M/W 21 membership - Instagram

[John Thompson]

Hi,

Personally I know nothing about social media but my granddaughter

informs me that her generation,16 - 30 year-olds, use Instagram a lot.

We had a look at Orienteering on Instagram and found there IOF, BO,

several O Clubs including SOC, and BOK but, I feel, more importantly,

several University Clubs.

There is an all time low in M/W 21s in our sport. Trying to grow that group

though schools and upwards depends a lot on parent support, whereas

Uni students could have Uni Club support or they could be offered car

sharing with local club members. After qualifying they should be earning

good money and be able to travel to events, one of the biggest deterrents

we have in our sport, thus boosting the important M/W 21 group.

Please can Mike Shires, our Publicity Officer, or anyone else who is clued up,

open a Club Instagram account with the minimum of a link to our website.

Mike has shown us how useful social media can be at recruiting and keeping

in touch with members and potential members.

Just to see how bad the situation is I have analysed some rankings and results.

Rankings .. 1993 M21 465.

Rankings 1993 W21 234

Rankings 2022 M21 350

Rankings 2022 W21 242

BUT!

BOC Long 1993 M21 447 ( All M21 Elite, L1, L2, and S

BOC Long 2017 M21 46

BOC Long 1993 W21 223

BOC Long 2017 W21 26

In 1993 the oldest age group was M/W 70

BOC Long 1993 M70 20

BOC Long 2017 M70+ 96

BOC Long 1993 W70 5

BOC Long 2017 W 70+ 39

It would seem that there are similar numbers of M/W21s orienteering

from the rankings but far fewer competing on a regular basis.

Chiltern Challenge 1992 M21 146 runners

Chiltern Challenge 2019 M21 29

Chiltern Challenge 1992 W21 56

Chiltern Challenge 2019 W21 20

We need more younger orienteers for the sport to survive.

John Thompson M85

[Mike Shires]

Hi John

You and your granddaughter make a very good point!  

As a general rule, Facebook is very good for those in their 30s and 40s, whereas Instagram is the best social media platform for those in their 20s.  They're both actually owned by the same company, and when creating adverts for events on Facebook, there is an option for them to be shown on Instagram too.  I've done that for the past few years, so when I promote our events on Facebook, the adverts also appear on Instagram.  However, it then links back to Facebook if someone expresses an interest in it, as we don't have a club Instagram page.  So it's useful, but only partially functional.  Creating a club page is something I've been meaning to do for a while, so I'll do it as soon as I can.  

I was invited to attend an online meeting with Peter Hart and a few others last year, about O club publicity.  One person present was at a uni club and she also talked about the importance of Instagram.  The main issue is that it is very visual based - i.e. it's nearly all photos.  So to have an effective club page, I'd really need a lot of photos.  I do have a good bank of photos, but action photos of people work best for Instagram (especially people looking like they're having fun!).  I'll investigate whether the usual event photographers that attend events (like Steve Rush and Wendy Carlisle) are happy for their photos to be used on club accounts.  

One trick is to get event attendees to take photos of themselves, and share them on social media - then I can re-share them.  I'll have a think about that too, as it probably needs an incentive initially, and some posting on social media to invite people to do so.  

But, if anyone else attends events and takes photos which would be worth uploading, then do send them to me, either here, or via publ...@tvoc.org.uk - I can never have too many!  

Thanks

Mike

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