BodySpace Official News Blog

Many of you have probably already noticed (and have started using) the new Short-Term Goal Tracking section on BodySpace.  If you haven’t, however, you’ll be pleased - check out your progress page to view your short-term goals!

To edit your short-term goals, go into your control panel, and click on the appropriate link (under “Your Goals”).  

More improvements are forthcoming on this module, so keep your eyes peeled and watch for it! 

Are you competing in an NPC, IFBB, WNBF, INBA, CBBF, NABBA, MuscleMania, WNSO/FAME or other show this year?  If not, are you even just attending one of them?  If so, please join the Pro/Am Contests Blog as a contributing writer, and share with all of us your thoughts, prep details, anxieties, and experiences throughout the process!

http://blog.bodybuilding.com/ProAmContests

We’d love to hear about your journey along the way!  (PM me or email me to join.)

Did you attend the 2007 Iron Man BodySpace Meet & Greet Party?  If so, you probably saw Chris (a.k.a. ‘Big Swole’) Curry and Vince Andrich taping this exclusive BodySpace podcast interview!

Click here to visit our BodySpace Members Podcast Interviews page and tune in to what Chris Curry had to say about BodySpace, the Meet & Greet Party, and the 2007 Iron Man Pro! 

UPDATE: 2007 BodySpace Meet & Greet photos are now available!

UPDATE #2: 2007 BodySpace Meet & Greet video footage is also available!

Congratulations to BodySpace members Vanessa Van Overmeer and Venus Ramos for placing in the Top 5 in the 2007 Iron Man NPC Figure competition last night!  You made us proud! 

Links:

• NPC Figure Results (with photos)
• NPC Figure Pre-judging Photo Gallery
• Vavavoom, BodySpace Ladies At Iron Man!

Congratulations to IFBB Pro Bodybuilder, Toney "The X-Man" Freeman for winning the 2007 Iron Man Pro!

In case you aren’t aware, Bodybuilding.com is offering a Free Live Webcast tonight of the Iron Man Pro Finals!  The pre-show starts at 6:30 p.m. PST, so be sure to tune in!

http://webcast.bodybuilding.com/fitshow/2007im/2007im_webcast_ws.htm

We got a follow-up email to the Wife Swap recruitment announcement (originally posted 2 days ago):

ABC’s HIT primetime series Wife Swap is currently casting for families who are extremely involved in bodybuilding or who have a child that is a TEEN BODYBUILDER!!!!

INFORMATION ABOUT THE SHOW:

The premise of the “Wife Swap” TV reality show is that for six days, two wives from two different families with very different values exchange husbands, children and lives to discover what it’s like to live a different woman’s life. Families not only learn something, but they get to teach another family something about their own lives.

Families selected to be on an episode receive a $20,000 honorarium!  And anyone who refers us a family that we select receives $1,000!

REQUIREMENTS:

Must be a two-parent home with at least one child between the ages of 5-18.  Must be a citizen of the United States.

CONTACT INFO:

To apply, please call Tara Fogarty directly, at 212-488-1699 ext. 7947, or email her at Tara.Fogarty@rdfusa.com.

Thank you.

This has also been posted in the teen forum.

Last night, we switched from Apache to LightTPD (pronounced “lighty”) for the forum’s web server software. Everything seems to be working great, but here are a few notes on the change:

1. A minor issue where emails were coming from some weird address when sent through the forum. This has been fixed, it’s back to normal now.

2. Forum1.bodybuilding.com (an alias of forum.bodybuilding.com) will be phased out shortly. We shouldn’t be using that anymore (we used to have forum1 and forum2 when we did some load balancing a few years ago), but some people might still have it bookmarked. Thus, if you have old bookmarks for the forums, you should edit them so they point to just “forum” instead of “forum1″, so that your bookmarks continue to work as expected.

Thanks to Ryan for the forum speed upgrade! 

We were contacted by ABC Television to announce their interest in having some BodySpace families participate on the reality TV series, "Wife Swap."  Below is their email and contact information.  Please contact them if you are interested and qualify!

“Hello!

I am a casting producer for ABC Television’s hit reality show, Wife Swap.  I am reaching out to you in hopes that through your website, you might be able to help me find a family for our show.  I am looking for families that have children who are professional adolescent bodybuilders! I thought it couldn’t hurt to reach out to you to see if you might forward my message along.

If you are not familiar with the program the premise is that for six days, two wives from two different families with very different values exchange lives to discover what it’s like to live a different woman’s life.  Families not only learn something, but they get to teach another family something about their own lives.

Wife Swap airs on Disney owned ABC television on Mondays at 8 pm- the family hour! There is another show that copies ours. We focus on having fun, learning and teaching. They focus on conflict. I just want to make sure our show doesn’t get confused with theirs!

Requirements: Each family should consist of two parents and at least one child between 5 and 18 and should reside in the continental U.S.  (There may be other children living in the home who are older or younger than the required age:as long as one child is in the required age range.)

My hope is that you would pass this information along so that if anyone is interested, they will be able to reach me.  Maybe you even have a family in mind that you could refer me to.  This is a very unique experience that can be life changing for everyone.  In addition, each family that tapes an episode of Wife Swap receives $20,000 as compensation for their time.   Anyone who refers a family that appears on our program receives $1000 as a ‘thank you’ from us.

I appreciate you taking the time to read this - I know it is an unusual request.  If you have any questions, please call me at 212-488-1699 x7947 or email at Tara.Fogarty@rdfusa.com.

Please let me know if you think you will be able to help me.  Thank you for your time!

Sincerely,

Tara”

Tara Fogarty| Casting AP | ABC Television | Wife Swap
RDF USA| 440 9th Avenue| 11th Floor| New York| NY 10001
tel. + 1 212 488 1699 x7947 | fax. + 1 212 404 1423
tara.fogarty@rdfusa.com | www.rdfusa.com

This has also been posted in the teen forum.

The new Control Panel is now available!  Check out our new look!  =)

Kudos to Jeran and Skippymobile for the upgrade!  =)

A new round of Featured Blogs have been chosen.  Are you one of them?  Check ‘em out here:

http://blog.bodybuilding.com/activity.php?feature=Featured

Congrats to everyone for their 15 seconds of fame…  LOL

Well, folks, the weekend is upon us, and we’ve just reached a rather cool milestone of active members: 33,333!  (And not only that, but take a peek at this screenshot - everyone is a guy, too - seemingly rare here on BodySpace!)

In addition, many people today are seeing the addition of the BodyPoints counter on their sidebar for the first time.  You amass BodyPoints by actively interacting with other members and contributing content (visiting profiles, leaving comments, writing in blogs, etc.), and those hard-earned points will be redeemable for cool stuff in the not-too-distant future, so start hoarding those points (you’ll be glad you did)! 

Sample Images:

Mike also updated the BodyPoints Help page documentation on how BodyPoints work (and how to earn tons of them!)  Give it a read for the inside scoop.

This week’s new round of 16 featured BodySpace members is now up on the main page of our website.  Are you one of them?  Check them out, here:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/

Scroll down to the "Community" section, and see the four new BodySpace/Forum members being featured in each of these 4 categories:

Featured BodySpace Profiles
Featured BodyBlogs
Featured Forum Threads
Featured Photo Galleries

Enjoy!  =)

A ‘flood control’ system has been implemented in the photo galleries section.  Similar to the forums, users must now wait a few seconds between ratings, and any low ratings must have an accompanying comment explaining the rationale.

Since BodySpace is all about providing honest feedback and helpful suggestions for improvement, this change should help foster the spirit of camaraderie found here at Bodybuilding.com and yield generally useful tips for improving one’s physique, while at the same time discouraging the frequent abuses of the system many have recently experienced.  Kudos to Skippy PB for this one!

Michael has been working tirelessly on making improvements to my.bodybuilding.com - the page that ties together all the parts of Bodybuilding.com, the forums, BodySpace, the store shopping cart, BodyPoints, etc. into one control panel of sorts.

New today, you’ll see the addition of progress pics, body stat charts, forum posts, etc.

So, check it out, and please direct any feedback or suggestions for improvements directly to him, using any of these methods:

• PM
• Email
• Feedback form
• Profile comment

Who was it?  Click here to find out:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bodyspace2007jan.htm

Okay, okay - it is Josh B., a.k.a. thebeast1!  Be sure to check him out!  And don’t forget, you could be next! 

Did you miss the previous ones?  Be sure to check out our BodySpace Members Of The Month Main Page, now available for your viewing pleasure.