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The past and the future took center stage at the Life Fitness booth at the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association trade show last week in San Francisco. The company launched several fitness equipment upgrades while also celebrating its original Lifecycle and the man who popularized that product.
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Precor launched an upgraded version of its Experience Series cardio equipment that features three console options—the P80, P30 and P20.
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Star Trac made its presence felt last week at the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association show in San Francisco with a front-and-center booth location as well as three big announcements.
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Fitness Anywhere, the San Francisco-based company that produces the TRX Suspension Trainer, will now be known as TRX.
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SportsArt Fitness added to its reputation for offering green products by launching its Green System at the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) show last week in San Francisco.
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Cybex International Inc., Medway, MA, released a new treadmill, the 770T, last week.
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For for-profit fitness facilities, now is a better time to take on the tax-exempt status of nonprofits than perhaps at anytime in the past, says Helen Durkin, executive vice president of public policy for the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA), the trade association for for-profit health clubs.
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Almost half of college campuses now offer an outdoor adventure program, and that number is rising along with students’ growing awareness of the environment and an increased interest in fitness activities that benefit the mind as well as the body.
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Much has been published about club design, but little has been written about club designers. Hervey Lavoie shows how to get the best results from designers.
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Traditional marketing efforts—lead boxes, pamphlets, door hangers, windshield flyers, corporate memberships, chamber of commerce networking—can help you reach out to your target community. Tony Santomauro says clubs can be doing so much more than this in your target markets.
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The sixth installment of the Bash for Augie's Quest last Friday at the Marriott in downtown San Francisco was full of fun, joy and emotion. It’s hard to believe that in a few days, Augie Nieto and his wife, Lynne, will celebrate—yes, celebrate, in their view—Augie’s diagnosis six years ago of ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease.
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Several club CEOs milled about in and around the IHRSA show last week, and whether it was for a minute or an hour, I was fortunate enough to talk to a few of them.
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The commission-based sales model may be a thing of the past. That may be difficult for you to accept, since the majority of fitness facility operators have set up their clubs based on the idea that monetary rewards will motivate your sales people to motivate prospects to join your club.
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I didn’t spot any green beer or “Kiss Me I’m Irish” pins, but there was definitely a party going on St. Patrick’s Day night at the San Francisco Marriott.
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This week, the CI team is attending the IHRSA show in San Francisco—home of the first Kroc center to be built with the posthumous endowment left to the Salvation Army by Joan Kroc, wife of McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc—so I decided to take advantage of the opportunity and visit the facility.
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Just some random happenings at the IHRSA show.
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Town Sports International, New York, is working to raise money for relief in Japan since the earthquake and tsunami. Clubs throughout New York, Boston, Washington, DC, and Philadelphia will be donating new members’ entire joining fee of $25 to the American Red Cross.
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LeMond Fitness, Woodinville, WA, has appointed Mark Handfelt as its new president, CEO and director. Handfelt was an outside consultant for many years, working with the founders of the company. The company has also announced that Bernie Boglioli will be the new senior vice president for business development. Tim Kilgallon, president of Alere Wellbeing, a division of Alere Inc., has joined the staff board of directors.
ABC Financial Services, Little Rock, AR, announced new upgrades to its billing software, DataTrak. The new features include automated e-mail, electronic agreement entry, wallet software, kiosks, locker management, dashboards and an appointment monitoring service called MYiCLUBonline.
Equipment manufacturer BH Fitness, Foothill Ranch, CA, announced a new partnership with triathlete Angela Naeth. The endorsement will last two years until the end of the 2012 racing season. “I want to train on equipment that I was comfortable with and that would withstand even my most challenging workouts. BH Bike and BH Fitness products meet those requirements and exceed my expectations,” Naeth says.
Motionsoft, Silver Spring, MD, has named Brian O’Leary its new vice president of enterprise sales. O’Leary is a former Gold’s Gym owner and has 25 years of experience selling software in the industry. “His expertise in the active lifestyle market and understanding of forward-thinking technology will ensure we continue to deliver cutting-edge software and billing solutions to premium brands throughout our industry,” Motionsoft’s chief executive officer, Al Noshirvani, said of O’Leary.
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