Announcement: MySkatingMall.com's Grand Opening on Friday

Please note: Ice Mom does not accept funding for posts like these. All advertising is separate from editorial content.  I'm posting this because I think that Ryan Jahnke's MySkatingMall.com is a great idea that benefits buyers, sellers, and clubs.
 
I’ve written it countless times: figure skating is expensive. I’ve also written that Learn to Skate is the only bargain in figure skating.

Turns out, I’m wrong.

U.S. World Team Member (2008) and PSA Master Rated Coach Ryan Jahnke launches MySkatingMall.com on Friday, April 26. It’s an online figure skating bargain hunter’s paradise. You’ll be able to shop for used figure skating items and see listings from all over the world. Jahnke has also partnered with some vendors who will sell new skating items.

You benefit because you save money on figure skating purchases. Your figure skating club can benefit, too. If your club registers with MySkatingMall.com, a percentage of every purchase you make will go to your club. Click here to read my complete review of MySkatingMall.com.

Save even more. As an Ice Mom reader, you can receive a 50% off of all listing upgrades if you list items for sale on MySkatingMall.com in the next week. Basic listings are completely free, but listings can be upgraded to show on the front page and at the top of the item's category for enhanced visibility.

Just type this code in the discount box provided at the end of the selling listing form: MSM

Ask your figure skating club to register. Clubs can benefit from sales at MySkatingMall.com. It’s an easy process and a painless fundraiser. Five to 90 percent of every purchase raises money for the skating club or team of the buyer and seller. Skating groups can benefit from every purchase and sale their members make! It is completely free for skating clubs and teams to register at http://www.myskatingmall.com/clubs!


Good luck with your site, Ryan!

Have any of you tried MySkatingMall.com? What did you think? Did you stop over there to browse? What was your impression? Share your thoughts and suggestions about how to make that site better in the comments. (I'll forward them to Ryan.)

Do you have a question for the Ice Moms? Are you a figure skating expert who would like to appear on the Wednesday Ask the Expert feature? Do you have a marvelous idea for a post? Excellent. Please e-mail me at icemom.diane@gmail.com.

Announcement: New Sites Coming - plus - Ask the Expert feature

Three new sites. On April 3, if the techno gods favor me, I’ll be launching my new site at icemom.net. Also launching on April 3 are icecoach.net and icegirlblog.net. These two blogs will cover figure skating from the coach and student perspectives. I receive a lot of great questions in my e-mail box that are better suited to a coach or skater to answer, so now everyone will be able to share rinkformation at all levels of involvement.

All three of us will post on Mondays starting in April about the same subject from different angles. One of these joint posts we have planned is about the process of running a competition. Ice Coach is going to cover securing judges and setting it up, I’m going to write about strong-arming volunteers, and Ice Girl will talk about being a runner and how to have fun in a high-pressure situation.

We’ll also have a contest to kick off the launch with fabulous prizes. Not millions – we’re in figure skating. But you’ll like the contest – it’ll be funny, I promise.

Ask the Expert. On Wednesdays, I’m starting a new feature called, Ask the Expert. Each Wednesday, I’ll try to invite someone who knows way more than I do to write something and answer your questions in the comments.

Wednesday, March 24, Annette Thomas, a classically trained ballet instructor, will post about ballet. She wrote the book Fundamentals of Alignment & Classical Movement for Figure Skaters and she’s very knowledgeable. My questions for Annette were along the lines of: is ballet worth it? So, start thinking about what questions you’d have for a classical ballet teacher who knows a lot about figure skating, too. You can also send in your questions in advance to me (icemom.diane@gmail.com) and I’ll store them up for Annette to answer. Of course, you can also add them to the comments on March 24 for Annette to answer that day.

I’m lining up more guests: a former show skater, coach Xan of Xanboni! and Ice Coach, soon to be of icecoach.net, will answer questions about USFSA/ISI, and Allison Scott, Jeremy Abbott’s mom, will talk about interacting with judges.

As always, advertisements are independent of editorial content. These aren’t ads, anyway. They’re an opportunity to ask questions you’ve always wanted to ask of people who are really knowledgeable. Should be fun!

If you have a suggestion for an expert or you are an expert, e-mail me at icemom.diane@gmail.com.  I’d love for you to let us know more about figure skating.

Also, if you have a suggestion for post ideas that you’d like the three of us (Ice Mom, Coach, and Girl) to write about, that would be fabulous! If you have other ideas for us, too, hey: we’ll take ’em! E-mail me at icemom.diane@gmail.com.