Winter is finally here!

Alright folks,

Sorry for not updating as often guys. I will be more pro-active from here on out in updating the site to make sure you guys have the latest up-to-date information.

So here go! Tomorrow, Saturday December, 12, we WILL be meeting at same place and time. This is mostly going to be an experiment to see how we deal with the winter cold. Please come bundled up with full winter gear. It will be 32 degrees and sunny.

Also, please check the website every Saturday morning in case something weather related happens. I will be canceling if the weather proves to be too dangerous.

See everyone there!

Charles

Parkour Easy Event Planning System

The weather here has stayed nice for a while, and I’ve heard a lot of talk about people wanting to train outside the usual Saturday sessions. In response, we started having stuff other days throughout the week. This is a good start, but I still wasn’t satisfied. What if it’s a nice day and you want to train, but nothing is planned? What if your plans got canceled and you’ve got a few hours to kill? 

Before, there was no good way for you guys to contact people quickly, unless it was contacting people one-on-one by phone or instant messages. Until now!

I want to announce a new service I’ve created for you guys. It’s called the Parkour Easy Event Planning System (PEEPS).

It’s super simple to use - if you want to go train, you can send a text message to this system. Within 30 minutes, it will forward your text message and notify everyone else signed up for the system.

PEEPS is based on Twitter - but you never actually have to use it (after you set up your account). In order to sign up for the system, please follow these 7 simple steps:

1. Go to Twitter.com and sign up for a new account. I encourage you to use your real name, or at least your first name, so others will easily know who you are.

2. Go to the “Settings” menu, then “Devices,” then put in your phone number, check the checkbox that says it is okay for Twitter to send you text messages, and hit “Save.”

4. Go check your phone! It might take a few minutes, but you’ll get a text message from Twitter. Follow the directions.

5. Add the phone number you got a text message from to your phone book.

6. Go to www.twitter.com/rochesterpk and click the “Follow” button.

7. After you follow the account, click on the little circle with a

cell phone image inside that appears.

That’s it! You’re done! Now, if you want to jam, send a text message to 40404 (which is the phone number that Twitter texted you from) and tell people where and when (day and time) to meet. At the end of your message, you HAVE to put the following: #rocpkjams This is how the system knows who you are and that it should send the text message out to everyone else.

Please keep in mind - if this system gets abused I’ll have to shut it down. Please ONLY use it to report jams, and please keep the messages as short as possible. “Tuesday, outside the library, 5pm.” is good. “hey everyone who wants to train on tuesday? I think we should meet outside the library. I’m thinking 5pm but if that doesn’t work let me know.” is bad.

Twitter limits messages to 140 characters, but you really shouldn’t even need anything that long. So keep them short!

I think this is going to be a great way to have smaller stuff going on throughout the week. Saturday will still be the big jam day, but if you have free time and it’s a beautiful day… why not go train with some friends? In the next week or so, I should have a list of training locations up on the website for you guys. There are lots of great places around Rochester that most of you have never seen, but they just aren’t big enough to bring lots of people.

So sign up for PEEPS and use it! Lets get out there and train as much as we can!

Lady's Jams

Jessie Kirkwood has stepped up to start leading weekly Lady’s Jams. These jams are Girls-Only, and will help girls of any age learn the foundations of Parkour in a more comfortable environment.

The Lady’s Jams will be Saturday’s at 12:00 at Manhattan Square Park, and the attendees are encouraged to stick around for the main jam afterward at 2:30.

From Jessie:

“I am a firm believer that it is important to learn parkour as a community regardless of gender, but I also feel that having something in common can only strengthen friendships and then the community in turn.  Meeting earlier on Saturday will allow us to bond as traceuses and still join up with the group afterward.  This is also a great opportunity to bring any friends that have voiced interest in parkour but were uncomfortable starting up in a larger group. “

For more information or if you have any questions, email training@rochesterparkour.com.