A generational challenge

A Generational Challenge

Hi there,

You've been identified as a community leader. Maybe you direct a race, organize a run group, volunteer at a local event or maybe we simply had a memorable conversation.

Regardless, leading community events can be a thankless job. So a hat tip is in order. Good shit!

In recent years, I've had over 1 thousand conversations with community leaders who direct races, organize athletic groups, run businesses and work with local charities.

During my conversations, something started to nag at me. For a while I couldn't place it, but recently I figured it out.

It's this:

Keeping communities united and active is a major challenge facing our generation, yet leading community events has become incredibly difficult.

Why is it important to maintain united and active communities?

• Humans are biologically wired to come together. Since we were hunter gatherers, we've depended on community to survive and prosper.

• Communities make us more capable, give our lives meaning and bring us joy.

Why is maintaining strong communities a challenge that we face now?

• Technology has created cheap and easy entertainment alternatives like streaming movies, social media and video games making communities feel less essential for our daily enjoyment.

• We now live farther from our biological families, go to church less and work remotely more meaning many community groups that have historically surrounded us do so no longer.

• The COVID pandemic forced us to experience life without in-person community events and we adapted our lifestyles accordingly.

Why has it become so difficult to lead a community event?

• Coordinating event logistics like finding venues, securing permits and getting volunteers has become complicated.

• Expectations from attendees for ease of use, instant gratification and overall experience have increased. Many community leaders, busy with full-time jobs, families and general life, find it tricky to keep up with with the accelerating rate of change.

• Promoting your community event amongst internet bots, social media algorithms and billions of dollars in competing advertising can feel like an uphill battle where your event details get lost in all the noise.

If you agree with me, you might be wondering why we can’t just use technology to facilitate memorable events. That way we’ll build strong communities without the difficult leadership work required to organize these events.

Unfortunately, that is impossible.

I tried using technology to build communities without leadership and it didn't work. The #1 thing that I learned when I first launched the eseo mobile app is that leadership is required for communities to form.

Technology can help, but leadership will be the #1 ingredient needed for united, active and strong communities to continue in the future. In other words, we need community leaders like you to bring people together. The future of humanity depends on it.

Don't worry, I'm not just dropping a burden on you by making you aware of the importance of your work, I'm also letting you know that I'm here to help.

At Run The Day, we're building technology to help leaders like you organize events and elevate your community. We believe that helping community leaders is the #1 way to advance our mission and build a future where memorable events continue to keep communities united, active and strong.

I get to attend many community events so I feel like it’s my duty to share what I see, hear and experience directly with you through this newsletter. Hopefully it provides insights and inspiration that help you host events and build your community with confidence.

Thank you for being a leader in your community. Our collective future is better off because of it.

THE BOTTOM LINE: For a bright future, we need communities. Those communities need leaders like you.

Tech Update

Coming March 4th: Run The Day Next Generation

The new platform was built to:

1. Simplify your event prep work by avoiding bib labeling, streamlining race day registration and providing you insightful analytics

2. Raise more money for great causes through easy mobile payments, improved team management and elevated sponsor placement

3. Grow participants and build communities with enhanced race promotion, mobile app result integration, email communication and SMS marketing

The new platform was built using:

• 1,000+ conversations with Run The Day race directors and other community leaders like you. Thank you for the help :)

• Tim and team’s 20+ years of learning from the trenches

• Suny and team’s countless hours of hard work

• Analytics from Run The Day’s legacy platform

Would you like help with your community’s race?