Bring your favorite outdoor activity to this online site that promotes the sharing of your experiences, gear, destinations, photos and opinions.
It was just a few years ago that prognosticators were predicting the total isolation of computer and Internet users, portraying them as pale-skinned, squinty-eyed creatures who were hunched over their keyboards day and night, never venturing outside the glare of their computer monitors to live in sunshine of the real world. Then came the phenomena known as "social networking" that has been exemplified by sites such as MySpace (originally for music lovers, now a general site) and Flickr (for photographers). Today, there is a social networking site for almost every demographic, interest and age group, and that's where Outdoorzy.com, a social networking site for outdoor enthusiasts, finds its niche.
Outdoorzy.com opened for beta testers in November of last year, then initiated a viral marketing campaign in January of this year to begin adding members from around the world. Though only a little over 2 months old, Outdoorzy.com already boasts over 300 members, with a little more than half of those from the U.S. and the rest from all over the world including Germany, Canada, Spain and the U.K., among others.
Wade Heflin, one of the 3 co-founders of Outdoorzy.com, told me, "While building the ecommerce site that got me my start, I found that there was a real need for connection in the online world. Our customers loved to interact with one another and even with us, the business owners. This desire for socialization online has been proven many times over in the past few years with the popularity of social networks. I am an avid outdoor enthusiast and I enjoy most of the activities we accommodate on Outdoorzy.com. This love of outdoor sports teamed with my previous web experience and the need to fill this niche led me, along with two partners, to start Outdoorzy.com."
The site itself is very user-friendly. I signed up (membership is free) in just a few short minutes. Filling out a profile to let others know a little (or a lot, as you choose) about you and your interests is a breeze with activities broken down into categories and choosing your favorites as easy as checking the appropriate boxes. Categories are broken out into Water, Land, Snow, Air, Urban, Music and Others. Activities and interests include Hiking, Mountain Biking, Fishing, Photography, Music, Paintball, Whitewater Rafting, Running, Horseback Riding, Surfing, Kayaking, Adventure Racing, Cycling, Rock Climbing and many, many others. If you can't find it listed, it probably doesn't exist.
In addition, you can write Trip Reports or Gear Reviews; share your Gear List; search for or list Destinations; check for or post upcoming Events; post your favorite photos and participate in the Forums with other members. But Heflin and his partners aren't stopping there. They have plans to roll out additional features this year including a Classified Ads section, Business Profiles, Personal Mapping Software and Group capabilities, to name a few.
If you're an outdoor enthusiast, Outdoorzy.com is a great site to use to meet others who share your interests, in your own backyard or across the globe.
