Arnold Visits Bodybuilding.com booth at His Festival

The Bodybuilding.com booth at the Arnold Sports Festival was the place to be. For thousands of patrons, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Eason and me. Not that I am on the elevated level of either the legendary bodybuilder or the legendary fitness personality.

Jamie Eason inside the Bodybuilding.com booth.

The busiest booth at the show with the longest line for free goodies came to a momentary halt when the former California governor stopped by early in the afternoon Sunday (March 3).

As photographer/friend Don Bersano, his son Justin and I were heading off to see one of Don’s fitness industry friends, word filtered to him that Schwarzenegger would be heading to the Bodybuilding.com booth. We did an about-turn and headed quickly to the booth.

As often is the case, we subsequently spent a great deal of time waiting. And waiting. Occasionally a cluster of patrons would raise up their cell phones to take video of someone or something that we could not see. But no Arnold. Not yet.

Mick Skinner, marketing events and sponsorship director for bodybuilding.com, orchestrated his crew to gather in a group setting, as they also waited in anticipation of the big moment. And waited. Photographer Bobby Black had a person or two move around so the photo could be tighter and all parties would be in the frame.

Posing with fitness guru Jamie Eason is what some of us like to regard as work.

What appeared to be a security guard in plain clothes craned his neck around the corner of the Bodybuilding.com booth. Perhaps Arnold would be coming from that direction. A few minutes later, another security type did the same thing.

And then appearing out of almost nowhere — kind of like a movie hero — was Arnold.

He eased into the middle of the group, smiled and had his photo taken with 31 of his newest friends. You could have titled the event “Gone in 60 Seconds” because that’s the approximate time for the entire episode. A few words were spoken, though nothing as memorable as: “I’ll be back.”

Which he presumably will be for the 2014 Arnold Sports Festival.

Arnold departed as deftly and quickly as he arrived. Where he went seemed of little concern to those who had been photographed with him moments before. As special as it is for fans to meet the Bodybuilding.com personalities, you had the feeling those fitness folks who signed autographs and posed for pictures with the fans were in similar awe.

Speaking of awe, did we mention Jamie Eason was part of the photo, too? Earlier Sunday, I had seen her at the Bodybuilding.com booth. I knew the drill. If she had time after his signing and picture-taking session, she would be kind enough to allow a quick interview. We had done this last year. And the year before. It was becoming — at least in my mind — a terrific tradition.

After the photo with Arnold, Jaime took a brief break before returing to meeting her legion of fans. Unlike years past, she was not sporting an outfit that featured anything close to a bare midriff. Perfectly understandable because she is pregnant with her first child.

With our interview complete, I wandered once more out into the mass of humanity. The crowd was smaller than Saturday’s but seemed large for a Sunday (based on my three years’ experience).

About the only disappointment was coming within inches of an interview with 2013 Ms. Bikini International India Paulino. As she was posing for photos and signing autographed pictures, she either had something stuck in her throat or developed a bad cough. So she departed the booth where she was working and vanished into the crowd.

On the bright side, your humble correspondent did have the chance to interview several more delightful damsels. You can expect to see them on an irregular basis for the next week or two or three on his site.

Although we do not have a photo of Arnold at the Bodybuilding.com booth, we do have video:

And we do have video of Jamie Eason:

The six Rock Star Bikini finalists at the annual event Feb. 28, 2013, at The Vault.

Among the leftovers from the sojourn to Ohio for the Arnold Sports Festival and the Rock Star Bikini Contest, we do have this from the Feb. 28 bikini event:

Advertising opportunities are available on ElliottHarris.com. For information and rates, contact sales@elliottharris.com.