WHAT WEEKLY

How to See the Party Before You Arrive

10 July 2014

★ Sarika Duvvuru Reddy

Revolutionizing the nightlife experience. That’s what Happinin! creators Michael Cianos, Tyler Kelly, and Kyle Eddins are all about. The three of them have created a mobile application that allows users and businesses alike to upload fresh videos of clubs and events. Focused on brevity, timeliness, and location, this new app takes a shot at solving what Baltimore nightlife lacks – connecting with the user experience before, currently, and after.

Cianos, Kelly, and Eddins aren’t new to the business world. Cianos and Kelly had previously run a pick-up/drop-off college laundry and summer storage service in Baltimore called B’More Clean until they sold it in 2013. Riding the entrepreneurial thrill, the duo jumped right into their next business idea: the Happinin! app. Just a little less than a year ago, Kelly approached Cianos with the idea and eventually brought in Tampa Bay-based software developer Kyle Eddins, owner of the software company E2Generations and lead developer for the Twitter-based app Cibos. And so the three banded together to create Happinin!.

iPhone screenshots from the Happnin! app.

iPhone screenshots from the Happnin! app.

The app is out for both iOS and Android (released today). Happinin!, currently featuring the neighborhoods of Fells Point, Federal Hill, Canton, and Towson (Mt. Vernon to be added by the end of the month), features the most recent 9-second long videos uploaded by bartenders, DJs, and other users from bars in the neighborhood you select. Currently, a Happinin! Content Team keeps the content relevant on Friday and Saturday nights. Ultimately, though, the Happinin! team would love for all the content to come from users.

Happinin! is not stopping there. They’ve recently added a Special Events section where local organizations, bands, or event companies can advertise upcoming events/shows with short videos and then present the event in real-time as it happens to users. Tackling the missing element of present, neighborhood-specific marketing in the nightlife industry, the app creators plan on integrating GPS so bars can send out one-night-only coupons and deals to any Happinin! users in the bar’s neighborhood that night via push notifications.

Soon, by interacting with the app in various ways, users will be able to earn H! points that can be cashed in for food or taxi rides. And along with real-time videos, Happinin! plans on including comments and reviews that will be viewable to users. With hopes to spur content generation, Happinin! seeks to provide marketing tools for businesses that will, through savings and videos, aid users in having an optimal nightlife experience.

Never miss a great bar night, with Happinin!

Never miss a great bar night, with Happinin!

Happinin! is a platform for both users and bars to upload honest content that’s accessible to its 21-and-over users. The hope is to provide bars the opportunity to show off what they got and users the ability to find and share exactly what they’re looking for.

 

Go here if you want to get the low down on happenings in the world of technology.



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