Gather

look for nearby events!
attend a study session nearby!
meeting up with some new friends for a concert!
create your own events!

Inspiration

We’ve all been there—wanting to go to a concert for a niche artist or try out an activity that none of our friends are into. It’s frustrating when you’re excited about something but can’t find anyone to join you. Or maybe you’re in a class where you don’t know anyone, and you study better with a group. Usually, the only option is to post on social media and hope someone’s interested, which can be time-consuming and hit-or-miss. We built Gather to bridge that gap—making it easy to connect with others on campus who share your interests, whether it's music, hobbies, or forming a study group—so no one has to miss out on what they love or need.

What it does

Gather is an app designed to make it easier for students to find and connect through events happening both on and around campus. Whether it’s a study group, a casual meetup, or a local concert, students can browse and RSVP to events that match their interests. Users can also create their own events—like jam sessions, movie nights, or tutoring meetups—and invite others to join. For academic settings, the option to create private events is especially useful for instructors or TAs who want a simple, organized way to host office hours, check-ins, or focused help sessions.

How we built it

The app was built from the ground up using React Native for a seamless mobile experience across platforms. For authentication and data storage, we relied on Supabase and SQL, which allowed us to manage user accounts and event information efficiently. Event listings were pulled from multiple sources, including the UMD Events page, the Ticketmaster API, and user-generated content. For the map discovery page, we utilized React Native Maps. To personalize the experience, we integrated the Google Gemini API to scrape and gather events from TerpLink.

Challenges we ran into

One of our biggest challenges was deciding on the direction and target audience for our app. We had a lot of different ideas, and it took hours of discussion and iteration to align on a shared vision. Eventually, we decided to focus Gather on college students and young adults in their early 20s, aiming to create something that genuinely fits their social and academic needs. On the technical side, we ran into issues like image upload errors, which slowed us down at times—but through collaboration and persistence, we worked through them together as a team.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We’re especially proud of our contacts feature, where you can add contacts to a group to invite people by bulk to an event. Combined with the map discovery system, they complement each other perfectly to elevate the user experience. The recommendation engine analyzes user preferences and suggests events tailored to their interests, making it easier for them to discover activities they'll enjoy. Meanwhile, the map discovery system provides a dynamic, visual way to explore both on-campus and nearby off-campus events, helping users easily navigate and RSVP to events that catch their eye. Together, these features create a more personalized, intuitive experience that encourages users to engage with the app and connect with others around them.

What we learned

We are really glad that we were able to tackle learning a new framework successfully as half of our team did not have a lot of experience with React Native or mobile app development in general.

What's next for Gather

One idea we’re exploring is integrating chatrooms directly within event listings, so users can easily communicate, ask questions, and build excitement leading up to the event. We’re also working on implementing our recommendation engine, which uses onboarding survey responses to offer personalized event suggestions and connect users with others who share similar interests. These additions would help make the app more interactive, social, and tailored to each user’s experience.