looking for ideas...

[ultraslacker]

How about a reciprocal "Maniacs Met" application? Jacc and Irongirl both keep track of their number of maniacs met.

I'm not sure how it would work exactly. Maybe I would check press a button on somebody's forum post saying "I have met this person", and they would get added to my list, and I would get added to their list. Or make it more like facebook, where you have to confirm and provide information about how/where you met the person?

Nice thinking Mike, cool idea.

It is a cool idea, but again, serves only current members.... I want stuff that is broader than that.

Whatever you decide to do, try to think "Web 2.0". A succesful E-Zine requires a staff of paid employees. You don't have those resources.

The word "ezine" did not escape my fingers. ;) I'm just looking for articles.

[soccergrrl]

Gear Review
I'm pretty new to running and so I find myself trying to figure out what I need to get me through the winter months. Summer is easy but what about layers and what should they be composed of? I'm sure the pros around here have their favourite hydration system/tights/jacket/shoes and maybe articles describing what makes gear great would be good. I'm not thinking that this would be a brand endorsement though.

List of races
I find that in order to have a comprehensive idea of what's going on, I have to search a lot of websites. No one site seems to have them all listed. It would be great if RM had an all-encompassing list. Having said that, I think it might be a bit of a nightmare to manage it. The only way it might work is if provinces/territories are split up amongst current members who would volunteer to dig up the race info.

Injuries
Common ones. Tips to avoid them. Commonly known self-care treatments. Lots of disclaimers about not being a medical site and to seek help, if you think those are warranted.

Etiquette
It's a hot topic. We want to educate new runners. So let's take the opportunity to educate them here.

These immediately come to mind.

I have to admit, I was drawn to RM because I was initially looking for a sports bra recommendation and my google search landed me in the forum. From that point on, I found myself looking for other tips/advice from the members here.

There's a wealth of information to be found amongst members (never mind actual fact-based research). I think the challenge will be harnessing all this knowledge and volunteer talent to seek out other information, and put it in a comprehensive package. But it can be done. Who better to take on a challenge like this than a bunch of runners?

I'll help where I can but not sure where my talents lie as far as this is concerned.

[Jwolf]

List of races
I find that in order to have a comprehensive idea of what's going on, I have to search a lot of websites. No one site seems to have them all listed. It would be great if RM had an all-encompassing list. Having said that, I think it might be a bit of a nightmare to manage it. The only way it might work is if provinces/territories are split up amongst current members who would volunteer to dig up the race info.

Yeah, it would be a nightmare to manage. The athletics bodies of all the provinces have these lists-- wouldn't want to be reinventing the wheel.

Ideally it would be nice if there were one central place on-line somewhere that managed this, but it would be a lot of time to maintain and way too much for this site, I'm afraid. In any given area there are often several races/running events going on every week.

I like your other ideas for articles and resources, though.

[ultraslacker]

List of races
I find that in order to have a comprehensive idea of what's going on, I have to search a lot of websites. No one site seems to have them all listed. It would be great if RM had an all-encompassing list. Having said that, I think it might be a bit of a nightmare to manage it. The only way it might work is if provinces/territories are split up amongst current members who would volunteer to dig up the race info.

Yeah, it would be a nightmare to manage. The athletics bodies of all the provinces have these lists-- wouldn't want to be reinventing the wheel.

Ideally it would be nice if there were one central place on-line somewhere that managed this, but it would be a lot of time to maintain and way too much for this site, I'm afraid. In any given area there are often several races/running events going on every week.

I like your other ideas for articles and resources, though.

I don't think it would be *that* hard to do... we'd just need volunteers to keep it up to date... could do it by region as soccergrrrl suggested. If one person from each province volunteered, the initial setup would be the hardest part--after that it would only have to be updated periodically...

[turd ferguson]

I think it would be pretty easy to manage. Plus 85% of races are the same from year to year. I'd be happy to do it for Southern Alberta.

I think all we would need is the name, the distances and a link to registration

- but -

if we really wanted to kill, we could also link to race reviews on our site and routes.

Two issues:

- there are a lot of regions we don't cover. Nfld? PEI? Quebec outside Montreal? BC Interior? Victoria? And for some regions we only have one member - Deb in Sask comes to mind.

- it would be handy to sort the races by type i.e. road, multisport, trail, etc.

I think this is an area where we can really stand out. I know if I'm looking for a race in Alberta or elsewhere I have about six or eight bookmarks for various sites that list races. If we can aggregate those lists to provide the one stop list for races in the area I think it would be a valuable resource.

[ultraslacker]

I think it would be pretty easy to manage. Plus 85% of races are the same from year to year. I'd be happy to do it for Southern Alberta.

I think all we would need is the name, the distances and a link to registration

- but -

if we really wanted to kill, we could also link to race reviews on our site and routes.

I think a link to the event reviews that we already have would be awesome--it might also influence people to write more reviews. And yes... I hadn't thought of linking to the routes but that's definitely a good idea.

- there are a lot of regions we don't cover. Nfld? PEI? Quebec outside Montreal? BC Interior? Victoria? And for some regions we only have one member - Deb in Sask comes to mind.

We may not have the insider info on those areas, but we could still compile the races that we find online for those areas, right? It could be done by someone from a different region.

- it would be handy to sort the races by type i.e. road, multisport, trail, etc.

Oh that's a *must*. Sort by type, date, location, or distance.

[dgrant]

I like soccergrrl's ideas, particularly the gear reviews and race etiquette ones... especially if they were 'doctored' to appear high on google searches (however that's done). There are lots of gear reviews available on running mags' websites, but I don't find they're super impartial.

[ultraslacker]

I like soccergrrl's ideas, particularly the gear reviews and race etiquette ones... especially if they were 'doctored' to appear high on google searches (however that's done). There are lots of gear reviews available on running mags' websites, but I don't find they're super impartial.

I like the *idea* of gear reviews... the problem of course is that someone has to *write* them all. Do you think we could get enough participation to have enough reviews to make it useful?

[Sir Crashalot]

I like soccergrrl's ideas, particularly the gear reviews and race etiquette ones... especially if they were 'doctored' to appear high on google searches (however that's done). There are lots of gear reviews available on running mags' websites, but I don't find they're super impartial.

I like the *idea* of gear reviews... the problem of course is that someone has to *write* them all. Do you think we could get enough participation to have enough reviews to make it useful?

I don't see why we could not have a gear review as we all certainly own enough of it! I have seen many talk about their stuff on gearing up..... might as well make a PDF document on a review of a particular shoe, jacket, widget....
If we can get it structured from 2 view points, say advanced & beginner. We have many here whom I consider advanced if not even elite.

[ultraslacker]

I like soccergrrl's ideas, particularly the gear reviews and race etiquette ones... especially if they were 'doctored' to appear high on google searches (however that's done). There are lots of gear reviews available on running mags' websites, but I don't find they're super impartial.

I like the *idea* of gear reviews... the problem of course is that someone has to *write* them all. Do you think we could get enough participation to have enough reviews to make it useful?

I don't see why we could not have a gear review as we all certainly own enough of it! I have seen many talk about their stuff on gearing up..... might as well make a PDF document on a review of a particular shoe, jacket, widget....
If we can get it structured from 2 view points, say advanced & beginner. We have many here whom I consider advanced if not even elite.

I am still doubtful that we could get enough participation. It's one thing for a person to post about an item... another to get them to write an actual proper review. Look at how hard I have to work to get people to submit routes. ;)

[Sir Crashalot]

I am still doubtful that we could get enough participation. It's one thing for a person to post about an item... another to get them to write an actual proper review. Look at how hard I have to work to get people to submit routes.

What does submitting routes entail? Some of us are GPS challenged!
I know what the technology is & how it functions but with good ol' dial up, I wouldn't touch google earth with a 10 foot pole Much prefer map & compass & at one point was seriously considering learning how to use a sextant... accurate to say a few hundred km's if I worked hard enough at it

[joe]

Hey all.. sorry just saw this. As far as bandwidth and what not goes...

Live chat is more of a resource hog than anything!.. not so much bandwidth but CPU. I am in the processing of moving zoom to one of my new Quad Dual-core Opteron boxes, which leaves a whole empty dual pro p4 with nothing on it. I might be able to move RM on there (I'll just need something else to cover the monthly fee on that box for rack space )

As for the photo uploads... hmm, maybe there is a plug in for phpBB which is easier to use than Gallery2? I know what people mean.. I mean it's hard to find the link to upload photos yadda yadda... having an integrated upload when you're typing the message might be a good idea, I have that on my forums, but it's ipb, so another app, but there should be a mod for phpBB.

It's great that so many people can/want to help! I know that with my mtb forums, it got huge with over 4000 members.. all wanting something, but no one really was helping to get anything done.. so Holly, you're a pretty lucky sysop!

Let me know if you need any tech assistance.

[Madame Bourette]

I know, the RM brand is really strong but what about going bigger by covering more than running?

Look how big is the Dark Side now. With another name, we could open the door for more sports. Look what is RM for running in Canada. It could be the same for triathlon and others sports. Maybe. It's just an idea.

There might be canadian websites similar to RM in others sports. An association could be a good idea.

E.G, I am interested in indoor rock-climbing, sea-kayaking and weight training but I don't have time to search for ressources.

[ultraslacker]

I know, the RM brand is really strong but what about going bigger by covering more than running?

Look how big is the Dark Side now. With another name, we could open the door for more sports. Look what is RM for running in Canada. It could be the same for triathlon and others sports. Maybe. It's just an idea.

There might be canadian websites similar to RM in others sports. An association could be a good idea.

E.G, I am interested in indoor rock-climbing, sea-kayaking and weight training but I don't have time to search for ressources.

Interesting idea... I think it would be cool to branch out to other sports. They'd have to be a whole new thing, though... what do others think?

Someone else would have to administer it though because one is enough for me. :P

Do you envision one site for multiple sports, or multiple sites?

[dgrant]

I really like that idea. It would be cool if it could still fall under the overall "RM" banner. Maybe there's a way to have the athletic discussions distinct, but have just one NRR and MnG section. It might be a way to bring in some new blood and give a fresh vibe to the social side of things.

[soccergrrl]

Watch out for scope-creep. It's the surest way to damn a project.

My opinion would be to stick with what you know first - get it spiffied up, then move on to the expansion if that's what everyone wants.