This article appeared in the July/August issue of Athletic Business. Athletic Business is a free magazine for professionals in the athletic, fitness and recreation industry. Click here to subscribe.
As we sit down to plan each issue of Athletic Business, we have a lot of ideas to sift through. Some proposed topics are more exciting than others, such as programming trends or pioneering facility design. Others are more serious, important topics that are having a major impact on our industries.
With each issue, we try to offer a balance of the fun and the serious — help our readers "eat their vegetables," to borrow a phrase from our online managing editor.
I found myself preparing some of the veggies for this issue, tackling two separate policy-related topics: the Department of Labor's updates to the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Federal Aviation Administration's new drone policy.
The updated FLSA regulations will affect any business or organization with salaried employees making less than $47,476 annually — an estimated 4.2 million workers, according to the DOL. Planning for these changes is going to be a momentous task, but we've got the basics to help you get the process started.
The FAA's new drone policies will be a more welcome change for many of our readers, especially those working in athletic venues plagued by these uninvited aerial guests. Or maybe you're a parks and recreation department thinking of allowing hobbyists in parks but unsure what limits need to be set. Either way, there's a lot to know, but we've broken it down into more-digestible pieces.
We've got your veggies, but we have your desserts, too. Get ready to salivate over some outstanding examples of facility branding as you turn to page 31 and learn how to go about creating an impactful, signature image for your facility. Flip over to page 58 to find inspiration for increasing sports tourism in your community, or to page 64 to learn about the latest trends in park-based outdoor fitness.
We hope this latest issue provides a balanced menu, leaving you at once satisfied and hungry for more.
This article originally appeared in the July/August 2016 issue of Athletic Business with the title "Letter from the Editor: Come dine with us"
