By Alyssa Laffitte
Besides classes, one of the biggest sources of stress for college students is roommate drama. When you live with someone, it is easy to get annoyed with each other, causing a tense living situation. But it doesn’t have to be that way! Here are some tips to help you avoid roommate drama.
Write a roommate contract
The best way to avoid roommate drama is to write a roommate contract. A roommate contract is a document that lists the expectations you and your roommate have for each other. It requires you to figure out the areas in which you and your roommate are on the same page and the ones in which you are not. Good questions to ask while you are writing a roommate contract are:
- Around what time do you like to go to sleep?
- Around what time do you like to wake up?
- Do you like to have people over, or would you rather the room be a sanctuary?
- Do you plan on bringing any guests over? How long in advance should we notify each other of these guests? (Especially guests of the opposite gender!)
- Are you a neat freak?
- How much time do you plan to spend in the room?
- Are there any times during the week when you would like to have the room to yourself? (Of course, your roommate should ask you this question, and you should take each other’s answers into account as you plan your week.)
- How do you feel about sharing items? Food? Shampoo/conditioner? Beauty products?
Writing a roommate contract early on in your roommate relationship will help you avoid roommate drama and headaches. Having this conversation might be awkward, especially if you and your roommate don’t know each other very well yet. Still, it’s important. You will thank yourself later!
Communicate
Similarly, communication is key in any relationship, but it is especially important to communicate with the people you are living with. The contract is only the first step of this communication. Let your roommate know what’s going on in your life. For example, if you have a big test to study for, let her know that you would like some extra time alone in the room. It’s likely that she will be understanding and honor your request.
You should also communicate to your roommate anything she is doing that you don’t like. For instance, if she always leaves her dirty dishes in the sink and doesn’t wash them, let her know that this bothers you.
Of course, the key to this kind of communication is to be kind. Don’t be accusatory or mean and yell at her when you are telling her she is doing something that bothers you. Instead, say something like, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I always wash my dishes after I use them. The dishes in the sink are yours. Do you think you could wash your dishes, too? Please? I would really appreciate it.”
If you don’t communicate with your roommate, you will be very frustrated and angry. Don’t let these unresolved issues become monsters. Communicate with your roommate whenever you have an issue, as this is the best chance of resolving the issue.
Keep the room clean
Even if your roommate says she is not necessarily a neat freak, it is important to keep the room clean. Not only does it look better, but it’s easy to find things when you know they are exactly where they are supposed to be. Your roommate will appreciate that you are not leaving your stuff all over the place.
Spend a healthy amount of time apart
When you live with someone, you spend a lot of time with them. This is good because you and your roommate could cultivate a close friendship. However, it is also healthy to spend a healthy amount of time apart to avoid annoying each other. Spend a few days studying in the library rather than together in your dorm room, or spend time with other friends for a little while. You’ll have something new to talk about when you see each other again!
Always ask before borrowing something
Everyone has different opinions on what they feel comfortable letting their roommates borrow. When I moved out, I was rather protective of my stuff. However, someone else might not mind letting you borrow any of her clothes.
Have a conversation with your roommate about what you can and can’t borrow from each other, and what are the rules if you do borrow something. For example, for how long are you allowed to borrow something? Do you have to wash/clean it before you return it? Knowing the “borrowing policy” ahead of time will help you avoid many roommate problems.
Roommate drama is a big source of stress for college students. Avoid roommate drama by making your expectations clear at the beginning, and communicating kindly with each other when problems do arise. If you do that, you can have a good relationship with your roommate.
By Danielle Wirsanky
A huge part of the college experience is having roommates. Good roommates, bad roommates, college students experience them all. We have all heard a college roommate horror story or met someone who became best friends with a college roommate. There are many reasons why college students choose (or do not choose) to live with roommates during those crucial four years at university. Each person, each situation, and each roommate is different. You have to weigh out the pros and cons of each situation as it arises before you make a decision—that way you can be sure that you are making the right, and best, decision possible. Read on to learn some of the pros and cons of having roommates!
Pros
There are several benefits to living with a roommate while at college. Not sure what that might entail? Check out the detailed list of pros below!
It’s Cheaper
One of the major reasons that students choose to have roommates while at college is simply because it is cheaper. College is one of the most expensive undertakings a person can undergo—and that is just tuition! The cost of living is higher when you are on your own and no longer living with your family. Sharing a living space makes costs go way down. If you live alone, you have to pay for the entire rent, the entire utility bill, all the cable and internet bills, renters insurance, and more. There is no one to share it with.
Fortunately, the bills do not increase proportionally for every roommate you add to an equation. Say a studio apartment costs $650 a month to rent. If you wanted a place with two bedrooms, it would not necessarily cost you $650 x 2. It would more likely cost you $850. $850 split in two ($425) is a lot more reasonable an amount to pay per month for rent. The same with utilities and the rest of the bills you need to pay. The amounts do not go up in proportion to the number of people living there. It is having the initial set up and maintenance of a utility or service that keeps it at a base price each month. And each roommate that you add without the prices going up too much just helps you to keep your costs down low.
Being able to split all of those fees will really help you to save money in the long run and make sure all of your bills and expenses are covered. You can even split grocery bills to make sure that you do not buy too much food, that it all gets eaten, and that nothing goes to waste. Being able to stay financially secure will make your college experience a lot less stressful, so if a roommate can provide you with that financial stability, why not try it out?
Larger Living Space
Often when you have an apartment, dorm room, or house that is meant to house more than one person, the shared living spaces are larger to reflect it. A studio apartment does not offer much space, and the living room and kitchen for a one bedroom apartment will also be pretty tight. But the space you will find in shared living spaces in a two or three bedroom domicile? Much less snug of a fit. It is not only your living room that will be bigger but most likely your kitchen too! The larger living space might even be reflected in your bathroom or bedroom size, especially if the bathroom is intended to be shared. Even if you have to share a space like a bathroom, having a bigger one usually makes the experience more pleasant.
Safety
Living by yourself is not always the safest. Without another person in your daily, and I mean daily, life, there are more ways for you to fall through the cracks. If you get sick, who will know? Who will be able to help you, even to a minute degree? If you experience a home invasion or some other tragedy, who else will notice that something has gone wrong, that you are off schedule, that you are not where you are supposed to be? Yes, you have family and friends, but do you see each of them every day while you are at college? Probably not. A roommate knows your schedule and habits. They will be the first to notice if something is wrong and may be able to do so quickly enough that you can actually be helped.
Burglars and other invaders are also much less likely to target homes that have multiple people living in it, especially if they have different schedules. If one person lives in a place, it is much easier to track their schedules. And if they do come home in the middle, one person is much more easily dispatched than multiple. Having a roommate can often keep you and your household a lot more secure.
Have a Built-In Friend/Support System
Going hand in hand with the idea of safety, having roommates really can provide you with a support system you otherwise would not have. Your family and friends can only do so much from wherever they are living. Roommates are up close and personal, in your face, in your space, and in your life.
Sometimes, it is nice to just come home to someone at the end of the day. You go home after a long day of work and school and someone is there, a friendly and familiar face. Maybe you are not close enough for you to vent about your day; maybe you are. But living with another person gives you a more intimate relationship—through little details, you come to know each other better than most people ever will, even if you are not exactly friends.
Even if you do not know your roommate very well or are even complete strangers when you first move in, you will end up with a bond by the end. A sense of camaraderie, a sense of respect—these things can very easily be developed. And if you already know or are friends with your roommate before you move in together, your relationship will deepen as well.
And sometimes, a roommate can end up being your very best friends. As American Filmmaker, Richard Linklater once said, “The people you live with at college, those first roommates often are people you're still friends with the rest of your life.”
Cons
Just as there are many pros to having a roommate, there are also many cons. These should also be weighed very carefully before you sign any lease or contract. You do not want to get stuck in a situation that makes you uncomfortable. Check out the list of why a roommate might not be the best option for you.
Less Privacy
Having a roommate definitely means that you will have less privacy. If you have shared spaces, like a shared bedroom or bathroom, you will very much be in each other’s personal space. Especially when you share a bedroom, it can be hard to give each other any personal or alone time because you simply have no other place to go, like in a dorm room. Even if you do not share a bedroom, it can be hard not to feel watched or judged as you make excursions into the living room and other shared spaces. It can feel like they know, watch, and keep track of your every move. It is not a great feeling to feel judged by your roommate. And sometimes, you can’t just pick up and go to the library or sit in a dorm study room to give or get your own space—these are not always options.
For some people, personal time and being able to retreat away from the world and other people is incredibly vital. When you never have any space or distance from other people to recharge or unwind, it can be detrimental to your health, emotional well-being, and can put your relationships at risk because it becomes such a frustrating experience. No one wants a roommate situation to become a war zone or to let frustrations boil over to that point. However, if you are not used to handling a roommate and know how important privacy is to you, having a roommate might not be the best option for you. You need to feel very comfortable in your dorm, apartment, or house because while you are at college, it really is your home. And home is supposed to be a safe place.
Clashing Expectations
Another con to having roommates while in college is that you will often have clashing expectations. This is to be expected to a certain extent. No one comes from the same backgrounds or situations—you are setting up camp with a person who was raised and who lives in a manner that is probably very different from you. What you take to be blatant might not be so clear to you and vice versa. Maybe your family was more relaxed about cleaning and housework—it did not have to be done right away as long as it was completed in the end. But maybe your roommate expects you to clean up after yourself, immediately, right away, and without delay—after all, that is how they were raised and expected to behave. It is not as if you were not going to clean it up—but it can start an argument that you did not clean it up fast enough.
Or maybe it is the other way around. If you wanted to bring guests into your home, you would run it by your roommate first to make sure it was okay—that they felt comfortable having people in the space you guys share, especially if you are bringing over people they do not know. But your roommate is the opposite—they never think to ask you if it is okay to bring people over and they bring lots of people into your home, people you have never met before and might not feel that comfortable around. This can cause friction between you – you have different expectations, and it can be hard for you guys to get back on the same page about these kinds of issues.
It can be hard to clearly lay out your expectations without someone feeling like they are having their toes stepped on or that the other party is being unreasonable. If you feel like you cannot follow rules or cannot abide by someone who might break your own rules or ever dash your expectations, roommates might not be the best fit for you.
Patience
Connecting back to the idea of clashing expectations, if you do not have a lot of patience, then having roommates may still not be a good fit for you. Even when you set up expectations, it can be difficult to change the way you have always lived or what you presumed to be acceptable behavior. There will always be mix-ups, accidental violations of the expectations, and times when the expectations are too untenable and do not work out or are unachievable. It happens to the best of us. But if you cannot learn to roll with the punches and every minor or accidental violation of a rule sets your teeth so much on edge that you cannot bear to live or be around a person, living on your own, on your own terms, might be more comfortable for you.
Roommates can be the best and roommate can also be the worst. You have a lot of pros and cons to weigh when making such a decision, which should not be made lightly. You need to make the decision that will best enable you to get the most out of your college experience. You want to do well, feel well, and be well. Think out your options carefully before you commit so you know whether or not having a roommate will work for you.
By Brittany Hawes
You’ve found a compatible roommate—congratulations! You’ve already completed one of the toughest parts of “roommate life”! Now comes the fun part: finding fun activities to do together that will help you bond with your roommate and strengthen the relationship between you. Although the following list will provide you with bonding activity examples, you should take into consideration the likes and dislikes of you and your roommate when making plans to hang out. If you both share a similar interest, you should find an activity that involves that and do it together!
Are you ready? Here is a list of 15 activities that will help you bond with your roommate:
1. Movie night
Who doesn’t love a movie night? Pull out your favorite Blu-Rays and DVDs or log into your Netflix account and get ready for a night filled with nothing but good (or hilariously bad) movies. Skip out on cooking dinner for tonight and instead have everyone chip in to get a delicious pizza delivered to your door. (Expert tip: If you have different tastes when it comes to your choice of pizza, order from a restaurant that will let you order different toppings on both halves. Or order Korean BBQ instead!) Pop some popcorn, bust out the soda cans and beer, and bond over the beauty that is cinema
2. Sleepover
If you both have your own separate rooms, why not do a night where you both stay in one person’s room? You can swap funny stories, watch YouTube videos together, and take the chance to really get to know one another. Feels like middle-school, but sleepovers at this age can be even more fun!
3. Gardening
My roommate and I started a garden together. We both knew very little about gardening so our plants didn’t last too long, but the process of setting up our garden was fun! We went to a few stores to gather our materials, had all sorts of wacky adventures in the garden center of Home Depot, and laugh/cried at the pitiful state of our poor little garden a few months down the road.
4. Decorating
If your shared living spaces are looking a little drab, why not go on Pinterest with your roommate and find a living room setup that you both like? After that, arrange to go to the store and pick up everything you’ll need to transform your living room into the ultimate hangout space.
5. Shopping
Shopping really is a bonding activity. It doesn’t just have to be for clothes; shopping for furniture, household goods, and other things you might need in your home all make for a fun bonding activity.
6. Grocery shopping
Shopping for groceries is never fun, but having someone along with you in those packed aisles can make the experience a little better. Ask your roommate if he or she wouldn’t mind going with you to the grocery store to pick up a few things. Chances are, they’re also in need of a few things and will appreciate the offer.
7. Date night assistant
Does your roommate have a big date coming up? Offer to play wingman and help them get ready for their romantic evening. That includes being that “emergency phone call” if the date is a loss and your roomie needs you to bail them out.
8. Video games
Nothing builds friendship like a few rounds of Mario Kart or Call of Duty!
9. Homework help
Is your roommate struggling in a subject that you’re an ace at? Offer to help by walking them through the problem and helping them reach the solution.
10. Road trip
Imagine leaving the stress of class behind you and going for a great road trip with your roommate. Pick a spot that you’re both interested in visiting and head there for the weekend. You might consider doing something similar for Spring Break or Winter Break.
11. Attend school functions
Aren’t you a little bit curious about those campus events you keep getting emails about? Why not grab your roommate and check one of them out? Sure, the event might be as boring as the email made it sound, but that gives you and your roommate something to laugh about!
12. Plan a spa day
Take a break from classes and visit the spa together this weekend!
13. Go see a play
You know that play your roommate keeps mentioning? Take him to go see it! If students get in free, that’s even better!
14. Go see a movie
Don’t forget your student ID for your discount!
15. Go skating
You both might not be the greatest skaters in the world, but get out there and have a laugh at yourselves! A good time comes from being able to laugh at yourself!
You and your roommate don’t have to be strangers living in the same place. Reach out and make that effort! You never know—you might just find your new best friend.
By Kaitlin Hurtado
If you have the opportunity to move out, one of the harder decisions may be finding who to live with. Deciding to live with someone may not be the first thing on your mind when you think of your upcoming independence, but deciding to live with someone will come up when you realize you may not be able to handle the burden of rent alone and need to find other people to share your room or apartment with.
It's hard enough to find someone to live with, but finding your ideal roommate is even harder when they are so many factors that will lead to your final decision. You may think you are the best roommate ever, but finding someone to match your idea of a matching "best roommate" can be tricky depending on your standards.
There are plenty of factors that go into deciding who to live with, such as which of your friends are available, how well you get along with someone, and how clean you are. If you find yourself struggling in deciding who to live with or if the person you are considering to live with is the right choice, here are some starting questions to ask when you are deciding to live with someone.
What is your daily routine like?
This question may seem personal, but it's a good starting point in getting to know the type of person you are going to live with. Deciding to live with someone is a personal choice as you are going to be sharing your personal, living space with them. Asking for your potential roommate's daily routine gives you a first taste as to what kind of person you are considering as a roommate. Many things can be learned from knowing someone's daily routine. You get to know how much time they spend out and about or at home, what kind of things they like to involve themselves with, and much more.
Ask them to describe their typical day. What time do they usually wake up to start their day? Do they take a lot of naps? Do they stay up all night, only to sleep well into the next day? Sleeping schedules are often revealed when a daily routine is described as you can get a general read on their sleeping habits, which may be very important if you are planning on sharing a bedroom with the person. You don't want to have them up all night trying to be productive (and very noisy) as you try to sleep, or be an early riser when you love to sleep in. Finding someone with a similar sleeping schedule will help you avoid later conflict that can come up when you realize you and your roommate run on completely different schedules when it comes to sleep.
Finding out when common routine factors, like showering, can also be helpful when it comes to deciding to live with someone, no matter how trivial it may sound at first. If you both have a similar schedule, down to the same shower times, living together may be less than ideal when your daily fights spark from something as simple as who gets to shower first.
Likewise, the activities they list out when describing their daily routine will also reveal how much time they spend in and out of the house. If they say that they only really go out when needed, like for class, you may want to consider how that would affect you if you decided to live with them. If you like to stay home and have your own personal time, but they are always home, living with them may not be your best bet if you are going to be sharing a room with a lack of personal space.
Getting to know an individual's daily routine prior to deciding to live with someone may save you the trouble of realizing that you and your roommate run on clashing schedules, which can lead to future roommate conflicts.
How do you feel about having guests over?
A common cause of conflict between roommates is on contrasting opinions on having guests over. Before deciding to live with someone, it's important to ask them about how they feel about having guests over - especially if you know that you feel strongly about having guests over.
You can think it's perfectly okay to have guests over, even if it's having a friend inside while you grab something to change into. However, someone else may want to keep their living space extremely quiet and not want any guests over. It's important to find a common ground regarding guests - both daytime and nighttime - prior to deciding to live with someone as you want both yourself and your roommate(s) comfortable in their own living space, regardless of the time.
Make sure you also draw a distinction between overnight guests and daytime guests. Someone may be okay with the occasional guest over at daytime with a heads-up text, but be strictly against having any overnight guests. It may not seem like that much of a big deal, but for those with significant others that want to spend the occasional night or two, not being able to spend time together just may be a deal breaker when it comes to deciding to live with someone.
If you know you hate your roommates having overnight guests over or when people come over without any warning, make sure you make that clear to the person you are deciding to live with. Alternatively, if you know you love to have friends over at your apartment all the time, make that apparent when deciding to live with someone. It's unfair to you if you can't have any guests over at all if your roommate doesn't want anyone over, but it's also unfair to your roommate if you are always bringing someone over without permission, leaving them feeling uncomfortable in their own living space.
When discussing your respective thoughts on having guests over, you may also want to discuss what you think of having parties or larger gatherings at your apartment. You definitely don't want to live with a party animal and only find out when you realize that your roommate has been throwing parties several weekends in a row.
What is your definition of clean?
An even more common cause of conflict between roommates is getting into fights over the cleanliness of your living space. To avoid such conflicts, it's important to ask about someone's idea of clean before deciding to live with someone.
If asking someone if they are clean or not, they can say that they are a clean person and think they are being completely honest. However, once you live with them you may realize that the "clean" they were talking about isn't even close to what you think "clean" should be. Instead, make sure to ask what they consider as clean. Asking this instead will allow you to gauge just how clean, or dirty, you can expect them to be as a roommate.
Having the same definition of clean will make living with each other easier as you both will have the same standard of cleanliness to uphold. You won't have to worry about telling them to clean the countertop, only for them to clear it off without actually wiping it down with anything. It's important for both parties to be honest in this case, if you know you are the type to clean once a week, whenever you find time to clean - make sure your future roommate knows that so that they don't expect you to be cleaning up after yourself as soon as you make a mess.
At the same time, while you may say you are pretty relaxed when it comes to cleaning your own personal living spaces, you may have a different standard when it comes to common living spaces, like your living room, kitchen, and/or bathroom. If you want dishes cleaned as soon as they are used, or for everything in the living room to be neat and tidy at all times, be sure you make those desires known to the person you are deciding to live with. This will decrease the chances of you constantly having to remind them to pick up after themselves or worse, having to pick up after them.
If you discuss cleanliness standards and possible cleaning schedules before deciding to live someone, you will help eliminate the future headache that comes with nagging between roommates regarding cleanliness.
What do you expect out of a roommate?
Just like how everyone has a different standard of cleanliness, everyone has a different idea of what a roommate should be and all have their deal breakers when it comes to deciding to live with someone. Asking your potential roommate what they expect out of a roommate is a great way to figure out the expectations that your roommate holds and can also potentially reveal what you can expect of them as a roommate in turn.
Some people think of getting a new roommate as a great opportunity for making a new friend. They may want to become very close to you, meaning, they'll ask to spend more time with you, whether it's time spent having movie nights in your living room or tagging along with your friend group for dinner. This may sound like an ideal scenario as you'll be on friendly terms with your roommate, but you might want to think about what you want out of having a roommate. If you just want someone to live with and get along with casually, you may find their attempts to incorporate themselves into your life aggravating or troublesome, especially if you want time at home to be your own personal time and they attempt to spend any and all time at home with you.
On the other hand, if you are the type of person that wants to become best friends with the person they are living with, you may want to ask what your potential roommate's idea of a roommate is as they may just want someone to share a living space with, and nothing more. This may mean that you have to prepare yourself to give your roommate a lot more room than you would regularly give your roommate or potentially finding another roommate if you want to be close with the person you live with in order to be comfortable in your living space.
This question will also entail figuring out with your potential roommate's lifestyle choices when they explain what they expect out of a roommate. If they say they don't want to have to keep constant watch of their roommate, it probably means that they want a clean and orderly space, and don't want to have to constantly nag at you to do your share of the cleaning.
If they have a smoking habit, they might expect you to be okay with that, or any other normally undesirable habits (constant overnight guests, partying, etc.). They might reveal this as "I want someone that is okay with all my lifestyle choices" and if they are being vague, you might want to consider asking them for more details or explaining what you are okay with (the occasional overnight guest) and what you definitely are not okay with to avoid later conflicts.
Remember that both of your wants and needs are important, and if both of you have completely different expectations of roommates, it's okay to keep looking for a roommate elsewhere.
These questions are discussion starters to help you in deciding to live with someone. It's important to be honest in discussing the answers to such questions as you definitely don't want to be called out on lying about a clean person when you are clearly not, or for your roommate to reveal a pet that you had no prior knowledge of when you move in together.
While someone may not give you the ideal answer you are looking for, don't completely rule them out of your housing decision. Remember that compromise is always an option and that both of you can work toward reaching a starting line that works for both of you as potential roommates. These questions and their following answers may help you decide on finding your best possible roommate.
Roomsurf has reached 1 million sign ups! Since 2010, Roomsurf has helped over one million students find compatible roommates across the United States. Click "Get Started" to join them and find great roommates at your school.
Coming summer 2017, Roomsurf will get a massive visual and functional make over. Stay tuned, exciting things are ahead.
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The transition into college is one of the most exciting – and frightening – times in your life. For the very first time, you are completely on your own. But more freedom also means more responsibility. Not only will you have to be accountable for your studies, but it’s also your duty to look out for your own safety.
With that in mind, take a minute to look over the following safety tips for incoming freshman:
Get to know the campus
It’s a good idea to get to know your way around campus before school officially starts. Find out where emergency contact phones are located and map out the safest routes to all of your classes. You’ll want to use well-lit walkways at nighttime and avoid walking through areas where shrubs, trees or buildings could potentially hide a thief or an assailant.
Make sure people know where you are
Make sure that your family and close friends are aware of your daily routine. Provide your parents with a copy of your class schedule, and, before you go out, always let someone know where you’re going, who you’re going with and when you expect to be back.
Take advantage of campus resources
Every university is concerned with promoting a safe campus environment. In fact, you’ll find that most of them have fantastic safety resources and programs for their students. These may include 24-hour escort services, counseling centers, self-defenses classes and more. Don’t hesitate to utilize these resources if you feel compelled to.
Get in the habit of locking your doors
While it seems obvious, locking your doors is essential to ensuring your safety. However, you would be surprised at how many students simply neglect to do so. By locking your doors, you will not only help keep intruders out, but also help protect your valuables. Remember to also lock your car if you have one on campus. If you live in an apartment or other off-campus student housing, it’s also a good idea to invest in a home alarm system. Check out SecurityChoice if you’re looking for a high-quality system that’s affordable on a college budget.
Be smart about social media
In this social media culture we live in, many young people feel to publish tweets and status updates about their daily experiences. Unfortunately, criminals are beginning to exploit Facebook, Twitter and other social media services to target homes for burglary and commit other illegal acts. Therefore, you should avoid posting live updates about any vacations or trips you’re taking. You should also be suspect of people you correspond with over the Internet. Furthermore, make sure to adjust your privacy settings to limit the amount of personal information you share with others.
Original Release: http://revtechlabs.com/the-second-class-of-revtech-labs-announced/
Packard Place announces the 2nd class of RevTech Labs in Uptown Charlotte. RevTech Labs is geared toward Charlotte’s burgeoning developer community and provides a place for tech startups to launch. The 3 month program focuses on early stage mobile, software and web companies. RevTech Labs provides free work space, mentorship, and programming all geared toward revolutionary technology startups. The program is now launching its second class this week and working through the end of April. The program will end with a Demo Day where the companies will have an opportunity to pitch to investors and the business community.
RevTech Labs has selected 10 companies for the second round of the program (listed below).
RevTech Labs is all about community, mentorship, and connections. All companies will be required to locate within the same community space. The 4,000 sq ft space, located within Packard Place, provides shared desks, break space, and casual meeting space. Mentorship from local, regional, and national tech talent will help to guide startups as they focus on building their products and defining their business models.
Packard Place is the foundation of like-minded entrepreneurs sharing skills and business opportunities in Charlotte. It serves as a community center for entrepreneurial activity in the heart of the Queen City, allowing access to technology, education and hands-on assistance to help business partners and start-ups design, build, market and deliver innovation and solutions. This is accomplished by the collaboration of key organizations in the region including entrepreneurial, industry, civic, economic and university groups that together are changing the landscape of Charlotte business.
Current partners in RevTech Labs include Charlotte area Interact Authentic Communication, CLT Blog, and Twilio.
Interact Authentic Comminication:
Interact Authentic Communication is our partner for the purpose of helping participants breakdown, practice and polish their pitch. RevTech Bootcamp will be held at Interact Studio in the Grinnell Building off West Morehead Street in early April. Bootcamp leader Lou Solomon is the founder of the Interact, which focuses on authenticity as the driving force of communication.
CLT Blog:
CLT Blog is Charlotte’s blog of record. Our mix of citizen and professional contributors have earned CLT Blog the reputation of “Best Local Blog” by way of Creative Loafing and Charlotte magazine’s regular contests. As a locally born and bread collective, CLT Blog focuses on Charlotte’s most pressing issues and inspiring stories, and through the use of rich media like live streaming video, engage the next generation of Charlotteans.
Twilio:
Twilio, the cloud communications company, is reinventing telecom by merging the worlds of cloud computing, web services and telecommunications. Twilio provides a telephony infrastructure web service in the cloud, allowing web developers to integrate phone calls, text messages and IP voice communications into their web, mobile and traditional phone applications. The company is privately held and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
RevTech Labs Second Class of Companies
eCampus
The company goal is to deliver the products, services and experiences that students look for throughout their college career. eCampus currently operates Roomsurf. Roomsurf is a social network that helps students find compatible roommates.
Principals: Justin Gaither, Dan Thibodeau
Alcohoot
Alcohoot is the world’s first smartphone breathalyzer. The small device connects to your smartphone and together with the Alcohoot mobile app enables you to test your blood alcohol level quickly, accurately, and easily.
Principals: Ben Biron, Jonathan Ofir, Max Koeppel
Womadz
Womadz affords its creative members the opportunity to showcase their talent in circles that matter, earn recognition with brand executives and accrue serious cash. Womadz provides its online community with an environment populated with entertaining videos, enabling users to earn money by selecting and sharing the very best of these videos.
Principals: Diek Minkhorst, Sam Wright
MyLearningID
MyLearningID was formed by two business partners that share a passion for education and security. Through facial, voice recognition and additional digital signatures, an individual can maintain the integrity of their identity online while schools to maintain the academic integrity of their distance education programs.
Principals: Velvet Nelson, Mike Murphy
Podanize
Podanize is an innovative website and mobile app that provides moms with an efficient and fun way to stay organized with their kids’ ongoing group activities. The activity leader brings the group online by forming a “Pod” where the parents have free-flowing discussions, schedule recurring events, set up task lists, and easily reference the group’s information in one central location.
Principals: Nikki Sacks, Steven Sacks
Reward Summit
Reward programs are confusing and the costs to consumers on average are between $400 and $700 per year in lost rewards. Reward Summit is a mobile and web-based platform that makes it super easy for customers to always pick the right card, and also to find the best new cards to use to further add benefits.
Principals: John Espey, Chris Hart
InspireInYou
Is the Pandora Internet Radio for messages centered on self-help and religious and non-religious inspiration. Users are gauged on various preferences and then matched with audio messages arranged into customized channels for each user. Contributors of the content include churches, certified counselors, motivational speakers, and certified life coaches.
Principals: Shaun Andrews
Shomo Live
Web based start-up ShomoLive, Inc. is currently developing a social media platform that provides valuable tools for anyone interested in playing, booking, or listening to live music. The main focus of the company’s website (www.shomolive.com) is to help local musicians and venues streamline and automate the process of booking and promoting gigs, as well as other types of events.
Principals: Scott Jermyn, Tony Verrioli, Tim Beidear
Campus Carriers
Campus Carriers is a full-service solution for university students that makes the campus moving process easy and economical. By using technology to fine-tune customer management and logistics as well as providing a streamlined e-commerce website, Campus Carriers is determined to deliver the highest quality of services and amenities to university communities throughout the country.
Principals: Daniel Burdi, Justin Burdi
Plate Share
Plate Share is a smartphone application that allows diners to round their restaurant bills up to the nearest dollar and donate the change to feed the hungry. The non-profit organization runs on a micro-giving transaction platform to tap into the power of the social web to make social change by making charitable giving easy, accessible, affordable, and attractive.
Principles: Katie Levans
Living in a space the size of a closet is stressful to begin with, especially when you take into consideration that you'll be sharing your dorm room with a total stranger. We've long trusted colleges to make roommate matches, but now students are taking control of the process by seeking out roommates on the Internet, agreeing to live together, and making requests to schools. While self-selecting your roommate can have definite advantages, there are important things to keep in mind so that it doesn't hinder your college experience. We asked the experts about what to keep in mind if you do decide to find a roommate online, and why it's not always the best option.
Talk to your potential roommate offline.
"Meeting online can be constructive if you take real steps to get to know somebody," says Rachel Simmons, author of Odd Girl Out. "If you're only going off of a Facebook profile, that's not a real acquaintance with someone. It's like online dating: Imagine picking someone to live with based on an online dating profile—you're only seeing a much nicer version of someone. It's very important to talk to someone on the phone or meet up in person."
Ask the right questions.
"It's important to go beyond a profile picture and the surface level to see if you can actually get along with someone," says Justin Gaither, co-founder of RoomSurf.com, a social networking site that helps students find roommates. "In your conversations, get a sense of how much a person is going to school to study. How serious are they about academics? How much will they be partying? What's their sleep schedule like? Don't just type back and forth about what TV shows and music you like; communicate with the purpose of finding someone who you may or may not be compatible with."
Look for a compatible roommate, not a new best friend.
"In some ways, the old days of not having control over this process were much better because you just had to make do with who you were assigned to once you got to college," says Simmons. "There's too much power now. When you know too much, you can also set yourself up for big disappointment. Just because someone's nice, it doesn't mean that you should live together."
Don't try to find a clone of yourself.
"It's always been Penn's stated belief that it is a good thing for people of different backgrounds to live together and expand their horizons," says Sue Smith, the Associate Director of Communications at the University of Pennsylvania's Office of College Houses & Academic Services. "Rooming with someone different from you may even result in tremendous personal growth."
Use the Internet to introduce yourself to a wide range of students, not necessarily a roommate.
"Chances are that the first person you chat with—or maybe even the second or third—might not be the person you want to live with," says Gaither. "Talk to as many people as you can, and don't be afraid to say no to living with someone."
Trust the system.
"While choosing one's roommate definitely has its benefits, it has its downsides, too," says Kelci Lynn, an education writer for About.com and US News & World Report. "Schools have been matching roommates for a very long time, and some are very good at it. While getting a bad roommate match is a major worry for a lot of students, the chances of having it happen are actually pretty slim. Additionally, choosing one's own roommate can prevent students from being exposed to new people and experiences that may help them learn and thrive."
Read More http://www.teenvogue.com/connect/hot-topic/2012/05/finding-a-college-roommate-online#ixzz1v8S8qG3W
