By Erin Mays for GForce Sports
In my previous post, I shared that I’m involved with Ride for AIDS Chicago, a 200-mile charity bike ride that takes place over the course of a typically sweltering weekend in July. As I mentioned, the single most important secret to our success has been that we’ve managed to form a community, not simply just run an event.
Of all the different types of glue holding us together, I would have to say that the stickiest has been Facebook. The man behind RFAC I mentioned in my last post, Richard Cordova, made it almost mandatory that captains friended their team members and the captains of other teams, and the rest seemed to happen organically – team members friended each other, training buddies from different teams connected, and we all rallied to make our incredibly amazing crew feel as much a part of the action as possible.
We shared information, cheered each other on, conducted friendly fundraising competitions, drummed up support for our events and even promoted events for other teams with our networks. The public nature of Facebook also paved the way for a little peer pressure around training and fundraising — riders urged each other to attend training rides with wall posts, and seeing others’ fundraising status updates to their networks gave many riders ideas and motivation to do the same.
Facebook also kept the community going well after we reached the finish line. Many of us coordinated through Facebook to ride as a group in the North Shore Century and other events, and the deep connections we’ve built have been a source of support year-round as we “like” and comment on each others’ wall posts celebrating good workouts, tough training rides and life events.
Most of us understand the role Facebook plays in helping us keep in touch, be a bigger part of our friends' lives and stay connected — let that be the foundation for understanding the role Facebook can play in making you a better contributor to charity sporting events, whether you're an organizer or participant. In the case of RFAC, I can confidently say we have more momentum and are in a stronger position going into 2012 than ever before.
Editors note: Facebook helps keep the players, mentors and allies of GForce Sports in touch as well. Check us out at http://www.facebook.com/groups/57014325564/
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