By Lauren Charlip, Managing Editor

STOTT PILATES® will hold its biennial conference for its global Licensed Training Centers in Toronto Oct. 21–24, 2009, but this year’s gathering has a new twist. Named Community of Excellence 09, the event was expanded to include STOTT PILATES equipment distributors, all Instructor Trainers and a final day of programming open to all fitness professionals. 

This year’s gathering is the first to be called Community of Excellence, though according to STOTT PILATES president and CEO Lindsay G. Merrithew, that “has been a living organic philosophy for about 10 years or so” for the company.

“We’ve grown tremendously in the past couple of years, and want to focus on the STOTT brand and what it means and how we can all work together,” he said. “This is a time for all of our business partners to come together and share best practices and experiences.”

The conference will feature updated Pilates programming for rehabilitative and aging populations, both growing sectors of the STOTT PILATES client base, among other Pilates workshops. One of the event’s featured speakers is Colin Milner, founder and CEO of the International Council on Active Aging, who will discuss business ideas for that market. There will also be plenty of business-building sessions, and new STOTT PILATES equipment will be introduced, though the specifics are still under wraps.

There will also be a lot of exchange about the economy this year, Merrithew predicts. Enrollment hasn’t dropped, she said, but there is continuing conversation about how to draw people into studios and how to establish Pilates as something other than a luxury.

“This an opportunity to connect and take advantage of the fact that Pilates keeps growing and growing,” he said. “The economy may not be ideal, but the industry is growing.”