arch spam enemy #1

I had more serious topics to write-up, including a race report, but they'd require some thought, this topic didn't.

How did go from being the premier once race database and event entry destination to being my number one spammer?

I've no idea what the answer is, but as of today I've unsubscribed from their emails twice and still they keep coming. As of today I've got 42 emails from various active entities, including:

* schwaggle - their groupon like email discount program you'd think they'd know me and be sending lazer sharp offers I'd be interested in... Bamboo ecosox, Mission athleticare products and some random electrolyte mix.
* Active cyclist - tips on various stuff
* Active Network, Enurance - Find out what you missed at our Youth races webinar, etc.
* Active Triathlete - various things from useless races I wouldn't take part in, to race tips which are frankly also useless and I'll come back to in a later post.

Active local events - Mostly their Austin races are limited since most of the Austin core race organizers don't use active. Here is the list of events from the July 24th email
08/06/2011 - Leander FFA Alumni Family Fun... - Leander, TX
08/06/2011 - BERRY CREEK ZAT - Georgetown, TX
08/13/2011 - 5K for Clay - Round Rock, Texas
08/13/2011 - Havok Baseball 5K Run/Walk - Pflugerville, Texas
08/14/2011 - Inspire Kids to TRI Youth... - Cedar Park, Texas
09/02/2011 - Playtri Longhorn Triathlon... - Austin, Texas
10/01/2011 - The 24/7 Superhero Obstacle... - Johnson City, Texas
11/06/2011 - DRC Half Marathon - Dallas, Texas

I'm guessing active don't really have a grasp on the fact Dallas is a 3-hour drive from Austin at best and at worst is a 5-hour nightmare. Also note that since active know precisely how old I am, telling me about a youth triathlon is not that appealing. Of course, the real problem was the keynote local event highlighted in the email was in fact the "Palm Beaches Marathon Festival Presented by Publix" - Now I know how they got this Florida race, but thats not the point if they want to market it at me, sending it in a local race email is just dumb.

The real problem is active are not really focused on value, they are focussed on numbers. I know because I was there at the triathlon america conference where their CEO went on on about their numbers, their scale, their reach. That was before they went public, who knows what he'd say now. He waxed on lyrically about their planned social media integration and how people would be more likely to enter events if active was able to promote "your" events to the friends, telling them you'd entered etc.

Well, now you've gone public, please get your email subscriptions sorted out please active. The newsletter subscription page is a start, but I've still had to go to numerous other pages and emails still keep coming. I've been to your website(s) at least 5x to try to get out of email spam hell. Everytime the process is slightly different, the page looks different, the process is different. email management shouldn't be that hard. If you want to spam me in 15-ways to tomorrow, please provide a single page where I can choose what I want and don't want, you figure out the back ends.
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I hate

Not only do they spam you after registering, they spam you right on the website with all sorts of subscription offers. Total junk. And we pay an extra FEE for this service. Putting up with that much spam should mean that the additional fees are non-existent.

I like MUCH better.
we pay a BIG fee too, you and I know it can't possibly cost that much to run a transaction...