Posts Tagged ‘U.S. Figure Skating’

Milestones and Holiday Partner Store Promotions!

Thursday, December 16th, 2010

Friends,

Thank you so much for making MySkatingMall.com a site that is beginning to fulfill its purpose of supporting the skating community! We currently have 2,670 new and gently used skating items listed on the site by over 650 people. 43 skating charities, most U.S. Figure Skating and Skate Canada clubs, are registered to receive between 2.5% and 87.5% of the sale price of each item bought and sold on the site by their members.

In celebration of this great time of year, several of our Partner Retail Stores have offered special deals to MySkatingMall.com users that will be available until January, 1, 2011. They are:

Kiss and Cry Angels has donated two of their tote bags with all proceeds going to the Memorial Fund.  They are item numbers 2028 & 2029. You can enter “Rink tote free shipping” in the search bar to find these two items.

CherryLoop has free shipping on all orders.

SportMusic has put together a Skating Classics CD of 66 popular skating tracks for $19.95.

IceTimeApparel has a 15% discount for orders of $40 or more, 20% discount for orders of $100 or more.  Coupon codes for these specials can be found on their homepage.

Ballet for Figure Skaters is offering two books together for $20.00 off the regular price and only $14.95 for Priority Mail Domestic Shipping (that’s a total of $34.95 off of the price regular if the books were purchased and shipped separately)  plus a free Medium Weight Resistance band will be included with every purchase made through the end of the year.

Flowerdaze is offering rhinestone skater shirts of different designs for $15.

Pixart Creations is offering a 10% on all purchases if you use the coupon code PIXSKATE when checking out.

Sk8Strong has free shipping for all of December, and 10% off purchases over $60 (promo code on homepage). MySkatingMall members can also be the first to check out Sk8Strong’s new DVDs, “The Skater Evaluation” and “Advanced Competitive Training.”

Remember to start shopping at MySkatingMall.com, log into your account (or create one), and then click on the Partner Store logo for the store you would like to buy from so that your skating charity can receive 5% of your purchase price.

Orders should be in as soon as possible and our Partners will do their best to get it to you before Christmas!

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in MySkatingMall.com News | No Comments »

Adam Rippon Donates Outfits for the Memorial Fund

Sunday, November 14th, 2010

RipponFour Continents Champion and two-time World Junior Champion Adam Rippon has once again demonstrated his class by donating four of his Junior and Novice outfits in order to raise money for the U.S. Memorial Fund. His outfits can be viewed through this link: Adam Rippon on MySkatingMall.com.

Adam’s mom, Kelly, included a short note with the skating outfits: “Thank you, and best of luck with this worthy endeavor”.What worthy endeavor would that be???

MySkatingMall.com has set a goal to raise $1,000 for the U.S. Memorial fund by February 17, 2011.  This date corresponds with the national release of U.S. Figure Skating’s documentary RISE. The film will celebrate American figure skating while commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1961 U.S. World Figure Skating Team that perished in a plane crash on its way to the World Championships in Prague.

The mission of MySkatingMall.com is to support the skating community. We would like to challenge other skaters to follow Adam’s lead by selling their gently used skating dresses, skating outfits, and skating practice apparel on MySkatingMall.com.  You don’t have to be an elite skater to participate! Simply list your items and choose for 87.5% of the sale price to be given to the U.S. Memorial Fund.

Canadian skaters, don’t feel left out! Remember, you have the option to donate directly to the Skate Canada Athlete’s Fund when listing items:-)

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Professional Skaters Association Endorses MySkatingMall.com!

Wednesday, September 8th, 2010

LogoEndorsement

This is one of the most exciting developments that has occurred to date for MySkatingMall.com!  The Professional Skaters Association, usually referred to as the PSA, has chosen to endorse MySkatingMall.com.  The PSA is the official coaches education and certification organization for U.S. Figure Skating and the Ice Skating Institute. Coaches from all over the world belong to the PSA in order to enhance their coaching skills.

In order to receive this endorsement, MySkatingMall.com had to be vetted by a committee of PSA members. They were charged with the task to determine if the site was indeed what it claimed to be and if MySkatingMall.com was in the best interest of coaches and their students.  I am pleased to report that MySkatingMall.com really does support the skating community by allowing people to earn money by selling quality used skating items, to purchase gently used items at steep discounts from new prices, and purchase new items from many skating retailers; all while raising money for grassroots skating clubs and teams with every transaction!

If you have been holding off giving MySkatingMall.com a serious look for your skating club, synchro team, or TOI team due to its newness or lack of established credibility, I hope this will give you the nudge you need to move forward.  We welcome groups from Canada, the U.S., and any other country that would like to participate in our fund raising.

Please help spread the word that MySkatingMall.com is here to help to others in the skating community whenever you get the chance.  Thank you!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in MySkatingMall.com News | No Comments »

Skating Magazine Features MySkatingMall.com

Sunday, August 29th, 2010

The article “Bargain deals can be found at www.myskatingmall.com” was recently published on page 44 in the August/September 2010 issue of Skating Magazine! Skating Magazine is the official publication  of U.S. Figure Skating so I am extremely excited that MySkatingMall.com received mention.skating_mag_junejuly2010cvr_medium

The issue highlights Olympian pair skaters Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig on the front cover. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find the cover picture for this newsletter:-)

Below is the text from the article in case you don’t have your magazine handy:

“Former U.S. bronze medalist and PSA master-rated coach Ryan Jahnke credits a conversation he had with his father for a new web site that offers the skating community bargain deals on new and used equipment and attire.

“These outfits are in great shape; there has to be somewhere to sell them,” Jahnke’s father told his son one day while looking at a heaping pile of skating-related items that had collected over the years in a closet.

Jahnke took his father’s words to heart, and with his entrepreneurial instincts, founded www.myskatingmall.com.

The web site offers an international marketplace to buy and sell new and used skating items, with an added perk of supporting U.S. Figure Skating teams, clubs and the Memorial Fund as part of the online transaction.

“It is there to open up the closets of all competitive skaters in the world so people are not limited to only buying new items,” Jahnke said.

As a former athlete board member of U.S. Figure Skating and as a coach at the Broadmoor Skating Club in Colorado Springs, Colo., Jahnke sees first-hand how difficult it is for individual skaters and teams to meet the financial demands of the sport.

As a remedy to this dilemma, Jahnke used his recently earned degrees in finance and information systems to help launch www.myskatingmall.com. Behind his own money, Jahnke hired web-design pros to develop the site, which he manages on a daily basis.

More than 200 people [currently 397] have registered to buy and sell products on the web site since its launch in March. Jahnke, in fact, sold both his costumes from the 2003 campaign, in which he won the U.S. bronze medal and earned a spot on the World Team.

Unlike other online retail stores, www.myskatingmall.com is a perpetual fundraising opportunity. Those individuals who purchase items from the web site can designate a portion of the purchase price for a club, a team or the Memorial Fund.

“It’s free to register for an account and all the resources are right there to help you [clubs and teams] begin a hassle-free fundraising campaign,” Jahnke said.

Of more than 200 members to date [currently 397], 65 [currently 145] have chosen the Memorial Fund as the beneficiary of their transactions.

“This is something the skating community has needed for a long time,” Olympic champion Brian Boitano said. “I love that it will help many people keep skating and support grassroots clubs and teams at the same time.”  -Jenny Walter

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in MySkatingMall.com News, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Fund Raising Featured at U.S. Figure Skating’s Governing Council

Monday, May 17th, 2010

U.S. Figure Skating Governing CouncilClub delegates hear about MySkatingMall.com

At this year’s Governing Council meeting, U.S. Figure Skating hosted a fund raising seminar to share ideas to help clubs successfully raise funds to support their membership.

MySkatingMall.com Founder Ryan Jahnke was one of four guests who were asked to present their ideas at the seminar. (Since it is downright strange for me to speak of myself in the third person, I’m going to say “I” instead of “Ryan” if there are no objections….hearing none, let’s continue:-)  It was an amazing experience because of all the positive encouragement that came to me after my presentation.  Most club delegates had no idea that MySkatingMall was out there! Those that did know, did not realize how many features we have included to help clubs and teams run a “low maintenance” fund raising campaign.   Check out our last blog post, Club and Team Fund Raising Resources are now available! for more detailed information on what we have included in every club/team account on MySkatingMall.com.  The cliff notes version of what we have is: 1) several emails to send to members announcing your groups fund raising campaign and following up 2) a poster to send to members or post up (did I mention these documents are pre-filled in with your group’s information??? Well,  they are!)  3) the PowerPoint presentation I gave at U.S. Figure Skating’s Governing Council (email me at info@myskatingmall.com if you want a copy of it) and 4) a badge that reads “Join our Fundraising on MySkatingMall.com” to put on your group’s website.  These resources will keep growing. I’m thinking of setting up a suggested schedule of when to send the resources to members to help members join the groups fund raising.  Does that sound like a good idea?

Our goal is to reduce expenses for skating families while providing every resource skating clubs and teams need to raise the money they need to flourish!  MySkatingMall.com is not going to instantly raise hundred of dollars for every club or team. But groups will receive between 2.5% and 87.5% of every item their members sell, depending on the wishes of the person listing the item. Groups also receive 5% of every purchase members make from MySkatingMall.com Partner Stores and 2.5% of every purchase of used items from other site users.  The more your group members use MySkatingMall.com, the more money the group will raise.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in MySkatingMall.com News | No Comments »

U.S. Figure Skating features MySkatingMall.com

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
Ryan Jahnke picture

Ryan Jahnke picture

This month’s Club Zone on usfigureskating.org featured an article on MySkatingMall.com. 

“Coming Soon: MySkatingMall.com
The seed for MySkatingMall.com was planted when Ryan Jahnke’s father looked into his son’s cluttered closet.”

You can link to the full article on U.S. Figure Skating’s Club Spotlight page.  For the next few weeks the article can also be found if you scroll down on the homepage of usfigureskating.org.

The article was published because MySkatingMall.com will potentially raise thousands of dollars for skating clubs. Many clubs who hear about this site have been very skeptical. Maybe it is the question of ”Is it too good to be true?”  I hope this vote of confidence from U.S. Figure Skating will provide MySkatingMall.com some deserved credibility.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Welcome to the MySkatingMall.com Blog

Saturday, October 17th, 2009

Myskatingmall.com logo

Myskatingmall.com logo

Thank you for checking out the Myskatingmall.com blog! This is where I (Ryan Jahnke) will be sharing all the news about the ongoing development of this fantastic site. It brings me great encouragement to hear from many different people who are getting excited about this site. (ALMOST as much as I am:-) If you feel that Myskatingmall will benefit the skating community, please spread the word! There are no corporate sponsors for this site. It’s just me shoe-stringing this site together with the assistance of Jump Start Focus web design and the 30 or so volunteer beta team members. The beta group is helping to guide the policies and features of the site. If you would like to lend a virtual hand as a beta team member, just shoot me an email at Ryan@myskatingmall.com.

Myskatingmall has been in the making for over a year now. I want to use this post to share how the idea was developed. The idea was sparked by an off-handed comment from my father.  We must have been discussing something dealing with the plethora of skating outfits in my closet from past seasons. He said something like, “There should be a website to sell all these things.” That was the seed planted in my head. It grew when I started observing many skating families struggling to keep up with the expense of our sport due to economic challenges. At that point the vision for Myskatingmall was still small. I thought it could be a site just for the sale of gently used outfits and equipment to help reduce some expenses for skating families.  Who wouldn’t want to make some money from the closet of nice skating outfits that most of us have collected!

The last piece started coming together through my volunteer work with U.S. Figure Skating, I noticed skating clubs were also hurting financially. Luckily, I was able to meld these observations together into what many people feel is a very timely idea.

I began fleshing out the ideas for Myskatingmall.com last September during a “Systems Analysis and Design” course that I was taking at the University of Colorado. At that time, I was thinking of calling it Myskatingcloset.com. It was actually Paul Wylie who suggested I pick a “bigger” name like Myskatingmall.com.    After that course finished, I developed a business plan and presented it to U.S. Figure Skating. My original idea was to give the idea to USFS so that Myskatingmall.com could  become another revenue stream for USFS, similar to IceNetwork. From being a past athlete representative to USFS’s Board of Directors, I knew it was part of the organization’s strategic plan to diversify revenue streams by 2010. I wanted to help USFS raise money for athlete programs which are very dear to my heart. I benefited from many of them during my 21 years of competing!  USFS was very supportive of the idea but decided not to fund the project due to budget constraints. At that point, I had to decide whether to stop or proceed on my own.  After much thought, I came to the realization that Myskatingmall is not just a good idea, but one that is needed. The vision of  Myskatingmall is to support the skating community. I am fully committed to making that a reality.

Ryan Jahnke
2003 World Team Member and PSA Master Rated Coach

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Beta team developments, MySkatingMall.com News | 2 Comments »