SweetHack Chi + NY
In our inaugural SweetHack, we tackled the idea that mass platforms only facilitate conformed communication, and are becoming inherently unsocial because they don’t reflect the way people communicate and interact in real life. So, we took a specific group of people, studied the parameters of their social environment and personal and professional needs, and built a tool that better facilitated their interaction online.
The Opportunity
A group of Chicago’s tech experts and seasoned enterpreneurs gathered on Friday night to discuss opportunities to support Chicago’s entrepreneur community. In Chicago, there is a consensus that social tools have become unsocial and there’s an overreliance on technologies that aren’t supporting the real needs of their communities. Members of
Ms. Tech, a group of women entrepreneurs in tech, gathered to create a more robust tool to facilitate referrals and job leads, as well as connect in new value-add ways while preserving professional intimacy and trust, based on individual experience and reputation. In other words, how we connect online should reflect how we connect offline.
The Team
entrprnr.com and the ladies of Ms. Tech, a Facebook group comprised of Chicago-based consultants, entrepreneurs and designers, joined forces to lending development, design and strategic planning skills to launch GLINT.
In our inaugural SweetHack, we tackled the idea that mass platforms only facilitate conformed communication, and are becoming inherently unsocial because they don’t reflect the way people communicate and interact in real life. So, we took a specific group of people, studied the parameters of their social environment and personal and professional needs, and built a tool that better facilitated their interaction online.
The Opportunity
A group of Chicago’s tech experts and seasoned enterpreneurs gathered on Friday night to discuss opportunities to support Chicago’s entrepreneur community. In Chicago, there is a consensus that social tools have become unsocial and there’s an overreliance on technologies that aren’t supporting the real needs of their communities. Members of
Ms. Tech, a group of women entrepreneurs in tech, gathered to create a more robust tool to facilitate referrals and job leads, as well as connect in new value-add ways while preserving professional intimacy and trust, based on individual experience and reputation. In other words, how we connect online should reflect how we connect offline.
The Team
entrprnr.com and the ladies of Ms. Tech, a Facebook group comprised of Chicago-based consultants, entrepreneurs and designers, joined forces to lending development, design and strategic planning skills to launch GLINT.
The SweetHack Solution
GLINT Lite is a platform for customizing and curating group discussions online. Focused on reducing the noise and refining the social stream, GLINT Lite allows communities to tailor features around their conversations, resulting in more relevant, organized and searchable discussion. Built on the framework of Buddypress, GLINT provides different plug-in features that enhance functionality and usability via:
- Tagging – refines and filters the stream according to subject matter and sub-categories that dominate the conversation
- Search/archiving – prevents the “lost in stream” problem, allowing users to access and build on conversations
- Targeted Profiling – tailors personal and professional information based on the specific needs, interest, and purpose of the surrounding community to result in more action and engagement
