them without our events.

The Jungle Parties are also very beneficial for our Gym’s visibility, since they take place outside, with a nice atmosphere. Some passers-by have come to our Gym a few days later to try it out.

How did FLiiP help you save time in organizing events?

The ability to send automated and personalized messages was a huge help for event reminders to members who were registered.

We are now looking forward to testing the new Events and Workshops feature and to saving even more time in organizing our Jungle Parties!