ClubHub

Inspiration

Problem Statement: Students struggle to discover campus clubs and keep up with recruitment or event timelines because university club directories are outdated and social media updates are scattered. As a result, many miss opportunities to get involved simply because information isn’t centralized or easy to access.

ClubHub was inspired by the chaos of fall club interest and recruitment, when every club opened interest forms and hosted events within the same three weeks. For many of our members, it was overwhelming and nearly impossible to keep track of everything. As undergraduate students, we missed deadlines, events, and even clubs we would’ve loved, simply because we didn’t know where to look or when things were happening. Noticing this gap between club information and interest, we built ClubHub to create a centralized hub where clubs are easily discoverable and involvement is accessible.

What it does

The website uses a Meta API to pull Instagram updates from campus clubs and centralizes them into one platform, allowing students to easily discover active clubs, explore events based on their interests, and never miss recruitment opportunities. Both users and RSOs are able to benefit from this two-way mirror where they're able to reach each other in engaging, exciting events.

How we built it

We built ClubHub using Meta’s official API to connect with Instagram professional accounts run by campus clubs. When a user enters a club’s handle, our system scrapes posts from the past thirty days—analyzing both captions and event graphics—and converts the data into JSON files stored in an AWS S3 bucket. Using Amazon Bedrock, we process these files to filter for only upcoming events and extract key metadata such as the event name, date, time, location, and description. This information is then fed into our frontend, a React-based dashboard designed in Figma, where users can explore clubs and view upcoming events tailored to their interests. The platform also allows RSOs to build and manage their profiles, making club discovery and involvement centralized and up to date.

Challenges we ran into

One challenge was connecting the front end and the backend as our frontend was over complex. We ended up developing a simpler separate front end to demonstrate backend functionality and focused on showcasing the user journey through the separate front end exhibit. Another challenge was using lambda functions to connect API data and automate the process. It was also hard to connect the AI with the JSON files.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Getting the initial meta API to work was a huge challenge but we ended up getting it to work after a lot of trial and error. Same with finishing lambda functions to automate the process of reading and sorting through our JSON files for relevant metadata to feed into our simplified front end.

What we learned

How to effectively use and connect APIs, as well as how to use bedrock.

What's next for ClubHub

Connecting the frontend and backend, and then drawing RSOs to submit their instagram handles and get onboarded through our frictionless process so we can get the app populated.