RecWebsites.com

In late 2008 I developed a social network for parks and recreation professionals called "Recreation 2.0" or "Rec2.0." Membership and use of the site was free. Developing the site was a way for me to give back and try to meet a need in my profession. It was also an opportunity to push myself further as a website developer. The site saw a decent amount of activity through the spring of 2009 with more than 200 members. Use of the site tapered-off significantly during the busy summer months and did not increase much through the fall. A few other recreation networking sites popped-up in early 2009 that also had some initial momentum; but, from what I can tell, they have not seen significant use in quite some time. The NRPA group on LinkedIn is the one place that has seen a moderate amount of participation (a few discussions/comments a week).

By the fall of 2009 I was at a crossroads...I now had the tools and knowledge to make the Rec 2.0 network more powerful and user-friendly, but I also was hesitant to invest significant time into further developing the site due to the lack of professionals aware of these sites or willing to interact online. My feeling was, and still is, that most professionals are accustomed to consuming information online but are not yet comfortable creating or sharing online. If improved information sharing was going to happen it would require the involvement of NRPA to help change that mindset and push it's thousands of members towards online interaction.

It just so happened that NRPA was in the early stages of developing their social network. I did not know much about it at the time, but I decided that rather than trying to compete with their efforts I would let Recreation 2.0 fade away. It was a difficult decision as I had invested a lot of time into the site, but it seemed to be the best decision. The site was taken offline in April.

The NRPA network has been up and running for several months now. They have just announced the creation of "networks" or "groups" that, as I understand it, will be taking the place of the various branches that used to exist. It seems that they are now going to begin pushing for more member involvement. If you are a NRPA member I would encourage you to register and check it out.

My opinion of NRPA's network is mixed. I am very excited about the direction they are going. They have a tremendous amount of potential given the number of members in the organization. At the same time (without sounding too critical) I am disappointed with the product. The task of motivating thousands of people to begin interacting on their network is a big one, especially as a large percentage of these members are not accustomed to this type of interaction. In order to be successful the user interface needs to be simple and intuitive. Sadly this is not the case. I found it to be quite confusing...and I consider myself to be one of the more tech-savvy people in the profession. The good news is that the networks were just launched. I am sure that NRPA will be tweaking the design, fixing bugs, and responding to user feedback in the coming weeks and months.

So...goodbye Recreation 2.0, hello NRPA networks. Go give it a try. If you get frustrated there is always LinkedIn :)