The Club Insider Archives: November 2008
Club Industry/Fitness Business Pro Celebrates 25 Years!
By: Norm Cates
Norm CatesClub Industry / Fitness Business Pro Magazine and the Club Industry Trade Show celebrated its 25th Anniversary in Chicago with another great event, reportedly drawing over 6,000 people during a time of U.S. and World economic peril due to the woes on Wall Street. The event drew lots of people from the Midwest region and attendees from around the country.
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Are You "PCI" Compliant?
Do You Know What It Means?
By: Justin Cates
Justin CatesIn our September edition of Club Insider, we ran an article previewing a seminar to be given by CheckFree's Ron Poliseno and Data Security Expert, Jonathan Rubens at this year's Club Industry show in Chicago. The title: "While You're Running the Club, Who's Guarding Your Members' Financial Data? Mitigating the Risk of Fraud and Identity Theft". For those of you not in attendance, please read on, as the subject of PCI Compliance is an issue you will have to deal with at some point as a fitness facility owner or operator.
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Make It Happen, Sell More!!!
By: Ray Gordon
Ray GordonThat's right, sell more memberships. Everyone is acutely aware of the current economic situation. Most clubs are experiencing a large reduction in guest traffic. Yet, most clubs are obtaining a higher closing ratio on their available guests. This means that some people are seeing the benefits of exercise and a healthy lifestyle.
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Dr. Kenneth Cooper Honored At Club Industry
And, an Interview With Dr. Cooper About Obesity in America
By: Justin Cates
Justin CatesOn October 16th, Dr. Kenneth Cooper, "the Father of Aerobics" and Founder of the Cooper Aerobics Center, was honored by Club Industry with its Lifetime Achievement Award at its yearly show in Chicago, IL.
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Rick Caro's Club Industry Panel
"Fitness Business at a Crossroad: How to Hold On in Today's Economy and Prosper in the Future"
By: Norm Cates
Norm CatesRick Caro, the Founder of IHRSA, and CEO of Management Vision, Inc. in New York City, continues to provide our industry with connections that should help all in this business. On October 17th, at this year's Club Industry Show in Chicago, Caro brought together an esteemed panel of four who addressed and focused on: "Fitness Business at a Crossroad: How to Hold On in Today's Economy and Prosper in the Future".
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Minton's Sportsplex Best of the Best In Childcare
By: Norm Cates
Norm CatesMike Minton's Sportsplex in Texarkana, Texas was honored in Chicago at Club Industry with Fitness Business Pro Magazine's Best of the Best Award for Childcare Services. The honor was presented on October 17th.
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Apex Fitness Surges In Chicago!
By: Norm Cates
Norm CatesIf you tried to get into the Apex Fitness exhibit at Club Industry in Chicago last month and found it over flowing over into the isles, you were not alone. There is a reason that exhibit was one of the top performers at the 2008 show, and that reason is named Steve Datte.
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Breaking Down the Gym Walls Through Phone Coaching
By: Dr. Edward Slover
Dr. Edward SloverAs an industry, we have always known that our ability to impact people's lives rested on their willingness to enter our facility. We also know that, unfortunately, only 14% of the U.S. adult population works out in our clubs. Thus, we compete for the same customers and run our businesses the same way year after year expecting a different result.
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A "Creepy" Business
By: Jeffrey Keller
Jeffrey KellerRecently, an Owner/Manager sent me a "distress call" email asking me to give her a call. While I was talking to her on the phone, it became apparent that her problem was a serious one that has an easy fix, but is time consuming to diagnose the specific actions to take. She had "cost creep", and it was seriously eating into her bottom line.
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Ripple Effects
How The Financial Crisis Will Impact Your Health Club Operations
By: Peter Moore
Peter MooreIn late September, 2008, Washington Mutual Inc., the sixth largest bank in the U.S. was seized by federal regulators and the bulk of its operations were sold to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. In October, Congress approved a $700 billion plus bailout package to buy bad mortgages, auto loans and credit card receivables. Why? Because no other investor will touch these assets. The U.S. Government is also now a shareholder in many of the largest banking institutions in the country.
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Love Thy Business Partner
How to Operate a Business Together, Stay Sane, Stay Married and Be Successful!
By: Andrea Sobotka
Andrea SobotkaDo you and your life partner own and operate a business together or are you considering doing so? If so, you are entering into a very unique business arrangement, where often times, many important business considerations are taken for granted, overlooked or completely omitted because the emphasis and trust is on the relationship first and the business last.
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Tools for Predicting Your Program and Profit Center Success
Part II
By: Laurie Cingle
Laurie CingleMost of your fitness and wellness programming staff can be compensated in a manner that motivates them to increase program revenues, participation and service. For example, it is common that personal trainers are paid commission for their services. More members participating in personal training leads to increased revenues which results in increased compensation for trainers.
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Need Employment Insurance?
Master Your Own Personal Brand
By: Brenda Bence
Brenda Bencen today's topsy-turvy marketplace, job security may seem like a pipe dream. In the midst of downsizing, stock market confusion and layoffs, how can you make sure to keep your name off any pink-sheet list? One key way you can create employment insurance is to learn to define and effectively communicate your own unique personal brand at work. Here are some personal branding tips for insuring you'll have a job even if times get tough.
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Programming Tip of the Month
"Twelve Days of Fitness"
By: Sandy Coffman
Sandy CoffmanTo be a successful programmer, you must be open minded, creative, innovative and fun loving. A program can be created out of current events, books, fairy tales, movies, song titles, and of course, any calendar event or holiday. With Christmas just around the corner, you can program far beyond the normal club Christmas party.
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HHS Announces Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Adults gain substantial health benefits from two and a half hours a week of moderate aerobic physical activity, and children benefit from an hour or more of physical activity a day, according to the new Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. The comprehensive set of recommendations for people of all ages and physical conditions was released today by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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Summit Sports Club Celebrates 20th Anniversary
Staff Members Attend Club Industry Chicago
CheckFree's Randy Ivey introduced me to these four nice young ladies while all of us were enjoying the splendor of the beautiful Palmer House Hilton lobby one evening. So, I thought it would be a great idea for these ladies to share their goals for the trip to Chicago for Club Industry, what they learned and how their learning will improve their club.
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Telos Fitness Center Wins Business of the Year!
TELOS Fitness Center won the honor of Business of the Year on October 16th, establishing the TELOS Fitness Center as the most distinguished business in North Dallas. The Business of the Year Award, presented by the Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by Compass Bank and the Dallas Business Journal, is given each year to a business that offers high-quality products or services, demonstrates strong ethical standards, exhibits leadership with its employees, clients, and within its industry and is active in the community.
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American Family Fitness Wins!
RICHMOND, VA - The Greater Richmond Chamber announced the winner among the five finalists for its 21st Annual IMPACT award on November 5, 2008, and it was American Family Fitness. AFF leader, Brian Evans, has made community involvement a center piece of his business plan.
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A World of Opportunity Awaits
IHRSA Announces Programming for 28th Annual Convention & Trade Show
BOSTON, MA - The International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) has announced the keynote and featured speaker lineup for its 28th Annual Convention & Trade Show, which will take place March 16-19th, 2009 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California.
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Expectations Surpassed, Records Broken!
15,000 Attended The 9th Annual IHRSA/Fitness Brazil Latin American Conference & Trade Show
BOSTON, MA - The International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) recently concluded the 9th Annual IHRSA/Fitness Brazil Latin American Conference & Trade Show on September 4-6, 2008 at the Transamerica Expo Center in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
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Norm's Notes for November 2008
By: Norm Cates
Norm CatesHello everybody! This is your friendly Club Insider Publisher Since 1993 checking in! WOW! After a long, almost two-year campaign, we have a new President-elect of the United States! Congratulations to Senator BARACK OBAMA! I don't know about you, but I am glad this 2008 election is OVER! Now... let's all get back to a 100% focus on family and business! Is America a great country, or what? God Bless America!
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