NRPA Advances Technology for Parks and Recreation.

The vision began in the early 1990s with Schole, by today's standards a rudimentary Internet-based technology resource that encouraged communication among park and recreation professionals.

Out of the ashes of Schole rose NRPAnet, the National Recreation and Park Association's popular online resource for research, communication, and professional advancement.

Then, in July 1999, NRPA signed what could prove to be one of the most influential agreements in the history of public parks and recreation. NRPA and Active.com established a five-year alliance that portends to change the way professionals promote and advocate the benefits of park and recreation experiences.

The product of this alliance is the dynamic Web presence ActiveParks.org (www.activeparks.org). In addition to keeping professionals current on industry information and events and offering online registration and league management, ActiveParks.org has provided NRPA the unprecedented opportunity to create a comprehensive database containing information on all local, county and state parks and recreation facilities nationwide. When completed the database will serve as a tremendous resource for research and development of facility and programming standards.

"What we wanted to do," said NRPA Executive Director R. Dean Tice, "was establish a new way for park and recreation professionals to develop and deliver their leisure experiences to communities. In my opinion, the public has been waiting for years for something like this to come along. This will take our field far beyond operating within the lines and encourage us to discover -- and direct -- the ways in which technology is going to affect every aspect of our daily lives."

The Partnership

For NRPA and Active.com, the partnership was a natural fit. For both companies -- and the people who work in them -- promoting healthier, more active lifestyles is a shared mission. "For the first time, parks and recreation facilities across the country can share in a powerful online resource that not only unifies the industry through technology, but helps educate, inform and engage the public in active lifestyles," said Emily Reichman, vice president of Active.com.

Active.com

Active.com (www.active.com) is the leading online registration company for participatory sports and recreational activities. Active.com was founded by athletes who wanted to create a broader market for the sports in which they enjoy participating. The company has grown over the past three years from a handful of dedicated athlete entrepreneurs to a 180-person company that has dominated the Internet in the arena of online registration and league administration. Active.com is a portal for athletes that offers registration for more than 60 types of activities and events and processes approximately 10,000 online registrations weekly.

The company also offers the sporting industry the most comprehensive online database of participatory events and recreational activities with calendars, content, community features and training tools for a wide range of sports and activities. Sports and recreation enthusiasts can find, learn about, and register online for events and activities within minutes through Active.com.

ActiveParks.org

The ActiveParks database continues to grow and develop as the result of the participation and cooperation of thousands of park and recreation agencies around the nation that have realized the significance of aggregating this data for the benefit of both the profession and the public. Aggregate information on facilities and recreation programs, events and leagues will translate into improved service and superior choices for patrons of park and recreation experiences. ActiveParks.org will allow the public to find out how they can be active anywhere, anytime.

"Whether it be conducting special events, scheduling activities, using online registration, or making park rules and procedures available to the public, ActiveParks.org is certainly helping us to be more efficient in our delivery," said NRPA President-Elect Alice Conkey. "With the Internet, citizens are able to find opportunities for volunteerism or plan their leisure time. To me, it's another resource that can enhance people's lives, educate them better, and make communities more livable. It can also attract new patrons to our park and recreation facilities, promote tourism opportunities, and inspire economic development."

The Future is Ours

"ActiveParks.org is our masthead right now," said Jim Donahue, CLP, chair of the APRS Technology Tools and Transitions Task Force, which has been formed to determine technology's role in developing efficiency in parks and recreation. "It's one of the major directions we're taking. There are a lot of things happening in technology right now that will affect our profession." Through ActiveParks.org, the parks and recreation profession will have access to many tools and services.

Facility Resource The standard data model on ActiveParks.org will help agencies increase their visibility within the local community as well as promote their facilities as tourist destinations for vacationers and business travelers. The ability to search this information and create reports based on different variables will provide the industry with incredible opportunities for setting standards and benchmarking. The public will also soon be able to search for and register online for activities, classes, and events, making ActiveParks.org a one-stop location for active lifestyles.

Online Registration Active.com has solved a perennial problem for event directors, league administrators and park directors by moving paper-based registration to the Web and providing a powerful set of data management tools. ActiveParks.org offers a free online registration service that instantly confirms registrations, handles group transactions, and offers powerful database management tools that provide downloads of registration reports with detailed demographics.

Online registration not only creates efficiencies in the registration process, it also provides a quick and easy solution for the public.

ActiveLeagues ActiveParks.org offers the industry's most complete, free league management service to automate the repetitive tasks associated with running a team or league. Features include online registration, scheduling, data management, and communication for league administrators and their participants.

Communication Professionals will have the ability to share resources, experience-based knowledge, and best-practice information with colleagues in the field through the ActiveParks.org knowledge database. ActiveParks.org will move beyond the traditional barriers to communication that existed in the past, opening the doors to professional exchange and encouraging the passage of information that will help professionals deliver to consumers the quality leisure experience they desire.

"I think the ability to so freely exchange information will unite our states and our agencies," added Conkey. "We don't always know what's going on in our neighboring states and regions, and this will help us to be more knowledgeable. It won't take us forever to find the research we need, and we'll be able to do our jobs more effectively and be more resourceful. It's going to give park and recreation professionals the opportunity to partner with other allied groups."

E-Commerce Active.com is working with NRPA and the field to deliver an e-commerce solution that best addresses the needs of the park and recreation industry. There will be different phases in the e-commerce approach. One of the first steps will be to inventory and develop a true e-commerce offering. You can keep tabs on our progress by logging on to www.activeparks.org and selecting NRPA Store from the left-hand navigation bar.

Online Education Through an agreement with Education To Go, NRPA is currently piloting a series of online learning opportunities for park and recreation agencies to offer their communities. Topics range from Web site design to the intricacies of business communication. "Distance learning will be an enormous help with professional development," said Kathy J. Spangler, CLP, director of NRPA's National Programs and lead on the ActiveParks.org initiative. "Education To Go will help us establish a channel of public service delivery where people live, work, and play through local park and recreation departments."

Online Design A partnership with Internet-based CADdetails will give ActiveParks.org users access to a complete online showroom of park-related products including playground surfacing, trash receptacles and exterior lighting. With this online guide, park planners and designers will be able to research and compare product information, examine details and specifications, contact manufacturers via e-mail, and download product pictures straight from the Web.

With the development of Active Parks.org, everyone benefits from parks and recreation -- professionals, the public and our communities," said Spangler. "When you've set your sights on making our nation a healthier and more livable place for all citizens, how can you possibly go wrong?"

Germantown Parks and Recreation Joins ActiveParks.org Initiative

Imagine the day when the public can find out about thousands of park and recreation facilities and programs across the country by visiting one Web site. ActiveParks.org, a free online service-based initiative, is making this a reality. The initiative, which unites the park and recreation world through the development of a premier online resource for active lifestyles and professional exchange, is attracting the interest of park and recreation professionals nationwide.

For Germantown Parks and Recreation in Germantown, Tenn. -- one of the first facilities to participate in the ActiveParks.org project -- joining the initiative was an easy decision. As David Whitehouse, recreation superintendent at Germantown Parks and Recreation, explains, "People usually think about parks at different times during the weekend ... sometimes parks are staffed to answer phone calls on a Saturday or Sunday, sometimes they're not. The ActiveParks.org project is going to provide a great Web site where the public can access information about our services anytime, anywhere. Once you get on board and provide your information, it's a win-win opportunity."

Central to the initiative is the development of ActiveParks.org's database of local, county, and state park and recreation facilities nationwide. The public can access this database online at www.activeparks.org and search and register for facilities and programs at parks across the country.

The ActiveParks.org initiative was started by the National Recreation and Park Association and Active.com. Active.com provides online registration and data management services for events, leagues, and park and recreation activities. Through ActiveParks. org, park directors will also have access to Active.com's online league management services for online registration, scheduling, data management, and communication for teams, leagues, and players.

The experience with Active.com's online league management service was what initially prompted Germantown Parks and Recreation to join and support the Active Parks.org initiative.

"Active.com's online league services have helped us a great deal. We were doing all our own scheduling and if there were weather delays, rescheduling games and communicating game changes consumed most of our time," said Whitehouse. "We've been able to cut scheduling time in half and improve our communication within the community."

"We're happy to build upon our experience by contributing to the database and supporting ActiveParks.org. Half the battle is getting the information into the database. But with the help of NRPA and Active.com, we've received a great deal of support with this effort," added Whitehouse.

Active.com and NRPA offer many programs to help parks participate in ActiveParks.org and get their information online. Two programs, Meet You Halfway and Park Partners, offer agencies suffering from limited staff time or technological expertise assistance entering their parks and facilities into the ActiveParks.org database.

Park Partners For Your Community

NRPA's Park Partners program encourages classrooms, families, neighborhood sports leagues, and community and national groups to become online promoters of their local park and recreation agencies. By teaming up with NRPA, you can help load your local agency's parks and facilities onto the ActiveParks.org database, the only comprehensive online parks inventory in the nation.

This is a natural for any individual -- kids, students, seniors -- who takes pride in his or her local community, wants to put local parks and recreation on the map, and realizes the potential of technology to promote the benefits of an active, healthy lifestyle. Give back to your parks -- be a Park Partner.

Laura Payne Kent State University

Promote your local parks and recreation opportunities by joining the ActiveParks.org team today. Call [phone] or e-mail [e-mail] to get started.