Monday, September 12, 2011

Good Person, Good Business


Let me introduce you to Brendan Cosso.  He's the owner of Crosscore, a second-generation suspension training tool, and the photo is from his booth at the IDEA World Fitness Convention 2011 in LA. 

I've taught with first-generation TRX for a long time, and this year I changed over all of my equipment to Crosscore War Machines (aka Crosscore 180s) because I think it's better equipment.  I talked to the Crosscore people a couple of times via phone and email while placing my order, and told them how much I like their system.  But this blog entry isn't to tell about how much I like the Crosscore (although I could go on and on and on), it's to tell how much I appreciate this man and the way he and his company treat his customers.  Customer service is critical to me.

Anyway, I've been posting a few youtube videos, of my members and a couple of myself, to help sell my small-group personal training. Nothing super-fancy, just showing the studio, a few of my gals, and our circuit-training.  I teach at a gym that has a regular membership that I draw from, but I started classes at a brand new private studio (Beyond Brawn, Hillsboro) and youtube was a small branch of my incredible (!), highly sophisticated (!) social media strategy.

When I saw that Crosscore was going to be at IDEA World, I was super-excited to meet the people behind to product.  To thank them, to talk shop, to get a few new ideas to take home.  I had Crosscore, ViPR, Zumba and Spri already circled on the exhibitor's map before I even got into the hall and had my route all planned out.

So I walk up to the Crosscore booth.  Everyone is ripped, cut, gorgeous, and super-fit. This makes total sense; the War Machine is designed to train athletes and first responders how to carry their body weight in all sorts of extreme situations.  Military.  Firefighters.  Police.  It's a tool perfect for people whose jobs and lives depend on strength, stability and mobility. 

I train a whole spectrum of people on the Crosscore, from beginners to triathletes, of all ages and fitness levels.  The Crosscore is perfect for that, too.  That's why I appreciate it because it allows me to work with small groups and have a challenging exercise for everyone no matter what their level.  With my heterogenous group of clients, it hadn't occurred to me that I was going to look out of place at their booth.

I was intimidated.  "Oh shit." I thought. "This middle-aged housewife from Oregon likes their product and they're soooo not going to care because now I see I'm not their sales demographic at all.   I'm healthy.  I'm strong.  But I'm also a size 10 and was devoid of make-up.

So I decide not to make the bold entrance I had intended, but stand on the carpet at the edge of the booth to watch, because I'm always trying to learn more ideas to bring home for my members. 
One of the men working the booth smiles and says hi to me.  He asks me if I've hung from a cable lately. I smile and tell him that yes I have and in fact I own 6 Crosscores and love to teach with them.   He pulls me into the booth and drags me over to another gentleman. "Hey, Brendan, I want you to meet Nancy. She's from Oregon and she teaches classes with our stuff." Brendan looks at me and says, "Nancy?  Nancy Korf?!?"  And then he gives me this huge hug and says, "I love you! I love your videos! You do such a good job at showing how our stuff works in a class setting with multi-level students! You're awesome!!!"
He introduced me to other members of his team. A couple of them also know me by first and last name and they both tell me how great my videos are, and that they're happy to help support me in my classes.  Brendan had even looked at my videos closely enough to notice that I was filming in a new studio.

Every time I came to the booth over the weekend, somebody hugged me.

Treating me like gold, regardless of whether I was young, old, fat, or thin, or had bought 1 or 100 units, that's good business. People I feel good about doing business with.  Even if a product is good, if people are jerky to me I don't go back.  Brendan and his team have got a customer for the rest of my fitness career.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

I will NEVER forget. My Memories from 9/11/01

I wrote this journaling on 9/12/2001, ten years ago tomorrow.  I saw a timeline of the attacks and aftermath from the AP newswire and interspersed my own activities and reactions from that day.  From my undergraduate studies in memory and cognition, I've learned that a person's memory from traumatic events can often be wrong over extended periods of time, but this was written within 36 hours of the event and hadn't time to decay with time.

I WILL NEVER FORGET.


Where I was when… Tuesday, September 11, 2001 “9-11”

Note:  times will look strange because I kept NYC time for the attacks and PST time for what time it was in my time zone and life.
8:45 a.m. (times in blue are EDT): A hijacked passenger jet, American Airlines Flight 11 out of Boston, Massachusetts, crashes into the north tower of the World Trade Center, tearing a gaping hole in the building and setting it afire.

9:03 a.m.: A second hijacked airliner, United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston, crashes into the south tower of the World Trade Center and explodes. Both buildings are burning.

6:10 am (times in red are PST): After hitting the snooze alarm twice (which may seem like a lot but is actually a record low for me), I roll out of bed, eager to get to work early so I can clean the last few items off my desk before vacation. It’s my last day in the office before a nearly month-long vacation to Australia! We’ve been planning this trip for months and it’s hard to believe it’s finally just a day away!


9:17 a.m.: The Federal Aviation Administration shuts down all New York City area airports.


9:21 a.m.: The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey orders all bridges and tunnels in the New York area closed.
9:30 a.m.: President Bush, speaking in Sarasota, Florida, says the country has suffered an "apparent terrorist attack."
9:40 a.m.: The FAA halts all flight operations at U.S. airports, the first time in U.S. history that air traffic nationwide has been halted.
6:45 a.m.: I emerge from the bathroom and head downstairs and gulp down my “in-a-hurry” breakfast, a glass of milk and a few vitamins. I’m in such a hurry to get to work that I don’t turn on the television, as I would usually do.

9:43 a.m.: American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757 en route from Washington’s Dulles International Airport to Los Angeles crashes into the Pentagon, sending up a huge plume of smoke. 58 passengers and six crew members were aboard. Evacuation of the Pentagon begins immediately.

9:45 a.m.: The White House evacuates.

6:55 a.m.: I get into my car. If I hurry, I can get past Sunset High School before the teenage traffic gets too heavy. As I flick on the radio, I hear a news-like voice on my normally jovial morning show, Mark & Brian. The Pentagon’s on fire? What? A plane crashed into the World Trade Center? “This must be a horrible joke, and it’s not funny at all,” I think. I switch over to “The Morning Zoo” and listen to a few minutes of comedy.

9:57 a.m.: Bush departs from Florida.

7:00 a.m.: The Zoo breaks for a commercial and I switch stations back to Mark and Brian. I realize that the news is still on and listen more carefully. It’s not a joke. From what I can understand, a plane has actually crashed into the World Trade Center, and another plane has crashed into the Pentagon, which is now on fire. I imagine, in my mind, two small commuter planes. What the heck were they thinking? Idiots! And what a coincidence. Then I hear the words hijack, terrorist, Boeing 767 (a large jet).

10:05 a.m.: The south tower of the World Trade Center collapses, plummeting into the streets below. A massive cloud of dust and debris forms and slowly drifts away from the building.

7:05 a.m.: I am at a stoplight, in the middle of traffic on the Murray overpass, waiting to turn onto Highway 26, one of the three freeways I travel on my commute. The radio announcer says, “I’m sorry to announce that the south tower of the World Trade Center has just collapsed.” I am stunned. The light changes and I have to move, turning onto the metered onramp to wait for the freeway. I begin to cry.

7:06 a.m.: On the metered onramp to highway 26, stuck in a line of cars, I call Clint on my cell phone, telling him to get up and turn on the television because there’s been some sort of attack and the World Trade Center has been destroyed. He’s on sabbatical, so he’s still asleep. I debate whether to turn around and go home. In some sort of shock and disbelief, I drive to work.

10:10 a.m.: A portion of the Pentagon collapses.

10:10 a.m.: United Airlines Flight 93, also hijacked, crashes in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, southeast of Pittsburgh.

10:13 a.m.: The United Nations building evacuates, including 4,700 people from the headquarters building and 7,000 total from UNICEF and U.N. development programs.

7:23 a.m.: Still driving, crying, listening to the news, unable to understand. This is an unbelievable act of not just terrorism, but of war.

10:24 a.m.: The FAA reports that all inbound transatlantic aircraft flying into the United States are being diverted to Canada.

7:25 a.m.: I arrive in the parking lot at Mentor Graphics. As I prepare to turn off the engine, I hear on the radio that the remaining tower of the World Trade Center is leaning.

10:28 a.m.: The World Trade Center's north tower collapses from the top down as if it were being peeled apart, releasing a tremendous cloud of debris and smoke.

7:30am: I reach the fourth floor where my office on the tax and legal wing resides. It’s early, so there aren’t too many people in yet, but as they arrive the mood is somber and quiet. I join a cluster around Monte’s office. She’s always the center of information as well as gossip.

10:45 a.m.: All federal office buildings in Washington are evacuated.

7:45 am: Still clustered in front of Monte’s office, someone comes down the hall and says that the other tower has just collapsed. In the next hour, I called Clint twice more, and my travel agent twice, leaving messages with each call. I worked quietly, frantically, because I didn’t know what else I could do.

10.48 a.m.: Police confirm the plane crash in Pennsylvania.

10:57 a.m.: New York Gov. George Pataki says all state government offices are closed.

11:02 a.m.: New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani urges New Yorkers to stay at home and orders an evacuation of the area south of Canal Street.

11:18 a.m.: American Airlines reports it has lost two aircraft. American Flight 11, a Boeing 767 flying from Boston to Los Angeles, had 81 passengers and 11 crew aboard. Flight 77, a Boeing 757 en route from Washington's Dulles International Airport to Los Angeles, had 58 passengers and six crew members aboard. Flight 11 slammed into the north tower of the World Trade Center. Flight 77 hit the Pentagon.

11:26 a.m.: United Airlines reports that United Flight 93, en route from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco, California, has crashed in Pennsylvania. The airline also says that it is "deeply concerned" about United Flight 175.

8:30 am: I don’t want to see it, but I have to see it. The tax department wanders sadly across the walkway to the Commons. A crowd is surrounding the television, watching the horror. Everyone stands as far away as possible, but close enough to see. No one wants to see it, but they must all feel as I do that they have to. It’s so strange to see coworkers, normally so professional, in tears.

11:59 a.m.: United Airlines confirms that Flight 175, from Boston to Los Angeles, has crashed with 56 passengers and nine crew members aboard. It hit the World Trade Center's south tower.

9:00 am: I return, sadly, to my office. I call Clint again and finally get through. He’s as stunned as I am and asks me to come home. I have a few things to wrap up, then I can go home. We don’t talk about our vacation, but we know we’re going to have to.

12:04 p.m.: Los Angeles International Airport, the destination of three of the crashed airplanes, is evacuated.

12:15 p.m.: The Immigration and Naturalization Service says U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico are on the highest state of alert, but no decision has been made about closing borders.

12:30 p.m.: The FAA says 50 flights are in U.S. airspace, but none are reporting any problems.

1:04 p.m.: Bush, speaking from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, says that all appropriate security measures are being taken, including putting the U.S. military on high alert worldwide. He asks for prayers for those killed or wounded in the attacks and says, "Make no mistake, the United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts."

1:27 p.m.: A state of emergency is declared by the city of Washington.

1:44 p.m.: The Pentagon says five warships and two aircraft carriers will leave the U.S. Naval Station in Norfolk, Virginia, to protect the East Coast from further attack and to reduce the number of ships in port. The two carriers, the USS George Washington and the USS John F. Kennedy, are headed for the New York coast. The other ships headed to sea are frigates and guided missile destroyers capable of shooting down aircraft.

2 p.m.: Senior FBI sources tell CNN they are working on the assumption that the four airplanes that crashed were hijacked as part of a terrorist attack.

11:00am: I finally finished work and at 11:00, I told my boss I was going to go home and see what had happened to my vacation.

2:30 p.m.: The FAA announces there will be no U.S. commercial air traffic until noon EDT Wednesday at the earliest.

2:49 p.m.: At a news conference, Giuliani says that subway and bus service are partially restored in New York City. Asked about the number of people killed, Giuliani says, "I don't think we want to speculate about that -- more than any of us can bear."

4 p.m: CNN National Security Correspondent David Ensor reports that U.S. officials say there are "good indications" that Saudi militant Osama bin Laden, suspected of coordinating the bombings of two U.S. embassies in 1998, is involved in the attacks, based on "new and specific" information developed since the attacks.

4:10 p.m.: Building 7 of the World Trade Center complex is reported on fire.

4:25 p.m.: The American Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange say they will remain closed Wednesday.

5:20 p.m.: The 47-story Building 7 of the World Trade Center complex collapses. The evacuated building is damaged when the twin towers across the street collapse earlier in the day. Other nearby buildings in the area remain ablaze.

5:30 p.m.: CNN Senior White House Correspondent John King reports that U.S. officials say the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania could have been headed for one of three possible targets: Camp David, the White House or the U.S. Capitol building.

6 p.m.: Explosions are heard in Kabul, Afghanistan, hours after terrorist attacks targeted financial and military centers in the United States. The attacks occurred at 2:30 a.m. local time. Afghanistan is believed to be where bin Laden, who U.S. officials say is possibly behind Tuesday's deadly attacks, is located. U.S. officials say later that the United States had no involvement in the incident whatsoever. The attack is credited to the Northern Alliance, a group fighting the Taliban in the country's ongoing civil war.

6:54 p.m.: Bush arrives back at the White House aboard Marine One and is scheduled to address the nation at 8:30 p.m. The president earlier landed at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland with a three-fighter jet escort. CNN's King reports Laura Bush arrived earlier by motorcade from a "secure location."

7:17 p.m.: U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft says the FBI is setting up a Web site for tips on the attacks: www.ifccfbi.gov. He also says family and friends of possible victims can leave contact information at 800-331-0075.

7:02 p.m.: CNN's Paula Zahn reports the Marriott Hotel near the World Trade Center is on the verge of collapse and says some New York bridges are now open to outbound traffic.

7:45 p.m.: The New York Police Department says that at least 78 officers are missing. The city also says that as many as half of the first 400 firefighters on the scene were killed.

8:30 p.m.: President Bush addresses the nation, saying "thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil" and asks for prayers for the families and friends of Tuesday's victims. "These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve," he says. The president says the U.S. government will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed the acts and those who harbor them. He adds that government offices in Washington are reopening for essential personnel Tuesday night and for all workers Wednesday.

9:22 p.m.: CNN's McIntyre reports the fire at the Pentagon is still burning and is considered contained but not under control.

9:57 p.m.: Giuliani says New York City schools will be closed Wednesday and no more volunteers are needed for Tuesday evening's rescue efforts. He says there is hope that there are still people alive in rubble. He also says that power is out on the westside of Manhattan and that health department tests show there are no airborne chemical agents about which to worry.

10:56 p.m: CNN's Zahn reports that New York City police believe there are people alive in buildings near the World Trade Center.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Zumba choreography for "Banana" MM22

It's been a whirlwind few months so the blog got a bit ignored.  ViPR and TRX are going great but today's post is about my new adventure, ZUMBA!  I took the B1 licensing course in early January and started teaching 2 weeks later.  Love it, and my classes have been loving it, too.  Here's a routine I made up to the song called, "Banana," my way of sharing choreo with fellow ZINs.

Counted in 8's

Intro (4x8):  Toe taps front, (this is my low impact version of basic front calypso step)

"Banana" verse (7x8):  2-3 bars of front calypso with no arms, 4-5 bars of front calypso with arm swings forward as foot comes forward.  Get ready to switch moves when you hear singer say, "Oh!"

"Que Pas!" (4x8), Grapevine right and left, grapevine with full turns right and left (turn optional), grapevine R & L no turn, grapevines with turns.

"Jemma Po" (4x8)  I don't know if that's what's being said, but that's how I hear it.  Double stomp right (step out to right and sway hip to right 1, close 2, out 3, in 4), double stomp right (out left 5, close 6, out 7, close 8).  4 sets R&L total.

"Que Pas!"  (4x8)  as written above

"Jemma Po" (2x8)  As written above, but only 2 sets of 8

"Hey!" on 3  (3x8)  Bend over into tuck position and pull arms in 1,2, and jump out wide 3 on "Hey!", box step 5,6,7,8.  Three times

After the heys (4x8)  4-count shuffles to make a box  (shuffle, turn & shuffle, turn & shuffle, turn & shuffle).  2 full boxes

"Hey!" on 3  (3x8) As written above

After the heys (4x8)  As written above

"Quoi!"  (4x8) Shake it 1,2,3,4, pivot turn 5,6,7,8.  Four times

"Ring-a-ding" (5x8)  Single single double hip sways to the side with varying arms.

"Que Pas!"  (4x8)  Grapevines as written above.

"Jemma Po" (4x8)  Double stomps as written above.

"Que pas!" (4x8)  Grapevines

"Jemma Po" (2x8)  Double stomps as written above but only 2 sets

"Hey on 3"  (3x8) Tuck in, jump wide, box step as written above, 3 times.

After the Heys (4x8)  4-count shuffles to make a box as written above.

"Que pas!"  (2x8)  2 sets of grapevines as music starts to fade, grapevine, turn, finish pose.

Enjoy!