Discussion: Do you organize group runs, o' training, or other physical activities?

I've been working on a group activity organization tool (motion.social). Our early beta users have mostly been cyclists, but I'd love to get feedback from runners, orienteers, and participants of other sports.

Whether you're organizing a small group of friends, or a large shop run, we want the tool to work for you and be an improvement on long e-mail threads or generic Facebook events.

So check it out (it's free, and basic use will continue to be free), and let me know if you end up signing up so that I can follow up and get some feedback from you. You can reach me at rebecca.jensen @ motion.social

Thanks!

-RJ

This looks cool. Such a pleasure to use.
Question: I created a group and then an activity but somehow I did not associate them. Can I associate them after the fact?

Would it be possible to link to Meetup somehow? Meetup has such a large sitting group of people and makes it easy for them to find activities they might be interested in.

Hi Barb, thanks for taking a look!

If you create an activity, but don't invite the group, then the activity will appear as though you are the host (and not the group). Once you invite the group (click the "Invite a Friend" button on the activity page, then type in the name of the group), then the activity will appear as a group activity.

Thanks for letting me know about this speed bump. We could make this more clear or change the flow.

Regarding Meetup:
To clarify, are you interested in connecting to Meetup in order to reach more potential group members?

Our (initial) approach is intentionally different than Meetup. Meetup is a place where you can show up and find a group to join. However, by starting out that way– we'd end up with a ghost town that's not useful to anyone. Instead, we are starting with pre-existing groups, and making it easier for them to organize amongst themselves. Once we have a thriving ecosystem of groups, then we could support the desire to find a group, rather than just organizing or participating in an existing/known one.

Meanwhile, we do provide 'Share to Facebook' and 'Share to Twitter' functionality in order to get the word out about groups or activities. Also, it does not cost anything to start a group (as it does with Meetup), lowering the barrier to entry, and allowing for very casual groups to start up and organize. When we begin to monetize, it will likely be for advanced admin features, so casual groups with basic needs can continue to enjoy the site for free.

Let me know if you run into anything else, or have more questions!

Thank you!

What are the main differences between this and a Facebook event? They have always worked fine for my club, and what is shown on your website looks quite similar to the FB interface. This also requires getting everyone to sign up for another social media account, when it's easier to have everything in one place.

@PaulP:

The main differences between motion.social and a Facebook event are:

1. The activity creation flow is designed for fitness activities, so you can add fields such as effort/pace and route, and have them be integrated into the activity. We have more features in the queue that address fitness group behavior, such as the ability to vote on start times or locations, attach files, etc. The features we add first depend partially on feedback from beta testers.

2. Facebook makes Groups and Events hard to find. It is clear that their product is centered around the news feed that is curated with their algorithm. Motion.social is about groups and activities first. You don't have to go digging to find what you want.

3. It's not Facebook. While Facebook works for many people, many people do not want to get on Facebook because of all the baggage it comes with. We provide a place where people can expect to interact only with people, groups, and content that they want. You will not be bombarded with unrelated trending stories just to quickly check the RSVP status of your group's event.

That said, sometime today we will be releasing the ability to create an account via Facebook, so users don't have to create and maintain another account.

Also, there are "share to Facebook" links on both Group and Activity pages, if promoting via Facebook is important to you.

Thanks for your questions!