{"id":335329,"date":"2017-03-09T04:20:40","date_gmt":"2017-03-08T20:20:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/?p=1462224"},"modified":"2017-03-09T04:20:40","modified_gmt":"2017-03-08T20:20:40","slug":"soons-event-finding-app-is-a-social-calendar-for-the-mobile-generation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/soons-event-finding-app-is-a-social-calendar-for-the-mobile-generation\/","title":{"rendered":"Soon\u2019s event finding app is a social calendar for the mobile generation"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Facebook\u2019s Events feature is fairly good at recommending the sort of real-world meetups and activities you may be interested in, but there\u2019s\u00a0a whole host of other \u201cevents\u201d you could be missing out on \u2013 like TV show premieres, live broadcasts, pre-orders for a hotly anticipated device, Twitch streams, and more. A\u00a0new app called Soon<\/a>, from Lowercase Capital Managing Director Matt Mazzeo<\/a> and friends, aims to help.<\/p>\n

Explains Mazzeo, the idea for Soon was inspired by a feature the live streaming app Meerkat once offered \u2013 that is, the\u00a0idea that you could subscribe to virtual events. That\u2019s an area that Facebook Events generally overlooks.<\/p>\n

He worked on Soon with Jackson Dahl<\/a> and Laz Alberto<\/a>, also of Lowercase, and\u00a0girlfriend Jessica Ahlberg. Patrick Mandia<\/a> and Brian Wagner<\/a> coded Soon, but everyone on the team served as a product manager, says Mazzeo.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Mazzeo also clarifies that Soon is just\u00a0an experiment, not an attempt at starting a new business.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody has real jobs,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m running Lowercase; Jess is an interior designer. Both the front-end and backend engineers are employed and very talented\u2026This is one of those things where we enjoyed building it. The goal was to build it, get it out, and not sit on ideas that we love.\u201d<\/p>\n

While a number of event finders have launched over the years, Soon takes a different approach that most.<\/p>\n

Instead of ingesting feeds, everything featured in the app is user-generated content \u2013 meaning it\u2019s an event\u00a0someone felt the need to share. The app supports any kind of event, from those\u00a0taking place in the real world to those that are occurring online, like a live stream or an AMA on Reddit. You can even deep link to another mobile application, so it launches the right page in the app where the event takes place.<\/p>\n

Events can also be private \u2013 like a birthday party among friends \u2013 and you can share and discuss events over Soon\u2019s built-in messaging system and group chats.<\/p>\n

Soon (not to be confused with the bucket list app<\/a> by the same name) also focuses on the social aspect of events, by highlighting those that are popular with friends. And it points you to people worth following through the app\u2019s\u00a0leaderboard, which is refreshed regularly to not give preference to early adopters.<\/p>\n

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Soon\u2019s biggest disadvantage is that it needs to grow its network from the ground up.<\/p>\n

Facebook\u2019s Event, by comparison, benefit from Facebook\u2019s\u00a0vast\u00a0social network, its numerous Facebook Pages from brands and businesses each with\u00a0their own events feeds, and its understanding of user\u2019s real-world social graphs.<\/p>\n

To overcome its\u00a0\u201ccold start\u201d problem, Soon suggests\u00a0some users to follow.<\/p>\n

Of course, this\u00a0is both a good and bad thing, as it turns out. While it\u2019s helpful\u00a0to seed the app with content, following a bunch of people you don\u2019t\u00a0know means you\u2019re not being shown\u00a0events your \u201creal\u201d friends are attending, and you may be pointed to events that are taking place far from your current physical location.<\/p>\n

That said, the\u00a0app\u2019s launch is poised to take advantage of SXSW to gain an initial following. Users attending SXSW can follow a \u201cBest of SXSW\u201d account in the app to keep informed of some of the better events taking place in Austin this month.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

However, if you\u2019re of a certain age (ahem<\/em>),\u00a0Soon can feel\u00a0a little busy.<\/p>\n

Events are displayed in card-style format that shows a title, time, location, and an image \u2013 or, often, a GIF. Other visual cues show you who posted it and who\u2019s attending, while buttons let you tap to favorite it, save it, share it, tweet it, grab a link, or see a map.<\/p>\n

Events are also\u00a0hashtagged for search and discovery purposes. The app is bright, colorful and animated, and is a lot to take in at first.<\/p>\n

Plus,\u00a0when you tap into an event, the event\u2019s \u201csoundtrack\u201d \u2013 a song of the creator\u2019s choosing \u2013 starts playing. (Yes, be warned, olds!)<\/p>\n