Gold's Shocker

I'll have to admit, I didn't see the "resignation" of Gold's Gym CEO David Schnabel coming. If things worked out a little better at our Club Industry show last month in Chicago, I might have had more of a clue.

Let me explain: At the Club Industry reception, we met up with our friends who do public relations work for Gold's Gym out of Chicago. At kind of a spur of the moment, I got invited to a late dinner with Gold's corporate executives (Schnabel was not one of them) who just got to town that day. We had some cell phone issues, so I ended up laying low at the hotel that night. The dinner was at 9 o'clock (who eats dinner at 9 o'clock?), so even if we had made a connection, I don't know if I would have followed through with the invite. It had already been a long day of travel, seminars and hobnobbing, and furthermore, who eats dinner at 9 o'clock?

Had I gone, perhaps I would have had a better idea about the direction of Gold's. Maybe after a few drinks, I could have pried some valuable information out of the Gold's folks. Maybe after a few more drinks, they might have been chirping like canaries.

Oh, well. We'll see if they'll talk next year. That is, if I get invited again.