Publishing your activity data
In this section we’ll cover how you can publish your activity data free of charge, and the benefits this could bring you.
We’ll also introduce you to Open Sessions; London Sport’s free digital product making it easy for activity providers to publish open data compliant activity data and promote their sessions to new people.
FAQ's
Open Sessions is the only free tool enabling sport and physical activity providers (clubs, sports facilities and other providers) to publish their activity information and become open data compliant.
By using Open Sessions it enables providers to publish their activity information in a standardised format, which can then be fed into websites and apps that show available activities. These websites and apps include the likes of Get Active – people can input their postcode, search and book activities taking place near them.
Open Sessions is the ‘behind the scenes’ platform that feeds activity data into websites and apps like Get Active. Clubs, sports facilities and other providers can input their data into Open Sessions, which is the only free of charge open data publishing tool, and means that their sessions appear on Get Active and are made available to Londoners who are looking for ways to be active.
To publish your session information, visit our dedicated portal and follow the step-by-step instructions. You will need to create an account and provide essential details about your session(s).
Watch our short video here where we run through the step-by-step process you will follow on Open Sessions to publish your data.
If you’re an activity provider (anyone that runs and deliver sport and physical activity sessions or classes) then you can publish your data!
Sessions can be uploaded by anyone, including sports clubs, community groups, fitness trainers, and individuals who organize sports or physical activity sessions, classes and events.
Some activity finders charge you a fee to publish your data.
That’s why so many activity providers use Open Sessions to publish their data free of charge.
There is no fee associated with Open Sessions; it’s a free service built and maintained by London Sport to increase the number of organisations publishing data.
When uploading your sessions, essential details will be required; such as session name, location, date, time, a brief description, target audience (e.g., age group, skill level), and any specific requirements or equipment participants should bring.
Watch our short video here where we run through the step-by-step process you will follow on Open Sessions to publish your data.
Yes, you can edit or update the details of your sessions as needed. Simply log in to your account on our platform and make the necessary changes.
Watch our short video here where we run through the step-by-step process you can follow to edit and update session information on Open Sessions.
You can upload private sessions, but it’s encouraged to make sessions as inclusive as possible to benefit a wider audience. If sessions are restricted to a particular group, please mention this in the session description.
If you encounter technical issues or have questions about the uploading process, please contact our support team via the chat box found in the Open Sessions website. We are here to assist you.
You can promote your sessions through your own channels, such as social media, websites, and community networks. Additionally, sessions uploaded to our platform may benefit from increased visibility among residents searching for activities in their local borough.
Alternatively, check out our section on social media advertising basics here.
With Open Sessions, we’ve recently built a bulk uploader tool to speed up the process of publishing activity data for large organisations. If you want to publish more than 10 different weekly activities, please download this spreadsheet, complete all fields and return to [email protected]
The benefits of publishing activity data
We know that many people are searching online for local ways to be active. There is also a growing workforce of social prescribers who are looking for suitable opportunities to help their patients become active.
Unfortunately, many smaller activity providers still have limited or zero online presence, meaning they’re hard to find. Some may have leaflets printed or a mention in a local authority magazine; maybe a phone number to call but no information about what sessions are running when and an easy way to book on to those activities.
Even if they have a website, it’s unlikely to show up on the first page of Google when someone is searching for it.
By publishing activity session information in a standardised open data format, activity providers and commissioners can get their session information onto the activity finders, apps and services that people are using to find ways to be active. The benefits of open data include:
Free marketing and increase visibility
Cost savings
Compliance and future proofing
Improved accessibility
UK Deaf Sport case study
This case study not only highlights the benefits of becoming OpenActive compliant, but also demonstrates how easy it is to publish your data using a tool like Open Sessions.
Open Sessions 'how to' videos:
Webinar: how activity providers can use open data for free marketing
We’ve partnered with the Digital Marketing Hub from CIMSPA and Sport England to create a webinar on using open data to promote your local activity sessions.
- Sign up for a free account here: www.digital.cimspa.co.uk
- Access the webinar from London Sport and the ODI here:
