Come on in and sit a spell
We had a request for a PRO Member Lounge … It goes here if it doesn't fit anywhere else.
I have to apologize that I don't get very involved in the Forum but it sure looks like our PRO members are getting involved and helping each other out. John
ICI/PRO member Shayne Farquhar sent me this update about the music licensing situation in Australia. If you haven't been following this:
The Phonographic Performance Company of Australia (PPCA), a leading recording industry group, won its bid to replace the previous copyright fee of 94.6 cents per fitness class, after the Copyright Tribunal ruled gyms should pay $15 per class to pay for the use of original music.
The ruling effectively meant that Instructors would be only able to use “approved” or “pre-cleared” music in their classes. This works great for Les Mills RPM programs because they are already using only this type of music.
Thankfully it appears that common sense prevailed and the ruling was overturned… at least for now.
Fitness Australia welcomed the decision and said the previous ruling would have had a detrimental effect on group exercise in the industry.
“If it had been upheld, the claim made by PPCA would have resulted in a typical fitness centre with 1500 members being forced to pay over $80,000 in fees per annum, a massive increase on the $2,000 they currently pay,” Fitness Australia chief executive Lauretta Stace said today.
“This decision will ensure that gyms, fitness and recreation centres remain viable and affordable for all Australians, helping them to maintain a healthy lifestyle.”
Help me understand this: The PPCA had an existing “use tax” and wanted to raise that tax 15oo%. Did they really believe every club would roll over and say “OK, we will pay the additional $78,000” and that the PPCA would take in additional revenue? I think the PPCA thought that Clubs didn't have a choice but pay the 1500% increase. But Clubs do have a choice and you can see it in action here in the USA with LA Fitness restricting Instructors to only use approved music. The result was clubs refusing to pay anything. So the effect was the PPCA gets less $$$ than their original deal.
The Internet (and iTunes) has changed everything and there's no turning back. Let me know your thoughts.
The 2011 ICI/PRO Conference will be held in Boston (Danvers) again next fall on September 30th – October 2nd.
We (meaning our event coordinator Andrea Flaherty) has been researching locations for our next ICI/PRO conference since shortly after our first conference ended. Andrea send out dozens and dozens of RFP's (request for proposals) and it turned out that of the available space, our friends at the Crowne Plaza Boston North Shore continued to be the hands down best choice.
Here were some of our criteria:
No location is perfect and the Crowne Plaza has agreed to address some issues we had; lunch selection and horrible coffee. Until we are at the point where we could add a second location we feel this is the best choice for this year!
Mark your calendars. More info very soon.
Update: I forgot to add: the new date is the week before Columbus Day, which will hopefully prevent the traffic nightmares issues some of you had to deal with driving into Boston 🙁
I found this map showing the percentage of obese adult population, listed by State and thought “what's so special about Colorado that they have the lowest obesity rate?” You Instructors in Mississippi have some “splainin to do” not to mention you have your work cut out for you… And Barbara, I know you are doing your best… but really, Georgia at 31.6 %? You can add your excuses below. I'm also curious to know; how do our International Instructors do in comparison?
Click the easy button
10 minutes online at Pearl Izumi. Then all I had to do was wait until UPS showed up with my package. It contained a large percentage of my Christmas shopping for this year 🙂
OK, I may have it easier than most when it comes to people to buy for, but if you have fitness minded people on your list the Instructor Discount Program is a great deal.
My Christmas Shoping is almost done!
Tell the truth, you've been waiting for this, haven't you? Maybe you could be the next SubWay Jarred:) 
Twinkie diet helps nutrition professor lose 27 pounds
For 10 weeks, Mark Haub, a professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University, ate one of these sugary cakelets every three hours, instead of meals. To add variety in his steady stream of Hostess and Little Debbie snacks, Haub munched on Doritos chips, sugary cereals and Oreos, too. His premise: That in weight loss, pure calorie counting is what matters most — not the nutritional value of the food. The premise held up: On his “convenience store diet,” he shed 27 pounds in two months. Read the rest of the story from CNN.com.