East Lansing, MI— College is about to change, thanks to a new app created by Brittney Urich and Zoe Zappitell. Their app, Conecter,will be launching this Friday on iOS. Conecter’s launch event, Explore Conecter, will be on Friday, March 18, 2016 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. in Room 300 of the Innovation Center on Grand River.
Six out of ten college students suffer from clinical loneliness, according to the American College Health Association. This leads to increased anxiety, less sleep, and increased risk of depression. The app aims to combat this loneliness by giving students a way to connect with others with shared interests.
“Through giving students a way to connect, Conecter is going to enhance students' overall college experience. Our mission is to push students to expand their horizons and minds through exploration and collaboration,” says Zoe Zappitell, Cofounder.
The app connects college students to others on their campus to eat, study, work out, and have fun together by allowing students to create real time events that others can RSVP to. Events are suggested to the user based on a list of personal interests that the student selects. The app also involves student organizations and university entities on the “campus” page. This allows students to discover new groups on campus to get involved in.
“Conecter is going to change the way people interact on a college campus. No other app allows students to find and create events on their campus in real time. It is a revolutionary platform that is unlike anything else in the market,” says Brittney Urich, Cofounder.
Urich and Zappitell came up with the initial idea for the app in January 2015. The two met through their department’s study abroad in London the summer of 2014. Urich graduated in December 2015 with a BA in professional writing. Zappitell is a junior in the professional writing program at Michigan State University.
Urich and Zappitell have raised more than $15,000 in funding forConecter. Conecter’s sponsors include the College of Arts and Letters at Michigan State University, the Michigan State University Federal Credit Union, the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures at Michigan State University, and Spartan Innovations. Conecter will be released on Android in April.
The event will give attendees the opportunity to explore their personal interests through a variety of stations. At each station, attendees will complete an activity and receive a stamp in their passport, which serves as their ticket for the evening. There will be free food, drinks, and prizes raffled off during the event. The event is sponsored by Farm Bureau Insurance, Spartan Innovations, the Lansing Economic Area Partnership, Nicholas Creative, and Clark Hill PLC.
