By John Rogers /// News Editor
Forget reading posters, perusing Facebook or even word of mouth—soon, you could find everything that happens at Lewis & Clark on one calendar. The Associated Students of Lewis & Clark unveiled the calendar, hosted on an application called Ventfull, to the LC community on Thursday, Nov. 6.
The online platform is open source—any LC student can create an event. Users can upvote events and customize their accounts to get notifications of future events in their chosen fields of interest.
Created by an alum of Brown University, Ventfull’s client base snowballed as more colleges adopted the platform. ALSC contracted with Ventfull for roughly “$100 a month,” ASLC Auditor David Shapiro said.
According to Shapiro, “it was one of the cheapest platforms out there. We looked at other event platforms, but their price tag was anywhere from $800-900 to $5,000-6,000 a year.”
Along with its low price tag, Ventfull is pliable, able to adapt to the needs of LC. They’ve been “very receptive to our feedback,” Shapiro said. After designing a platform fit for the college, the company has continuously updated the calendar’s software to better perform for LC’s needs, on the request of the ASLC. Shapiro attributes the successful relationship with Ventfull to the company’s undergraduate founders and LC’s position as one of Ventfull’s first clients.
Shapiro thinks that so far, the event platform has been working well.
“Lewis & Clark already has so many amazing events and opportunities, but faces problems such as low turnout and conflicting events. Every organization and student deserves to have their events and accomplishments recognized. We think Ventfull is a step towards more effective planning, a better connected community and a celebration of students’ hard work.”
John Rogers is a News Editor at the PioLog. He enjoys black coffee and stories of Arctic exploration by the likes of Peter Freuchen and Ernest Shackleton. Although new to the newspaper game, he very much enjoys the work and is constantly striving to improve. Johnrogers@lclark.edu
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