CONFRÈREJill Marcum

General & STEM categories

The Problem? Students can’t attend the conferences that would further their academic careers due to the exorbitant cost of accommodation

The solution!

Make it easy for students to find other students attending the same conference ...and split the cost of the room!

Target audienceWho comprises Confrere’s market of conference-goers?

Casey BaumerMy paper was accepted to AAAs--the national

Anthropology conference-- but it’s

3000 miles away! I got funding from my college, but it all went to airfare

and registration fees. I’m bummed because this would be great for my

resume.

Jude ParkerMy bioethics professors

tell me that the best way to find a research

project --and then hopefully a job or a PhD program--is to network. And the best way to do

THAT is to go to the annual conference. But

there’s no way I can afford it, and I don’t know anyone to split

the cost with.

Jake TannerI work with digital

initiatives in the arts. I’ve been asked to head

up a workshop at EdTech next July, but they’ll only pay my

flight, and I don’t know how to find other

attendees to reach out to. It’s really

prohibitive, even though it would be such

a great opportunity.

How it works

Step 1Event is added to database

Step 2Users enter their info and their room/roommate criteria

Step 3The match is made, and everyone saves!

the tech

= the ask$10,000 app development

simple + friendly user interface to backend room + event database that keeps info safe

Next steps

May 2016Web and mobile UX prototype development, information architecture

July 2016Hire database developer, build out web and mobile sites

September 2016Test product with real conference attendees, iterate design

November 2016Pitch product to event organizers, academic organizations, and campus coordinators

January 2017Evaluate move into corporate conference market

May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr

Thank you!