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Managing a community is tough, especially without the typical physicality and tactility of in-person events. Over the past year, we've let in batches that haven't yet experienced the dynamic of a late-night Grind Night, a Shell Retreat, or just kickin' it on a bean bag.
How we got here
Regardless, a dashboard for Shellers, our partners, aspiring shellers, and alumni was needed, pandemic or not. Some of you may know and even had used tin.umd.edu, my vision of an interconnected campus, focused on innovation rather than one-upping. And if you haven't, don't worry, it didn't work out. I pitched it to every organization on campus and every center for innovation, seeking their buy in to use the platform and engage together. Many people liked it, some people loved it, but ultimately the plan was too ambitious and conflicted with more institutional plans for community building.
A few years ago, my.startupshell.org was formed to solved this issue, running on Wordpress. That was my first experience after joining Shell and was easy and welcoming, but the solution required a lot of maintenance and hacky solutions to adopt everything we needed. The dashboard needed to:
A few years ago, my.startupshell.org was formed to solved this issue, running on Wordpress. That was my first experience after joining Shell and was easy and welcoming, but the solution required a lot of maintenance and hacky solutions to adopt everything we needed. The dashboard needed to:
- Be a source of truth for Shellers - Members needed a reliable place to find and be notified of events, announcements, connect with members, etc.
- Allow for a preferred sign in - Although having a @startupshell.org email is great, it was not necessarily convenient, especially after graduation. We saw a lot of requests for flexibility to use a personal email.
- Facilitate conversation - Shell's community is in a lot of places: Facebook, GroupMe, Slack... GroupMe works well for current students and immediate updates, but many people, especially newer batches, just don't have a Facebook (or deleted theirs). It's been around forever and probably won't be going away, but just doesn't offer the same customizability. Slack is awesome for the Directors.
- Searchability - Having a super search bar for everything Startup Shell is super useful, and this platform has it. Find members, events, and resources all in the search bar above.
The Platform
That brings us to this, a consolidated solution focused on Startup Shell rather than connecting the campus. Moving forward, this will be home for:
- Mentorship - If you're an alumni, partner, or want to give back by helping rising doers, click here to sign up as a mentor.
- Events - Events hosted by us and by others around campus will be posted here and on our website. Join the space to get notified.
- Discussions & Opportunities - The Discussions tab is public, so anyone can view and post there. For conversations with just Shellers, we have a secret section 🤫. Share all your opportunities in Opportunities.
- Resources - resources.startupshell.org will be deprecated and redirected here. Some are public, but most are private, for Shellers only. We also built a Startup Guide at UMD for easy access to campus resources
- Member Directory - Replacing a Coda document, find everyone involved with the Startup Shell community. Shellers get their own tags by batch, if they are a founder/fellow, and if they are an alumni. Click on Map to see a map of everyone across the globe. This works dynamically based on your profile, so enter City, State under Location to show yours. (In the works, just squashing some bugs)
Just the beginning
It's just getting started, but I'm sure there are things to improve and add. Questions and comments, just reply below. Let's build this thing together.
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Do you have plans for Summer 2021? Apply for the Dingman Center's Terp Startup Accelerator program! You'll spend eight weeks over the summer making substantial progress on your startup venture and you'll also receive up to a $5,000 stipend!
Apply Now! go.umd.edu/TerpStartupAccelerator
🌎 Predictions for Environmental focused Ventures
💸 Economic impacts of climate change
👨⚖️ ESG from a Data driven angle
🚜 Modernizing the next generation of farms
Not on iOS?
Join us at startupshell.org/space to listen in and even contribute to the conversation.
https://lu.ma/event/evt-7TGPJpK8Crj69hU
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📈 Pandemic Investing trends & opportunities
⚒ Building a startup during covid
👋 Clubhouse
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Join us for a talk with Y Combinator partner Aaron Epstein and Zentail Founder Dan Sugarman. https://ycombinator.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEtcu6oqzkqH9UF5RQJwsy6wYQgRltOTJ9u
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A dynamic increase in the development and use of immersive media tools and technologies is underway, transforming how we work, learn and appreciate the world around us. At the University of Maryland, students, faculty and staff from six colleges and nine departments have come together to showcase their research and scholarship that is fueling new advances in science and health care, producing innovative education and training modules, and inspiring creative and socially-relevant artforms.
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We've been working hard to get more resources for you, and this is just one of many.
What's Miro?
Miro is the online collaborative whiteboarding platform that enables distributed teams to work effectively together, from brainstorming with digital sticky notes to planning and managing agile workflows.
With Miro you can take advantage of a full set of collaboration capabilities, including video, chat, presentation, and sharing, to make cross-functional teamwork effortless and collaboration easier.
Shellers: Click here to Access this resource.
With Miro you can take advantage of a full set of collaboration capabilities, including video, chat, presentation, and sharing, to make cross-functional teamwork effortless and collaboration easier.
Shellers: Click here to Access this resource.
Requirements
- Raised no more than $5MM in total funding
- Incorporated less than 2 years ago
- Independently owned and operated (not owned by a parent corporation)
- Fewer than 50 employees
- Accepted into Startup Shell
Clubhouse is the new drop-in audio chat application that’s captivated users everywhere. Currently invite-only, it’s essentially audio chat in a very podcasty format. Read more about the platform here.
We've compiled a collection of tools to help you host amazing events on Clubhouse.
Direcon for Clubhouse serves as a moderation platform and audience insight tool.
Clubhouse Bio Builder helps your bio standout with access to 70 fonts and easy to use text-editor.
Clubhouse Avatar Maker allows you to quickly add colorful rings to your avatar.
Clubhouse Bio Generator lets you create an influencer worthy bio with this satirical product.
Clubpad brings sound reactions to your show including applause, laughter, crickets and more.
Clublink offers a free link shortener that creates social sharing images for Clubhouse events.
Direcon for Clubhouse serves as a moderation platform and audience insight tool.
Clubhouse Bio Builder helps your bio standout with access to 70 fonts and easy to use text-editor.
Clubhouse Avatar Maker allows you to quickly add colorful rings to your avatar.
Clubhouse Bio Generator lets you create an influencer worthy bio with this satirical product.
Clubpad brings sound reactions to your show including applause, laughter, crickets and more.
Clublink offers a free link shortener that creates social sharing images for Clubhouse events.
Check out this month's newsletter for:
- A ton of events coming up next week including: intro to design workshop, the fundraising report with Juliana Neelbauer, and the Contrary Cap Pitch Competition
- Several new opportunities at successful Startup Shell ventures available
https://news.startupshell.org/shell-signal/
- A ton of events coming up next week including: intro to design workshop, the fundraising report with Juliana Neelbauer, and the Contrary Cap Pitch Competition
- Several new opportunities at successful Startup Shell ventures available
https://news.startupshell.org/shell-signal/