ComCafe

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What it does

ComCafe is a web application that allows students and small businesses to connect with each other with ease, allowing students looking for experience in their field of choice to provide businesses in their area with a helping hand. It's the perfect way for students to lift up their community and put something awesome on their resume at the same time. The intuitive design of this app makes it simple for students and businesses to find each other based on location, interests, and similar goals. In addition to fully authenticated, customizable profile pages, some features we've implemented include search functions, a map API showing nearby businesses, and a feature to recommend businesses to students.

Inspiration

Thanks to the COVID-19 crisis, students like us have been stuck at home without much to do. Our educations have been disrupted, and many of us have lost opportunities to learn new skills and gain experience through jobs, internships and research. At the same time, small businesses have been devastated by the consequences of the pandemic and are struggling to keep their doors open. For this hackathon, we saw a chance to help solve both of these issues at once by connecting businesses in need with students looking for opportunities. This helps students experience the real-world aspect of education that is often missing from virtual classrooms, and evens the playing field for students whose circumstances don't permit full-time internships or other educational opportunities. With our app, students can find ways to develop skills related to their major, interests and/or career, all while lifting up their community and helping small businesses in their time of need. We hope that this project will allow students to keep learning and growing through difficult times, and that we can make a positive impact on our communities at the same time. After all, everyone knows that the best way to learn is by doing!

How we built it

We used SQLAlchemy and PostgreSQL to set up a database with our models, and our backend was written in Python using Flask. For the front end, we used HTML/CSS as well JavaScript to get and display data from the backend. We also utilized the Google Maps API to display a map widget in the student dashboard. For authorization, we used a third-party OAuth service called Auth0.

Challenges we ran into

The goal we set out to achieve was quite daunting in the beginning, as we had tasked ourselves with building a web application from the ground up with little prior experience. One of the biggest challenges we ran into was figuring out how to use Auth0, as it was tricky to incorporate it correctly into our backend. We also found it challenging to figure out how to implement the Google Maps API and geocoding service.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

We made a whole web app! We came really far over the past week, having started with literally nothing and ending with a well-functioning application that accomplished the goals we set on Day One. We also worked through the design process together from brainstorming to final touches, combining many moving parts to create something we both were happy with.

What I learned

Our most important takeaway from this experience was the fact that no matter how complex a project seems at first, it's always a lot simpler once it's broken down into smaller, more manageable pieces. We learned so much about database management, website hosting, and frontend development from this project, and by focusing on each part individually we were able to put together a beautiful final product!

What's next for ComCafe

We've implemented a working version of this app over the past week, but there's a lot more left to do. We'd love to implement cool new features, such as adding a rating system, incorporating a machine-learning algorithm to help students and businesses find their perfect match, and adding a chat function so that businesses and students can connect within our app. Most importantly, we need users. With more time and funding, we'll be able to spread the word about ComCafe and gain as many consumers as we possibly can, which will make our user experience better and better over time. As members of the target audience ourselves, we are confident that college students will love this service and will share it among their communities.