Check out individual interviews with all of the founders!
Yo!
Intern Jack here with the questions, co-Founder Austen Vernon with the answers. Ill try to keep this relatively straight forward, but hopefully you will see the larger than life personality in this smaller than normal person. Want to ask him something yourself? Tweet @SquadUP with your question and the hashtag #askAusten. Lets go!
Jack: Starting easy, full name and age?
Austen: Austen Vernon and 23
Jack: And where is home these days?
Austen: Westchester, NY. Born in NYC and moved out to the burbs with the fam when I was 7. I feel like growing up you could always tell a suburban kid from a city one pretty quickly. I definitely fall under the suburban category though.
Jack: Well tell me about your role here at SquadUP.
Austen: I’m the Co-CEO. As any early stage startup founder can tell you… a title doesn’t mean that much. It’s all about being able to wear many different hats and adjust on the fly. I have a more delegated role these days, focusing more on branding and marketing while my homie and co-Ceo Willie Litvack has been more focused on fundraising. But all of the co-founders will agree– we do it all.
Jack: What feature of the SquadUP are you most excited about?
Austen: The ability to collect money from a big group of friends, and friends of friends, with the click of a button. I can’t tell you how many times people showed up to a $10 cover party with an unbreakable $20 bill. Or people didn’t want to commit to paying ahead of time before they asked you 100 times who’s coming. We solve all that, and it’s so directly related to my social experiences as a college student.
Jack: And what about the future? What are you most pumped about moving forward?
Austen: Multiple tiered pricing. There are sooo many events that have different levels, perks, statuses that require different prices for different options.
Jack: Tell me about your favorite SquadUP event so far?
Austen: The Belmont Stakes event was pretty rowdy. But my other co-founders will probably say that one too so I’ll pick one that’s particularly special for me. I lost a close friend to cancer this year and we had a beautiful memorial / birthday celebration in his honor. We invited a huge group of kids and adults from the community we grew up in and involved a bunch of his college buddies as well. We collected some money, got food and drinks, and celebrated his birthday the way we know he would have wanted us to. The evening was capped off by a beautiful Chinese lantern ceremony. I will never forget it.
Jack: Very cool. Well SquadUP has gone through a number of different office changes since the early days of working in Sam’s basement. What do you think of the new space?
Austen: Love the new co-working space: AlleyNYC babyyy. It’s young and full of energy. In our first month, we’ve already met so many companies that have natural fits with SquadUP and plenty more that are just enthusiastic and want to support the cause.
Jack: Tell everybody one fact that they should know about the real Austen Vernon?
Austen: I’m a hooper… I love basketball. If I don’t get a game in at least every week or so I start to go crazy. The game definitely affects how I think.
Jack: Do you have a go to lunch place around the office?
Austen: Easy. Dollar pizza. Maybe its because there aren’t top notch spots in the neighborhood, but c’mon, a full meal for two or three bucks? Can’t beat that.
Jack: Finally, how many pieces of pizza can co-founder Charlie eat in one sitting? In slices…
Austen: I have to say eight. A full pie is a lot, but I’ve seen him go nuts over the dollar slice. It’s too good a deal to stop eating…
For more, tweet #askAusten with your questions about all of his deepest and darkest secrets.
Hey!
Jack here again and I am back from a one day blogging hiatus to bring the final installment of Meet the A Squad. Still peeling from his July 4th sunburn, we are stealing some of co-founder Willie’s Friday. Always pushing the team and chasing the dream, this west coast driller is always down to mobilize over to Zest, float around the office space, and dump work on the interns. Like always, if these ten questions just aren’t enough for your Friday fill, tweet your questions @SquadUP with the hashtag #askWillie. Lets goo
Jack: Keeping it challenging: name and age?
Willie: William Litvack and 23. Im an “ie” guy though and Willie usually works.
Jack: And where is home these days?
Willie: Born and raised in Los Angeles, I have now found myself jumping around NYC. Just made the move out of Chinatown to something a little more…. my style
Jack: Tell me about your role here at SquadUP
Willie: Im co-CEO with Austen. Like he said in his introduction, being a CEO of a growing startup means wearing many hats. Some days its meeting with investors, some days its approving YouTube videos to be tweeted, and some days its helping with design, its a very exciting role.
Jack: Tell me about a feature of the site that you are the most excited about?
Willie: Real time, intra event communication- this is simply going to change the way people interact at events. There is a certain amount of pressure associated with publicly sharing text/pictures through a social network. Sharing photos and comments in the Squad Room allows event guests to engage in meaningful exchange of content, semi privately (you’re not broadcasting to 1,500+ friends/followers) and with people are are actually doing what you’re doing. This is going to be especially great once we finalize ouriOS app.
Jack: And what about moving forward? What part of SquadUP are you excited about building upon?
Willie: I cannot wait to finish our mobile app. Amazing new functionality to come in mobile, also everything we already do well will be even better!
Jack: What has been your favorite event that you have attended?
Willie: We’ve done so many great events through SquadUP, it’s really hard to pick. The Sushi/Sake events we have done have been great, taking a bus to the Belmont Stakes was awesome and we’ve gone away to a friends house in the Berkshires a couple times and used SquadUP to collect money for food/beer/etc…. it’s really too tough to call.
Jack: What do you think about the office changes and now the new space at Alley NYC?
Willie: Moving to AlleyNYC has been amazing for SquadUP. Our previous location was, well, not great. Being at AlleyNYC has already opened several meaningful doors for us. Also, the vibe is just hard to ignore. When you’re surrounded by 300 people all doing great things, it pushes you to work harder and be even better.
Jack: Tell everyone one thing that they should know about Willie Litvack?
Willie: I am a die hard Dodger fan. #manbearpuig
Jack: What about your go to lunch place around the office?
Willie: Ippudo’s new Hell’s Kitchen location. There’s no beating Ippudo and the fact that I can run into the new location at lunch is just a massive game changer.
Jack: I’ve never even heard of that… Finally, how many slices can Charlie take down?
Willie: No toppings? Easily 11
That just about wraps up our final interview with co-Founder Willie. If you have any questions for any of the four founders, tweet @SquadUP with #askAusten, #askCharlie, #askSam, or #askWillie to get some answers!
PEACE
#askJack for the real dirt on the founders
Yo!
We are back for round three meeting the A Squad. Charlie and Austen are old news, but we have a fresh, handsome, creative genius to profile in co-Founder Sam. He’s bringing back the fun, or as some of us like to say, “humes”. Like always, if these questions don’t dig deep enough for you, tweet @SquadUP with #askSam to reveal whatever you may please.
Jack: Lets get a little introduction. Full name and age.
Sam: Samuel Alexander Mogil, age 23
Jack: And where is home these days?
Sam: NYC baby. Upper East Side. Very far up and very far east. Commute isn’t too bad, but it is constantly referred to in the office as “Timbuktu.”
Jack: Very cool. Tell everyone about your role here at SquadUP?
Sam: I am Vice President of product development. I am in charge of designing wireframes (mobile and web), increasing our social media reach, and acting as a liaison between our USA team and our Israeli development team.
Jack: You’re a creative genius. What feature of the site are you most excited about so far?
Sam: Definitely the new and improved squad room with live commenting. I think this feature really separates us from other companies in the same space. Its like having a virtual memory book where you can share that picture of your buddy passed out on the couch covered in Sharpie to everyone at the party without blasting it out to the whole social media world.
Jack: Its a really low moment being on the other end of that Sharpie. Really low… but hey, at least its not all over Facebook, Twitter, or have a filter on Instagram making the ink really “pop”. What are you excited about working on in the future?
Sam: I am most excited about our venture into the mobile arena. I think that our mobile app has a chance to be even better than our current web based app. There are lots of new features, and the whole platform is cleaner and faster on the app.
Jack: What was the most event you have Squadded up to so far?
Sam: The first sushi and sake night at Zest. I remember being pretty nervous about our first event and worrying that no one would show up or all of the beer/sake would run out. It was awesome to see so many of our friends come out and support the cause. We ended up having just enough alcohol, and even a bit of food to take home for late night snacks. Everything went off without any problems and everyone had a great time.
Jack: I can’t believe I missed the first Zest… Regrets, regrets. How have you liked the office changes?
Sam: I love Alley NYC. There is much more sense of community. It is great to be in a work environment with so many like minded individuals. It is amazing how much of an effect your setting can have on your mood and productivity.
Jack: Tell us one fact that everyone should know about you?
Sam: I helped lead the 7/8 boys lacrosse team in my hometown of Briarcliff to a 10-1 record this past spring. Probably my greatest achievement to date.
Jack: What is your go to lunch place around the office?
Sam: Crisp. Dank falafel burger and waffle fries. Realistically its slim pickens in the Times Square area and everything is super overpriced due to all of the tourists.
Jack: And finally, because it is now definitely going to happen, how many pieces of pizza can co-Founder Charlie consume in one sitting?
Sam: Sober? 4. Drunk? 14.
Jack: Wild card…
Like always, if these questions didn’t fill your Sam fix, tweet @SquadUP with #askSam to get your questions answered! Thats enough for today. Peace, love, and SquadUP!
Tweet your questions to @SquadUP with #askSam, #askCharlie, or #askVernon to get in touch with three of the co-founders.
Yo!
No better time than Monday morning to get to know co-Founder Charlie a little better. You know the deal: ten questions, ten attempts to be witty, relatively small success rate. I hope you like getting to know our gentle giant, but if you want to learn more, tweet @SquadUP with your question and the hashtag #askCharlie.
Jack: The easiest one so far: name and age?
Charlie: Charlie Wieser, and I am 22
Jack: Now one slightly more difficult, where do you call home?
Charlie: Born in Toronto, raised in Westport, CT where I am living the metro north life in and out of NYC. Despite being born in Canada, I am as American as they come. I was a U.S. History major at school and I once slept-sang the Star Spangled Banner.
Jack: 24/7 patriotism. Gotta love it. Tell us about your role here at SquadUP?
Charlie: I am the Vice President of Operations and Finance. I was poached away from Mayweather’s Money Team. I focus on our banking relationships and moving the money baby. However, my favorite part is the fact that every day is different and I get to work on many facets of the company.
Jack: What feature of the site are you most excited about so far?
Charlie: As the CFO, I definitely believe that the ease at which a host can collect money has got to be the number one feature of the site. Gone are the days that a host has to run around before a party to collect a ton of 20 dollar bills from people. Instead a host can worry about throwing a kick ass party. On top of that guests don’t have to make a stop at the ATM before heading out. Collecting money for an event has never been easier!
Jack: Very cool. And what about moving forward? What are you most excited about?
Charlie: ACH transfers. Well I should say new payment and payout features. I’m excited to make it as easy and quick as possible for guests to pay and hosts to get paid! We are all about making your life easier here and as we roll out more methods of payment and payout I think everyone will be happier about it.
Jack: Who doesn’t like getting paid? Tell me about your favorite SquadUP event so far?
Charlie: Going to the Belmont stakes on a bus of 55 people thanks to SquadUP was an outrageously fun time. Anytime my buddy Galen flies in from Texas for a SquadUP weekend it is a guaranteed great time. Next time we organize an event like that be sure NOT to miss it.
Jack: How have you liked the office change?
Charlie: AlleyNYC has been awesome. I love working around other energetic startups. The free perks aren’t too bad either, the only thing I could use would be a refrigerator dedicated to Diet Coke.
Jack: Everyone can dream… Tell me one thing about Charlie that everyone out there needs to know.
Charlie: One fact? What is this? A question for ants? Alright, well I’m going to break the rules on this one and go with two truths and a lie. 1. I once saved someones life. 2. My middle name is Noble 3. My favorite landmark is Mount Rushmore. The lie? Number 3.Gotta throw some love to Sagamore Hill on that one.
Jack: Well what is your go to lunch place around the office?
Charlie: Blake and Todd’s. Steak Sandwich please.
Jack: And finally, since I think I am going to have to get a test on this eventually, how many pieces of pizza do you think you can take down in one sitting?
Charlie: I will never tell… you will have to find out for yourself.
Thank you to Charlie for taking time out of your day to answer my questions. Again, if you have any questions of your own for the man, I know he loves getting tweeted at. Tweet @SquadUP with the hashtag #askCharlie to get your answer.
Tweet @SquadUP with #askCharlie or #askAusten to get your questions answered!
Four years at Duke University taught me and my co-founders a thing or two about mixing higher education with the high art of hanging out. As most social Dukies do— Austen, Sam, Charlie and I spent our 4 years prescribing to the “work hard, play hard” mentality. From your standard, run of the mill party in an off campus house, to warehouse raves, to formals and date functions —money always seemed to be a problem. Fraternity dues covered a portion of the costs, but generally we were left to our own devices to collect money. This extended past the realm of fraternity events; collecting money for anything we did was a terrible pain in the ass.
All of these event-planning woes culminated over graduation weekend. A close friend of ours, lets call him Rusty, planned a small get together for about 15 friends and their families. Rusty went out of his way to reserve space on campus, find and pay a catering company, hire a bartender and stock that bar—under the assumption that he would be paid back when everyone’s families arrived in Durham for graduation. The time had finally come for the class of 2012 to graduate, and Rusty had only been reimbursed by a small portion of guests who claimed to be attending. In order to be made whole, Rusty spent the better portion of his graduation weekend tracking down our friends and their families and asking them to pay up. Rusty made things as easy as humanly possible, essentially going door to door with a Square™ reader. The cocktail hour came and went and while the majority of people had squared up, a few had not paid and one previously committed guest ended up being a no show— making Rusty accountable for a disproportionate portion of the bill. This was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back and prompted a larger discussion amongst the SquadUP co-founders of what we could do to improve the process of event planning.
Ultimately, the conversations following Rusty’s cocktail party made it clear that as soon as you decide to host an event you immediately inherit a variety of logistical problems. We break these problems down into two categories that apply to most events: communication problems and money problems. With respect to communication struggles, hosts are responsible for reaching their guests, sending invitations, tracking RSVPs and relaying event specific information and updates to all the guests. The second set of problems hosts can run into, money problems, can be even more challenging. How and when do you collect money? How do you deal with guests that don’t have cash? How do you keep track of guests who haven’t paid and how do you get them to pay you? Together these funding and communication obstacles can suck the fun right out of hosting an event. The crux of the issue here is that the individuals who go out of their way to plan events for their friends and their friends’ friends are handed a laundry list of logistical nightmares that usually includes a financial burden. Despite all the progress made in the way of consumer technology over the last five or so years, no one had successfully engineered an event planning solution geared toward the Millennial demographic. And thus, SquadUP was born. A simple and social event planning platform, serving the needs of Millennials, the demographic most in need of an event planning upgrade.
-Willie Litvack
The SquadUP platform is tailor made for college campuses. From parties, to fundraisers, to spring break trips, college students are constantly getting together with their friends for group activities. Generally, a select few are organizing these social gatherings for a large number of people. These select few are burdened with the very same logistical problems that inspired the creation of the SquadUP platform. Now that the platform is built, it is our job to raise awareness amongst these social leaders.
Through our brand ambassador program, we’ve been able to find elite social motivators on various college campuses. These ambassadors have played a larger role than just evangelizing the SquadUP platform; their feedback has been instrumental to our product development and marketing strategies. Ambassadors have helped us break down the social landscape on college campuses so we can adapt our value proposition to fit the needs of students across the country. On top of their very valuable feedback, our reps have been using SquadUP to simplify and enhance their own social lives. There is no better marketing tool than showing students firsthand the difference between an event thrown using SquadUP and the alternatives. Hosts get hooked on leaving the frustrating aspects of event hosting to us and guests recognize how seamless the entire process can be. Guests become aware of our platform and it’s benefits, so when it comes time to become organizers themselves, they know that there is a solution out there specifically for them.
Considering all of the great work that our ambassadors are doing for us, we make sure that we reward them for their time and social expertise. They have access to four co-founders to talk one-on-one at any time about SquadUP, their own entrepreneurial ambitions, life… anything! If they’re looking for a hands-on internship, they have a significant leg up during our interview process. We hook them up with SquadUP gear and have created a gamified incentive program to reward them with cash for future events. The big prize is $5000 for the top ambassador each semester. We also award $100-$500 to the top ambassador in specific categories (biggest event, most users, most events, etc.). Check out the infographic above.
The program is mutually beneficial, which has been made apparent by our rapidly growing “college army”. We currently have 40+ brand ambassadors on 25+ campuses and are onboarding additional ambassadors each week. We recently buildt out a brand ambassador section of squadup.com so that students can learn about the program, apply, and track their success. As the registration process becomes automated, and word of the SquadUP platform and program spreads, we will increase our pool of ambassadors significantly. We plan on having 100-150 reps by next semester and 1,000 for the 2014-2015 school year.
If you’re interested in becoming a brand ambassador, or know of someone you think would be well suited, send us an email with your resume and a brief introduction to jobs@squadup.com. If you’re a fellow startup and want to kick around ideas for our respective brand ambassador programs, please don’t hesitate to reach out to bizdev@squadup.com— we’re more than happy to help.
Sign up now @ https://www.squadup.com/campus_reps/new
Brand Ambassador Fridays have officially begun! Every week we’ll highlight something interesting or unique about our brand ambassador program. It might be about one of our ambassadors, a campus event, or anything worth sharing about the program.
Most college students are just getting back to campus or still enjoying a long winter break like our friends over at the University of Delaware. So we’ll start by shouting out a particularly effective brand ambassador from last semester: Allie Stone. Allie and her sorority hosted a variety of social and philanthropy events like the one pictured above. But she also got creative and found new ways to use the platform to simplify her life, like collecting money for group apparel orders. Using SquadUP to split the cost of the order was only the beginning. Allie also shared designs with her friends, figured out who was interested and how many tee shirts in what sizes they wanted. No more spreadsheets with sizes and filling out who has and hasn’t paid as you go door-to-door collecting cash.
We love when SquadUP users find new and creative ways to take advantage of what we have to offer. We shared Allie’s innovation with other brand ambassadors and witnessed a spike in splitting apparel orders at colleges across the country. Which led to the conclusion that SquadUP isn’t just for events. The word “events” is too limiting. In reality, our platform helps you plan and fund experiences. We’re looking forward to the unique brand ambassador experiences that come out of this semester.
As we look back on this past year and what the SquadUP team has learned about event planning, it's impossible not to notice a few underlying trends. Instead of creating a slideshow with the top however many trends that we expect to see in 2014, I'm going to focus on one key trend to be aware of this year.
Almost all aspects of life are becoming more "social" so why should the events space be any different? In fact, it's even more affected than other fields because an event by definition involves getting people together for a common cause-- whether that's charity, business, or for pure enjoyment. Whatever that goal of the event may be, it's no longer just an in-person experience. The event is also happening on twitter, instagram, and so on. Just like it's the hosts responsibility to make sure their guests find the venue, interact with fellow event goers, and have a positive experience at the physical event, the same goes for social media. Making sure that event hashtags and important twitter handles are made known to guests is like telling them where to show up. Facilitating picture and video sharing, as well as an ongoing discussion on social media, is as important to the success of your event as the entertainment itself. After the speaker or focus of the event is over, and all the food and drinks are long gone, the social media footprint will remain and determine whether or not your event was a success. Very early in our SquadUP days, a seasoned event planner told us "No pictures from your event? Well, then it may as well not have happened." And as crazy as it may sound, they were right.
Our advice: take accountability as a host and be prepared to be on your phone for a significant portion of your event. And don't think you have to do it all on your own! There are highly social event planning tools that can help. We re-built our platform to include features that help you organize event hashtags and aggregate your event's social media stream all in one place.
There's a fine line between being an event planning platform and an event planner. If you're not careful, you'll end up being a confusing hybrid of the two. SquadUP is a tool to help simplify the event hosting process. But what better way to demonstrate its effectiveness than to create events on squadup.com? Guests that want to attend the event register through SquadUP and become familiar with or at least aware of what SquadUP does. When it comes time for those guests to crossover and host an event of their own, they remember that SquadUP was a useful tool. Guest to host conversion is a good form of marketing, especially if you're on a tight budget. Even for the guests that never go on to host events, they associate the good time they had with the SquadUP brand and help spread the word.
So what's the downside? When you have a tool that removes the logisitcal nightmares associated with event planning, being a host is a fun, rewarding experience. And it's easy to get caught up spending time planning events instead of developing the business by putting our platform in the hands of organizations and individuals that plan events themselves. Getting events on the books and getting positive brand exposure without spending the marketing dollars is tempting. But it's trap-- one that we've watched other companies in our space fall victim to. Companies, especially startups, can't focus on everything. And when you're busy being an event planner, the product and technology suffer. Additionally, people won't know whether you're an event planner or an event platform and the brand confusion will lose you potential clients.
A good way to avoid this confusion is to co-host events with other organizations and let them take the host spotlight. For example, we host a weekly happy hour that features emerging startups. It's a great event that takes place every Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:30. Our co-working space, AlleyNYC, takes ownership of the event because it helps expand their presence in the tech community and brings new faces into their space. SquadUP still gets the marketing benefits: all guests register through our platform and we're able to attend the event and explain in greater detail what SquadUP is all about. We also get to meet great startups, leading to off-shoot events like launch parties and speaker series. It's a win-win.
Maintaining our identity as a pure event planning and funding solution while still hosting certain events, like the Happy Hour Startup Showcase, is an art not a science. We hope that by sharing our experience others can avoid the brand confusion that has plagued young companies in the event planning space. When done correctly, event planners will want you as a partner, instead of seeing you as their competition.
Event hosting is a stressful edneavor. Even the most successful event planners with decades of experience will tell you that. But there are tools and tricks out there that can help take some of the pressure off of the host.
Whether we're talking about a charity hosting a big fundaiser or your everyday party host-- last minute event registration can disrupt carefully thought out planning. Here are three ways to deal with guests signing up at the last possible moment.
1. Multiple Ticket Tiers
It is simply human nature not to want to commit. Having multiple differnent ticket options to choose from can provide that extra incentive to turn invitees into attendees. The most obvious one to include is an "Early Bird" ticket. Buyers are excited to be in a special group that doesn't have to pay full price. They feel a sense of urgency to get their tickets before they miss the opportunity.
A "Procrastinator's Price" is another way to incite that same sense of urgency. Invitees don't want to risk getting stuck paying extra, and will heir on the side of caution. But the effect is more than that. A procrastinator is not considered a positive term. Not only do buyers risk having to pay more, but they also risk being categorized in a less than flattering group.
2. Promo Codes (limited time/#)
Setting promo codes is all about making your guests feel special. The idea is that they are receiving a special discount that's not available to the general public. This in and of itself incentivizes them to register quickly. It's almost like they're returning the favor that was done for them when the host passed along a promo code. But that's only half of the equation. Hosts can again create that sense of urgency by limiting the number of promo codes or having them expire by a certain time. We've seen the same results when event hosts give out unlimited promo codes but claim to their invitiees that the number was capped.
3. Recruiting co-hosts
Of the three tips, this is probably the most valuable. The stress of event planning often stems from having the entire success of the event resting on the shoulders of one person or team. By recruiting event co-hosts you are transferring some of that responsibility onto others. Start by finding reliable co-hosts that have influence in your desired networks. Then set up milestones reward them for reaching registering a certain amount of guests by a certain time. For example, getting 5 people to sign up for a your party at least a week in advance gets them a free ticket. 10 people might mean a free ticket plus giveaways, and so on.
The key is to be aware of late registration and not thinking that your invitees are somehow exempt from the psychological forces that drive it. Instead, play into what you know about human nature. Be proactive and have a plan of attack well before you notice that guests don't want to commit in advance.
We took some time to think back on some of the worst ideas and most poorly planned sporting events in history. If they were boring, botched or far below par we considered them for our the worst of the worst.
We had to do some serious digging for this one so we hope you appreciate the 1979 throwback. The Chicago White Sox offered 98 cents to any fan that brought a disco record to destroy. The event was actually thought up by a Chicago DJ named Steve Dahl because he felt disco threatened rock n' roll. The Chicago White Sox owners son made it happen leading to 60,000 near-rioting fans. They planned for half that number and could only watch and wait out the pandemonium.
2. The Soon-To-Be-Old BCS System
Technically this isn't one event but a series of events with the potential to be one of the best in all of sports. And this falls squarely on the event planners' shoulders. When it comes down to it the high powered college football politicians that finally came around were making an event planning decision. We can't wait for the new college football playoff to take effect. Afterall, the president of the United States spoke out against the old system on national television.
1. The Decision
This one shouldn't even count as an event because it didn't have to be. This "event" should have been text running across the bottom of ESPN, not an hour "special". Instead Lebron graced nearly 10 million viewers with his nonsense. In reality, this was a poor PR decision by someone or multiple people on Lebro and Lebron's decision to play for the Heat was the best decision made in the entire event planning process. Either way, if you had friends over to watch, thinking there was a chance he may pick your city then you experienced first hand the ninth worst event.
We can't overstate how valuable our Brand Ambassadors have been. They're our experts on their campus' social scene, our boots on the ground increasing brand awareness and they're some of our initial adopters. Their feedback on what the college event planning pain points are and on their experiences using SquadUP drive platform improvement.
Last semester we got the chance to sit down with Taylor Soave, undergraduate student at the University of Delaware, and ask her some questions about planning philanthropy events on college campuses.
SquadUP: Are you a part of any organizations on campus?
Taylor: I'm the Philanthropy Chair for the Alpha Xi Delta Sorority.
SquadUP: Are you throwing events with Alpha Xi Delta? What types of events are we talking about?
Taylor: We plan and host events each semester to raise money and awareness for Autism Speaks. We recently had a full week filled with events such as a men's competition, a pie eating contest, and a football tournament. We also host a Karaoke night, and a huge 5k walk/run in the spring.
SquadUP: What's the most frustrating part about event hosting?
Taylor: The most frustrating part is getting the word out and getting more people involved. We try really hard to raise as much money and awareness for such a good cause and we want people to be passionate about this cause, just like we are, and to get the entire community involved! I have used SquadUP for Alpha Xi Delta's Apple Picking and am excited to use it for future philanthropy events!
We are proud to announce that the SquadUP-Sumeria partnership is official! To help break down the partnership and what Sumeria is all about, founder Alex Widen wrote a nice introduction letter. Check it out!
SquadUP Community, Friends, Partners, and Supporters-
I’m thrilled to share the exciting news with you that Sumeria Group has entered an exclusive ticketing partnership with SquadUP in 2014. Over the past two years, my team has overseen close to one hundred events attended by over 30,000 young professionals in cities across the country. Throughout this time we were unable to find one easy, customizable, and dependable ticketing solution – until now. In 2014, we’ll be bringing all our events through SquadUP’s platform, offering our attendees a smoother purchasing process to go along with 24/7 customer service. In addition, Sumeria will be extending discounted prices to members of the SquadUP community to select upcoming events in your city. Finally, for the SquadUP brand ambassadors in their senior year– we’ll be providing access to join Sumeria early with an optional supplement to SquadUP’s existing program.
We’re pumped for this opportunity to join forces with such an awesome community and excited by the potential that this partnership has to accelerate growth moving forward. For those of you in NYC, I hope you’ll make it out to our Sumeria-SquadUP partnership party at AlleyNYC on February 7th!
All my best,
Alex Widen
Founder, Sumeria Group
Needless to say, this is an exciting time for SquadUP. We recently released the newest version of our web platform. The update incorporates a complete redesign including a modified logo and new SquadUP colors. We took valuable user feedback and made the user interface cleaner and more intuitive. It gives the event creation process a much more professional feel while maintaining and even expanding upon our highly social, millennial focused product. There are still a few features getting the finishing touches that will further advance social event hosting… stay tuned! It’s easily our best version yet and we really appreciate all of the positive feedback already received from our power users.
We’ve also cemented our partnership with Sumeria. Sumeria is a real-life social network for young professionals. Sumeria membership revolves around a range of social and charity events in the major U.S. cities—all powered by SquadUP ticketing. Yesterday we posted the letter that Sumeria founder Alex Widen wrote breaking down the partnership.
But what does this mean for SquadUP users? For starters, our loyal supporters will receive priority registration and discounts to certain Sumeria events. Events like the SquadUP-Sumeria Parternship Launch Party taking place at AlleyNYC on February 7. Join us for post work drinks or get your night started early with a 4.5 hour full open bar, food, entertainment, and great company.
Additionally, the two companies will combine resources and collaborate to throw special events that are bigger and better than either of us could have imagined on our own. Look out for team SquadUP-Sumeria at places like South by Southwest, Coachella, and the likes.
Our Brand Ambassadors will have the option to get a head start and join the Sumeria network early. We are building a networking pipeline that starts in college and continues into the young professional years. The network will focus on the events- from open bars to fundraisers to softball games- that bring people together to form real connections, and SquadUP is excited to be a part of it.
In the midst of the same overplayed Super Bowl storylines and the overhyped lineup of commercials, the crazy Super Bowl parties get lost in the mix. The host city sees a huge influx of fans that want to eat, drink, and make their week as memorable as possible. I don’t know how NY/NJ finagled a cold weather Super Bowl, but you can bet the local bars and event planners aren’t complaining. Only New Years Eve boasts more yearly parties than the Super Bowl. So we did our party research and found the best 3 of all time. Enjoy!
3. Super Bowl I, 1966
Even though there was no Super Bowl party precedent set yet, everyone surrounding the first big game knew it was a good reason to celebrate. Samuel Dresch of Pepsi Co. filled two private planes with his close friends and flew to Los Angeles. After the game he and his squad took over Perino’s on Wilshire Blvd. and helped start an American event tradition.
2. Super Bowl XV, 1981
This was the true Super Bowl underdog story. The ’81 Raiders were the first wild card team to win it all. Also the bad boys of the NFL, they were infamous, not celebrated. So when they upset the Philadelphia Eagles that year, they skipped going out on the town to enjoy their victory with local partiers. Those were the same NFL fans that viewed them as thugs ruining the game. Instead they escaped to a team facility where all of their friends, families, and certain true fans were waiting for them with a fittingly ridiculous amount of champagne.
1. Super Bowl XXXIX, 2005
Every year Playboy and Maxim duke it out to see who can host the elite Super Bowl event. Well in 2005, Playboy took the cake with their Jacksonville extravaganza. They packed the party with their playmates and distributed enough body paint to make people forget they made the trip down for a football game. There was even a scandal surrounding democrat Harold Ford and his appearance, and debatable “participation” in the festivities.
As college administrations tighten their policies and increase their sanctions, more and more Greek organizations are being kicked off campus. But what may seem like the equivalent of the death sentence may actually be a blessing in disguise. We’re not saying that every fraternity and sorority should push the boundaries to that extent, or that there aren’t advantages to having your organizations recognized by the school. We’re simply observing the benefits that help balance the situation—a silver lining, if you will.
Part of our realization comes from our friends in Kappa Sigma at Indiana University. We have brand ambassadors nationwide in a range of organizations from sports teams to Greek life to on-campus publications, and have witnessed our fair share of run-ins with college administrations. In case you were thinking it, the vast majority of cases involve fraternities. But I digress.
The real value of being off campus is freedom— the freedom to decide for yourselves how to spend your organizations time and money. The widespread administrative crackdown on college partying has not been without cause. Binge drinking and hazing are incredibly dangerous which has been brought to light by a few high profile cases. But other responsible organizations are being forced to answer for the behavior of others. Simply put, if your organization is not recognized as an on campus organization it is very difficult for the administration to impose their will.
But the biggest upside is being able to allocate funds as the organization’s current members see fit. Most fraternity and sorority dues aren’t cheap. But where is that money really going? Charges like insurance and a house chef are mandated by nationals and may not be the best use of money. Maybe they are, but at least now your organization is free to create their own budget. Kappa Sigma at IU is finding out that they can collect funds specifically for social events and save money in the process. We’ve seen a spike in their SquadUP events since being kicked off campus and they’re leading several monthly prize categories as a result.
We’re less than a week away from the big showdown between the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks—two formidable squads in cities with rapidly developing tech scenes. But the real city worth mentioning is New York City. Yeah, I know they’re calling it NY/NJ and the actual game is being played at the Meadowlands but NYC is where all the action will be taking place. Whether you’re gearing up for one of the big events or hosting your own Super Bowl party with friends, we have some last minute info to help plan.
Playboy’s Year Off?!
If you heard the rumors that Playboy was bailing on it’s yearly Super Bowl party then rest assured they are just rumors. This year The Visionary Group is producing the event to be help at the Bud Light Lounge. And if you follow that link you’ll get an idea for the long list of celebrities and companies going all out for this beloved American tradition. And amongst them all it’s the Playboy party, featuring a late night performance from Nelly, who is a former football player himself (in high school and The Longest Yard), that gets to be called the "hot ticket". Makes sense—I could totally see Nelly and Steve Smith trading places for a day.
ESPN @ Basketball City
We’re proud to announce that our good friends over at Basketball City have locked up ESPN’s 10th Annual Super Bowl blowout. This year’s epic party will be “New York State of Mind” themed and showcase performances by Robin Thicke and Kendrick Lamar. Woah. If you’re in NYC for the Super Bowl, this is the place to be. ESPN finished their official venue and theme announcement by taunting other event hosts with the line: “Your move.”
Your Party!
We admit that having Playboy bunnies running around the party or some Kendrick Lamar flow is pretty sweet, but our favorite Super Bowl events are the less extravagant ones. You know, the ones where you and your friends make nachos, split a couple cases and wear sweatpants and jerseys. It's never too late to rally the troops to watch and SquadUP is the perfect tool for some last minute planning!
Tonight is the State of the Union address. It’s not exactly a typical event that you’d think to get friends together for… but why is that? If we gather to have watch parties surrounding anything from The Oscars to Girls, we should probably take notice when the president of our country gives us a yearly update. We don’t see why that can’t be with a group of friends, some food and maybe a few drinks. State of the Union watch parties should be a tradition! So we took the time to find some State of the Union snacks, drinks, and a special drinking game to top it all off.
State of the Union Drinking Game
Before you get started we feel it’s necessary to warn you: there are a lot of drinking triggers. Don’t worry, some of them are jokes and will lead to laughs, not shots. That being said, on the spectrum of drinking during the State of the Union, I would put this game at the opposite end of casually sipping wine. The quality of discussion will likely deteriorate while the intensity of debates will be sure to increase. Disclaimer: We take no responsibility for any political fights that break out. Enjoy!
Food and Drinks
Whether you’re feeling festive or not, everybody should watch the State of the Union address and there’s no reason to do it alone. Which route will you take: casual wine sipping or shots every time the president mentions the middle class?
We have a special event to highlight in this week’s Wednesday event spotlight. Our good friends over at DivvyDown teamed up with Magnises and got the creative juices flowing. This Saturday, they're co-hosting a concert with The Shadowboxers. DivvyDown is an alcohol and party supplies delivery startup, so why the sudden urge to host a concert? Co-founder Kendall Bird tells us that their company is about more than just deliveries. “We joined forces with Magnises for this event because of our shared committment to providing unique and unforgettable experiences for our customers and members.” A private show at Hotel Chantelle with The Shadowboxers is certainly unique. As loyal supporters ourselves, we love how hard they work to go above and beyond.
These talented guys play a mix of soulful funk, folk, and pop that their fans appreciate for being unlike anything else out there. Now, if you haven’t heard their music, maybe you saw the unexpected social media shout out they received a couple months ago. They released a video covering Justin Timberlake’s Pusha Love Girl, giving their own spin on the popular hit, only to have JT himself tweet at them!
The DivvyDown team has been fans of the group from the start and excited to see less than 140 characters propel The Shadowboxers' career overnight. They add that, "the success is well deserved and we couldn't be more proud of our friends!" As we learned from the DivvyDown example: You don't have to be an event planner to put something like this together. All you need is a little creativity and a platform like SquadUP to help with the planning. So what are you waiting for? Find your version of a private concert with The Shadowboxers and make it happen!
Since today is the NYU Career Fair, and of course another #tbt, we decided to look into the best college concerts of all time. If you think college concerts are wild now, you won't believe the historic shows that rocked campuses across the country back in the day. It wasn't easy, but we picked our favorite from way back when.
Jimmy Hendrix @ Monterey Peninsula Community College
Considered along with Woodstock to be one of the best music festivals of the '60s, the Monterey International Pop Music Festival in 1967 featured acts like Jimmy Hendrix and Janis Joplin. Over 90,000 fans experienced multiple performances of a lifetime over the span of a few days. Many remember the event by the historical moment when Jimmy famously set his guitar ablaze. But there was another, lesser known show that took place. It you weren't lucky enough to get into the festival, or were lucky enough to attend Monterey Peninsula Community college in 1967, you know about the cherry on top of an incredible weekend. Thanks to bestcollegesonline.com/blog, we found out that Jimmy performed a spontaneous show for the fans that couldn't make it in. The school's small sports stadium provided the stage for both Jimmy Hendrix and guitar legend Jordan Kaukonen to put on one of the most unique concerts of all time.
What's the best college concert you've ever attended? Heard of? If you can top this one, we'd love to hear about it!