2009 IDEA World Fitness Convention™ - All Days - All Types - Alexandra Williams Blog Entries

After wandering late into the reception for the International Attendees, I made up for lost time by meeting an entire group of very gracious instructors from Japan. Almost all of them have come to at least 10 conventions (that's a lot of jet-lag), but the youngest, Kayo (forgive any misspellings), was here for the first time and had come all alone. What a brave soul! But we all promised her that next year we'd make sure to look for her and turn her into a "regular." For someone like me, who only has to drive or fly for an hour or two to attend the convention, it really is a reminder of how dedicated people are worldwide to improving their skills and providing top-notch service to clients. I have a lot of respect for my new friend from Tokyo.

I knew I wouldn't be able to attend both of the morning's classes due to my flight home, I did manage to attend a Boogie class with Julianne Arney. Besides being a good dancer, she is very adept at creating dance steps that everyone can follow. I wasn't surprised to see my pals from Japan there, as it was a great class to take and not have to worry about speaking enough English to comprehend lots of cueing. Next year I hope Arney does a disco class as that's my particular favorite. And I don't care if you all make fun of me, I just love disco. I even won a disco contest (well, lots of them in the late '70s, but just one in front of my teenager) at my kids' elementary school a few years ago. My son swore then never to let me near his school's fundraisers again!

Before going to my room to pack and drop off the 50 pair of drumsticks I got (remember the Drums Alive pre-con I did on Monday?) for my colleague Barbara to drive back to Santa Barbara, I stopped in the IDEA presenter and press office. Carrie Ekins was there and I am happy to report that she was almost fully recovered from involuntarily attempting to fly off the stage using drumsticks as wings. After hearing about some of her near-death experiences over the years, we decided she should start wearing a giant hamster exercise ball around herself. Nah, but we did wonder how many cats she has, and how many lives they all have left....

Tune in tomorrow for a wrap-up and my list of Top Ten Reasons to Attend an IDEA Convention!

 

I flew in yesterday afternoon from Santa Barbara, which means I left a city still in the midst of a wildfire in the hills above town. Las Vegas is about 110 Fahrenheit so it sizzles in a different way!

Sometimes people associate the IDEA convention with workshops and the Expo, but it’s just as much about friends. In less than 24 hours I’ve met up with all kinds of great people. First there was Nancy from Lompoc who has been teaching for over 27 years, and has been to every IDEA convention but one since they began. Amazing. Then I shared a taxi with Linnae, who came up to me (I look just like my sister) because she was trained by my twin sister at UCSB several years ago. Now she has a full-time job in the fitness field.

Years ago, in an expo hall just like the one here (maybe it was here—hard to remember exactly) my sister introduced me to a guy named Raymond. He was the owner of the music company Multitrax, and was looking for a writer for his CD publicity text. I have been writing for them ever since, and every year we meet up during the convention and have dinner. This year we went to Nobu, which I recommend for future visitors.

And the most surprising friend meet-up of all came when I was just walking along the hallway near the Expo and recognized the woman coming toward me as Monica Sancio from Venezuela. Do a web search andy you'll see she was the national aerobic champion from there sometime in the early '90s, if memory serves. I met her back then because I got to be a judge for the aerobic competitions and was rewarded with a honeymoon in Venezuela. I hadn’t seen her since, and dang it if she doesn’t look exactly the same! All these people, plus the many others I ran into today and yesterday, are all friends I made through coming to the IDEA convention. I’m not special–my point is that anyone who comes here has lots of chances to meet great people from all over. I even met a guy who lives in Kuwait and teaches at the same school where the children of one of my childhood friends attend. Is that an example of a small world or what?

Another wonderful person to know is Carrie Ekins, whose precon instructor training I attended today. An American who has lived in Germany long enough to forget English words such as “spatial awareness,” Carrie did a full-day workshop for her Drums Alive program.  If you haven’t taken any of her classes, first of all, get going! What are you waiting for? You will go away from her courses plain ol’ happy, I tell you. Now, let me explain Drums Alive to pique your interest for future. You get to drum with real drumsticks on a large fitness ball. Sounds straightforward enough, right? Add music from all over the world, rhythm, a few basic moves, alpha and beta waves, laughter, stress release and above all, Carrie’s infectious warmth--and you have the perfect way to spend a convention day.

It’s 11:00 pm now, and time to plan for the official start of the convention in the morning. Tomorrow I’ll tell you all about the Expo Hall, my chance meeting with Angie Bunch, the founder of Culture Shock (if you don’t know about them, do another search right away) and how I spotted IDEA senior editor Joy Keller mixing up some tasty soup at the Vita Mix booth. That is some extreme multi-tasking!

Oooh la la, I have about 10 minutes to get over to my BOSU Block Party. I just finished Kari Anderson's hi/lo class and she is still the queen of choreography and dance. I almost felt clever once or twice! Time to go to the last event for the day, but I'll give a full rundown of this afternoon's excitement in the morning. Must keep moving (say that like Frankenstein with his arms out front).

Guess what? I am back at home after a few flight delays yesterday that really weren't so bad. And our house in Santa Barbara--where wildfires have been raging for a couple of weeks now--wasn't burned down. If any of you readers are firefighters, I want to publicly state that you all are the only reason we still have a home. So, moving on with my life....I still need to cut the wrist band off my arm (the one that proves I am a convention attendee). Once that's done, I really am done with the convention, I suppose. 

I want to mention a few of the classes that I attended and haven't spoken of yet: "The Science Behind Eating Organic" had a lot of wonderful statistics to back up what we all probably know to be true: industrial food isn't particularly good for us. But we were also presented with some evidence that supports the industrial food chain for environmental purposes. I think Phil Block did a good job of leaving opinions out and putting supported science in. As an editor I am always looking for accurate, referenced information. After the lecture I ran to hide my caramel popcorn (in my belly). Does that count as getting rid of stuff I shouldn't eat?

From there I switched classes from my planned schedule and took Zumba Gold with Joy Prouty and Josie Gardiner. Some of my older adult students have been asking about Zumba so I figured taking a class that was geared toward my group would be great. Joy and Josie are a great team, and have been so for over 20 years. They work well together and complement each other's strengths too. I enjoyed myself immensely.

Each year, the IDEA World convention is so much fun and such a great way to meet wonderful teachers, presenters, trainers and product reps that I know already I'll attend next year. But I might hide a soft cushion or mattress behind Carrie Ekins' stage!

Here are my Top Ten Reasons to Attend an IDEA Convention:

10. All the women are good-looking.

9. All the men are good-looking.

8. You learn lots of stuff and even retain some of it.

7. You get to meet lots of people from other countries and watch them sweat in a foreign language.

6. Photographers take photos during the sessions, so you might end up in a brochure.

5. You can wear all the wild and skimpy outfits you've stashed in the back of your closet.

4. You can ride Segways, surfboards, beer kegs, hobby horses and lots of elevators.

3. You can eat and drink free samples in the Expo Hall while checking out the latest equipment, music, apparel and information. Did I mention you can also win free prizes? And get seconds on the samples?

2. It's a good place to start planning for the presentation you'd like to submit.

1. You can whip out your disco moves at the IDEA party and it's cool.

Stay healthy and well-balanced until next year, when I hope to blog for you all again. Me, I plan to stay healthy and unbalanced--completely!!

 

Late yesterday afternoon I went to watch the Culture Shock presentation. I think "wow" is the word of this convention, and it applies here. Those kids are so talented and their dance moves defy gravity and anatomical laws, I'm sure. I opted out of the chance to take the master class out of an instinct to preserve my dignity (which means my 14-year old son would have disowned knowledge of me if he'd heard I'd tried to do hip-hop or anything like it). Last night was the IDEA-sponsored party. Let's be honest - who would pass up free food (including sushi), entertainment and dancing? At the party it was possible to ride a Segway (I didn't), do simulated surfing (I didn't do that either) and meet lots of people who really just wanted to put their drinks on our table! But I'm a lemonade from lemons kind of girl (see, even calling myself a girl is a true sign of optimism) so I made it my business to meet all those people. I met people from Turkey, Norway, France, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Argentina and the 28th floor of the hotel (okay, the last one was IDEA CEO Peter Davis, and I forgot to push the button for my floor. He probably thought I was stalking him to see if he had a better room). If any of you reading this are from outside the U.S., I totally encourage you to come to the convention next year. Why? Because you make the convention so much more interesting. And you seem to all have great evening wear! Oh, another thing that made the party so fun was the DJ. He did a highly choreographed dance routine for us all at one point in the evening. Can you imagine a DJ outdancing a throng of fitness movement specialists? The dude could move! I'm feeling a sudden urge to learn how to spin on my head....nope, it's passed. So, Friday morning and I got up on time (do you see that I've made it to all my morning classes? Please give me an award) to take Fred Hoffman's Zensational Step. He speaks so calmly and casually that you don't realize how quickly he's taught you all kinds of great moves. And his jokes are corny, according to him, and I just want to be a good friend and confirm that Fred is right. Take Fred's classes when you can and just check out his patter-by the end you'll be laughing in spite of yourself and you'll also feel like you've just met one of the world's gentle souls. Let me know it you agree once you've met him. Len Kravitz is a long-time presenter and I sign up for his classes automatically, no matter the subject presented. In person he looks like a dentist or researcher (he's at least one of those), but when he starts to talk you A: learn a lot of technical information quickly in a way that you can use later with your own students/clients, and B: fall off your seat laughing. How can you not be energized by a guy who says he gets goosebumps just thinking about fat metabolism? And the more syllables in his lecture titles, the more jokes he cracks. So if you see one next year entitled something like "Fat Metabolism, Lipolysis, Mitochondria and the Little Barges That Transport It, Divine Supramaximal Circuit Interval, Fartlek (don't laugh - the Swedes know what it means)Training and 100 Recipes for Walking Down and Up in a Brisk Fashion While Eating Ice Cream for Breakfast and Measuring VO2 Max in Unsuspecting University Students," you know it's a winner. If you don't take my advice you will be sooooorrrryyyyy. Just saying. Later today I have a lecture about the science of eating organic, and I am hoping for free snacks. You had me at "hormone-free beet" you rascal! Then I will go to a class about modifications for older adults. I work with that population; heck, I will be that population in a month, so I want to know those secrets, you betcha. Well, I am off to the Expo Hall to pay for my drumsticks (wooden, not turkey) and music CDs. Then, say it with me, Ssearch for free food." Gosh, you'd think I'm underfed. Look at my blog picture-I am not. But look at my picture anyway-my son took it and said he did a good job of making me look tolerable!

The alarm went off at 6:00 AM, which was very unfriendly of it. Luckily the radio was playing a good song, so I woke up in a more approachable frame of mind. I can't speak for other fitness pros, but I am not what you'd call a "morning person." 

I was determined to get up and not return to the post-sleep nap I so wanted. Off I went to my workout with Steve Boedt - Muscles on Fire. Although only 45 minutes long, it was just the right amount of time to get me awake. His exercises were excellent in the practical sense, which means I can use 100% of what he taught us with my own students. I  don't think most of us were quite awake enough to whoo-hoo as much as Steve seemed to want us to do. In future, after you've gone to Carrie Ekins' classes, which I recommended yesterday, try Steve's too. And his technique and form are perfect. 

The welcoming ceremony was next, which featured the award winners and presenters (Shirley Archer, Nicki Anderson & PJ O'Clair - you heard it here first), Dan O'Brien (say it with me...HHHHHHHOT), Brian Boyle (the most inspirational surfer-looking 22-year old triathlete ever), and John Gray (think Men are from Mars, Women from Venus.) John has a rather mild persona...until he opens his mouth. Then you realize he's a comedian. My favorite line of his was his response to the drug ad that says you should take a pill when diet and exercise aren't enough. Gray's comment? "When diet and exercise aren't enough, change your diet and exercise." I really liked Brian. You know why? He dedicated his award to his parents. Me, I live for the day my boys dedicate all their achievements to me. It will compensate for all the allowance, chauffeuring, homework help, cooking just macaroni and pizza, and teen talk-back. 

 

Last night I talked Gus, the intrepid I.T. guy from IDEA, into sitting with me while I ate dinner. I believe he was on a medically supervised diet that required him to just have sake!

But here's the interesting part - I got to sleep by 10:30. That has never been done before by me at a World conference. I had to attend my first class as it was entitled "Take the Curl Out," which sounded intriguing. It was all about strength training and had lots of useful info. Of course, me being me, I zeroed in on Bethany Diamond's sense of humor. With her Georgia accent, it was entertaining to hear her spell her name; "B E T H A N WHY and Diamond like the ring."

Then I crashed the Drums Alive Step and Drum. I was happy for Carrie that so many people came to see the program that she has worked so hard on for years, but that happiness was quickly tempered by fear when she fell off the back of the stage. She came back smiling, but going down embraced by a steel pole must feel like sitting on a T-bone. Today is a full day with lots of workouts so I'm determined to be completely fit by dinnertime. Uh, before dinner - I'm having dreams of dessert. After stepping and drumming, I headed to the "relaxation" of Nora St. John's "Roll, Release, Relax" class. Okay, I have the word "relaxation" in quotes because Nora tried to kill us. And the more we groaned, the more she laughed. May I just say that Nora has an extremely dry sense of humor, with no sadism involved. To be fair, it was a class about myofascial release, and the pain was an indicator of tension and knots. The only other times I can recall associating pain with "self-improvement" was when I did physical therapy for a reconstructed knee and of course, a few previous boyfriends.

Due to exercise guilt I then headed to a promotional seminar about fitness. It turned out to be mostly Pilates-based exercises, which I am far too lazy to fully attempt. In an effort to be a good citizen participant, I did my own version, which I've now named "PiLazees" as in L A Z Y. I've consulted extensively with Bethany Diamond (at least 5 minutes) and we've now created this new class. The equipment will be a recliner, cup of coffee, remote control and a friend to do the actual exercises while we gently inhale and exhale while taking restorative sips of our coffee. Hmmm, perhaps a lack of proper nutrition is making me punch-drunk. My apologies to proper Pilates instructors - I'm just jealous.

Time to get in line for Peter Twist's sport conditioning circuit class. He is so exuberant that you almost want to do all the crazy stuff he cooks up just to make him happy. Read his articles - he's a forward-thinker (that's Canadian for "he's a wild and crazy guy." If you are too young to remember Steve Martin and Dan Ackroyd doing Saturday Night Live, just let this cultural reference slide by. Oops, gotta hurry. I don't want to be late for my spot in the back where I sit and pretend to exercise.