Our first-ever podcast was launched on our Web site today. You can listen to it here.

This is the audio recording of my interview with Geoff Dyer, CEO and founder of Lifestyle Family Fitness. The online version of our Q-and-A interview can be found here and is much longer than what appeared in our July magazine. If you‘d like, you can listen to the podcast while reading the interview online, like one of those listen-and-read books that you enjoyed as a kid.

Since this blog is titled “Behind the Scenes,” I should fess up to something about the podcast. When we originally recorded the interview, you could barely hear me because I made the mistake of talking into a headset rather than the phone itself. So we re-recorded the questions, then spliced them in with Geoff‘s comments to make the interview seem like we are actually talking to each other. Now you know the “magic” of podcasts. Steven Spielberg has nothing on us.

A few people need to be recognized here. My thanks to Craig Erpelding, our company special projects editor who initially set up the podcast. Craig encouraged me to do a few “takes” of my re-recorded questions, just like they do in the recording studio of a music company. I‘d also like to thank Chriss (yes, with the extra “s”) Scherer, the editor of Radio magazine, for splicing the questions into the podcast in lickity-split time. Chriss showed me a new gizmo that could make our future podcasts sound even better.

Another shout out goes to Web guru Laurie Kokoruda for putting the podcast on the Web site. Our senior art director, Jennifer Ray, made a nifty podcast logo for our site, too. My colleague at American City and County magazine, Lindsay Isaacs, gave me some good advice on how to do a podcast. And, last but not least, our thanks go out to Geoff Dyer, who couldn‘t have been a better interview for our first venture into podcasting.

Now all we need for the next podcast is to find a sponsor. I‘ll consider any and all candidates. Keep in mind, I could use a new car. Or just cash money. -Stuart

It took me most of the morning to recover from the Life Time Fitness conference call this morning about their second quarter earnings filing. After a while, the numbers that are tossed out in any call like this start to blur together. I generally read through the press release to gleen what I consider the most important information and then halfway listen to the call until the analysts start asking their questions at the end of the call. That’s when you find out what the most important parts of the report generally are.

Seems like many of the analysts were interested in the real estate market and how its downturn might affect Life Time as they generally own the land and buildings in which their clubs are situated and their major growth mode means purchasing property in what some would now consider an unfavorable real estate market. However, Bahram Akradi, CEO of Life Time, expressed confidence that the downturn in the residential real estate market wasn’t being seen in the commercial market.

Many of the analysts were also interested in the purchase Life Time made of six Wellbridge clubs in Minneapolis last summer. The clubs brought in an additional 25,000 members. Life Time has been renovating several of these clubs, and according to Akradi, the membership has received the changes well.

I also found it interesting that Akradi likes to keep his membership at under 12,000 per club. On the call, he noted that they increased membership dues to $79 per month (from $59) at some of the fuller clubs in part to decrease membership a bit.

They didn’t speak much about their urban model in this call, which might be just as well since talk of it in that last financial call seemed to confuse some analysts who were used to the larger footprints of the company’s suburban model.

Regardless, it was nice to hear some good news about a public company in our industry right now. - Pam

Sometimes, the best laid plans go awry. I’ve been preparing for the past few days for an interview with Carl Liebert, CEO of 24 Hour Fitness. The interview will appear in a shortened version in our August issue as our Executive Insights column and in its longer version on our Web site. I’m also hoping that Liebert will agree to allow me to use the tape of the interview as our second ever podcast (the first was with Geoff Dyer of Lifestyle Family Fitness and should be available on our Web site in a few days).

Unfortunately, Liebert’s schedule was so full today that he could only give me 15 minutes. Understandable, since the man is in charge of the largest club company in our country. So, rather than shorten my list of questions and cheat the readers of all the valuable information that a longer interview would reveal, I asked to move the interview to another day when he could schedule more time for it. With the help of their able PR person, Wendy Yellin, and Liebert’s assistant, I was able to reschedule for next week.

I already have a substantial list of questions for him, but if you have questions you’re dying to ask of Liebert, feel free to send them my way. If there’s time, I’ll ask him a few. -Pam

So, Jennipher asked me to write this blog because I‘m the new kid in town, and she wanted my name out there, I guess. So, I thought to myself: Okay, what is it going to hurt? I‘ll tell the world or the readers of our magazine and this blog about me and what I do for the staff of Club Industry‘s Fitness Business Pro magazine. Well, I‘m Kelsey, and I am an intern here at Penton Media (the publisher of Club Industry‘s Fitness Business Pro). I split my time working for Penton‘s business development department–and then the crazy staff of Fitness Business Pro.

Through the work I have done so far with the magazine, I‘ve gotten the itch to get back into exercising again. I ran cross country and track in high school, and then, of course, like many students, it all came to a halt during college because you can‘t find enough time in the day to go run for an hour. However, I‘ve recently gotten back into running. It‘s hard but feels good, and in fact, I‘m getting ready to run a 5K race next weekend for the first time since high school. Yikes! I think I‘ll be okay though. I‘ve been training and gearing myself up for it, so hopefully I won‘t keel over at the end.

Anyway, I suppose I should get back to what I do for the company…I wrote an article for the July issue of Fitness Business Pro and did some write-ups for the e-newsletter, Newsbeat, which has all been fun and a good experience. I also helped with the Top 100 list, which consisted of two long days of verifying information for Pam. (No worries Pam, it was fine. It gave me something to do and gave you additional resources for your list.) And coming up soon, I should have articles and things that will appear in upcoming issues and online material as well.

For the business development side of my work, one of my projects is to write a wrap-up story about the Kansas City Corporate Challenge that recently ended. The challenge involves members of area companies and organizations who come together and compete in many different events, such as track and field, bowling, swimming, darts, and much more. Each challenge is broken down into divisions depending on company size. The story is coming along, but it‘s taking me back to my days in college yearbook, all of six months ago, but still, cut a girl some slack. Okay, I‘m kidding, but it is fun. I‘m talking to several Penton employees about their experiences, and it‘s interesting to hear from the veterans and the rookies. They all seem like they had good experiences.

So, to wrap up, it‘s been a good experience here at Penton, and I‘m looking forward to what‘s next. I‘ll keep you updated on the exercise front and how I do on my race. Wish me luck. And, as I sign off with most things, talk to you later. -Kelsey

Upon arrival home from my latest road trip late Monday night, I determined that I would not get on a plane again until October when I fly to Chicago for the Club Industry show. I‘ve been on too many planes and in too many hotels during the past three months. Granted, some of those trips were for pleasure, but some of them have been for business, too.

The latest business trip was this weekend for the FitLife Conference. It was worth the time it took to fly to the West Coast and drive three hours from Portland to Bend, OR (the scenery was beautiful!). I had the pleasure of presenting at the conference during one of the Sunday afternoon sessions. I gave my presentation (about how trainers and instructors can promote their club by promoting themselves) to about 50 trainers, instructors and directors at this small show for clubs in the Northwest.

The keynote speaker, Warren Wertheimer, was an author and former club owner. His presentation was a little “out there” for some of the people in the audience as some of my tablemates at dinner revealed to me, but I found his thought process to be fascinating. He believes that what gets created in the world and in our lives is what we want to be created. That means that your life is exactly how you want it to be, but you can change it.

“We have tremendous capacity to create what we want,” he said.

He recommended a DVD called “The Secret” that tries to demonstrate that that which we think about and focus our energy on comes into our lives.

How does this apply to clubs? In several ways. Every business that involves interaction with others is about extending love, so club owners must create an environment where people feel loved. Also, if you aren‘t making money at your club, it‘s not because of the competition–it‘s because you don‘t want to make money, he said. He also said that having fun should be one of your top priorities, and it should be a top priority for your staff, too, because that translates to your members and makes them feel good about being at your club. One other little tidbit before I end up revealing his whole speech: He said that thinking is only of value when executing decisions; it‘s not of value when making decisions. Instead, a person should use intuition to make decisions. When you make a decision, you should feel quiet and peaceful about it.

As I said, he offered some interesting ideas.

I had a great time during my short stay at the show. I am grateful to Chuck Richards of the Sunset Athletic Club for asking me to speak and to Amanda Obourne of FitLife for arranging my presentation. I enjoyed meeting several people there–some old acquaintances, such as Ron Poliseno of Checkfree and Jeff Masten of Salesmakers, and some new acquaintances such as Laura Davis of Sunset Athletic Club, Nelli and Cory from a club in a small town in Washington, and Karen and Denise who are partners in two clubs in Mt. Vernon, WA.

If you are a member of FitLife and you haven‘t attended this conference in the past, I‘d recommend you attend the next time it occurs. At the very least, the Seventh Mountain Resort is comfortable, the scenery is gorgeous, the activities (including the trade show Sunday night where attendees played games at the booth and drank away their worries) are fun and the sessions are informative. –Pam

After a fun-filled long weekend in Vegas (for fun, not for work this time), I‘m back in the office and getting a good jump on the August issue. I‘m especially excited about two articles I‘m working on, both of which have an interesting Vegas connection. The first one is about group cycling class trends (my head is still spinning a bit from my trip), and the second is a two-year follow-up piece on clubs affected by Hurricane Katrina (I had “a couple” hurricane drinks). So far, the stories are coming along nicely, and my two-day hangover seems to be lessening in its intensity.

There are a number of fun new trends in cycling. Lately, it seems like almost anything goes, from short classes to longer rides to extreme biking to sing-a-long sessions. If you have something cool going on at your group cycling classes in your facility, feel free to e-mail me at jennipher.shaver@penton.com. I‘d love to hear from you.

Down south, fitness facilities hit by Hurricane Katrina are rebounding, but still adjusting to a different economic market and demographic than before the storm. So far, I‘ve talked with three facilities about their experiences and businesses before and after the storm. Although things are getting better, they all stressed that their lives have deeply changed. Their stories are both inspiring and heroic, as their facilities have served as sometimes the only element of normalcy and even enjoyment in their members‘ lives, even two years after the storm passed. If you‘ve been affected by Katrina or have thoughts you’d like to share about Katrina and clubs affected by the hurricane, feel free to e-mail me at jennipher.shaver@penton.com.

August will make for a good issue about a great industry that continues to improve and make a difference in their communities. I know that after this past weekend, I sure am itching to get back into my normal eating and working out regimen, and that always includes regular visits to the club (health, not dance). –Jennipher

Things are starting to get a little giddy around here. And by “things,” I mean me.

It‘s been awhile since I‘ve blogged, so I thought what better day than the day my boss is not here, and while I‘m still scouring every nook and cranny of her office for “the really good stuff.”

I was out of the office myself Thursday and Friday of last week. In fact, all three amigos (Pam, Jenn and I) haven‘t been together in the same office since July 6, when we put the July issue to bed. Let‘s face facts: We simply don‘t want to work anymore, but at least we should be back to full strength on Tuesday.

From the “Missing the Obvious” department: I checked out my copy of Midwest Mania magazine when I got in the office this morning. The magazine is produced by the fine folks at SCW Fitness. I noticed on Page 3 that SCW‘s convention will be in Chicago, and that its dates overlap with our national show. I mentioned this neat-o fact to Jenn, who added that there‘s going to be a shuttle available to and from each show.

Upon further review, not only is there a mention of the overlapping of shows in Sara Kooperman‘s letter on Page 2 of the magazine, but that, clear as day on the cover, is the blurb, “Free shuttle between Midwest Mania and Club Industry on Thursday, October 11.” This is why I get paid the big bucks to be an editor. No stones unturned here.

There‘s an interesting article today in USA Today about how fitness clubs are looking for more opportunities to advertise in their clubs. I saw this article this morning and was about to forward it to members of our staff, but our associate publisher beat me to it. I‘d like to say, “Great minds think alike,” but I‘m really bummed out about not sending it first.

Late Friday, I had a really nice chat with Marc Tascher, the founder of Town Sports International who relinquished his duties as CEO of Crunch Fitness to make room for club industry newcomer Tim Miller. Marc called me back while I was away, and he says that, although he‘s going to remain on the Crunch board, he‘s going to start taking some time for himself. We‘ll have more industry news later in the week, plus, we‘re breaking in a new author for our “One Last Thought” column, a writer who hopefully will have a keen sense of details. -Stuart

It is finally over. The mad rush to finish the annual Top 100 club list is done, and the last pages for the July issue are out of here. One club owner submitted his form this morning, and we had just enough time to change our estimated revenue figure for his club to the figure that he submitted (we listed the club at $15.4 million and he submitted $14.8 million so we weren’t too far off). Now I can head out for a few days of vacation in Vermont to visit some friends without feeling guilty about leaving Stuart and Jenn to finish the issue.

Of course, things are hopping so much with the Bally situation that who knows where that will be when I return next week! Stuart will be posting the latest news as soon as he recovers from getting the last pages to the printer, but the short of it is that Bally’s second-largest shareholder (who had been threatening a lawsuit) submitted an alternative restructuring plan to the company. How this plays out should be interesting…but not so interesting that I’ll interrupt my visit with friends (and my tour of the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory) to check in with Stuart. Well, okay, maybe just one phone call back to the office. - Pam

We’re in our last three days of production for the July issue. It came down to the wire on the Top 100 list. I kept plugging away (with the help of Stuart, Jenn and Rick Caro) at some of the last club companies to turn in their forms. I was disappointed in some of the clubs that didn’t submit their forms this year, especially Gold’s Gym, Equinox and LA Fitness, probably the three biggest players who wanted to keep their 2006 revenue under wraps. Oh well, it is a free country so they have a right to keep that secret if they’d like.

Speaking of freedom, Stuart, Jenn and I are working away in an almost completely empty office building as the company closed each office at 1 p.m. to allow everyone an early start on the Fourth of July holiday. Stuart, Jenn and I are trying our darndest to get our assignments done so we can go to press with the issue on Friday. However, Bally’s late Friday filing of its financials and inclusion of that information in our top news story for July has put Stuart a bit behind, and the Top 100 club list always puts me behind. Plus, I’ve been gathering the Best of the Best entries to send to judges next week. If you haven’t submitted yours yet, you can still do so if I get the entries by Monday, July 9.

Oh–and Jenn’s here just to help Stuart and me catch up!

Have no fear, though. We’ll be leaving soon to celebrate the holiday with our families tomorrow. Here’s hoping you can do the same. Have a safe Independence Day! - Pam