I just spoke with Chad Smith, executive VP of Las Vegas Athletic Club (LVAC), about the recent Nevada Equal Rights Commission’s (NERC) finding that the club’s free enrollment offer to women might be discriminatory. NERC is forwarding the complaint to the state’s attorney general’s office. NERC ruled that two other discrimination complaints filed by Todd Phillips related to the club would not progress to the AG.

Phillips had also complained that the club’s inclusion of private areas for women (including a female-only workout room with trainers educated in issues specific to women’s fitness and a women-only sauna and steam room) was discriminatory. He also complained that the coed club had cancelled his membership as a retaliatory measure for his complaints. Smith says that Phillips had expressed unhappiness over his membership and when management offered to release him from his contract, he had agreed. The NERC found no merit in these two complaints.

Now, Smith and the rest of LVAC’s management must wait to see what the AG decides to do with the case. The AG can either drop it or pursue charges. You can read more about this case here.

It’s not the first time the gender issue has caused a commotion in the industry. We’ve covered the case of one man in California who has filed suit against several women-only clubs for being discriminatory (see stories here and here). So far, the courts have ruled in his favor. I wonder if he’s joined all these clubs now?

Of course, the Las Vegas case is a bit different since it focuses specifically on the offer of free enrollments for women who join the club.

Have you had a similar issue occur at your club whether with enrollment fees or other offers specific to one gender? If so, let us hear about it. -Pam

You may have noticed something a little different about our Web site. Starting today, we’ve added commenting capability to the end of many of our stories. We’ve added this option for several reasons: First, we really want to know what you think about the stories that we publish. Second, we know that you have additional wisdom to add to these stories. Third, we want to help you to communicate with others in our industry.

So take your pick. Do you want to comment about sales at Nautilus, Precor or Cybex? How about the 24 Hour Fitness/Bally lawsuit? What about the clubs that are included on the Top 100 clubs list for 2008? Maybe you have a comment about Joe Cirulli being on the cover of Inc. magazine?

Feel free to go in and add your comments and questions. We’d like to hear from you. Just remember to keep your language respectful and as clean as you’d use around a 5-year-old. –Pam

As I listened to how much time Inc. magazine writer Bo Burlingham spent with Gainesville Health and Fitness Centers owner Joe Cirulli for this month’s Inc. cover story, I wanted to start drooling. (You can read our story about the story here.)

Cirulli told me how much time and effort the Inc. writer invested in what became a 5,000-word story. That’s about twice as long as our longest piece in our magazine. I wish we had the time to spend on a story like Bo had with Joe, whom we featured in a “Who’s Who in Fitness” story three years ago.

One of the many interesting aspects of the Inc. piece, titled “The Believer,” was how Cirulli came to Gainesville, FL, from his home in Elmira, NY. He went down there to visit his girlfriend, who was attending a local community college at the time. In fact, Cirulli remembered the first day he stepped foot in Gainesville—Oct. 27, 1973—which is pretty close to the day I was born. So it appears Joe and I have something in common. Reading about his great wealth and fortune, it also appears it’s the only thing we have in common.

A health club owner on the cover of a major business magazine is another solid shot in the arm for our industry. A couple of days ago, I blogged about 24 Hour Fitness’ presence at the Olympics in Beijing. After all the talk of declining memberships and fighting to stay afloat in a struggling economy, I’d say we’re having a pretty good week. –Stuart

It’s 2:17 in the morning on Sunday, and I can’t sleep, largely because of this annoying cough I’ve had the last two weeks.

There’s actually a live sporting event going on now on TV, a pre-Olympics tune-up between the USA men’s basketball team and Russia in Shanghai, China. Apparently, there’s an American on the Russian team, but that’s a topic for an another day and another Web site blog.

There’s a reason why this game has compelled me to write in the wee hours of the morning, and it’s not the fact that the U.S. is underachieving against the Russians/American. A series of 24 Hour Fitness logos popped up on the rotating sign boards on the sidelines facing the mid-court camera. As we reported in a recent Newsbeat, 24 Hour is an official partner of USA Basketball. McDonald’s, by the way, popped up on the sign boards later in the game, as well as something that appeared to be written in Chinese.

I have to say, it was pretty cool to see the 24 Hour name during a live sporting event. This should be a source of pride for 24 Hour CEO Carl Liebert, for founder and former chairman Mark Mastrov, and for everyone associated in the fitness club industry. With 24 Hour’s ties to the entire U.S Olympic team, I’m sure we’ll see more of 24 Hour’s presence when the Olympics kick off 08-08-08 (my anniversary!) in Beijing. –Stuart

Last week saw a flurry of big news in our industry. We wondered what you thought about it. First, Planet Fitness, Dover, NH, is putting World Gym up for sale just two years after purchasing the company. At least two groups are very interested in purchasing the franchising company, but as of yet, no deal has been set. Are you a World Gym franchisee? We’d like to hear what you have to say about the possible sale. Comment on the blog to let us know. Or if you’d rather keep your comments private, e-mail Stuart directly at stuart.goldman@penton.com.

The other big news last week was 24 Hour Fitness’ lawsuit against Bally Total Fitness alleging that Bally illegally hired new CEO Michael Sheehan away from 24 Hour to gain access to trade secrets. Does 24 Hour have a leg to stand on? We’ll keep on top of the story–as well as keep an eye on any additional departures of 24 Hour executives as the management at that company continues to shake out after Mark Mastrov’s departure as chairman back in January. What do you think is happening at 24 Hour? Let us know by clicking on the comment button below.

Another big news item was the Gold’s Gym convention in Las Vegas earlier this week. Some of the franchisees have expressed concern about several issues related to corporate. Stuart is working on a story about this for our August issue. So stay tuned for that! - Pamela

Planet Fitness has a new employee handling its public relations, and he’s a name you might recognize.

John Craig, editor of the now-defunct Fitness Business News, came to Planet Fitness about two weeks ago. John and FBN and our magazine became direct competitors when FBN was launched early last year. John, formerly of the Boston Globe, and I share a bond of being former newspaper men. (Don’t get me started about the cuts being made in the newspaper industry these days). It was always good to see John at trade shows a couple of times a year, and it was good to hear his voice when he called me today.

There’s mixed feelings, of course, when a competitor like FBN, which ceased operations last month, goes away or is somehow eliminated. You’re excited about the opportunity to get more stories and have more people read your stuff. But competition is good because it keeps you on your toes. There’s nothing like the highs of beating the competition on a story or the lows of getting beat on a story.

You worry about people losing their jobs when you hear about a publication ceasing operations, especially in these troubling times. Fortunately, John has landed on his feet, and so, too, has FBN managing editor Brian Davidson, who John says is working at another magazine within the company that owned FBN.

The good thing for John is that he gets to drive 10 minutes to work now as opposed to about an hour to his old job. With gas prices the way they are, that’s definitely a company perk. –Stuart

Today, I was finally able to meet Dr. Kenneth Cooper, founder of the Cooper Institute and coiner of the term “aerobics.” OK, I didn’t actually meet him in person as I hoped I would when I went to Dallas in February. Instead, I met him as journalists often meet the people they interview–over the phone.

I had set up the interview several weeks ago, since this busy man’s schedule was quickly filling up for the month of July, and I needed to interview him for a profile about him that I’m writing for our September issue. He is, after all, the recipient of our Lifetime Achievement Award this year at the Club Industry show in October and the keynote speaker at the trade show.

I have to say that he’s a man excited about what he does. And today, he was especially excited as yesterday he’d participated in a press conference about the results of physical fitness testing done on more than 2.5 million school children in Texas. The physical fitness test used was Fitnessgram, a program that he helped develop, and that he helped fund with his own money and private donations to get into Texas schools. The results of the testing weren’t good. We’ll be offering more details on the results on our site soon.

However, the release of the results yesterday helped prove the sorry state of children’s physical fitness in Texas, and that, he indicated to me, may help the state, schools and parents work together to change the situation. He was also excited because at least another 14 states have been in contact with him about implementing the testing in their states.

Dr. Cooper told me that he sees improving the fitness level of children in this country as his mission now. In fact, he even said that he doesn’t think that he will be remembered for coining the term “aerobics” as much as he will be for helping to turn the tide of the obesity epidemic in children.

For more of what Dr. Cooper said, watch for the profile on him to appear in our September issue. –Pam

Here‘s a quick update on a couple of Iowa fitness facilities that we reported on Wednesday concerning the floods in that state:

An employee at the River Plaza Athletic Club in Waterloo, IA, said today that they‘re still trying to pump water out of the club. The hope is that the club will re-open on Monday, or at least parts of the club, the employee said.

There was also a voluntary evacuation for much of downtown Des Moines, IA, and other areas bordering the Des Moines River this afternoon, the Associated Press reports. Several clubs and a YMCA are located there.

Perhaps the hardest hit town today is Cedar Rapids, IA. The AP reports that rising water from the Cedar River forced the evacuation of a downtown hospital, and residents of more than 3,000 homes fled for higher ground. A railroad bridge collapsed, and 400 city blocks are under water.

The Rockwell Collins Recreation Center in Cedar Rapids is still open, but showers are closed because of the city‘s request for limited water use, and there is no towel service, according to Ian Sizer, the front desk supervisor at Rockwell Collins. The gymnasium and running track were closed off in the club and will be used as an American Red Cross shelter for people displaced by the flood, he says. Classes are closed as well.

Dave Koch, a spokesman for the Cedar Rapids fire department, told the AP that the river will crest today at about 31.8 feet. It was at 30.9 feet early in the morning. In a 1993 flood, considered the worst flood in recent history, the river was at 19.27 feet, the AP reports.

In other words, compared to the flood of ‘93, this year‘s flood “blows it away,” Sizer says. -Stuart

Yesterday, Jennipher Shaver and I called a bunch of fitness facilities in Iowa in an attempt to find out how the recent flooding in that state has affected their businesses. In just a small sample of calls, we found out that a lot of places, from for-profit facilities to YMCAs to university rec centers, were affected in some way.

The most startling response came from the River Plaza Athletic Club in Waterloo, IA. The club, a former YMCA, is aptly named–it‘s right near the Cedar River. When I first called there Wednesday afternoon, the lady who responded said she was “ankle-deep” in water. Then I later talked to the sleep-deprived owner for a good 15 minutes to get some more details. Considering the circumstances, I was surprised to find how willing he was to share some information. He even asked me for our Web site, eager to read the story. (I bet he read our story at home, not at the club.)

We couldn‘t get to everybody, obviously. If you are a club in Iowa or anywhere else in the Midwest dealing with flood issues, we want to hear from you. Click on the comment button to share your experiences with us. -Stuart

Late last week, I received an e-mail from IHRSA that the club membership levels in the United States were 41.5 million. Earlier this year, IHRSA had estimated that that number would be 44.1 million, but upon final tally, the number was just slightly above the 41.3 million members the industry reportedly had in 2005 and lower than the 42.7 million members the industry reportedly had in 2006.

Although IHRSA says this change is not statistically significant, I find more than one million members to be significant. I’ve e-mailed IHRSA to find out whether the numbers reported for 2006 were just wrong or whether in fact the industry has lost more than one million members in a year. I’ll let you know what they say when I hear back. –Pam