Data Model Overview

This page provides an overview of the various types of data that are in scope for OpenActive.

Classes and Sessions

Represented in the model by SessionSeries and ScheduledSession

This is an event (usually 1 or 2 hours in duration), that happens with some regularity. It is expected that if a user attends one of these events, that they would find another event in the series happening soon afterwards. They are not just attending a one-off event, as there is an implication of also being part of a community of regular attendees. Note that although the events might be frequent, they do not necessarily conform to a rigid Schedule (though many do). For example click the "Rides" tab in this group https://www.letsride.co.uk/groups/central-london-outdoor-group there is no regularity here.

The key thing that distinguishes a Session Series is that it's a thematic event series (e.g. topical meetup or class), or a series of regular events that share a location, attendee group and/or organisers, at a frequency that a participant can expect to build a real exercise habit (at least monthly, as a guide).

Typical opportunities in this category are provided by clubs, community providers, which might take place in a park, club or within leisure centres. It also includes a local walking club that might meet on a Saturday morning once a month.

Ad-hoc Facility Bookings

Represented in the model by FacilityUse, IndividualFacilityUse, and Slot

These are activities which are bookable based on slots of availability for a particular activity (e.g. Badminton) at a facility within a venue (e.g. a sports hall). These include squash courts, a running track, community facilities such as youth centres, school halls, or church halls. If you book "Badminton in School Hall" you can expect the appropriate equipment to be available to allow you to carry out this activity (e.g. a badminton net). In this example the Facility is "School Hall", and the Use is "Badminton".

Events

Represented in the model by Event

These events are one-off occurrences, e.g. a fun run organised by a local group may run as a standalone event on a particular date or an organisation that runs many individual events e.g. Human Race, Race for Life, International Women's Day.

Headline Events

Represented in the model by HeadlineEvent

These are large scale events such as London Marathon or a Triathlon "Hebridean Cycle Challenge", which are typically all day with specific start times for sub-events happening within them.

For example, the "Big South East Aquathlon" contains "Big South East Aquathlon Long Course", "Big South East Aquathlon Sprint", and "Dartford Bridge Aquathlon". All these events happen together, or at offset times during the day. The same is true of any marathon or half-marathon, which might include different races such as the "Elite Wheelchair Marathon".

Headline Events also include festivals, such as the Lambeth Country Show, which may include a range of different short activities within its programme (such sessions of "try wheelchair basketball").

Courses

Represented in the model by CourseInstance

Courses generally involve an upfront commitment to a number of sessions, with a consistent attendee group and/or organisers for the duration of the course.

These are activities which tend to have a start and end date, likely to coincide with a holiday period or are activities based on improving a skill e.g. Soccer Schools, holiday camps, learn to swim.

Virtual Events

Represented in the model by the eventAttendanceMode property, which can be applied to the existing opportunity types for SessionSeries, HeadlineEvent, Event, CourseInstance.

Virtual Events (aka "Livestream" or "Live" events) are activities that can be accessed online by users live from source through a digital product e.g. fitness classes, workouts, sessions which are live-streamed or provided via an online product, such as FitSwarm, Zoom, Facebook Live, or Instagram Live. They also include scheduled online events and sessions which can be participated in virtually using an app or run-tracker (e.g. live virtual 5k).

Online classes and events are part of an ongoing discussion that has been accelerated in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and any properties suggested in the associated proposals are subject to change after the pandemic has ended. We welcome your contribution to the discussion and various proposals to expedite building these into the OpenActive specifications.

On-Demand Events

Represented in the model by OnDemandEvent.

On-demand Events are recordings of events that do not occur at a specific time, and are available to watch at any time - similar to content on Netflix or iPlayer. These might be pre-recorded fitness classes, workouts, sessions which are provided via an online product, such as Les Mills On Demand and Racefully. They include on-demand video content and sessions which can be participated in virtually using an app or run-tracker (e.g. live virtual 5k).

Online classes and events are part of an ongoing discussion that has been accelerated in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and any properties suggested in the associated proposals are subject to change after the pandemic has ended. We welcome your contribution to the discussion and various proposals to expedite building these into the OpenActive specifications.

Areas of future work

Leagues and Ringers

Leagues and ringers are part of an ongoing discussion, and any properties suggested in the associated proposals are subject to change. We welcome your contribution to the discussion to help expedite building these into the OpenActive specifications.

Leagues could be informal, social, turn up and play or structured opportunities that have a set frequency and play in some sort of competition format e.g. Go Mammoth, Simple Netball.

Ringer opportunities are spaces available in teams already scheduled to play due to drop-outs, which give participants a chance to try out the league mid-season.

Note that use cases for this data have are not yet fully defined, please join the discussion here if you have any ideas to contribute.

Routes

Routes are part of an ongoing discussion, and any properties suggested in the associated proposals are subject to change. We welcome your contribution to the discussion to help expedite building these into the OpenActive specifications.

For self-directed activities like walking, running and cycling, where there is a detailed pre-defined route available for the activity.

Note that use cases for this data have are not yet fully defined, please join the discussion here if you have any ideas to contribute.

Other types of data

The OpenActive community is focussed on ensuring that all types of physical activity and sport opportunities can made available as open data and where possible bookable online.

If there are any types of data that are not mentioned above, please feel free to either get in touch at [e-mail] with your use case, or raise a new issue on GitHub, or both.