I have an idea for a website/app to help young adults (mainly college students) save money on entertainment by helping them organize their own free, public events, and by allowing participants to find such events via zipcode. The idea I have for these "free" events resemble those organized by Newmindspace, ImprovEverywhere, Tom and Gary with the Decentralized Dance Party, flash mob groups, urban gaming clubs, and others. Some have collectively called it the "urban playground movement," although I think that term's a bit lofty.
Of course, there are tons of successful "find a local event!" apps out there already. This service differs from the others because it will focus on events that are free, public, and peer-created, and therefore different from the norm. These events rely on the collective participation of the community to be successful.
So instead of helping you find a nearby concert, comedy show, or play, this service will connect you to the next massive game of Capture the Flag, perhaps a Decentralized Dance Party, a flash mob, a watergun/lightsaber fight, or a simple "urban field day."
I'm targeting people who live in cities, where lots of the nightlife is 21+ (solves a need for everyone under that age looking for something new and fun to do) and going out a lot is expensive (solves a need for kids on a budget and taking up student loans, which is alot of them). I'm matriculating at a city university this fall, and I've seen how prevalent the question "What are free things to do in ____?" is. With so many kids already financially strapped, I feel that such a service would resonate with them.
Obviously college students can and do turn to partying for entertainment, but for students in the city, parties are definitely less prevalent (the "frat" variety especially) and the really fun stuff requires a deep wallet. As a result, finding something free to do, that involves all of your friends and dozens or hundreds more strangers, takes some effort.
One glaring roadblock I see is that everyone will want to join events, but no one will want to organize them. This is clearly a "chicken and egg" scenario, which is kind of true with all organic social networks. To help overcome this, I've streamlined the event-creation process as much as possible, providing guides, templates of recyclable events, and links to other successful organizers for ideas and inspiration.
Another roadblock is authority. Depending on how huge an event gets, someone might demand that the organizers need a permit.
Also, the service is free.
What do you guys think? Should I be looking at this from a different angle? Ways to improve? Something obvious I'm missing? Do you think it could catch on?
Of course, there are tons of successful "find a local event!" apps out there already. This service differs from the others because it will focus on events that are free, public, and peer-created, and therefore different from the norm. These events rely on the collective participation of the community to be successful.
So instead of helping you find a nearby concert, comedy show, or play, this service will connect you to the next massive game of Capture the Flag, perhaps a Decentralized Dance Party, a flash mob, a watergun/lightsaber fight, or a simple "urban field day."
I'm targeting people who live in cities, where lots of the nightlife is 21+ (solves a need for everyone under that age looking for something new and fun to do) and going out a lot is expensive (solves a need for kids on a budget and taking up student loans, which is alot of them). I'm matriculating at a city university this fall, and I've seen how prevalent the question "What are free things to do in ____?" is. With so many kids already financially strapped, I feel that such a service would resonate with them.
Obviously college students can and do turn to partying for entertainment, but for students in the city, parties are definitely less prevalent (the "frat" variety especially) and the really fun stuff requires a deep wallet. As a result, finding something free to do, that involves all of your friends and dozens or hundreds more strangers, takes some effort.
One glaring roadblock I see is that everyone will want to join events, but no one will want to organize them. This is clearly a "chicken and egg" scenario, which is kind of true with all organic social networks. To help overcome this, I've streamlined the event-creation process as much as possible, providing guides, templates of recyclable events, and links to other successful organizers for ideas and inspiration.
Another roadblock is authority. Depending on how huge an event gets, someone might demand that the organizers need a permit.
Also, the service is free.
What do you guys think? Should I be looking at this from a different angle? Ways to improve? Something obvious I'm missing? Do you think it could catch on?
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