It’s an exciting day today for the staff of Club Industry’s Fitness Business Pro. Okay, so it’s probably most exciting for Jennipher Shaver, our senior associate editor. After all, it’s her wedding day! But the rest of the staff is excited for her, and we’re anticipating a great wedding/reception/dance this evening.

We’ll be leaving the office a little early today to make it to the wedding, but not as early as Jennipher, who hasn’t been in since Tuesday. She’s taken the last few days to finish up the last-minute details associated with weddings.

Today is also a special day for Stuart Goldman, our managing editor. He celebrates his birthday today. We brought in plenty of donuts and fruit to help him celebrate, but I know he’s mostly looking forward to the wedding/birthday cake he’ll get this evening at the reception.

In the meantime, we’re finishing some exciting stories for the November issue related to express clubs, corporate fitness, locker room design and retention programs as well as news items on the California fires and earnings for various companies in the industry (Life Time Fitness, Nautilus, Cybex and Town Sports International). Should be a great issue! - Pam

I’m working on a story about the fires in Southern California right now. I hope to finish that up this afternoon and post it on the Web site. So far, I’ve e-mailed with Wendy Yellin, spokesperson for 24 Hour Fitness, which is based in Carlsbad, CA. She says that the corporate headquarters has not been affected yet, but some of the clubs in Southern California have had to close due to poor air quality. I hope to speak with someone at 24 Hour later today.

I spoke to a woman at First Class Fitness Center in Oceanside, CA, about an hour ago. She said that they closed for two days this week due to poor air quality, but they are open again today. They are not in close proximity to the fires, she said, so the threat of the fires themselves are not affecting them at this time.

However, the fire has more directly affected the two Club Paradise locations owned by Brian Hansen in Fallbrook, CA. According to Mark Raymond, the assistant manager to operations at Club Paradise, he and the manager of the express facility closed the express club a few days ago, but the nonexpress club is open–although Mark is the only staff member remaining at the club and only about 15 people have come into the club since Monday morning when the evacuation order was given for Fallbrook. Unfortunately, the express club manager’s home was destroyed in the fire.

Mark let the fire chief know that the firefighters were welcome to use the facility and shower there should they choose. He has had a few firefighters come into the club to take advantage of this offer.

Most of the 45,000 people of Fallbrook were evacuated to Camp Pendleton, the gates of which are only about 3 minutes away, according to Mark.

Here is a link to The Village News, a local paper in Fallbrook, that includes photos of some of the fires. Mark has a few photos in the reader-submitted photo section.

Is your club being affected by the fires? If so, let us know by commenting on the blog. - Pam

Just received an interesting link to an article about mapping DNA. Troy Mosley at Sportsmith sent it my way after reading my editorial in the October issue that talks about the possibility that obesity could be caused by a person’s genes rather than laziness or bad habits. It made me wonder if I would want to know everything about my DNA. Would I want to know if I had a cancer gene, an obese gene or an Alzheimer‘s gene? Just having a gene doesn’t mean you’ll get that disease or condition, the article states. However, if this information gets out to insurance companies and employers, how might that affect their coverage or employment of you? Not to mention, how would you live your life differently if you knew you had a certain gene?

What do you think? Would you want to know if you had a gene for a certain disease or condition (such as obesity)? Why or why not? How would you live differently if you knew you had a gene for a fatal or debiliatating disease? As club owners and fitness professionals, how would knowing this information about members affect the way you treat clients and the way you run your business? - Pam

Well, it’s time for my time at the show to end. The feedback that I’ve been getting was that it was a successful show for many people. I’ve heard a lot of positive comments from attendees and exhibitors stopping at the booth.

People really enjoyed Alan Schwartz’s speech at the Lifetime Achievement Award presentation on Thursday. A lot of people were thrilled with Laila Ali’s presence and said she exuded a lot of warmth and “down to earthness.”

In addition, a few people commented positively about Phillip Mills’ presentation on sustainability from yesterday.

The Best of the Best award recipients were such warm people and very pleased to have the opportunity to come to the show, present their programs, attend seminars and visit with exhibitors.

Our magazine and show group tried something different with our booth. We set it in the registration area and called it the resource center with a map of the exhibit hall and a list of exhibitors along with a schedule of seminars and their room locations. We also had some tables for people to sit at in the booth and hold meetings.

In addition, this was the first year we offered Internet access at the booth, thanks to a sponsorship from KI Software. The computers were busy almost all day without too much of a line at any time.

We’ll be going back to the office next week to talk about how to improve the show for next year. Any suggestions you have are greatly appreciated.

Thanks for visiting the blog! We hope it was beneficial for you.-Pam

There’s nothing better than being a winner. Just ask Kristi Franks of Bodyworks Family Sports Center in Lubbock, TX. Not only did her facility win two of the categories in this year’s Best of the Best contest, but she also was the winner of today’s Eco T650 treadmill from SportsArt Fitness. I couldn’t believe it when James from SportsArt Fitness came to our booth for the drawing this morning at 11 a.m. and pulled Kristi’s name out of the bowl. She and Krista Burns, also of Bodyworks, hurried over to the booth after I announced Kristi’s win over the PA system. They were both amazed and excited to call their owner and let him know that one of the Bodyworks facilities would soon be the proud recipient of a new, eco-friendly treadmill from SportsArt Fitness.

By the way, SportsArt Fitness was also the sponsor of the Best of the Best awards ceremony and educational seminar held yesterday. Now that one of their treadmills will be in a Bodyworks facility, the two companies will forever be tied together in our archives. - Pam

The day before the early-morning workouts on the trade show floor, I decided to try out the hotel‘s fitness facility. Part of that was for research, and part of that was so I could continue my streak of walking at least once a day.

Walking down the hall leading up to the fitness facility, I could see through the windows that the place was packed, even for a little past 6 a.m. on a Thursday morning. That got me pumped up, as did the pictures hanging in the hallway next to the facility. Who wouldn‘t get an extra boost of energy seeing framed photos of Jerry Lewis, Bob Newhart and Sid Caesar?

I was pretty surprised when I found out that you had to pay to use the facility. I was later told that is not uncommon for hotels to charge their guests for the use of their fitness facilities. The hotel where we stayed at for the IHRSA show didn‘t have a fitness fee.

As I was waiting for an elliptical or a treadmill, I ran into Ajay Pant, the general manager of the Midtown Tennis Club back home in Overland Park. He was in Chicago to watch Alan Schwartz receive our Lifetime Achievement Award. Ajay encouraged me to give cardio tennis a try. I think I might.

Despite the heavy traffic, the facility had enough equipment–including some strength equipment– to accommodate everybody. Some fitness club vets were kind enough to spray and wipe down the treadmills or ellipticals after they were done using them. I followed suit after my workout was over.

Today, with the show about to close, the room was a lot less crowded. On the news, a deer had smashed into a window at a health club in Wisconsin. If I‘ve said it once, I‘ve said it a thousand times. When deer want to do cardio, they really want to do cardio. The other incredible story I saw while working out came two days ago when Chicago Bear legend Dick Butkus was promoting a “play fair” campaign. This from a guy who used to tear the heads off running backs and anyone in his path.

Just for fun, I used the locker room so that I could change into my swimming trunks for a little Jacuzzi time. No one was in the locker room while I was there, and I felt safe using the key the front desk staff gave me in exchange for my room key. Still, with news of locker room thefts all too common, I wouldn‘t want to put any of my valuables in a health club locker. I don‘t know what the answer is, but this is a problem health clubs have to correct in a hurry. -Stuart

Sustainability is the No. 1 topic for our businesses.

That was the message of Phillip Mills, creator of Les Mills International and owner of 10 Les Mills fitness clubs in New Zealand, during his keynote on Friday afternoon.

Mills began his keynote with a video about the need to become environmentally more efficient and a book that he and his wife Jackie wrote, titled “Fighting Globesity - A Practical Guide to Personal Health and Global Sustainability.” The book outlines how fitness and nutrition affects the planet and how individuals can make changes to their lifestyles to positively affect the world and environment.

During his keynote, Mills stressed to the 100 attendees the importance of “greening your body.” He said that fitness professionals and fitness facilities must do four things:

1. Create greener facilities. He suggested that clubs shift to solar water heat, purchase water-saving toilets and showerheads and use low energy lights.

2. Become advocates for green. He said clubs must start marketing themselves differently so that the public doesn‘t see gyms as merely a place to look better. He recommended that clubs tell their members about their energy-saving features and have their staff members recommend books on green, healthy living.

3. Become better at running their businesses. Mills said clubs must do a better job of creating fun and exciting clubs that are community-based. Group exercise is a major part of this, he said, noting that group fitness members stay twice as long in clubs as typical non-group ex members do.

4. Create a powerful sense of cause and mission. All clubs should have a strong sense of purpose and be environmentally sound, he said, adding that this type of message is what really speaks to and resonates well with the public.

Mills ended his keynote with some thought-provoking stuff: “Think about what you‘d like to leave as your legacy,” Mills said. “You have to have a strong sense of purpose.” –Jennipher

Yesterday morning, Pam and I attended the early morning workout at the Palmer House Hilton. The name of the game was Turbo Kick, and the good people from Lincoln Park Athletic Club definitely kicked our you-know-whats. After a 45-minute sweat fest of kicks, jabs, jacks and wheels (an odd, yet highly effective core move that involves a lot of twisting and crunching), we were definitely in need of a shower and a good breakfast.

Next on the agenda was the session, “Get the Scoop — Sports Supplements Promises and Pitfalls,” led by Anthony Almada, president and chief scientific officer of IMAGINutrition. Our art director, Jennifer Ray, accompanied me during the presentation, and I think it’s safe to say that we learned quite a bit. She even commented she’d have information to take back to the personal trainer that she works with. Almada debunked a number of myths that many in the industry believe, including “Muscle weighs more than fat.” (In fact, a pound of muscle does weigh as much as a pound of fat because a pound is a pound. Fitness professionals really need to say that muscle is more dense than fat and takes up less room on the body, thereby making a person smaller.)

Almada also gave advice on how to evaluate sports supplements and shared market research. Unfortunately, Jennifer and I had to duck out of the presentation about 20 minutes early to help set up for Laila Ali’s keynote and the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Award to Alan Schwartz, but we still learned a lot. (Look for more about the keynotes from Stuart and Pam later.)

Yesterday, I also had the chance to stop by a number of manufacturer booths, including Life Fitness, SCIFIT and Star Trac. All of these companies are doing amazing new things from iPod connectivity and user-friendly design to virtual personal trainers and equipment that uses less energy. This year, the show floor really is full of great new ideas, and it’s really exciting to watch. –Jennipher

Any new venture brings with it some trepidation. Today marked the first awards presentation at Club Industry for our annual Best of the Best contest. We were a little concerned about the turnout for the event, especially when there were only a few people in the audience a few minutes before show time. But over the course of the seminar, about 35 people came to hear what made our “best” programs tick.

After our editor, Pam Kufahl, made her introduction and SportsArt marketing director Scott Logan had some opening remarks, a video presentation produced by Jenn (Shaver) and Jen (Ray) went flawlessly. I think they need to add “Mix Master Artists” to their resumes.

Not only were the four winning programs all from the state of Texas, all the presenters were (and still are) female. I think we should call them the “Cowgirls” or the “TexAnns” as they do at Tarleton State University.

The four winners and presenters were as follows: Best Behavior Modification Program–Texins Activities Centers and Health Fitness Corp., Dallas, TX (Blair Archer, wellness coordinator); Best Children‘s Program–Bodyworks Family Sports Center, Lubbock, TX (Kristi Franks, youth fitness director); Best New Member Integration Program–Cooper Aerobics Center at Craig Ranch, McKinney, TX (Kelly Warrington, program director); Best Nonmember or Community Program–Bodyworks Family Sports Center, Lubbock, TX (Krista Burns, events coordinator).

I think the low-key atmosphere of the room helped all four women calm their nerves (not that they showed any) and allowed them to give stellar power-point presentations. All were very professional and enthusiastic about not only winning their awards, but also about showing off their clubs‘ programs in a positive light.

After the four presentations, Kelli Calabrese presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to Phil Kaplan, one of the elite personal trainers in the country. Kaplan acted surprised about winning the award, and then jokingly thanked Martin Scorsese and Al Pacino, as if he had just won an Academy Award.

The Lifetime Achievement Award was perhaps a little misplaced in the show. Plus, the Best of the Best awards seminar was competing against the giant that is the trade show floor. There has been early discussion about moving the Best of the Best to a more marquee time at next year‘s show. It‘s worth doing. -Stuart

Last year at the IHRSA show, Pam and I were known as the jean-jacket twins. It’s notoriously cold in the exhibit halls and session rooms at almost any trade show we attend, so naturally, we bring jackets everywhere we go. For the IHRSA show in San Francisco, Pam and I had both, coincidentally, packed our jean jackets and wore them every day and everywhere at the show. We made quite the dynamic denim duo if you ask me, but everyone noticed and commented on our similiar apparel.

This year, though, I have a new twin: our art director Jennifer Ray. It was Jennifer’s first Club Industry show, and therefore the first time she had met many in the industry face to face. The first words out of many manufacturers’ and attendees’ mouths were, “Are you two twins?” Yes, we have the same first name, same shade of red hair and, for this show, very similiar tastes in fashion. We both ended up wearing nearly all black yesterday, and this morning, at early morning workouts, we both donned pink dri-fit T-shirts and black pants with a matching pink strip. Dorky, I know, but I swear it wasn’t planned.

They say great minds think alike…that must apply to fashion, too. — Jennipher