Sean Benesh

No Staff. No Budget. No Quit. And somehow, an unreasonable amount of optimism. What compels people to sacrifice weekends and tackle seemingly impossible challenges just to make trails happen? There’s something powerful, and maybe even dangerous, about a shared mission.

Why give up precious time for something that doesn’t pay? Spent the weekend at the Oregon Timber Trail Alliance board retreat. Lots of planning, laughter, and hope. Sometimes I wonder if I’m stretched too thin. But weekends like this remind me why I say yes.

Next Monday, November 9, I’m teaming up with the Outdoor Recreation Council of BC to lead a webinar titled “From Algorithm-Chaser to Comms Pro: Social Media Strategies for Nonprofit Clubs.” Monday, November 9 | 11 am PST Learn more and register: bit.ly/4kqmkm8

Serving on a nonprofit trail org board is rewarding. It can also be exhausting. Many trail orgs have no paid staff. Volunteer board members juggle day jobs while raising funds, maintaining trails, and advocating for access. bit.ly/4AgDMyu

A.I. is everywhere, including your social media feed. Generic race promotions, cheesy videos, and captions that all sound alike. The question isn’t whether race directors and rural tourism leaders should use A.I. in marketing ... it’s how to use it. bit.ly/4kvfLij

Race directors, let’s talk about A.I. I’d love to get feedback on: (a) Are you using it? (b) How much? (c) In what capacity? Drop a comment below or DM me.

Last week, I argued that bike races should stop paying for reach and instead build their own media ecosystems. I still stand by that. But here’s the pivot: Once you’re building your own media ecosystem, paid ads can help accelerate your efforts. bit.ly/4zerZk1

Last week, I argued that bike races should stop paying for attention. This week, I’m making the case for paying for it. Contradictory? Not necessarily. Paid ads can serve two purposes. Race directors, when you advertise, is your goal registrations or awareness?

If you stopped spending money on advertising tomorrow, how would people discover your race? Would your website attract visitors? Would your social media generate interest? Would your email newsletter drive registrations? What’s currently driving the most race registrations?

Race directors … What if you stopped paying to reach someone else’s audience and started building your own? We’re living in the attention economy, but I think we’re overlooking one of our greatest marketing opportunities. bit.ly/4sd029s

Race directors and rural tourism leaders, a question for you. You have $1,000 to spend on advertising your race or destination. Where would you spend it?

I’m active on eight different social media platforms. But if you’re a race director, trail org, or rural tourism leader, I probably wouldn’t recommend doing the same. Why? bit.ly/4B3T0I2

What if you’re spending most of your social media energy on the wrong platform? Yesterday, I asked whether race directors, trail orgs, and rural tourism leaders should focus on 1 or 2 platforms or try to be everywhere. How do you decide which platforms deserve your attention?

Here’s a question for trail orgs, race directors, and rural tourism leaders. Is it better to be on EVERY social media platform or focus your energy on just one or two? I’m exploring this topic for an upcoming article, and I’d love your perspective.

What actually makes a town a “trail town?” Having great trails nearby is certainly part of it. But the more I’ve thought about this question, the more I’ve realized that the trail itself is only the beginning. bit.ly/4rSXA7X

It’s always interesting to talk with rural communities that want trails. Where do you even start? What advice would you give a community at the start of building trails, hoping to become a trail town?

What if you marketed your race all year without constantly asking people to register? That's content marketing. The goal is to create useful & interesting content that attracts the right riders, gives them reasons to keep coming back & eventually moves them toward registration.

Most social posts have a short life. That’s why race marketing needs content with a longer shelf life: articles, newsletters, YouTube videos, and searchable resources that keep helping people discover your race months later. That’s the long game. bit.ly/4z49XAs

Race directors: what happens when none of your posts go viral? You still have a race to grow. That’s where repeatable content matters: articles, email newsletters, YouTube videos, searchable resources. What kind of content has worked best for your race?

In my Writing Across Media course, we’ve been talking about attention. On social media, you have seconds to stop the scroll. Your bike race, rural destination, nonprofit, or brand competes with Nike, Netflix, Taylor Swift, friends, and AI cat videos. Same screen. Same fight.