John’s August Musings

Next to the month of March when IHRSA occurs, I find July to be the second busiest month of the year. Summer Conferences for regional IHRSA organizations like MACMA and Fitlife take place and provide excellent venues to refresh and learn the latest information to provide a better membership experience. And along with the summer conferences, prospects and customers want me to drop by and do a “walk-through of their facility. Three weeks on the road and I finally get to come home for a bit.

Fitlife is the regional conference held in Bend Oregon. Bill McBride was one of the key-note speakers and of course was sponsored by Petra-1. Bill spoke about “People Management”, finding the right people to work “with”, “manage” and “lead”.  We also welcomed Sal Pellegrino from Precor who presented an overview of key trends and how “low Cost”, “big box” and “boutique” expansion is effecting the marketplace. He provided case studies of how facilities hes involved with made adjustments and thrived in their respective marketplace.

The Fitlife conference is open to all “non-corporate” fitness facilities, not only will you find the conference informative but also relaxing as the venue is nestled along five garden-like acres on the banks of the tantalizing Deschutes River.

Next is an informative article on REX Roundtable, the more I work with REX the more I believe every fitness facility would benefit from this organization. REX Roundtable helps the owner, general manager and staff to achieve levels of success that most other facilities only dream about. If you want your fitness organization to realize their full potential at the least possible cost, you need to contact Eddie at REX to learn more. You will not be disappointed.

Kelly Campbell from Augie’s Quest forwarded to me their latest newsletter. We are a huge believer in what they are attempting to accomplish and want to share with our Soapbox readers the goal of eliminating ALS. We feel fortunate that we can donate to this worth cause and would suggest you give thought to doing the same.

Finally, for everyone that sees the value in cleaning your fitness equipment with presaturated equipment wipes but cost is a concern, we have a special offer you might find of interest. Through new developments in the presaturated wipes industry, our new antiseptic ClubWipes might be the perfect entry wipe for your facility. Petra-1 has one of the largest selections of equipment wipes in North America, we cover all price ranges and performance needs. I would encourage you give me a call on how we can design a special wipes program for you that will provide the performance you members need but at a price your budget requires.

It’s an honor and privilege to serve all of you and hope you find this edition of the Soapbox of interest.