I went!
You guys, it was soooo awesome!
First, since Cathe's gym was in the area, several of us scoped it out and took Cathe's Live class on Thursday. And she is soooooo sweet and lovely in person, just like what you would imagine from her DVD persona. She was obviously very busy, had another class afterwards, but took the time to chat for a bit and graciously consented to a picture, just very very nice. And the class - what energy, so much fun taking it live and having her teach. If you ever get the change to go to her gym, I highly recommend it!
Then the convention itself rocked! The first class on Friday was step boxing and it was really really good - lots of great energy and excitement in the room, lots of hooting and hollering. And Kelly - she has such great spirit, and was having so much fun leading the class you couldn't help having fun as well. She is extremely nice and genuine, and we got lots of opportunities to chat with her. Many of her workout team were there as well - marcus, tatum, samantha, lori, others - so much fun to workout with them all! It was incredible on Saturday to see a DVD getting filmed - fun to see all the tech behind the sound, filming, workout people.
Amy Bento, whom I
, taught one of the classes on Saturday. Got a chance to meet her, and she is super sweet. And so energetic! The class was awesome, she was really killing it. She also had a couple of her workout team there - uchenna among them - and it was great seeing them and getting to work out with them in person. Also - *squeal* Amy verified that she will be filming a new step workout this fall!!!!
The workout DVD was filmed on the last workout of Saturday, and I was really exhausted by then - I think most of us were, there were about 7 or 8 classes on that day. However, Kelly perked us all back up and got us excited and you just got right into the workout and it was great! The workout DVD will be really freaking awesome when it comes out, I think. It was all cardio, no equipment. Each workout involves intervals - some high impact, some plank type work. The floor work in between intervals is a combination of punches, jumps, squats, etc. Kelly is her usual awesome self and it should have some great energy.
Greg Twombly, who has produced about a zillion workout videos over the years, was also there and was really super nice and it was very interesting chatting with him about the filming, editing, etc side of things, and the many changes over the years.
The group dynamic was fantastic - everyone there was interested in fitness DVDs and actually "got" it when you were talking about it. It was fun to compare favorites and get new ideas for what you might like.
I want to give a shout out to fellow vf'er Gibbee, who is just the nicest person you could ever meet. She gave me some gentle encouragement to go, and I am so glad I went. I didn't know anyone there, but had a really fantastic time, and it was great getting to meet everyone and make some new workout friends. If I can figure out how to do it, I will try to post some pics for you guys.