- College Tonight
Infobox_Company
company_name = College Tonight, Inc.
company_type = Public Bulletin Board|CGEG
foundation = September 2006
location = Los Angeles, California
industry = Internet
key_people = Zachary Suchin,President and CEO
Jason Schutzbank, Executive VP and CTO
Aaron Samel, COO
Milton B. Suchin, Chairman of the Board
homepage = [http://www.collegetonightinc.com/ www.collegetonightinc.com]College Tonight is a social networking service for U.S. college-aged students, graduate students, and alumni. It focuses on nightlife events and social opportunities on and near college campuses. Students utilize the service to explore their communities and socially interact. The unique platform also allows the advertising sector to tap into active, outgoing, and socially motivated young people. Starting a profile requires an e-mail address with an ".edu" ending.
The site is the brainchild of Emory University alumnus, Zach Suchin, and Emory University student, Jason Schutzbank. The company launched a beta version in September 2006 and launched the official site to the public in September 2007, beginning with a nine-month nightlife tour at 192 campuses across the country.cite web | url=http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/aug2007/id2007088_875208_page_2.htm | title= ‘‘Facebook Faces Up’’ at Business Week | accessdate=August 8 | accessyear=2007 ]
On August 13, 2007, Simex Technologies, Inc. (OTC: SMXT) announced that it had submitted a Letter of Intent to acquire College Tonight, Inc. in a reverse merger.cite web | url=http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=ind_focus.story&STORY=/www/story/08-14-2007/0004645375&EDATE=TUE+Aug+14+2007,+12:46+PM | title= ‘‘Simex Technologies, Inc. Announces Signing of Letter of Intent with College Tonight, Inc.’’ at PR Newswire | accessdate=August 14 | accessyear=2007 ] The reverse merger has now been completed making it a subsidiary of Simex. College Tonight was able to raise $1,639,500 in equity capital as part of the transaction.cite web | url=http://mashable.com/2007/11/29/college-tonight-funding-merger/ | title= ‘‘College Tonight Raises $1.6M to Compete with Facebook’’ at Mashable | accessdate=November 29 | accessyear=2007 ]
On November 29, 2007, College Tonight went public.cite web | url=http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/11/29/facebook-competitor-collegetonight-goes-public-raises-16m/ | title= ‘‘Facebook Competitor College Tonight Goes Public, Raises $1.6 M’’ at Techcrunch | accessdate=November 29 | accessyear=2007 ]
On April 24, 2008,
Lauren Conrad joined College Tonight as their National Spokesperson.cite news | last = BusinessWire | title = Lauren Conrad Partners with College Tonight, Inc. | publisher = Yahoo! Finance | date = 2008-04-24 | url = http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/080424/20080424005502.html?.v=1 | accessdate = 2008-04-24 ]History
While an undergraduate at Emory University in Atlanta, Zach Suchin made money promoting events and realized there was nothing out there that offered students a chance to explore new nightlife opportunities. He conceptualized a website that not only informs people of the nightlife options in their direct area, but also helps them enjoy an interactive, networking experience that goes beyond the physical computer. cite web | url=http://www.dailynexus.com/article.php?a=14805 | title= ‘‘Web Site Promotes Student Nightlife’’ at Daily Nexus | accessdate=October 19 | accessyear=2007 ] Years later, Zach and current Emory undergraduate Jason Schutzbank made Zach’s dream a reality with the launch of collegetonight.com. Zach found angel investors for the initial startup capital. College Tonight is currently available at 194 campuses. cite web | url=http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2006/10/26/spotlight-college-tonight-takes-on-myspace-facebook-on-coveted-turf | title= ‘‘Spotlight: College Tonight Takes on MySpace, Facebook on Coveted Turf’’ at digitalmediawire | accessdate=October 26 | accessyear=2006 ]
Features
College Tonight is a privacy-protected, registered-users-only social network that encourages actual social interactivity. It establishes distinct networks for each U.S. college, where students can post information about parties, concerts, and social events, download contact lists to their mobile phones, and make plans to meet up. The site has many features, including The Entourage, My Hook-Ups, and My Drunk Dials.cite web | url=http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2006/12/07/mix_sections/local_scene/local1.txt | title= ‘‘Bring it!’’ at Colorado Daily | accessdate=December 7 | accessyear=2006 ] But, despite all the "party central" features, the company’s main concern is to keep users’ privacy intact and, to this end, has employed a former FBI profiler, John Douglas, as its security advisor. College Tonight has also added him onto their board of advisers. cite news | last = BusinessWire | title = FBI's Legendary Special Agent John Douglas Joins College Tonight Inc. | publisher = Yahoo! Finance | date = 2008-05-06 | url = http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/080506/20080506005838.html?.v=1) | accessdate = 2008-05-06 ]
Awards
In December 2006, College Tonight received the best Events Social Network on the Internet People’s Choice award on
Mashable .cite web | url=http://mashable.com/2006/12/24/top-social-networks-2006/ | title= ‘‘Social Networking Awards - The Top Social Networks of 2006’’ at Mashable | accessdate=December 24 | accessyear=2006 ]References
External links
* [http://www.collegetonight.com College Tonight]
* [http://media.www.thehurricaneonline.com/media/storage/paper479/news/2008/04/03/Edge/The-Newest.Social.Network.On.The.Web.Collegetonight.com-3301181.shtml The Newest Social Network On The Web]
* [http://blog.collegetonight.com/ College Tonight Blog]
* [http://media.www.thequindecim.com/media/storage/paper618/news/2008/03/28/AE/Young.Entrepreneurs.Say.Good.Night.To.Facebook.Hello.To.Life-3293773-page2.shtml Young entrepreneurs say good night to Facebook, hello to life]
* [http://media.www.chicagoflame.com/media/storage/paper519/news/2008/03/31/Features/No.Plans.Tonight.Try.College.Tonight-3290741.shtml No plans tonight? Try College Tonight]
* [http://www.statenews.com/index.php/article/2008/02/college_site_rivals_facebook College site rivals Facebook]
* [http://www.campuscircle.com/review.cfm?r=4721 College Tonight]
* [http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2007/12/06/make_a_date_with_college_tonight/ Make a date with College Tonight]
* [http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=CGEG.PK Yahoo Financial Page]
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