The Involvio app as it appears on the iPhone and Android phone.
For most students getting a quick overview of all events taking place around campus in one single place at a tap of their smartphone, seems almost impossible. Involvio, a new website and app developed by a group of Drexel students led by Ari Winkleman, a senior graduating in June from Drexel’s LeBow College of Business, not only makes it possible for students to view all events on campus at any particular time, but—as an added bonus—enables students to link Involvio directly with their Facebook accounts to see how many of their friends are attending each event.
Involvio, a free social platform that is both web and mobile app based, aggregates campus events from a wide array of sources and enables students to find and share their events more effectively. As CEO of Involvio, Winkleman’s goal for the program is to democratize event promotion and create a space for all student organizations to promote events on a single, digital platform. Involvio is the best way for students to find events happening around them. It’s available for students with an .edu email address and a Facebook account online at involvio.com and also for iPhone and Android.
The mobile app is what sets Involvio apart from Facebook’s event listings. Involvio leverages and integrates with Facebook's events product as a vehicle to figure out which activities a student’s friends are interested in and attending, according to Winkleman. Students are able to pull up a map of the campus on their smart phone and see exactly where current events are being held, and if their friends are there.
Events are customized for each student and color-coordinated according to the number of friends attending each event and overall popularity. An event categorized in red, for example, indicates that many Facebook friends have indicated they will attend the event.
Involvio’s recent national growth comes as a response to demand from students at schools across the nation to bring its platform to their campuses. The Involvio team worked closely with student leaders on the ground at its inaugural schools, fine-tuning its product to ensure that students nationwide can quickly and easily get involved – and stop missing campus events.
“It really shouldn’t be this hard to figure out what’s happening within steps of your dorm room,” said Winkleman. “There are so many great events happening on and around every campus that students miss simply because they didn’t hear about them, or didn’t get a Facebook invite.”
Winkleman’s entrepreneurial drive started during his freshman year during when he created LeBowTicker, a website for LeBow College of Business faculty, professional staff and student organizations to add and organize their events. Involvio incorporates this concept on larger scale so that it now serves not only all colleges at Drexel, but also colleges and Universities across the country.
Involvio was developed by Winkleman in collaboration with Evan Siegel, a recent Goucher College alumnus; Carter Smith, a McGill University student; Jeremy Bloom, a Drexel senior majoring in graphic design at Drexel’s Westphal College of Media Arts & Design; and Drexel student Diana Distefano, a senior in Drexel’s LeBow College of Business. Involvio was the winner of the GE/OMD Student Innovation Incubator. Involvio is now and will always be free for students.