How is uSurvive different from other social networking Web sites?
The cool thing about uSurvive is that it basically caters strictly to the needs of students. When Facebook first started they obviously appealed specifically to the college market. Now on Facebook I believe it is something like 50 percent of the users are over the age of 35. So students are more wary about putting pictures up that might affect future employment or that their parents or their aunts and uncles might see, so it’s kind of like playing into that whole catering to the students thing. uSurvive is strictly, 100 percent for college students. That’s the first difference. The second big thing is that you are rewarded for using the Web site. For every picture you upload, for every event that you post, for every blog that you post or comment on you get what is called a uPoint. You can use these uPoints to redeem things such as concert tickets, gift cards to book stores, or to plant a tree. There are a lot of different prizes and levels. Basically those are the two key differences.
Talk a little bit about the uSur guide. The uSur guide is basically a way for students to familiarize themselves with the surrounding area, to get to know businesses, or to give them monthly updates in terms of events and what’s going on at certain bars or clubs or specials at apartment complexes. There is a print version, which is pocket size. It’s full color, high gloss material. It’s a three by five inch little type thing so you can toss it in your back pocket if you are a guy, or in your purse if you are a girl. Basically, the print version is a three in one. It’s a directory, it’s a coupon book and it’s a planner.
How many issues per semester will be distributed on campus? We are going to do one. I am a print guy. I come from a print background. But the thing is in terms of like being realistic is media is in a very transitional phase right now. So, it was a difficult decision for me based on the research that we did and some market research that we did. We pulled some students and asked them a bunch of questions in terms of previous products that we have done and worked on. We kind of found out it is pretty obvious that students are, especially the younger they get, are spending the majority of their time online.
When does the print version come out? The print version is going to hit campuses Aug. 31.
Is there anything else students should know about uSurvive? Once you log in you can choose your school theme. So it is custom colored to your school. Another thing is, you know with Facebook when you post an event you have to invite everyone that you know and pray that they see your invite. With uSurvive, everyone within your school network automatically sees the event. For some people that might not be what they want, but that’s not what we are trying to target. What we are trying to target is people who are promoting things that they want everyone to know about.
