Living in one of the most culturally thriving cities in the nation makes it hard to know about all the events going on in town — not to mention deciding which one is most worthy of your time.
But now there is Signalfy, a website designed to be the definitive one-stop shop for discovering, sharing and promoting events in your city.
Kara Dake, founder and CEO of Signalfy, came up with the idea when she had trouble recommending New York City hotspots and events to guests renting her Lower East Side apartment while she was studying at NYU.
“When we’re trying to figure out what to do for the upcoming weekend, depending on whether we want to see a concert, go out bar-hopping, to a film screening or a festival, the process of finding out these events is really disjointed, inefficient and often leaves you wondering if you’ve really picked the best thing to do out of all of your options,” Dake said.
The site requires users to log in via their Facebook accounts to view events in their city. Then they can “signal” their interest in attending events. All events are reviewed by the Signalfy staff before being posted on the website and on its social media channels.
“We’re going above and beyond just an event listing site and giving the space a much-needed social upgrade,” Dake said.
While finishing up her MBA from the Stern School of Business in the spring of 2012, Dake started working on some wireframes and designs for the site.
Dake credits her NYU Stern education with helping her deal with the business aspects of Signalfy.
“[My MBA] has helped me in terms of defining Signalfy’s marketing strategy and business models, as well as looking ahead to our marketing channels that the site’s features will need to support,” Dake said.
This fall, Signalfy was accepted to the FoundersPad star-up accelerator program in Bend, Oregon. Dake has also recruited two developers who are now working on enhancing the site.
Signalfy’s art director, Miriam Castillo, realizes the importance behind designing a site that not only has a useful purpose in today’s need-to-know society, but that also has an aesthetically pleasing layout.
“I try to give our product a fresh and creative look that reflects the hip and exciting community that we represent,” Castillo said. “Ultimately, I hope to communicate the best of what’s happening.”
As for the future of Signalfy, Dake has plans to move to Portland, Oregon in January of 2013 and is focusing on launching the site in Portland and Brooklyn.
