Social Sports

Last May, I quit my job. (Yep, I'm crazy, but let's talk about that later.) For the past few years I have been working toward my graduate degree in management in the evenings while working full time. Now that I'm unemployed, I'm studying full-time and looking to join the athletic apparel/footwear industry in an operations role after I graduate in March 2015.

Why athletic apparel/footwear? Because I'm an athlete and an end user, and because I find that athletic-industry companies are full of intense, competitive, positive, go-getters and I want to be around those people. 

In the meantime, now that I have a lot more time on my hands than money, I've been able to get involved in a lot of cool things. And, because social media provides a benefit to organizations they would otherwise have to pay a lot of money for, a lot of the cool things I get to do are free. Here are two organizations that show just how important building community through social media has become in the sports & fitness industry:

November Project (NP) started out as a pact between two guys to get together and sweat three days a week during Boston's awful demoralizing winters. But since those two guys fit the intense, go-getter types I mentioned above, NP blew up and is now a giant, crazy, free group workout full of sweaty, yelling, hugging strangers in 17 cities around the country. I'm an introvert, and large group activities are not really my thing - yet I wake up before 6am to go run up the stairs in Harvard Stadium with a lot of very, very friendly people every week. Actually, I look forward to it. Obviously, they put something in the Kool-Aid.

Pact is a smartphone app that tracks your workouts and eating habits. That might not sound appealing, even if it's free - but Pact actually pays you to workout and eat healthy. You set the number of workouts you will complete each week, or the amount of fruit and veggies you'll consume,  and set dollar stakes for failing to meet your pact. If you fail to complete your pact for the week, you pay the stakes you set. If you succeed, you get paid, effectively by others in the community that failed. Getting paid to workout - it's almost like going pro.

These are just two examples of "social sports" that I participate in and admire. There are tons of other great things out there. Let me know what you love!