Some Small Changes to How We Count Participation in Events
When The Hive first started in 2012 it was an experiment. We wanted to create a safe space where anyone who wanted to get healthier and feel stronger could come and interact, ask for advice, share their journey and feel less alone in their struggle.
It worked. So much so that by 2022 we had outgrown the original programming we had chosen and had to scrap everything and rebuild. The new Hive we have is capable of so much more than just adding your name and creating a log to post your progress.
The Hive has now become a buzzing hub of seasonal events, weekly activities and annual interactions (like the Christmas Tree Ornament, Halloween and the Snowfight). It now allows us to not just be publicly accountable in what we do by logging our fitness journey but also discover others from across the world who share that journey with us and interact with them.
There are now clubs (where you can share what you do) and a Dashboard where everything you do can be logged.
From the very beginning The Hive, like Darebee had a simple guiding motto: placing the needs of those who use it, first. To that effect every change we put in place is intended to help every person in it have more control, get more enjoyment and have a more accurate, detailed picture of what they do.
We had, in-house, an involved debate on how to best implement this core principle within the changing, connected functionality of The Hive and the Darebee website. In the past, when we held an event, we’ve always accepted workout activity as counting towards it. The rationale at the time was that as long as people were active it was great, so if —for example— you did a workout that included jumping jacks and we had a Hive event that required jumping jacks then the ones you did in your workout counted towards the Event requirements and you could log those numbers in, and participate.
This is not, however how real life works. If you go and workout at your gym and then choose to participate in a game of football in the park, the running you did in the gym does not count towards the running the game of football requires you to do. They’re two separate events and you participate in the game at the park because it’s fun, it’s social and you exercise more.
We’ve decided to apply the same logic in Hive Events. Like the game in the park they’re an additional layer of physical activity dressed in a social, fun, connected way. In a way we’re already doing this with the annual snowball fight where we need to do extra physical stuff in order to participate and what we do in our daily workout does not count within in.
We’re now formalizing this approach for The Hive so we can have a structured basis for bringing in more interactivity, fresh, future programming and new ways to engage, interact and have fun.
The benefits of the change are significant:
It worked. So much so that by 2022 we had outgrown the original programming we had chosen and had to scrap everything and rebuild. The new Hive we have is capable of so much more than just adding your name and creating a log to post your progress.
The Hive has now become a buzzing hub of seasonal events, weekly activities and annual interactions (like the Christmas Tree Ornament, Halloween and the Snowfight). It now allows us to not just be publicly accountable in what we do by logging our fitness journey but also discover others from across the world who share that journey with us and interact with them.
There are now clubs (where you can share what you do) and a Dashboard where everything you do can be logged.
From the very beginning The Hive, like Darebee had a simple guiding motto: placing the needs of those who use it, first. To that effect every change we put in place is intended to help every person in it have more control, get more enjoyment and have a more accurate, detailed picture of what they do.
We had, in-house, an involved debate on how to best implement this core principle within the changing, connected functionality of The Hive and the Darebee website. In the past, when we held an event, we’ve always accepted workout activity as counting towards it. The rationale at the time was that as long as people were active it was great, so if —for example— you did a workout that included jumping jacks and we had a Hive event that required jumping jacks then the ones you did in your workout counted towards the Event requirements and you could log those numbers in, and participate.
This is not, however how real life works. If you go and workout at your gym and then choose to participate in a game of football in the park, the running you did in the gym does not count towards the running the game of football requires you to do. They’re two separate events and you participate in the game at the park because it’s fun, it’s social and you exercise more.
We’ve decided to apply the same logic in Hive Events. Like the game in the park they’re an additional layer of physical activity dressed in a social, fun, connected way. In a way we’re already doing this with the annual snowball fight where we need to do extra physical stuff in order to participate and what we do in our daily workout does not count within in.
We’re now formalizing this approach for The Hive so we can have a structured basis for bringing in more interactivity, fresh, future programming and new ways to engage, interact and have fun.
The benefits of the change are significant:
- Events become what they’re supposed to be: fun, optional, extras
- Activity logged in your Dashboard is accurate and reflective of what you do
- It creates a level playing-field (on some occasions those already doing a combat-based program or workout were already ahead of everyone else in an Event)
- It gives you the opportunity to use these occasions to take your fitness to new levels (last Christmas I ended up doing in a 48-hour period, over 1,000 jumping-jacks as I flapped my arms to avoid the avalanche of snowballs coming my way)
- It creates a logically-sound basis for introducing other activities in The Hive that also must be uncoupled from workouts and programs
