MILWAUKEE, WI – School’s out and children have plenty of free time that can either be spent inside, lounging – or outside, making the most of the season. There are many simple ways to incorporate fitness into your family’s summer plans while still having fun together. TOPS Club, Inc. (Take Off Pounds Sensibly), the nonprofit weight-loss support organization, offers the following tips for a summer filled with family fitness.

Lead by example
An effective and easy way to get your family to be more active is to show them how. Simple activities can go a long way in teaching the importance of fitness and increased movement. When shopping together, take the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator. On nice days, park as far away from building entrances as possible. Walk and bike to places nearby - instead of hopping in the car. Little changes like these will motivate kids to opt for more active habits on their own.

Sign up for a run/walk
Summer is full of run/walks for various causes and nonprofit organizations. Decide together on some events in which you’d like to participate, whether it’s for the cause it benefits or the pure fun appeal. 5Ks are perfect for beginners, and you can train together as a family, too.

Liven up your chores list
Instead of having your children help with the typical indoor chores, get them involved in outdoor tasks. Gardening, raking, push-mowing, and anything that incorporates some movement are great ways to keep kids moving while enjoying some sun.

Be smart about gifting
When giving gifts to your family, choose things associated with activity. Some practical items disguised by fun include sports balls and nets, Slip ’n Slides, Frisbees, bicycles, inline skates, and anything that makes outdoor exercise enjoyable. The novelty factor of the “new” item can be a catalyst for getting outdoors, and it’s a convenient way to be thoughtful while also promoting physical fitness. Remember to provide protective equipment such as helmets, wrist pads, or knee pads.

Make after-dinner walks part of your routine
A simple way to get your family on the fitness track is by making a tradition of after-dinner walks. Take several fast-paced walks around the block and enjoy the opportunity to be active together as a family, while burning off some dinner calories. Also look for routes that offer a combination of inclined and flat paths, so that strong walkers are challenged but slower walkers get a rest.

TOPS Club Inc. (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) is the original weight-loss support and wellness education organization. Founded more than 65 years ago, TOPS is the only nonprofit, noncommercial weight-loss organization of its kind. TOPS promotes successful weight management with a “Real People. Real Weight Loss.®” philosophy that combines support from others at weekly chapter meetings, healthy eating, regular exercise, and wellness information. TOPS has about 150,000 members – male and female, age seven and older – in nearly 9,000 chapters throughout the United States and Canada.

Visitors are welcome to attend their first TOPS meeting free of charge. Membership is affordable at just $28 per year in the U.S. and $32 per year in Canada, plus nominal chapter fees. To find a local chapter, view www.tops.org or call (800) 932-8677.

‘Jetson’-Age Tools Click with Big-Event Planners
Trade Shows Expert Shares 3 Cutting-Edge New Technologies

Most of us think about technology on a mostly two-dimensional plane as we flick our way from screen to screen on touch glass. But today’s tech includes applications that are far from flat, says major-events expert Ann Windham.

“What if you could control all primary aspects of major events like trade shows, big weddings and awards ceremonies through your iPad or smartphone; imagine shutting everything down at the end of a long and exhausting night by pushing one button on your phone – that’s just some of what’s possible with today’s software,” says Ann Windham, president and CEO of Imagine Xhibits, Inc. (imaginexhibits.com/events).

Lights, climate control, projectors and monitors, curtains, fountains and much more can be controlled with an app, and the data that you take away from trade shows can be used to quickly follow up on sales leads, says Windham, who will be showcasing this cutting-edge technology July 9 at Trade Show Technology Summit 2013, to be held at the Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas in Irving, Texas.

The summit will show attendees how to manage technology such as QR codes, mobile apps, virtual trade shows, social media, on-line asset management, interactive media and live stream video on electronic devices as simple as a mobile phone, she says.

“We’ll show planners the newest event management tools for efficiency and streamlining tasks before, during and after their event. We’ll also have hands-on, educational workshops to show them how to use management,” she says.

Windham shares three of her favorite new technologies:

• Pre-show – Event Management Software: This one-stop source for managing every detail about your event – from Fed Ex tracking numbers to vendor contact information to photos from the show – even allows you to manage multiple events from any location. “In the past, we carried all the details for each show in one huge binder. If you were at a show in Texas and someone called with a question about the show in Oregon, you wouldn’t have that information handy,” Windham says. Event management software relies on cloud storage, so members of your team can access it from their smart phone or iPad no matter where they are. Another benefit: You’ve got just one place to input all that data.

• During the show – Remote Sensors: Sensors built into the walls of an exhibit allow you to control all of the electronics from your smart phone or iPad. Not only does it save time, it’s an easy way to add valuable theatrics during a demonstration. “Say you’re standing at the back of the room and you realize the speaker can’t be heard, you just turn up the volume on his mic, right from your your iPad,” Windham says. “Or, if you want to create special effects using lighting and room temperature, you can dim the lighting and drop the temperature.” Her favorite feature? At the end of a long day, rather than walking from one device to the next, shutting off each, you press just one button and turn everything off while walking out the door.

• Post-show – Sales Leads Follow-up: Seventy percent of percent of exhibitors who capture sales leads at trade shows don’t collect qualifying information, according to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR).Scanners collect only the most basic data from visitors to each booth – there’s no way of knowing whether they were a “hot” lead ready to buy, or someone who stopped by for the free T-shirt, Windham says. Now, however, event management software allows exhibitors to include qualifying information every time a visitor’s badge is scanned. “At the end of the event, you can quickly see who your hottest leads were and send them an email or postcard before you’ve even left the event,” Windham says.

For planners who’ve been hamstrung by personnel cutbacks in recent years, these new tools are lifesavers, she says.

“The days of ‘The Jetsons’ has arrived.”

About Ann Windham