This was my last day today :( I finished up some projects that Dwayne had me working on for the website pretty much all day, which I've grown to really like doing! I'm sad to leave and say bye to everyone :( 

Dwayne and Kelly took me to lunch today too, which was really nice of them and meant alot to me. We basically just talked about the positive knowledge and experience I felt that I had gained from being an intern at Vertex this summer, and my thoughts on certain things concerning the internship. It was a really nice way to end the day and my internship.

I'm going to work on creating a summary in the next week of what I felt and thought about my entire experience  here at Vertex, so that will be coming soon!

I felt like I was running around trying to complete every task I had to do today but would always get side-tracked starting a new one, although I did get to tie up all of the loose ends before leaving today. 

I trained a couple of clients today who I've been working with the past couple of weeks, whom I'll miss talking to once I leave tomorrow :( The summer went by so fast! I also showed the newest trainee Josh how to perform manual resistance exercises, which he then applied while he was taking Kelly through her workout. I shadowed the workout, and he did well for one of his first times. 

Tomorrow I'm going to work on getting the digital picture frame up and running so that Dwayne could bring it to events along with the other promotional material. Hopefully I can complete that as one of my last projects so that they can use it as soon as possible.

Best of the Main Line Party went good for the mostpart last Thursday evening. I know we gained fewer leads than we did last year, but hopefully this years follow-ups will gain a higher return than last years. I know each one of us has been working on staying consistent and persistent with our follow-up system, so we'll see if our efforts cause a rewarding return.

The staff meeting was especially good today I thought since we had two new people attending it. We all got to practice networking skills with Dan and learned from each others pros and cons when it comes to conversing with a prospect. I feel like I have really learned alot from these meetings and networking practice with Dan because I definitely feel a million times more comfortable at a networking event. I now know how to comfortably initiate conversations and continue to ask probing questions to keep their attention. 

It's a busy day for everyone training-wise. but I've got to get my workout in. Thursday is also my last day here since I have to be back at school early for fitness training :( I can't believe how fast the summer has went!

Stefanie Lerario

Marketing Intern from Pennsylvania State University

Vertex Fitness Personal Training Studio

24 N Merion Ave

Bryn Mawr, PA 19010

610 525 6604

www.vertexfit.com

Tonight is the Main Line Best of 2010 event party, and I'm really excited to experience it. It contains all different kinds of businesses on the Main Line that were voted the best of their particular industry for this past year. For Vertex, this is the fifth year in a row that we have been voted Best Personal Training Facility on the Main Line- which we are all very proud of! 

Most of the staff is attending, except for the few who are on vacation. It will be good that most of us are there since the crowd is going to be around 2000 people, if not more. It will be a good night to obtain leads, talk with prospects, and just simply build relationships. 

Stefanie Lerario

Marketing Intern from Pennsylvania State University

Vertex Fitness Personal Training Studio

24 N Merion Ave

Bryn Mawr, PA 19010

610 525 6604

www.vertexfit.com

At our protocol meeting today, Shala and I discussed with Dwayne and Kelly what we had learned through creating the machine breakdowns. Shala was responsible for the Chins and Dips, and I was responsible for the Hip Extension and Low back machines. 

While doing research for the breakdowns, it was especially interesting for me to learn the biomechanics that take place during each movement because I have only a small background in anatomy and biology since it is not my major at school. It brought me to a whole new level of understanding and belief in the exercise since I can really understand the in's and out's of it now.

Stefanie Lerario

Marketing Intern from Pennsylvania State University

Vertex Fitness Personal Training Studio

24 N Merion Ave

Bryn Mawr, PA 19010

610 525 6604

www.vertexfit.com

Today was my first day back from vacation and it was busy catching up with everything. We had our regular staff meeting, in which we discussed our on-going process of creating a Unique Selling Proposition for Vertex. Dwayne came up with one that we all thought would give us a good start, but we decided we wanted to investigate further into why it is our clients choose us over other fitness facilities before we launched a USP.

There is a good amount of networking events this week, including the Best of the Main Line Party on Thursday night in which Dwayne said there would probably be about 3000 people! It sounds like a great event and I'm excited to see how it goes. I'm also going to attend a networking event at Saks Fifth Avenue Tonight called Champagne and Cupcakes After-Work Soiree and Fashion Event. It should be interesting, I've never gone to anything like it.

Stefanie Lerario

Marketing Intern from Pennsylvania State University

Vertex Fitness Personal Training Studio

24 N Merion Ave

Bryn Mawr, PA 19010

610 525 6604

www.vertexfit.com

Yesterday during the protocol meeting we began to act on the machine break-down project that we've decided to refine. We delegated who was responsible for which machines and set due dates for each machine's write-up. I'm writing about the Hip Extension and the Low Back machines, which I've been working on all day. We had made a template for us to just fill the information in, but the information is harder to obtain then I thought! Luckily Shala had done a handful of the machines already and shared website with us where she found valuable knowledge.

I also trained two clients, Karen and Sarah, in the morning into afternoon, and then worked out myself. Sam trained me, and did very well! I trained her afterwards, so we both got good workouts in today. 

At last nights networking event, Sam and I met alot of nice people. I even recognized and talked with some people that I had met last time. I am truly learning first-hand how to build relationships with people in order to gain leads, clients, and referrals. I still have some work to do on my networking skills, but I would say that I'm coming along at a good pace.

I'm very tired today because I've been running myself ragged the past couple of days. The day has been going pretty fast though, and the clients I've worked with have been enjoyable people. I was busy early this morning with back-to-back clients, and then had a big break from about 10-1 and am now waiting for a 1:30 appointment. I find that with each client that I train, I learn something new. It's interesting to see how differently every person's body reacts to exercise, who catches on to form cues easier, who understands the motions of the exercises easier, etc. I also feel like I'm really starting to form relationships with the people I've been training too, which is awesome.

We have two networking events going on tonight, which is good since last week wasn't that busy. Mike and Eric are going to the Bryn Mawr Running Company event and Sam and I are going to the Main Line Young Professionals event in Malvern. It's both Sam and Eric's first event, so it's good that Mike and I can be there to help ease their nerves. We did some good networking practice yesterday at the staff meeting, so we all have new skills to try out at the events tonight.

I only had two clients today, but was busy with other responsibilities. Our staff meeting today was extremely beneficial because Dan continuously made us participate in networking and referral-asking practice. I gained a lot of good knowledge, such as when is the best time to ask for a referral versus which is not the ideal situation. I think every one of us benefitted from the practice, including Samantha who is new and was thrown into the role-playing quickly. I remember being in the exact situation that she was yesterday and I was so nervous - She did good for her first time!

Vertex also hosted a informational/trial workout session in the gym for teenage girls today around 3:15 after our staff meeting was done. It's called Teen Shop, and  it basically consisted of about ten teenage girls who were juniors or seniors in high school coming to learn more about the health and fitness field as well as Vertex. We discussed with them the how and why Vertex is different from other fitness facilities, the importance of fitness in one's life, and how strength training, pilates, and massage therapy are all interconnected and beneficial to one another. Then, we took them through some of the exercises on the strength training machines as well as the pilates machines with Lauren. I actually worked with Lauren, and it was enjoyable for me to understand further how the pilates machines work.  It was a really great opportunity for the teenagers as well as each one of us. We all learned something new today!

It was cleaning day today and we cleaned absolutely everything! All the regular cleaning plus all the nooks and crannies and still beyond all of that. I also had a busy morning training 3 clients back-to-back, which I had a really good time training and talking with them. One of the clients is pregnant, which I'm really benefitting from since I'm learning how to work around her needs and abilities. 

I've been trying to look for networking events for this upcoming week, and am having a hard time. I don't know if it's because it's the middle of summer and people are away so events don't get scheduled, or if I need to find better places to look. Anyway, my goal for next week is to do some good research and get more events on the calendar so that we can keep spreading the work about Vertex.

We've been posting fitness tips, pictures of ourselves/clients working out on facebook and I really believe it's pulling in some traffic to the website. The next step is to get those viewers to actually come through the door!

Today was extra busy for me, but not because of appointments. Kelly and I did a lot of tying up loose ends sort of work, like organizing a bit around the gym so that people can still find what they need without everything being out everywhere. I did see an immediate difference between the before and after.

Mike and I took each other through workouts back-to-back and both workouts were intense. I admit thought that since I went first, I made his even more grueling that mine had been. But, I'm sure it'll be the other way around soon enough!

The protocol meeting today was really productive because we refined the template of the breakdown of the machines that Shala had created when she was an intern at Vertex. 

I can't believe it's been over a month since I've been here at Vertex! I honestly can say that I have thoroughly enjoyed every day I've been here and am excited about all of the knowledge I have gained in every aspect. 

With Dwayne being away this week, the rest of us have picked up his usual clients. This is really exciting for me because I have obtained some clients who have been coming here for a long time and can truly be honest about how I am doing while training them. I've been having a good time training them and truly listening to their feedback after they're down working out. 

At our staff meeting today we discussed a chapter out of the Guerilla Marketing article we've been working on. The main idea was to create or enhance our "USP" or Unique Selling Proposition in order to initially gain people's interest and differentiate ourselves from the competition. It was actually a harder process than we thought since we decided that certain words that many gyms use don't fit who Vertex is. We came up with a few that we'll run by Dwayne when he returns.