Georgia with an interesting experiment
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@Loki said in Georgia with an interesting experiment:
Governor DeWine has been seen as the reasoned approach. Is everyone good with businesses re-opening in Ohio on May 1?
People can look at the same facts and reach different conclusions
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@Loki said in Georgia with an interesting experiment:
Governor DeWine has been seen as the reasoned approach. Is everyone good with businesses re-opening in Ohio on May 1?
I haven't seen the details. Its not really about a date, its about the preparations and the details of what's being opened and how. I would imagine, based on how I've seen him operate so far, that he has a coherent plan driving the date. But again, I haven't seen the details.
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@jon-nyc said in Georgia with an interesting experiment:
He has no political cover now. I wonder if he’ll proceed.
He will walk it back and take heat for it. But in this news cycle it will be 15 minutes. States have to open up before they go bankrupt. We will be watching the wildebeests crossing the Serengeti and taking bets which ones will make it, which will turn around and which ones will float down the river. But soon enough the whole herd will make a run for it.
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@jon-nyc said in Georgia with an interesting experiment:
Gyms. First phase. Same with Trump’s plan.
I don’t get it. Who wants to be six feet away from a dude on a treadmill for 30m.
h/t wtg:
When President Donald Trump revealed his guidelines for "opening up America again" last week, among the bolded names of businesses and institutions that could reopen were restaurants, movie theaters and places of worship -- so long as they adhered to strict social distancing protocols. Tucked near the bottom of the list, right above a warning that bars should stay closed, was a curious inclusion: gyms.
While an integral part of many Americans' routines, gyms and fitness clubs would seem to present a particular risk for contact spread of a contagious virus. Filled with people sweating and breathing hard, sharing equipment and spaces, gyms are in many ways the last kind of business to prioritize during a deadly pandemic.
Their inclusion follows a last-minute lobbying push by an industry not known for flexing its muscles in Washington. While not every major company was part of the effort, conversations with 10 leaders in the fitness-club business reveal an influential network of relationships that kicked into gear over the past few weeks and helped move gyms to the front of the line -- even to the surprise of many in the industry.
Noteworthy figures in the effort include a Trump-loving fitness-center owner in Pennsylvania, Rudy Giuliani's son Andrew, billionaire real-estate mogul Steve Ross and the US Surgeon General.
Among the most influential advocates is an Iranian-born founder of one of the country's largest fitness club chains, Bahram Akradi of Life Time Fitness. Akradi has been pitching governors and the Trump administration on what he calls a "comprehensive, multifaceted tactical plan" to fight the coronavirus and rebuild the economy. He now finds himself on one of Trump's economic recovery working groups and in conference calls with the President himself, including on the day before Trump released his new guidelines.Multiple people at fitness-center companies -- from executives at giants like Gold's Gym to independent health clubs -- told CNN they did not expect gyms to be mentioned in reopening plans from either the Trump administration or Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who announced Monday fitness centers were included in several public-space business that could begin reopening by the end of the week.
"We just really lucked out and were able to get our message into a couple of the right people's hands," said Meredith Poppler, a top official at the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association, the industry's main trade group.
Poppler told CNN that in recent weeks IHRSA, which receives funding from many of the brand-name gym companies, began a full-court press to deal with the economic fallout hitting gyms and fitness clubs. That included hiring more lobbyists and aggressively pressing its message about the importance of physical fitness during a pandemic to lawmakers in Washington as well as officials in the Trump administration.The messaging worked even better than they'd hoped.
"We were as surprised as anyone when we saw President Trump announce the three phases and that gyms were in the first phase," said Poppler.
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@Horace said in Georgia with an interesting experiment:
Obesity is one of the most prevalent health risks in America. People could die if they are not able to easily exercise.
Going for a walk is presumably out of the question once you've paid for an expensive gym membership.
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@jon-nyc said in Georgia with an interesting experiment:
@jon-nyc said in Georgia with an interesting experiment:
Gyms. First phase. Same with Trump’s plan.
I don’t get it. Who wants to be six feet away from a dude on a treadmill for 30m.
h/t wtg:
When President Donald Trump revealed his guidelines for "opening up America again" last week, among the bolded names of businesses and institutions that could reopen were restaurants, movie theaters and places of worship -- so long as they adhered to strict social distancing protocols. Tucked near the bottom of the list, right above a warning that bars should stay closed, was a curious inclusion: gyms.
While an integral part of many Americans' routines, gyms and fitness clubs would seem to present a particular risk for contact spread of a contagious virus. Filled with people sweating and breathing hard, sharing equipment and spaces, gyms are in many ways the last kind of business to prioritize during a deadly pandemic.
Their inclusion follows a last-minute lobbying push by an industry not known for flexing its muscles in Washington. While not every major company was part of the effort, conversations with 10 leaders in the fitness-club business reveal an influential network of relationships that kicked into gear over the past few weeks and helped move gyms to the front of the line -- even to the surprise of many in the industry.
Noteworthy figures in the effort include a Trump-loving fitness-center owner in Pennsylvania, Rudy Giuliani's son Andrew, billionaire real-estate mogul Steve Ross and the US Surgeon General.
Among the most influential advocates is an Iranian-born founder of one of the country's largest fitness club chains, Bahram Akradi of Life Time Fitness. Akradi has been pitching governors and the Trump administration on what he calls a "comprehensive, multifaceted tactical plan" to fight the coronavirus and rebuild the economy. He now finds himself on one of Trump's economic recovery working groups and in conference calls with the President himself, including on the day before Trump released his new guidelines.Multiple people at fitness-center companies -- from executives at giants like Gold's Gym to independent health clubs -- told CNN they did not expect gyms to be mentioned in reopening plans from either the Trump administration or Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who announced Monday fitness centers were included in several public-space business that could begin reopening by the end of the week.
"We just really lucked out and were able to get our message into a couple of the right people's hands," said Meredith Poppler, a top official at the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association, the industry's main trade group.
Poppler told CNN that in recent weeks IHRSA, which receives funding from many of the brand-name gym companies, began a full-court press to deal with the economic fallout hitting gyms and fitness clubs. That included hiring more lobbyists and aggressively pressing its message about the importance of physical fitness during a pandemic to lawmakers in Washington as well as officials in the Trump administration.The messaging worked even better than they'd hoped.
"We were as surprised as anyone when we saw President Trump announce the three phases and that gyms were in the first phase," said Poppler.
Just because they open them, doesn't mean attendance will be very high.
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"My pronouns are FA/FO." - Mik, 2024
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@Mik said in Georgia with an interesting experiment:
Or high enough to keep them open. Gym memberships are going to sink like a stone and not recover for a long, long time. Movie theaters have been hanging by a thread for years anyway.
The movie theater issue is getting me. For years I have had a goal of opening up a drive-in theater in Northern Virginia. Nice big screen, Audio through a narrow broadcast FM radio channel and perhaps an on location network, have an outdoor BBQ pit going, beer and wine sales to non-drivers, and service brought to your car. Order from the app.
I bet I could charge $40 a person for a double feature, and get favorable rates with the film distributors right now, too.
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I am more comfortable with reopening movie theaters. With assigned seating and leaving, say, 80% of the seats unoccupied, the theater would some way of enforcing social distancing. Unlike gym and restaurants, movie goers can wear masks at all times. Concession sales will take a big hit, but the public health aspect is manageable.
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@Axtremus said in Georgia with an interesting experiment:
I am more comfortable with reopening movie theaters. With assigned seating and leaving, say, 80% of the seats unoccupied, the theater would some way of enforcing social distancing. Unlike gym and restaurants, movie goers can wear masks at all times. Concession sales will take a big hit, but the public health aspect is manageable.
How about the making money aspect with 80% of the seats empty and no concessions?
I don't think you would want to have to manage that budget.
