GroupTable.com held its first on-campus event to help promote the site July 21.
The event was held in front of the Student Union, where the team and some supporters joined them to pass out pizza to students who chose to register.
To register, students select their school and enter their classes, allowing them to connect with other students enrolled in them, and gain the ability to form or join groups for studying or for projects. Information sheets and coasters were also passed out.
GroupTable.com is an online collaboration tool created to assist student groups with document management, communication, organization and project planning. It was founded by UCF students David Brim, Carl Henderson and Scott Wall.
Being business majors, these students quickly learned how difficult it is to bring groups of people together to work on projects and group assignments when everyone is running on a different schedule.
"It's a challenge to bring everyone together, and often times when you do there are a lot of distractions and nothing is accomplished," Brim said, the co-founder and product manager for GroupTable.com. The statewide launch of the product will take place this fall and by spring the team plans to spread nationwide.
On the site, groups are able to create to-do lists and share ideas through messages and chat rooms. Files can be uploaded and shared and deadlines can be assigned for different aspects of the workload to ensure that everyone is doing their part. All of the files and folders are stored in one location, which allows all members of the group to stay organized.
GroupTable.com has won the annual business plan competition two of the three years that it has taken place. Winning teams are given a year in the UCF Technology Incubator, which provides office space, conference rooms, and most importantly, coaching and mentoring. The team also won $5,000 for each win.
There are five to eight experienced entrepreneurs that judge the competition. Each team has a limited amount of time to present their business plan.
"We look for an attractive business opportunity that is well articulated," said Tom O'Neal, the vice president of research at UCF. "We look for a team that can do what they say they want to do and also have passion and enthusiasm."
The Technology Incubator has about 60 clients and provides a lot of guidance to help businesses that are just starting out avoid mistakes. So far, 26 businesses have graduated from the program and are all still up and running.
"There is about an 80 percent to 85 percent success rate for businesses in the incubation program," O'Neal said.
GroupTable.com is free for users. They bring in their revenue through sponsors and have every intention of keeping the basics free. The team is in the process of creating enhancements and applications to allow the product to be more versatile and appeal to people in the business world as well as students.
Brim, Henderson and Wall have been working hard to reach out to high schools and middle schools, as well and are trying their best to create a beneficial environment for everyone.
"It's about helping people," said Henderson, the developer for GroupTable.com.
For more information on GroupTable or to register, visit www.GroupTable.com. ?
Be the first to comment on this article!