Clubindustry

Rather than doing a thousand or so teeny-tiny blogs, I thought I‘d wrap up my experience at the Club Industry East show with a few more thoughts and stories in one big blog:

On Friday morning, I attended two seminars, one by San Diego State‘s Ken Baldwin on university membership demographics and another by Tony Tamules of Orlando‘s RDV Sportsplex on the transition from personal trainer to club manager. Baldwin had some good information on student recreation centers, which I‘ve been following closely the last few weeks. Tamules‘ seminar was based on leadership issues and could have been used at any type of convention, not just for the club industry.

Yes, Walt Disney, it is a small world after all. I ran into two people from my past at Club Industry East. I saw a friend from college who was at Disney‘s Coronado Springs Resort for a child life council convention. Heather is now a certified child life specialist at Virginia Commonwealth University‘s Children‘s Medical Center. The next day, I ran into a former college basketball player whom I covered at Emporia State in Kansas. Ryan is now a fitness consultant for ConocoPhillips in Oklahoma.

Pam, Jenn and I went to Magic Kingdom on Thursday night. The first ride we did was “It‘s a Small World After All.” Jenn correctly pointed out that every racial stereotype was on display during the boat ride, although I speak for all of us in saying that the dolls were rather cute racial stereotypes.

Here‘s a little known fact about Disney World: There were plans to put it in St. Louis, MO, in Walt‘s native state. But the Busch family of Anheuser-Busch fame wanted to sell beer there, and Walt wouldn‘t have it, so he went to Florida. Here‘s a not-so-little-known rumor about Walt: He wasn‘t very fond of my people.

I didn‘t spend too much time touring the show floor, but it was pretty lively when I was there. I got my right thumb manicured and worked on my abs, which I can still feel now. The show floor had photo images of two Chicago Bears linebackers–Dick Butkus and Brian Urlacher–promoting massage chairs and fitness equipment, respectively. I remember seeing the women from the tanning booth walking around the show floor, not wearing a heck of a lot. There was also a woman in a white bikini/workout outfit at one of the equipment displays. I don‘t why I remember them; I just do.

The only good thing about flying out of Orlando two hours behind schedule was seeing the Space Shuttle Atlantis take off while I was on the airplane. (I even snapped a couple of photos. Pam and Jenn saw it from the ground, too.) Pros about AirTran Airways: XM radio, which allowed me to listen to a few ballgames on the way back home. Cons about AirTran Airways: They lost my bag, but luckily, they got it to me the next day.

As I was recuperating from a late night by flipping through channels on my couch the next day, I caught the end of “Celebrity Fit Club” on VH1. Our friend, Dr. Ian Smith, was on there, but he was having a tough time trying to restrain drill sergeant Harvey after Screech from “Saved by the Bell” (aka Dustin Diamond) challenged Harvey to a fight. This show had a much better ending than “The Sopranos” finale. I had seen a clip of this quarrel on E!‘s “The Soup,” and I never made the connection to Dr. Ian. Had I known, I would have definitely asked the good doctor about the profanity-laced tirade, which produced more bleeps than an SOS distress signal. Maybe we can get Screech to speak at the next Club Industry show. -Stuart

When I met Dr. Ian Smith this morning, I was taken off guard by his shyness and his seeming desire to sink into the woodwork rather than stand out in the crowd. Several people approached him as he walked into the room and asked him to look at the book they’d written or the program they’d designed. He politely agreed to do each and amiably chatted with them, but he was not gregarious and overwhelming with his personality. I wondered how he would do as our keynote speaker. However, my concerns were unfounded as he seemed to come to life on the stage as he spoke. And man, did he hit hard.

If you aren’t familiar with Dr. Smith, he’s the medical contributor on “The View” and the medical expert on VH1’s “Celebrity Fit Club.” He’s also authored five books, including his most recent one, “The Fat Smash Diet,” which he signed at the back of the room after his keynote address.

He began his talk with a provocative statement: “I don’t let my celebrities lift weights for the first six weeks.” In fact, he said that the problem that he has with health clubs and personal trainers is that they have their clients lift weights too early in their programs.

People join a gym for three reasons, he said, the first of which is to lose weight (the other two are to look good and to socialize). He receives letters from health club members who say that they joined a gym and went down in dress size but they haven’t lost any weight. When he asks about their training, they invariably tell him that they are strength training. He tells them that that is the problem because as we all know, muscle weighs more than fat. However, people expect not to just decrease their dress or pants size; they also expect to decrease their weight.

That’s why he has his celebrities on “Celebrity Fit Club” do six weeks of cardio and then after they’ve seen the weight loss that they so desperately want to see (and get motivated from it), he has them add weight training–with low weights and high reps.

“I believe cardio is the biggest payoff for what you want to do in the short term,” he said. “Have them change their diet and do cardio for six weeks.”

He said that trainers may incorporate strength training into a client’s workout too early so that the client sees a reason to keep the trainer on. After all, who needs a trainer to stand next to them as they walk on the treadmill or use the cross trainer?

“I think trainers feel substantiated if they give people something they can’t do on their own,” Smith said.

He suggested that trainers have a dialogue with their clients at the start of the training to see what stressors they are dealing with in their daily lives. He compared trainers to a bartender who must listen to their clients’ problems and think about how that might be affecting their fitness goals. He said that during that first dialogue, trainers must set the clients’ expectations about their training–and must make those expectations realistic or risk disappointment and the possibility of decreasing motivation.

Smith also spoke about the 50 Million Pound Challenge, an initiative that he created, to reach the African-American population and get them moving. He is trying to get across the point that exercise can be preventive, a message that is being hurt by a few trainers who have come out with weight loss theories that say that exercise is optional, he said.

“I tell people that you don’t have to belong to a gym to lose weight, but you can get optimal benefit by going to a gym,” Smith said.

He said that tremendous opportunity exists for fitness facility owners in the African-American population since 80 percent of black women are overweight, 67 percent of black men are overweight and less than 5 percent of the black population are gym members.

To attract any market, he suggested that health club owners stop featuring very fit people in their ads and instead feature people who look more like the people that they are trying to attract. He also suggested that club owners approach the pastors at local churches and offer to start a group walking program with their members for one day a week. Don’t try to sell memberships–just try to get this group moving. At some point, you can invite them into the club and give them a tour and show them how to use the equipment. He then suggested giving them a month’s free membership. However, he said not to try to sell memberships to them. Just get them familiar with you so that you build a trust with them and then get them familiar with your club so that it no longer seems like an intimidating place. Then, they might be willing to join.

A soft sell works, he said. Hmmm. Although Dr. Smith seemed like he might be a soft sell himself, he ended up hitting pretty hard with his comments. I guess that sometimes this industry needs the hard sell. –Pam

For the first time ever, Club Industry East held a club tour of three fabulous fitness facilities in the Orlando area. Also, for the first time ever, I led a tour group around a city in which I‘d only visited two areas: Disney World (whee!) and the Orange County Convention Center (slightly lesser whee).

Truth be told, I wasn‘t the first choice for the tour guide job. Two of our show staff are pregnant and weren‘t cleared by their doctors to fly, so I got the gig. About 30 people loaded the bus for the tour on Friday afternoon and off we went. (Thankfully, our show director had coordinated with the bus driver, Issiac, so we were in good hands.)

Our first stop was The Fitness & Day Spa at Florida Hospital Celebration Health. Probably the most notable aspect of the 60,000-square-foot facility was its user friendliness and sense of community. Our energetic tour guide, Gail Pazin, knew almost every member‘s name and said hi to him or her as we walked around. Gail told us she‘d had too much coffee that morning, but from the way she interacted with the members, I think she‘s usually pretty outgoing.

Next, we bused over to the YMCA Aquatic and Family Center, an impressive wellness center featuring more than a million gallons of water. After showing us around the cardio and weight equipment, our guide, Lon Tosi, showed us the Olympic-sized pools and diving wells where about a dozen girls were diving off the high, very high and uber high dives. These girls were doing back flips, tucks, sommersaults, etc. The entire group stood for about 10 minutes in complete amazement; it was like watching the Olympics first-hand. We also had the chance to try out some kickboxing moves when Lon brought in his top cycling and kickboxing instructor. Although many of us were in non-workout clothes, we still did our best with the high-energy routine of jabs, hooks and uppercuts.

Our last stop was the Golds Gym Dr. Phillips. Silly me, I walked in and asked our tour guide there, Shawn Moe, if Dr. Phillips was around. Turns out that whole area of town is named Dr. Phillips after a successful orange grove entrepreneur. Needless to say, Dr. Phillips was not around.

We spent a good amount of time there though, admiring their ladies-only workout area (which they even let the guys see for a couple of minutes) and circuit training areas. We were also wowed by their cardio theater room where about 25 people worked out on various pieces of equipment while watching a full-screen movie. Shawn said they post a schedule of movies and people can attend whatever interests them. Talk about a good way to see a movie.

After our last stop, we came back to the convention center around 3 p.m. to check out the show floor and grab some grub (many of us hadn‘t thought to eat lunch before boarding the bus). And, although I probably wasn‘t the top choice to lead the tour, I think it went well (and no one complained). Success! –Jennipher

After a pleasant exercise session on the elliptical at early morning workouts (I had originally hoped to try out the Les Mills‘ BodyFlow demonstration at the back of the convention hall, but I didn‘t get there early enough and all the spots were taken. Sad.), I headed to Marc Meeker‘s session about the U.S. Navy‘s Fitness Enhancement Program–24 Weeks to Success Tri Series.

Since I hadn‘t had time to shower between my workout and the 8:30 am seminar, it was lucky that Marc and I were already friends (he graciously arranged for me to visit some U.S. Navy facilities and an advanced Navy fitness training last summer at Virginia Beach, VA) because after my sweat session, I‘m sure I looked like what the cat drug in. Thankfully, he pretended not to notice.

During the session, Meeker gave an overview of the Navy‘s physical readiness test requirements (PRT) and penalizations for failing a PRT (basically if you fail three times, you‘re usually out). Then he explained the 24 Weeks to Success Tri Series, a Web-based program designed to get out-of-shape sailors back in shape and in-shape sailors in even better shape.

And, if that wasn‘t cool enough, attendees even received a take-away gift: CDs of the extensive program, complete with detailed strength and cardio plans, and other resources! –Jennipher

p.s. The title of this blog is Navy Fitness‘ motto.

I was thrilled to introduce Dr. Dot Richardson this morning as our keynote speaker. She’s the medical director of the National Training Center in Clermont, FL, and she’s vice chair of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. However, more people probably know her as the U.S. softball player who hit the game-winning home run in the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta. She also played on the gold medal-winning 2000 U.S. Olympic softball team.

I was able to speak with her prior to her keynote address, and I have to say she is such a down-to-earth person that you’d think she was your next door neighbor rather than a gold medal-winning Olympic athlete, orthopedic surgeon and vice chair of a big-time presidential council.

I won’t offer any details of her speech here as I know that Stuart will be blogging about that, but I truly enjoyed meeting her and if you have an opportunity to hear her speak sometime, definitely do so. –Pam

As we blogged about from the IHRSA 2007 show and as we wrote about in the June 2007 issue, the credit card industry has developed a new standard that is affecting all businesses that take credit cards. At Club Industry East, Checkfree once again sponsored a session on the topic presented by Michael Scott Scudder, owner of MSS FitBiz, with some intersessions made by Ron Poliseno of Checkfree.

The new payment card industry (PCI) data security standard basically requires companies that handle credit cards to be responsible if the cards are used illegally due to the company’s poor security practices related to customers’ credit card information.

Minnesota recently passed a state law that requires all credit-card handling companies to be PCI compliant by Aug. 1. Similar laws are in committees in the legislatures of Texas, Massachussetts and Connecticut. What this means is that not only will the credit card companies come after you if you aren’t compliant, but state enforcement agencies may soon, too.

Read the stories I’ve offered links to above for more details on this issue. It’s an important one in the industry, and I don’t think enough people know about it yet. –Pam

After burning off some energy in the pool, I cleaned up and headed to Wayne Westcott‘s session on strength exercise in wellness and chronic disease prevention. Boy, oh boy, was it good. Wayne filled the entire 75 minutes with so much information it was coming out of my ears (thank goodness he had printouts!). Wayne detailed a number of studies proving the enormous benefits of circuit strength training.

Probably the most interesting thing I took out of the seminar was proof that when it comes to health benefits and gains in muscle mass, two sessions is equivalent to three. As someone who sometimes gets bored in the weight room, this is great news! –Jennipher

If there‘s one thing I‘m going to remember about Sandy Coffman‘s presentation titled “The Secret Lies in the Stars: Hiring the Best Staff,” it‘s her smile. That, and the way she shook hands with each one of us before her presentation.

Coffman encourages club owners and operators to smile more often when dealing with their customers. (Like Michael Scott Scudder, Coffman uses the word “customers,” not “members.”) If you don‘t want to smile, fake it. Coffman also showed us how to shake hands like we mean it, even grabbing the arm of the person with our other hand for greater emphasis. The “S.T.A.R.S.” Coffman outlined stand for Service-minded, Teeth and eyes, Attitude (positive, preferably), Relationship building and Success-oriented.

As positive as this presentation was, Coffman also gave us some grim news. The club industry is not making a lot of money and is in trouble, she says. “It‘s not that we have too many clubs–we don‘t have enough people in them,” she points out. She also questions whether club owners know enough about their customers or even the industry as a whole. Although colleges and universities are turning out more degreed individuals who are entering the club industry, Coffman says the focus of the industry needs to shift from having the right equipment in clubs to the emotional and psychological state of the customers. Coffman even scoffed at the word “deconditioned,” which is frequently used in the industry and in our magazine. I‘m not a big fan of the word myself, and as Coffman correctly points out, it doesn‘t even come up in spell check.

Give Coffman props for using at least one prop in her presentation. In describing how people want to come to clubs to lose weight, feel better about themselves, etc., Coffman brought out a magic wand, which was appropriate since we‘re at Disney World. She says customers are looking for that “magic wand” solution at a club, and if they have a negative experience there, they‘re going to go home, not to another club. –Stuart

The one thing I like about listening to two of our columnists, Michael Scott Scudder and Sandy Coffman, at the Club Industry East show is that they don‘t pull any punches. They‘re old-school analysts who want to make the club industry a better industry for today‘s leaders. Scudder and Coffman tell their messages in different ways. Scudder admittedly has a more negative or contrarian point of view (which doesn‘t mean he‘s in the wrong at all). Coffman is more positive, yet freely tells of the pitfalls of the business.

I‘ll first touch on Scudder‘s presentation, titled “How the Heck Do You Compete with $19 a Month?” Scudder wanted to use the word “hell” but was told he couldn‘t. I sat in on only the first of this two-part presentation, but thanks to the miracle of power-point printouts, I got the gist of the second part, too.

The assembled group of about 15-20 people from places such as Boston, upstate New York, Florida, Atlanta and North Carolina heard Scudder urge them to find a niche in their operations. Instead of using convergence–trying to please everybody with childcare, pro shops and juice bars, for example–they should be divergent. Choose who you are, be that and serve that, Scudder says. With that in mind, Scudder adds that the club industry is not really run by health club owners anymore. It‘s run by consumers.

Scudder brought up the word commoditization, which puzzled many in the group, to describe the current surge of low-price players in the club industry. This is actually the basis of the column by another one of our contributors, Ed Tock, in the upcoming June issue. Commoditization, as Tock writes, refers to the development that industries experience when, in the eyes of the consumer, everyone starts doing the same thing the same way. Therefore, the company with the lowest price wins.

Tock referred to the Wal-Mart model in his initial draft he sent to us, and so, too, did Scudder during his presentation. Big players like Wal-Mart who offer the same if not better products at lower prices than “mom and pop” stores have run the mom and pop stores out of business. That‘s happening in the club industry, too, Scudder says.

In addition to finding a niche, Scudder urges club owners to consolidate their operations and consider lowering their prices. By consolidating, Scudder really refers to cutting the budget. That might mean the elimination of childcare, but it also could put group exercise (which Scudder believes is coming back in a big way) on the chopping block. Sales personnel and operating hours also have to be taken under consideration. More employees might have to be trained to do more jobs. -Stuart

The keynote speaker today was Dot Richardson, the Olympic gold-medal-winning softball player who is now the vice chair of the President‘s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. I got to meet Dot before she spoke, and she‘s pretty much how I expected she would be from the times I‘ve seen her on TV.

Before the presentation, I asked her how she felt about softball being eliminated as an Olympic sport after the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing. She said something very interesting. The vote to dismiss softball was 52-52, with one abstention. (Olympic baseball also was eliminated, by the way.) The one abstention came from the United States delegate, Jim Easton, who Richardson said was told by the International Olympic Committee that his association with the Easton aluminum bat company created a conflict of interest. Imagine that. The IOC worrying about conflicts of interests. (Easton was allowed to vote at a later IOC meeting, where softball and baseball had one last shot of making it. But both were voted down again.)

Dot displayed several statistics during her power point presentation that showed the growing obesity epidemic in America. She knew she was “preaching to the choir,” as she put it, but still, the stats were frightening. The one graphic that got a few “oohs” and “aahs” from the attendees was a map of the percentage of states and levels of obesity in each state. Dot showed the first map from 1985, then showed maps from later years indicating how the obesity levels in certain states grew dramatically throughout the years.

Dot said that the average lifetime of the current generation of American kids will be less than that of their parents. Another image that was pretty telling of our sedentary lifestyles was a photo of someone walking their dog while driving a truck. With two-thirds of adults either overweight or obese, it‘s no wonder that there‘s a new name for a cause of death based on physical inactivity: Sedentary Death Syndrome (SeDS).

After the presentation, Dot answered questions from the attendees, who brought up some interesting issues. She really came into her own as she wrapped up her talk, bringing out some inspirational stories from her public speaking. Dot talked about how there weren‘t many opportunities for her to play sports as a girl because, well, she was a girl. (This was right about the time of the beginning of Title IX in the early 1970s.) In order to join a boys baseball team, she would have had to cut her hair short and disguise herself, which she refused to do. She eventually caught the eye of a coach of a softball team of 22-year-olds. Dot was 10 at the time.

After she won the 1996 gold medal, Dot visited a sick child at the hospital where she worked. The child had brain surgery four days earlier, and half her head was shaved. Dot showed her the gold medal, and the kid asked, “Is that real gold?” The heart-wrenching part of the story was those were the kid‘s first words since the surgery.

“Seize the gifts. Seize the opportunities. Make a difference,” Dot told us. –Stuart