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Shack Up With a University Alum

Shack Up With a University Alum. Orf 401 Final Presentation Kai Ross, Kevin Fan, Mik Breiterman-Loader, David Laslett, Liz Brennan May 12, 2008. Overview. Network connecting University students and organizations to alumni and associates Goals:

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Shack Up With a University Alum

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  1. Shack UpWith a University Alum Orf 401 Final Presentation Kai Ross, Kevin Fan, Mik Breiterman-Loader, David Laslett, Liz Brennan May 12, 2008

  2. Overview • Network connecting University students and organizations to alumni and associates • Goals: • provide students with the ability to find affordable housing for trips from alumni living in their destination spot • Fostering relationships between alumni and students, especially among those affiliated with the same sports team, singing group, eating club, organization, etc

  3. Incentive / Motivation • Affordability and Comfort • Inexpensive for students • Trust within the community • Alma Mater Goodwill • Princeton’s wide-spread school spirit • Enthusiasm for returning to campus post graduation • According to the legend, in the '80s, Princeton Reunions ranked second behind only the Indy 500 in total Budweiser beer sales. (http://www.princetonreunions.com/intro.html) • Visibility and Centrality • One central and user-friendly site to facilitate trip-planning • Unique Niche of Students • Students=Clients • Alumni=Participants

  4. Business Model • Offerings/Value Proposition • Network giving students cheap housing, and giving alumnae a way to connect to their alma mater • Market Segment • Current students, student groups, alumni • Revenue Generation • Small registration fee for all students • Charge students for successful matches • Yearly membership fees • Advertising on site • Scalability and Exhaustive Supply and Demand • Added Value • Universities are more apt to get more alumni donations because alumnae will have more opportunity to reminisce about their good times at school when current students come to visit. • Competitive Strategy • Innovative product and environment • Mimic Insurance Model without payout to provider

  5. Comparable (Yet Less Cool) Sites • Craig’s List • Less security and trust – no overarching network • Housing is not the main focus of site • Couchsurfing.com • “seeks to internationally network people and places, create educational exchanges, raise collective consciousness, spread tolerance and facilitate cultural understanding” (http://www.couchsurfing.com/mission.html) • Liability to host anyone at anytime • Facebook Marketplace • Sub-part of an entire social network, not the main focus

  6. How It Works: Getting Registered • Each school has a central mysql database that stores all information entered by the users • Requisite information: • Basic registration information for all clients: class year, teams, organizations, clubs • Alumni/Associates: • Location, capacity, and basic registration info • Addresses are geocoded using Google’s API to transfer and save the information as a latitude and longitude coordinate in the mysql database • This information is transferred to php, where it is then sent to the mysql database, and stored for future searches

  7. How It Works: Searching for Housing • Students make a search query for the location (address or zip code) and radius they would like to travel to • Our site returns a list and map of the host addresses that fit the criteria • Students are able to filter results • by group/team/organization, distance from desired location, occupancy, graduation year, etc.

  8. How the Search Works • Using Google’s geocoding API, our site transfers the location into a longitude and longitude coordinate • First a box is created that will cover the given radius to limit the Haversine calculations which is taxing for the server • Using the Haversine formula we calculate distances to this location from given coordinates in our database • Then we search through the mysql database to find all hosts within the calculated target range • The results are returned as markers on a Google map and in a filterable table that has links to the details of each host

  9. Google Maps API • Optimized server performance using bounding box before haversine formula • The results are filterable by distance, occupancy, etc. through mysql commands • Google geocoding limits not applicable due to setup of requests

  10. Messaging System • Allows communication without unnecessary information release. • Alumni can accept or reject a request. • Students send a message through our messaging system to the Alumni found on the search page requesting housing. • At that time, payment would be enforced (not in current working model), and alumni contact information would be released to the student.

  11. Future of the Site • Expand to create more University networks • Add a newsfeed to update users when new alumni are added or when current alumni profiles are changed • Different dates alums are able to host • Expand Google maps to include nearby businesses • Advertising revenue

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