woman doing plank
Human Kinetics
Human Kinetics

What type of business are you?

We are a print and digital publisher and information provider.

Tell us about your business?

At Human Kinetics, our mission is to increase the knowledge, enhance the performance, and improve the health and fitness of all people around the globe by developing and delivering authoritative information about physical activity, fitness, and sport. To excel at this mission, we have built our business on four pillars: expertise, partnerships, service, and process. HK Canada has been a partner of canfitpro for over 20 years, developing and promoting leading content and expertise to fitness professionals and enthusiasts across the country. Canfitpro approves hundreds of online courses and resources, which can be seen at: https://canada.humankinetics.com/collections/canfitpro/?rfsn=1304914.d5ce50.

How long have you been in the industry?

We have been in business more than 10 years.

2019-canfitpro-Toronto-Booth-1
2019-canfitpro-Toronto-Booth-1

What attracted you to the fitness industry?

Founded in 1974 upon the first publication of a sport psychology conference proceedings, HK soon produced content specific to fitness researchers, academics, and professionals, before eventually branching into mass market content for fitness enthusiasts as well. Established in 1990 in Windsor-Ontario, HK Canada has been a regular attendee at most canfitpro conferences across Canada dating back over 20 years, ensuring fitness professionals have direct access to viewing the newest research and reference resources to support their evolving knowledge of the field.

What has been your greatest challenge as a business owner/operator and how did you overcome it?

The digitization of content was an enormous disruption to the publishing industry, however HK was in excellent position to make this transformation relative to many other publishers. Some veteran fitness professionals may recall that HK at one time hosted a division of “Distance Education” who provided courses consisting of a manual and written test by mail for CECs, with the test then being mailed back to HK and graded. With the advent of the internet, that division digitized the process to create the first “online courses” which allowed for a pdf manual and online test link to be emailed for completion (or a more enhanced immersive online course). When the ebook disruption hit, HK had already established a team of content managers able to digitize content internally across all file formats, where other publishers had to contract out this capability. As a result, HK was one of the earliest publishers to have new print books available in multiple ebook file formats for platforms such as Kobo, Kindle, Nook, Apple, Google, etc, where you can find most HK products today.

2019-canfitpro-Toronto-Booth
2019-canfitpro-Toronto-Booth

What do you hope your buyers achieve within your product/service?

Our hope and mission is to advance and enrich the professional knowledge and capacity of fitness professionals, ultimately better enabling their clients across Canada to lead healthier and happier lives.

Tell us your greatest memory/highlight in your career?

HK Canada is extremely proud to have been named the canfitpro 2015 Steve Block

Vendor of the Year award winner:

How long have you attended canfitpro events?

We have been attending for more than 10 years.

What is the percentage of Canadian business you currently have?

We have more than 50%.

How do you plan to grow your Canadian Business in the next 12-24 months?

HK Canada will continue to work with partner organizations such as canfitpro, as well as through our partner retailers and institutional accounts, to expand access to the leading physical activity reference content globally. New Canadian authors and resources are constantly in development as well, strengthening Canada’s contribution to the health sciences at home and abroad.