We chat to Emil (@millzgp) on behalf of The Panel, one of the first and prominent groups that formed within the Offspring Community.

You are one of the first groups to emerge from the Offspring Community. Can you tell us about @thepanel.online, how it all started, and who is officially a part of it?

We’ve known each other at The Panel for years through sneaker campouts and working within the sneaker industry but the actual concept of The Panel came about during a weird time when the sneaker scene seemed really disconnected. I started posting sneaker related questions on Facebook and tagging anyone and everyone who had a passion for sneakers, and everyone would chip in with the welcomed conversations.

This soon took off so @vanwilljamz, @rain_nelson_445, @blcklistd and @stevie_insta_g created a Facebook page to host more of these conversations. @troneykicks later joined us to help run the FB group too. We settled on the name ‘The Panel’ with the idea that everyone is The Panel, and everyone is entitled to their own voice and opinion.

We formed the FB group 2017 so The Panel and we’ve had developed a great relationship with the team from Offspring for many years.

There has always been a mutual respect between The Panel and Offspring, and we’ve always supported each other’s endeavours.

You all seem very active in UK culture. What are your jobs outside of this, and how do you balance everything?

Between us we have a wide variety of jobs outside of running The Panel. HR manager, art gallery warehouse manager, teacher/graphic designer/event security, building management services/videographer, IT consultant/writer... All alongside raising families. As far as keeping balance goes, a lot of the time we have to split up to cover ground but that's the beauty of being part of a team.

Even though we’re all spinning loads of plates at once, between us we can get things done to keep The Panel sailing.

What makes The Panel different to the other groups?

There’s a lot of experience between The Panel ‘admins’ and much of our core community that brings along with it a lot of knowledge and history of sneaker product, industry, stories, and culture. We love to geek out about design and tech, history and heritage and take a slightly more mature approach to sneakers. Getting behind the why of a lot of things to do with sneakers is something we’re quite invested in which you’ll see in Henry’s write-ups.

What day-to-day roles are involved in running The Panel?

A normal day running The Panel usually involves monitoring and managing our Instagram and Facebook accounts, replying to DMs and emails as well as keeping an eye on upcoming releases and happenings within the sneaker scene. That and sending each other memes. Lots and lots of memes lol.

We love your version of Sunday discussions. How do you utilise the information that you gather?

We use the information from our Sunday discussions as a touchpoint for how the community feels about certain sneaker moments. This helps us to keep an eye on trends, especially when it comes to conversations with brands and retailers but more importantly, it helps us to consistently converse and engage with our community. Though we may not have time to respond to every comment, we read each and every one which helps us to better get to know our community members.

You’ve been present in the scene for a while now. How has the scene changed since then?

Wow, call us old without calling us old haha! I think the scene has definitely changed at brand, retailer and consumer levels. Social media turned the sneaker world on its head and it's still changing. The sneaker community was very much a closed-knit club and information on releases was only really available to those who had friends who worked for retailers or brands.

A lot of being a sneakerhead used to be about having something unique that most others didn't have but from a wider perspective, being into sneakers was widely viewed as weird.

Now, being a sneaker fanatic is not just accepted, it’s celebrated.

The latest information for upcoming releases is no longer kept secret and more than often there’s plenty of pairs to go around. There’s less emphasis on having the rarest kicks and it's completely fine to have the same kicks as your peers, it’s more about owning your style and just wearing what you feel like wearing.

Personally, I don't think sneakerheads have ever had it so good. There is so much heat that released over a decade ago that we previously couldn’t get that we now have better access to, sometimes even copping on sale! It took a while, but brands pay more attention to what consumers and retailers actually want. I mean it took 37 years, but we eventually got the Air Max 1 ‘86 retroed!

Even the way sneakers are marketed now is completely different. If a campaign isn’t authentic, the consumer will see right through it but we're now at a time where brands can align with social groups to highlight and promote their campaigns for social issues.

Retailers can now reach within their community and give their members a platform (see what I did there) to not only speak but showcase and promote their talents and businesses not just to their wider community but to brands too. It’s a great time to be a sneakerhead!

What does community mean to you?

Community to me means that we support each other. In the case of The Panel, this has been through sharing information, helping people get access to sneakers and finding opportunities for our community members amongst other things. What I didn’t expect from our community is the support for each other exclusive of sneakers. Sneakers may have been the catalyst to bring so many people together but the friendships that have come out of it make me feel like we did something good by creating The Panel.

What top 3 values does The Panel stand by?

1. You are the Panel. You decide what you like and don’t like. Your opinion is who you are. Don’t cop to fit in, cop to be you.

2. Be unapologetically you but do so with respect. Own your actions.

3. Sneakers should be fun. If it isn’t, you’re taking it too seriously.

What does it take to become a member of the The Panel?

Just get involved with the conversations on our Instagram. Let us know your opinions and use the hashtag #thepanel in your posts.

What advice would you give to someone who is new to the sneaker space and would like to feel more included within the community?

Search different sneaker groups on Instagram and see which one’s appeal/interest you and align with your interests the most. Join a few and interact with people you find interesting in the comments. I don't think it would even hurt to say to the admins that you're new to the sneaker space and would like to feel more included within the community as they may even be able to help you find your feet, but I think the main thing is to put yourself out there, find like-minded people and not take things on social media too seriously.

What’s next for The Panel?

We really want to get back to our roots and host in-person panel discussion events again so those are in the pipeline as well as a project highlighting members from our wider community, but I can't speak too much on that yet so stay tuned.

Check out more from @thepanel.online on Instagram or online.