Tipping My Hat to The Leisure Information Network

Looking Back Over the Latest Chapter of LIN (2010-2017)
These are personal comments and are not endorsed by the LIN Board

To be transparent I was the Chairman of LIN from 2010-2015 and I still sit on the Board.
My Blog is not linked to LIN or promoted by LIN. My "newspaper" Recreation Canada is not affiliated with LIN.

After 22 years of serving Canada’s Recreation Sector, the Board of the Leisure Information Network decided that it would suspend operations September 30th, 2017 and go DARK December 31st.. Over the last few months all responsibilities for website support for the National Recreation Framework, The National Benefits Hub and the After School Project were addressed and alternative arrangements for support beyond September 30th^st were made.

A final report was released September 27th. Rather than a wrap up of statistics and accomplishments over the 22 years the Board chose to submit a a report that could contribute to the future direction of knowledge development/management for the Recreation Sector. Knowledge Development & Management: A Sectoral Opportunity

The idea for a National Recreation Database was approved at the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Ministers meeting in Quebec City in 1988. LIN was launched in 1995. LIN operated for 22 years as the “information hub” of the Recreation Sector in Canada. The focus has primarily been on support for municipal recreation.

Maintaining an operation like LIN takes ongoing funding (CORE funding) and that has never been a luxury for LIN. Somehow LIN cobbled together grants, project funding and operating contributions from Provincial Governments like Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, North West Territories, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland Labrador, Yukon, Saskatchewan and Nunavut. Several Provincial Governments also contributed to Special Projects directly or indirectly.

In June of 2010 after a short hiatus LIN was revived with John Frittenburg's “needs” research and Rick Curtis's Vision . Agnes Croxford, the Executive Director of LIN, supported the revival of the new Board and Rick Curtis's dream of building on the National Recreation Database began.

LIN realized in 2010 that it had to move well beyond “the library” role and image that had been created over the previous 15 years. LIN had to become a curator of its information; really it had to become much more than a curator and it had to expand its base of operation from municipal recreation to other specialty recreation areas such as tourism, outdoor recreation, Outdoor Recreation in Federal, Provincial, and Local Parks, Recreational Therapy and Therapeutic Recreation, Campus Recreation, Leisure, and Intramurals, Event Management, commercial Recreation and leisure businesses,  Recreation in Nonprofit Organizations, Armed Forces Recreation and the much broader platform of leisure.

Chasing the dream would require a new search appliance to maintain the content foundation, web site adjustments to accommodate maximizing site accessibility by new smartphone technology, a trend tracker to analyze the specific trends within the Sector and those impacting the Sector, a public policy institute to facilitate policy development and issue recognition, communities of practice to enhance the quality of content available, research partnerships with universities and colleges, enhanced focus on leisure education, a parks and recreation magazine, blogs, webinars and travel dollars to facilitate relationship building across Canada.

During the last seven years LIN was, admittedly,  distracted from fully focusing on its dream, to some extent, by supporting the National Recreation Summit (2011), the National Recreation Framework (2012-2017), the Northern Links Project, the After School Initiative ( 2013-15), the Parks Summit (2016) and the National Parks Conference (2017). These were incredible projects and did offer some revenue for LIN.

During the 2010-2017 period, when LIN was looking for help, funders began to shift their focus to outcomes  that do not leave room for the value of capacity initiatives. LIN as a facilitator for outcome achievers was sidelined for funding consideration.

LIN was also caught in shifting priorities of Federal & Provincial governments/agencies. 2-3 three year commitments to issues became the norm. Millions would be invested in an area such as After School programming; content and infrastructure would be created and then funding shifted to another area leaving a massive responsibility to be picked up by others or the investment lost. Some would see that as a fair approach but when trying to address long term issues the “whack-a-mole” approach makes little sense from an accountability process.

Funders wanted NEW initiatives and innovative initiatives that were not connected to existing content or program foundations. LIN was left outside looking in again.

The Board and staff made every effort to seek out core funding over the last seven years and were unsuccessful. LIN was constantly caught in catch 22 situations with potential funders wanting LIN to demonstrate its new initiatives but it couldn’t without investments in new technology and staff to create new products and services.

LIN hired a private consultant to identify all the project opportunities flowing out of the NRF (with Provincial Recreation Associations) but with no funding, projects could not be initiated.

Also during that time frame LIN picked up responsibility for the National After School site when PHAC funding to PHE Canada for the project was discontinued. LIN also came to the support of Active Living Alliance for Canadians with Disabilities (ALACD) when they decided to shut down their site which supported persons with disabilities.

The Inter Provincial Sport and Recreation Council provided funds to extend LIN until September 30th/17. Two conditions for the money were 1) LIN would keep the key websites up and running 2) LIN would participate in a process to examine what a Knowledge Development/Knowledge Management mechanism might look like in the future. 

The mounting frustration of having visions for LIN 2.0 but not having the necessary investments to make it happen finally forced the Board to decide on leaving with dignity rather than bankrupting itself again chasing a dream.

LIN has been an example of many Canadian non-profit organizations that chase a dream and try to make a go of it by "mission drifting" or“grant jumping” as major initiatives come up within the scope of their mandate.

In order for http://lin.ca/  to succeed as a free recreation information hub it had to be shared and promoted. Only Alberta Recreation and Parks Association and Parks & Recreation Ontario went the extra mile of actively creating awareness and promoting LIN.

However, through “grant jumping” LIN developed an expertise in creating “portals”; four examples are the National Recreation Summit, the After School Program portal, the Parks Summit portal and lastly the National Recreation Framework portal.

Ongoing support for The Benefits Hub (the Benefits of Recreation) has been a labour of love that kept an incredible resource alive for over 20 years. Adhoc funding through ARPA and the Alberta government was key to the survival of The Hub.

There will always be discussions of where LIN should have been housed to better support its survival; within CPRA, within an academic institution ie; within the proposed Normie Kwong Centre at the U of Alberta (that didn’t pan out), as a component of one of the provincial recreation associations, or even within SIRC. (LIN has always been envious of the support extended to SIRC via Sport Canada & Heritage Canada). All these options were considered at some point in LIN’s history but none guaranteed survival of the recreation content.

Will there be another resurrection of LIN?

In supporting the National Recreation Framework the Board of LIN felt that Goal 5 – specifically 5.7 would lead the way to the comprehensive knowledge development strategy.

5.7 Support a pan-Canadian, comprehensive knowledge development strategy that increases support for:

• recreation research and data collection carried out by universities and colleges, the not-for-profit

sector, provincial/territorial, local and Aboriginal governments, with special attention to applied

research at the community level

• the national recreation information system so that all those planning and delivering recreation

services have access to the latest evidence

• collaborative efforts among governments, recreation associations and colleges and universities to

develop new recreation programs and services that meet the evolving and expanding needs within

communities.

As said earlier LIN participated in discussions related to the future of a Knowledge Development/Knowledge Management mechanism but no clear options emerged.

As the Board looks at how to maximize the NRDB (National Recreation Database), it makes sense to pass it on to a group or individual(s) who actively believe in sharing resources not simply moth balling it.

The Board of LIN should be commended for the effort they put into trying to bring vital information to the recreation sector.Kerry Kelly and Agnes Croxford were LIN's two Executive Directors over the 22 years and they put heart and soul into trying to make LIN a success.

As a retired professional I was attracted by the vision and the challenge of revitalizing LIN. I would walk with the dreamers and visionaries again if the opportunity presented itself. I thank Rick Curtis for asking me to walk with him on the adventure. It is always exciting trying to turn dreams into realities.

So many people to thank; Rick Curtis, Gabi Haas (Chairperson), John Frittenburg, Agnes Crowxford, Kerry Kelley, Chris McCreery, Carol, Volunteer content person, Board members, PRO & Larry Ketcheson, ARPA (Steve Allen), ISRC (Roger Kramers), Trillium Foundation (Doug Gore).

Two innovative initiatives of the Canadian Recreation Sector that were applauded globally were the Benefits of Recreation Catalogue/Benefits Hub and the Leisure Information Network sadly neither initiative caught the imagination of recreation professionals in Canada.

I look forward to deliberations on the future of how recreation professionals and volunteers value and utilize information ..............

As I read more and more stories of industry magazines closing, not for profits shutting down and the imminent closure of Post Media I see the announced shutdown of LIN in a different light.

I do believe there is a Case for a Knowledge Development Strategy in Canada's Recreation Sector!

LIN's Final Report 2017 - Knowledge Development & Management: A Sectoral Opportunity http://lin.ca/resources/lin-annual-report-2017-knowledge-development-management-sectoral-opportunity …