GET YOUR LOCAL GROOVE ON!
HOW TO FIND A LOCAL HOOP CLASS OR JAM NEAR YOU!
Classes come and go, change locations and times, ebb and flow with the weather and the availability of their hard-working organizers!
So, getting your local groove on can be tricky, but it is OH-SO-ESSENTIAL in maintaining a hooper's enthusiam and the growth of a global hooping community.
1) Start with the almighty Google.
Search terms like "hula hoop" and "your city" or "hula hoop" and "your state". What's going to help tremendously with your scavenger hunt is by keeping track of all things hula hoop related. Pinterest Boards are a great way to house all your findings from your hooping expeditions.
2) Now head over to Facebook and do the same thing. Yep!
If the circle spirits are smiling down on you, you may just find a group for your locality. But odds are you WILL turn up a local business. Send these local businesses a fb message because they are likely to be able to hook you up with all the local events.
3) Next, use the search bar on Hooping.org.
But this time, just search for your city and/or state. Hooping.org search engine will turn up any photo, video, or news story it's ever published about something going on near you. Hooping.org is excellent at linking the Facebook pages and/or websites of any of the people or groups in the story. So, go ahead and reach out to them.
4) Off to Meetup.com.
Meetup.com is an underused resource for finding hoop jams. I was blown away by how many are posted there. The search MUST be done by locality, so cross your fingers and give it a shot!
5. Search Youtube.com
When YouTube launched in 2005, it changed everything for hoopers. No matter where we are in the world, we're never isolated because we can share and learn with one another from anywhere. Prolific posters will often include their location in their profiles or in the video description itself. Filter by date to find those active near you.
6. Start YOUR Own!
Setting off your own hoop jam is easier than you would think. Every single one of them has started the same way. Some awesome hooper took a handful of hoops to the park. The fastest way to your own local hoop community is to make some hoopers, right? And the most effective way to do that is to put a hoop in their hands.
Show up at the same time and day of the week and watch your group grow. Just don't forget the music.
7. Help Others :)
Local hoop businesses and communities would do a GREAT service to create and keep up-to-date a list of every single hoop group, class,
and jam within a 25 mile radius. Post it on your website, on your FB page, and keep it handy for anyone who contacts you looking for community.
When you meet a new hooper or an interested hooper (we call them hoopers-to-be) be sure to point them in the right direction to get them involved in your community!