What to have ready
You do not need much, but the listing is more useful when it is complete:
- The name and the category: sport, faith, arts, service, hobbies, outdoors, wellbeing, learning, community, youth or business, then the type within it.
- Who it is for: everyone, adults, juniors, families, over 50s, men, women, and whether the venue is accessible.
- Town and venue. We use the venue to place your pin, so the more specific the better. Online groups can say so instead. If you meet in someone's home, tick "We meet in a private home: show the town only": the listing then shows the town and no venue, and the pin goes in the middle of the town, so no house is ever on the map.
- When you meet, in your own words: "Tuesdays 7 to 9pm during term time" beats a bare list of days.
- Cost: free, donation or paid, and a note if it helps ("£5 a session, first one free").
- A link (website, Facebook page or sign-up form) and a contact so people can reach you. Mobile numbers are never shown, anywhere on a listing, so give a landline or a group email. Junior groups never show an email or phone number, not even in the description, so people use your link; a junior group with no website of its own shows "Contact through" the organisation it is part of, such as "Contact through Scouts Isle of Man", linking to theirs.
- If your team is part of a bigger organisation (a league, association, federation, circuit or movement, such as the Isle of Man FA or Scouts Isle of Man), name it under "Part of". Your listing then links to the organisation's page, which shows all its teams on a map. If it is not on the list yet, type its name: a person checks it and adds it if it is a real organisation on the island.
- Whether you are taking new members right now, and whether beginners and drop-ins are welcome. Those two boxes are what a nervous first-timer looks for.
How to add it
- Open the map and tap "Add a team".
- Fill in the form. When you press "Check pin location" we find your venue and show the pin so you can drag it to the right spot.
- Submit for review. That is it. There is no account to create.
What happens next
Every submission is checked by a person before it goes public, so spam and mistakes never reach the map. Once your team is approved it appears within a few minutes, and if you gave us a private email you get the link. If you ticked "I help run this team" and we agree, that email also carries a private one-click link to say the listing is still right, and we may email that address about once a year to check. Either way it is never shown on the site. The listing says "Not yet confirmed by the team" until someone from the team uses that link. The same email links to a card maker: a picture of your team with a QR code to its page, for your group chat or a story, made on your phone. If something does not look right after that, just let us know.
For organisations
If you run an organisation teams are part of, such as an association, a federation or a movement, email michael@michaeljosem.com for a private page for it. It shows which of your teams' listings are up to date, due a check or may have stopped, and a button emails each team due a check a one-click link to confirm its listing. It never shows anyone's email address or phone number, and the emails only ever go to each team's own address on file.
Keeping it up to date
Moved venues, changed nights, or no longer taking new members? Open Update your listing, find your team, and send a correction. Or tap "Suggest a correction" on your listing on the map. Either way the change is reviewed before it goes live. To have a listing removed, email michael@michaeljosem.com.
A few tips
- Use the venue people actually turn up to, not a postal address.
- Write the "About" as if to someone who has never been: what you do, who comes, what a first visit is like.
- The "Why did the team start?" box is optional but travels furthest. Two honest sentences beat a mission statement. Please don't name people without asking them.
- A working link and a contact make all the difference. A pin with no way to get in touch is a dead end.
No group to list yet? The Start a team page is a plain guide to getting one going: a few people, a room, a first night.