University of Florida alumni Wayne Ferguson and Luke McGurrin’s first cooperative business venture, a smartphone app called It’s On Me, is on its way to being a success with more than 1,000 downloads in a week.
Available in the iTunes app store, It’s On Me is a fresh and exciting twist on existing social media platforms Tinder and Foursquare because it provides a whole new way to meet people in your town.
The app gives users the ability to check into a venue, view the profiles of users who’ve also checked and choose to send a user of their choice a drink. Whether the libation is sent as an attempt to make a new friend, to score a business connection or simply to hit on someone is up to the sender.
And the invitations don’t necessarily have to stop with drinks, either. See a cutie at the bar who keeps complaining about how hungry she is? Send that girl some of Cantina’s finest loaded queso and a basket of chips!
Via: Facebook
The app is designed to make it easy and painless to meet new people in your area.
To test its efficacy, Ferguson and McGurrin used their college stomping grounds for the launch. Less than a day after It’s On Me was available to be downloaded by the public, Ferguson and McGurrin held an All-You-Can-Drink blowout at The Swamp and Cantina to promote the app to always-eager-to-drink Midtown regulars.
With invitations sent via e-mail to UF’s student body, the app’s inaugural trial-run boasted 1,200 downloads and 1,600 “Drinks Sent” by users during that first night. Ferguson just wasn’t too happy when his girlfriend had a drink sent to her by a guy who wanted to “invite [her] to his BBQ” so “[her] grill could meet [his] meat.” So, yes nasties, this app can be just like Tinder if you want it to be.
Ferguson, however, says it’s an app “for the here and now” social scene that gives users “an invitation to talk.” No longer limited to bars and clubs, the founders note that the app is already being used at Starbucks, Chipotle and Norman Field. It seems you never know where you may want to virtually meet someone (or just get too poor to buy yourself a cup of coffee.)
The app was borne out of a frustration that the founders share with many men: After racking up a bar tab upwards of $100 in hopes to win a girl’s number, some guys become mortified when she declines the advance because she “has a boyfriend” but “really enjoyed meeting you,” (read: drink at their expense.) McGurrin, who lives in Los Angeles, adds that the app is ideal in noisy, dark nightclubs where it’s hard to see the crowd past strobe lights and loud-ass music.
Via: Her Campus
“Say you’re in a great spot at the bar, but you can’t see past a certain horde. It’s On Me helps you figure out if your friends are at the back, and you can tell them to come meet up.”
McGurrin adds that you can access the app to see how busy a bar is, and if any of your Facebook friends are checked in, a prime feature on game days when you’re deciding between Fats and Swamp. Called “gamification,” It’s On Me tracks your real-life actions and rewards them digitally.
Innovators at heart, the founders are considering adding badges that merit good in-app behavior. The lucky lady who receives the most drink invitations in one night could have her profile branded “Queen Bee,” an accomplishment she could certainly add to her college resume.
The next step for Ferguson and McGurrin is to further incorporate the venue. Rewarding regulars with shots or appetizers for checking in is another way the duo could expand the app, so that restaurants and bars could interact with the users directly.
Via: Facebook
It’s always reassuring to see that the entrepreneurial vision is thriving, especially when it involves our Gator grads. It’s On Me has pulled highlights from popular (but pre-existing) social media outlets to become its own intermingling ideal for the Gainesville collective. For a freshman looking to make friends to alums checking Swamp for old drinking buddies and everything in between, the app has massive amounts of staying power in Hogtown.
Feature photo courtesy of: Metro
