For some people, finding out when and where local events are going to take place may be difficult to do, but there’s now a smartphone application to alert you when something comes up.
The digital company known as Eventful Inc. has released a new version of the free iPhone application called Eventful, which lets people know when their favorite artists, movies, sports and other entertainment events are taking place in certain area.
The app not only lets users see what kind of events are occurring in one’s area, but gives the user an opportunity to request a specific movie screening or musician to come to a nearby venue through a Demand It! feature, said Alicia Graham, senior public relations manager for Eventful Inc.
The company launched a Demand It! campaign last winter, getting Darius Rucker, lead singer for Hootie and the Blowfish, to donate $10,000. The money went to toys for victims in New York affected from Hurricane Sandy, Graham said.
“We’re all about event discovery,” Graham said. “It’s a unique social media platform and is a very cool thing.”
Anthony Fontana, instructor in the School of Art, designs the University’s mobile apps and is currently working on a campus calendar app. He said the Eventful app lets you filter the information the user wants and is helping people find their interests locally.
“A lot of our students are interested in music and to find out the band they are listening to on their device is going to be in town soon is great,” Fontana said. “Maybe a friend is sharing a song and my app tells me they are in town next weekend and that’s one of the benefits of today’s technology.”
Jeremy Lublin, marketing and promoter at Headliners in Toledo, said the hardest thing to do is advertising upcoming events to the public. People ask Headliners to bring in an artist who they had already recently hosted, he said.
“[Eventful] will help people know what’s going on in the area,” Lublin said. “Everyone is going to the Internet which makes it more difficult to let people know what’s going on. It sounds like a good, new technology to let people know what events are happening.”
Devan Daniel, a freshman, is considering downloading the app and said a major factor for his decision is because it’s free of charge.
“The fact you can travel and it will still let you know what’s going on around you is great,” Daniel said. “It’s a smart way to advertise events and I would definitely use it.”
The mobile app will also keep people updated on events when traveling to other cities based off of the user’s location and interests.
“It’s like a little editor telling you everything that’s happening around you,” Graham said.
The iPhone app is now available for free and can be downloaded from the Apple iTunes Store.
