The White House Calls on IHRSA

A behind-the-scenes look at how the new IHRSA Joining Forces Network was born

The IHRSA contingent arrived at the White House well in advance of the formal announcement, which was scheduled for 3 p.m. Security would be tight, as always, so Helen Durkin, IHRSA’s executive vice president for public policy, and I didn’t want to take any chances with timing.

Joe Moore, IHRSA’s president and CEO, had arrived even earlier to attend a special reception with President Obama and the First Lady.

There was a symbolic significance to the club industry’s presence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue on May 9. It had nothing to do with Democrats, Republicans, or the vagaries of politics…and everything to do with introducing something important for the country.

Just five weeks earlier, on March 29, we’d received an e-mail from the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition (PCFSN), with a rather pedestrian subject line: “Question about military families.” We’d been working closely with the PCFSN for several months to align IHRSA’s own Get Active America campaign with the First Lady’s Let’s Move initiative, so the contact wasn’t unusual.

What followed, however, was extraordinary.

The e-mail inquired about the extent to which health clubs were supporting military families. After a couple of back-and-forth messages, there were hints that the White House might have some grand ideas.

The first outlines of what would become the IHRSA Joining Forces Network began to emerge during an early-morning conference call on April 4. The idea discussed embodied both compassion and patriotism, and seemed to dovetail well with IHRSA’s Vision for a Healthier, More Prosperous America (for details, log on to ihrsa.org/vision). It was, in essence, an invitation for IHRSA-member clubs to “join forces” with the White House and Department of Defense to support our nation’s troops.

Specifically, the White House asked if IHRSA would be interested in creating a network of clubs that would aid the families of deployed Reservists and National Guard Members by providing family members with one or more free memberships. The network would provide participating fitness facilities with an opportunity to give back to the nation’s troops by taking care of their loved ones stateside.

Later on the morning of the 4th, IHRSA’s senior staff considered this tempting proposition. The resulting consensus was that, while coordinating the network would require a huge organizational effort, it was one that IHRSA should, and would, embrace enthusiastically. The opportunity to unite clubs nationwide around an incredibly worthwhile cause would benefit the nation and showcase the industry’s best intentions.

Just two days later, the White House confirmed that Michelle Obama would announce the new initiative—the IHRSA Joining Forces Network—on the South Lawn of the White House on May 9.

Preparing the plan

In hindsight, that initial e-mail was more like the starter gun for a 100-yard dash. The five weeks between March 29 and May 9 involved at least 273 e-mails, seven conference calls, and dozens of meetings. There were program materials to create, Web pages to construct, and a White House visit to plan. It was an immense effort that required the participation of every IHRSA employee.

Complicating matters was the fact that the program had to remain confidential—meaning that we were prohibited from telling IHRSA clubs about it until after the First Lady had broken the news. 

As we prepared for that moment, Mrs. Obama’s broader Joining Forces initiative—of which the IHRSA Network is a part—was launched to the public on April 12. To help raise public awareness, Mrs. Obama and Dr. Jill Biden, the wife of Vice President Joe Biden, appeared on the cover of Parade magazine. The new initiative to assist military families resonated with millions of Americans. 

The IHRSA task force quickly learned that collaborating with the White House is an exercise in perseverance. The process was detailed and thorough, and some parts of the puzzle were still in flux right up until the day of the announcement. Fortunately, our counterparts in the executive branch proved excellent partners at every turn.

The plan for May 9:

Joe Moore was scheduled to meet with the President and First Lady in the White House’s historic Diplomatic Reception Room—the one in which Franklin D. Roosevelt had delivered his fireside chats. The Obamas would thank IHRSA for founding the Joining Forces Network, and Moore, for his part, would stress the important role that IHRSA facilities play in providing health, fitness, wellness, and other preventive services to thousands of communities across America.

The meeting would be followed by the First Lady’s IHRSA Joining Forces Network announcement, which would be broadcast worldwide via the live streaming capabilities of whitehouse.gov. 

The campaign begins

We took our seats among the dozens of chairs placed on the South Lawn for a crowd comprised mostly of military families. The children in attendance, many of whom had one parent currently deployed overseas, served as both a somber reminder of the realities of war, and an inspiring preview of the valuable functions that the IHRSA Joining Forces Network will perform.

First came the crush of photographers and camera operators, converging on the press area a few feet behind us. Then, from a door beneath the portico of the White House, came a procession of familiar people: Scott Goudeseune, the CEO of the American Council on Exercise (ACE), who was there to announce a similar Joining Forces partnership for personal trainers, led the pack. He was followed by Moore, who, in turn, was trailed by a host of celebrities who serve on the PCFSN, including Billie Jean King, Michelle Kwan, Grant Hill, Chris Paul, and the First Family’s personal trainer, Cornell McClellan. (McClellan had been a keynote speaker at the IHRSA Summit the week before.) The First Lady and Olympic gymnast Dominique Dawes, the co-chair of the PCFSN, were the last to make their way to the stage. 

Mrs. Obama took to the podium, with Moore and Goudeseune to her immediate right. As she launched into the heart of the announcement, the gravitas and pageantry of the moment seemed perfectly appropriate, given how much the Joining Forces program will mean to Reservists and National Guard members serving overseas and their families back home. 

Following the historic announcement, the IHRSA staff headed back to the association’s headquarters in Boston, and, after pausing to watch a television replay of the announcement, sprang into action to begin enrolling clubs in the Network. E-mails began flying, our Website traffic spiked, and the press was phoning nonstop.

The office was buzzing for all the right reasons.

Since May 9, IHRSA has enrolled a large and diverse set of clubs—big, small, urban, and rural—as founding members of the Joining Forces Network. The parameters of the program are flexible and designed to address any concerns a club might have. Because no club is required to make a burdensome commitment, we believe the Network will provide a comfortable fit for every IHRSA-member facility.

The association’s goal is to enroll every club interesting in participating in the program prior to IHRSA’s 31^st Annual International Convention and Trade Show, in Los Angeles, March 14-17, 2012.

On my way home from the White House, it occurred to me that the health club industry had just received the VIP treatment from the Office of the President, arguably the most powerful institution in the world. With the launch of the IHRSA Joining Forces Network, the industry had accepted an extraordinary challenge to help support the military families who sacrifice so much for our freedom. IHRSA clubs had been recognized not only for their willingness to make a difference, but also for their ability to make a difference.

I realized, with pride, that our industry had not simply been accorded the VIP treatment—much more importantly, it had earned it.

For additional information and to enroll in the IHRSA Joining Forces Network, visit ihrsa.org/joining-forces-network.