Institute For The Future

Leisure North America Montreal HabsFan29 12/06/08

Family Context:  HabsFan29 (HF) is one of the bloggers behind the Four Habs Fans blog (http://fourhabsfans.blogspot.com/), which is dedicated to following the Montreal Canadiens hockey team (and is sprinkled with photos of "hot," semi-clad women intended to attract readers). At 40, HF lives alone, around the corner from his mother, on the west side of downtown Montreal.  We met with him at his mother's apartment, where he often spends Saturdays doing laundry and writing his post for that evening's game.

HF has four degrees from McGill University: his undergraduate degree; an MBA; and two law degrees (a BCL, or civil law degree, and a LLB, for common law).  He is considering going back for a master's degree in Internet law.  HF has lived in Montreal (almost) all of his life, although early in his law career he spent six months in Hong Kong.  He moved in to his current apartment upon his return, about five years ago.  (His mother, 69, moved to the neighborhood about a year later). 

HF left big law firm life in 2005 to become the vice president of business development and marketing at a small web design company.  In this capacity, his responsibilities also include buying office supplies, serving as in-house company bartender, and the occasional bit of legal work.  He enjoys the variety of roles he plays at the company, and he appreciates the freedom that comes with the job.  His work life now is radically different than it was when he was at the law firm.  His hours are far more regularly and he has much more free time.  

HF sees his mother often, stopping by not only to do laundry, but also for dinner and to help her out around the apartment.  His older brother and his common-law wife live in Montreal; his sister, her husband, and young daughter live in Ottawa.  He is also very close with an aunt and uncle who live in Montreal. HF spends a great deal of time with his family on weekends during the winter and summer, and over holidays, when they all congregate in the "country."  His mother owns a cottage on a lake in a rural area northwest of Montreal.  HF's family belongs to a particularly class of people for whom going to the country is fairly routine and significant.

Brief summary of establishing questions for domain:

In general, HF enjoys outdoor activities like walking, biking, and cross country skiing.  In Montreal during the winter, he will cross country ski from his apartment down to an open space area along the Lachine Canal.  He also often walks home from work along a main downtown street, taking advantage of the great people-watching opportunities, even while listening to his iPod.  When in the country with his family, HF cross-country skis with them in the winter, play tennis and canoes during the summer; they also enjoy eating, drinking, and playing board games together. 

Although they have a DVD player, HF prefers not to watch movies while at the family cottage. He expressed concern about how his downtime in the country might change should they ever get wireless Internet connectivity there.

HF self-identifies as a TV junkie.  There are several dramas that he watches religiously, often using his PVR (Personal Video Recorder, also known as a DVR or digital video recorder) to record them.  He watches most of these shows alone, but a couple of them provide important social occasions for him.  He has one group of friends that get together every week to watch the new episode of Lost; he has another group of friends that does the same for 24.  The advent of the PVR has allowed them to make these gatherings more relaxed: rather than rushing through dinner to gather around the TV at 8pm, they now time-shift watching the show until they are ready to enjoy it together. 

HF has the television on constantly, even if it only serves as background noise for him.  He also constantly moves his laptop around his home with him, from the kitchen to the couch to bed.  He is almost always online while watching television.  He visits websites that meet his interests; for example, he reads several TV blogs for fun, as well as many political blogs.  He has also transferred his love of word games like Scrabble and Boggle from the "real world" to the online world, where he plays with others or by himself. 

HF spends several hours of downtime a week contributing to his blog. Doing the research and the writing involved is a leisure activity for him.  One of the things he enjoys about working on Four Habs Fans is that he is doing it with friends (even though it is all done remotely).  He thinks that it will probably stop being fun when one of them leaves the group.

General Insights:

The distinction between work and downtime is blurring, especially for those who spend time surfing the Web for professional reasons in the first place and who enjoy spending time online while at home. Even more generally, the ability to check e-mail or otherwise perform some work-related task any time, any place, even in front of the television from the comfort of one's own living room, also blurs the line.

The advent of blogs has opened up a world of micro-publishing opportunities for those who feel they have something to say.  Blogging provides an outlet for writers, humorists, and creative types in general. That a blog finds a following is rewarding, though guarding one's privacy is a consideration that some will balance against the value to them of exposure to an audience.

Hobbies can provide a new focal point for engagement with technology and media.  A hockey fan is no longer limited to passively watching a game or reading the sports pages.  S/he can now start a blog, or participate in a community discussion by posting comments, even in real-time during a game.  Consumer and household behaviors around technology and media reflect this shift toward hobbies as a means of active engagement.

Households of one in North America are growing, and even for those with active social lives, leisure time is often spent alone.  The Internet affords people opportunities to have fun alone.  Even favorite word or board games traditionally played face-to-face with others can now be enjoyed online, either against the computer, or with others (in real-time or time-shifted).

Online social networking platforms like Facebook serve a useful purpose in terms of keeping in touch with people, and for organizing group events.  But a new form of junk mail is emerging, and users may feel oversaturated when too many cause-related requests pour into their accounts.

Emerging trends:

* Time-shifting--PVRs/DVRs and onlne sources for downloading TV shows indicate that there is still a demand for this traditional form of entertainment, but people want to watch when it is most convenient for them. This is also true for online games.

* People are creating public identities without becoming public figures or living public lives.

* Early adopters of some technology may wait until second or third generation of new devices comes out in order to ensure that they will not lose existing functionality or convenience.

* Portability of phone numbers contributing to less interest in maintaining a land line in one's home.

Technology tips: