Other than specific individuals (i.e. Dan E., Dave Scott, etc…), any general ideas for speakers for tri-club meetings. For example, this past year we’ve had a heart Dr., physical therapist, coach, chiropractor, and yoga instructor. Thanks for any ideas.
bike fitter?
When the Mission Bay Tri Club was first formed 5 years ago, we had Heather Golnick speak at the inaugural meeting. After that, local area Ironman athletes spoke (on what it takes to do an IM), local running store owners, nutrition experts, physiologists, and even had a swim clinic put on by some of the top age group swimmers.
It depends on your location, and your access to pro’s. Sometimes you just have to get creative (maybe even have a meeting for someone who has spectated an event so they can share things to do/look for with other club members to pass on to the people they bring to races).
Good luck!
Bike fitter would be good.
How about time management experts? Sports psychologists? Short term investment experts (How to save for next years bike)? Nutritionist?
Podiatrist make very goo speakers in regards to sports related aches and pains
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How about a USAT referee, especially if you’ve got some new folks?
Me, me, me! Ask ME! 
where do you live? we’re in Santa Barbara, CA
Ex tri heros? Top pros from the past. Failing that, ex top athletes from S/B/R backgrounds. Local tri celebs or characters.
Equipment suppliers/sales people, as long as they aren’t the dreaded hard sell type.
HRM people, including varsity boffins doing performance research.
etc
etc
You’ve got an Olympian down pretty close to you–Victor Plata. He’s a good speaker, very motivational.
Aside from pro athletes and tri-related people, other ideas are having a panel of experienced triathletes talk about specific upcoming races (works really well for Alcatraz), Ironman training/racing, fitting in work, life and training (and being fast too).
That said, our top meetings (according to attendance and then later comments) have been Steve Larsen, Macca and SLOWMAN. Everyone LOVED “that guy that invented the wetsuits”.
clm
The speakers we’ve had include: Macca, Peter Reid, swim coach, sports psychologist, bike fitter, nutritionist, RD, chemist (OTC drugs and impact on training & racing), tri coach, and a handful of others…
Other things that have worked well for us:
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make the meeting a potluck and break into social groups according to distance race people are training for. Beginners get to meet beginners, and IM folks meet IM folks. Gives people time to meet each other and mingle.
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Bring popcorn and show movies. We showed the ESPN video - 25 years of IM Hawaii, and it was VERY popular. You could also show the recent hawaii tapes, or the olympic coverage, or related stuff.
Good luck!
== niki
Tucson, AZ
If your club wants something out of the box that’ll be a big hit for a few people or maybe more, but likely a dud for those who shut off immediately and are not able to listen, you could try getting a top flight dancer from a ballet company. Seriously. Those companies are a collection of some of the most athletic people on the planet, and most have been doing it since they were children. They can shed light on the synergy between flexibility, alignment, and graceful execution of power. To me, that translates into somebody who can give insight on how to avoid injury and be faster, but from an altered perspective.
I live in Lisbom, Portugal, EUROPE 
But… you have to look on the brightside…I’ll do it for free, just get me there