by Laura Harper

The Blow by Blow:

I was nervous hours before my plane left on Wednesday. Not because I was flying (I'd rather fly than drive), and not because I was flying alone, but because once the plane landed in Philadelphia, I knew I was on my own in new territory.

This trip was my first ever to a fitness conference. Not being an aerobics instructor I was pretty worried that I would feel out of place. Would people be able to tell I wasn't an instructor when I took a class? (because you all know that working out a home to videos in not really working out (removing tongue from cheek) Would I be surrounded by "perfect bodies" who would be judging my less than perfect one? Would I spend the whole time by myself with no one to talk to?

Fortunately the flight there was fine, and after an hour and a half ride back and forth through some of the "not so nice" parts of Philadelphia on the Super Shuttle, I arrived at the Adams Mark Hotel with about 5 minutes to spare before my 5pm shift started as a Sara's City Mania part-time staff assistant.

I volunteered to be a staff assistant for several reasons. First, I could attend the conference for half price (it is free for full-time assistants). Second, because I thought it would be interesting to see what goes on behind the scenes. And third, I figured my chances of meeting some of the presenters would be increased if I worked on staff.

My first shift consisted of general setup duties. After meeting Jen Davis (who was in charge of the entire conference - you may remember her from Censored Step, and as one of the exercisers in Killer Floorwork) and the rest of the Sara's City Staff, I and about 15 others were put to work unloading the Sara's City Truck. In and out of the freezing cold we hauled sound and audiovisual equipment, weights, administrative materials, and Sara's City videos and other retail products. We then took a "hard labor" break and while some people put together participant name tags, I assembled the convention program packets. Just when we were getting warm and hungry, the second truck arrived carrying 475 steps and risers for each. We spend a good hour hauling the steps from the truck to the workshop rooms before we were treated to some pizza and a break. After dinner we unboxed all of the steps and took the empty boxes back to the staging room. By the time 10pm rolled around, I was ready for sleep!

I was suppose to have a roommate for the first night but she showed up toting her boyfriend. She wanted the three of us to share the room and charges, but I decided that I would be way too uncomfortable and they got their own room. So my first night was quite expensive, but at least I did get a good night's sleep.

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