At the Enthusiast Group, our business is passion. We enable online users to interact with others who share their passion -- whether it be for a sport, hobby, activity, product or brand -- through our publishing activities, technology provision and online community management services.

The company has two primary divisions:

Private-label platform:

We build conversational online communities and social networks for companies, organizations and publishers, and we can manage the conversation on behalf of our clients. We are strong believers in the notion that both the marketing and media worlds are in the middle of a significant transition from mostly one-way communication to highly interactive two-way dialog between consumer and brand (and between consumer and consumer, via the brand).

There's a revolution going on, as consumers are empowered by the Internet. It's our job to help companies operate and interact in this new environment, by providing technology, services and expertise to ease the transition into doing business in an enabled-consumer world.

Outdoor/adventure community publishing:

Before embarking on providing those services to other organizations, we devised and built our own network of grassroots online communities for climbers, mountain bikers, cyclists, runners and horse enthusiasts.

Our websites serve sports and outdoor enthusiasts in telling their own stories without professional writing or photography help. Sports enthusiasts have compelling stories and images to share, but they typically are under-covered by traditional media. It's nearly always the stars of any sport that get the media attention. But everyday athletes and sports participants deserve coverage, too; many have compelling stories and images to share with fellow enthusiasts.

Our citizen-media websites give a home to such "self coverage," under the guidance and support of an expert editor who is a sports enthusiast him/herself, while supporting it with a commercial marketplace designed to meet the needs of particular sports communities. The sites serve as a home base on the Internet for all those who are passionate about a sport or activity.

The websites tap into current trends of social networking (find other people who love what you love), blogging (express yourself to a worldwide audience), digital still- and video-cameras, and photo cell phones' ubiquity. These new tools allow people to share their passion and experiences with like-minded others -- to tell their stories, and hook up online and in person.

Check out our management team and advisory board.

For a lighter (and short) explanation of what one of our sites is about, watch this short video of YourRunning.com enthusiast-in-chief Simon Martin: