I wrote the message below way back in the cyber-dinosaur age of 1995. That was the year The Health Zone launched as one of the first sites in AOL’s pioneering Greenhouse program. Greenhouse was pre-Yahoo!, pre-MSN, pre-Windows. After a great run (pun intended) on AOL, I moved on to other things . . . strategic consulting for companies like Microsoft and Yahoo! But when blogging exploded with a capital B … and Community became the uber-cool subject of hip case studies and Amazon bestsellers, I just had to dig that old Health Zone box out of its hiding place.

As they say, we were Community before Community became cool. And our mission of support and sharing is every bit as relevant today as it was in 1995:

Welcome to the first fitness, nutrition and wellness center in cyberspace.

This is a health club unlike any other you’ve ever visited.

The Health Zone is a real community. Where people pull for each other, laugh together, share the successes and the struggles. While you may not be actually lifting weights together, you are lifting spirits.

In The Zone, you’ll find the experts: trainers, nutritionists, coaches, fitness stars, physicians, mountainclimbers, sailors, trekkers, therapists, even poets, gurus and authors. So you’ll get plenty of advice, inspiration and words of wisdom whenever you want it.

But like all true communities, we expect you’ll speak up and help make The Health Zone into the kind of place you want it to be. We want you to feel this is your place. We want you to connect with each other. The Health Zone is your hang-out.

One suggestion: do leave your guilt at the door. Ours is a community where everyone is welcomed, whether you’re pumping iron, craving chocolate, a master swimmer, worried about your weight or wondering about those pesky heel spurs.

We’re looking forward to meeting all of you.